1 Corinthians 3
3
The church and its leaders
1Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere human beings?
5What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. 9For we are fellow workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved – even though only as one escaping through the flames.
16Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives among you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
18Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become ‘fools’ so that you may become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’#3:19 Job 5:13; 20and again, ‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.’#3:20 Psalm 94:11 21So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas#3:22 That is, Peter or the world or life or death or the present or the future – all are yours, 23and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
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1 Corinthians 3
3
1My brothers and sisters, I couldn't talk#3:1. Presumably while he was visiting them previously. with you as spiritual believers, but as worldly people—like baby Christians. 2I gave you milk—I couldn't give you solid food to eat, because you weren't ready for it. 3Even now you're not ready for it, because you're still worldly. Since you're still jealous and argumentative, doesn't that show you're worldly, behaving just like ordinary people do? 4When one of you says, “I follow Paul,” while another says, “I follow Apollos,” doesn't that show you're being so very human?
5Who is Apollos, anyway? And who is Paul? We're just servants through whom you believed. Each of us does the work God gave us to do. 6I did the planting, Apollos did the watering—but it was God who made you grow!
7So the one who does the planting doesn't count for anything, any more than the one who does the watering. The only one who matters is God who is growing you! 8The one planting and the one watering have the same goal, and both will be rewarded according to what they've done.
9We are workers together with God—and you are God's field, his building. 10Through the grace of God that he gave to me, I laid down the foundation like a skilled building supervisor. Now someone else is building on it. Whoever does the building needs to watch what they're doing. 11For no one can lay any other foundation than what's already laid—that is Jesus Christ. 12Those who build on that foundation may use gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, or straw— 13but whatever is used to build with will be exposed. For on the Day of Judgment, fire will reveal it and test it. Everyone's work will be shown for what it is. 14Those whose building survives will be rewarded. 15Those whose building is burned up will lose out. They will still be saved, but it will be like passing through fire! 16Don't you know you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17Anyone who destroys God's temple will be destroyed by God, for God's temple is holy, and you are the temple.
18Don't deceive yourselves. If there's any one of you who thinks they're worldly wise, they should become fools so they can become truly wise! 19This world's wisdom is plain foolishness to God. As Scripture says, “He uses the cleverness of the wise to catch them out,”#3:19. Quoting Job 5:13. 20and “The Lord knows the arguments of the wise are pointless.”#3:20. Quoting Psalms 94:11. 21So don't boast about people. For you have everything, 22whether it's Paul or Apollos or Peter—or the world, or life, or death, or the present, or the future. You have everything— 23and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com