1 Corinthians 3
3
Foundations for Living
1However, brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as to spiritual people, but [only] as to #Lit fleshly.worldly people [dominated by human nature], mere infants [in the new life] in Christ! 2I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Even now you are still not ready. 3You are still #Lit fleshly.worldly [controlled by ordinary impulses, the sinful capacity]. For as long as there is jealousy and strife and discord among you, are you not #Lit fleshly.unspiritual, and are you not walking like ordinary men [unchanged by faith]? 4For when one of you says, “I am [a disciple] of Paul,” and another, “I am [a disciple] of Apollos,” are you not [proving yourselves unchanged, just] ordinary people?
5What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Just servants through whom you believed [in Christ], even as the Lord appointed to each his task. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was causing the growth. 7So neither is the one who plants nor the one who waters anything, but [only] God who causes the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are one [in importance and esteem, working toward the same purpose]; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers [His servants working together]; you are God’s cultivated field [His garden, His vineyard], God’s building.
10According to the [remarkable] grace of God which was given to me [to prepare me for my task], like a skillful master builder I laid a foundation, and now another is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it, 11for no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13each one’s work will be clearly shown [for what it is]; for the day [of judgment] will disclose it, because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality and character and worth of each person’s work. 14If any person’s work which he has built [on this foundation, that is, any outcome of his effort] remains [and survives this test], he will receive a reward. 15But if any person’s work is burned up [by the test], he will suffer the loss [of his reward]; yet he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has barely escaped] through fire.
16 # Paul repeats “Do you not know” nine more times, each time followed by an important truth (cf 5:6; 6:2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19; 9:13, 24). Do you not know and understand that you [the church] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells [permanently] in you [collectively and individually]? 17If anyone destroys the temple of God [corrupting it with false doctrine], God will destroy the destroyer; for the temple of God is holy (sacred), and that is what you are.
18Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool [discarding his worldly pretensions and acknowledging his lack of wisdom], so that he may become [truly] wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness (absurdity, stupidity) before God; for it is written [in Scripture], “[He is] The one who catches the wise and clever in their craftiness;” 20and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the [humanly] wise, that they are useless.” 21So let no one boast in men [about their wisdom, or of having this or that one as a leader]. For all things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas (Peter) or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things are yours, 23and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.
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1 Corinthians 3
3
Servants of God
1As a matter of fact, my brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as I talk to people who have the Spirit; I had to talk to you as though you belonged to this world, as children in the Christian faith. 2#Heb 5.12–13I had to feed you with milk, not solid food, because you were not ready for it. And even now you are not ready for it, 3because you still live as the people of this world live. When there is jealousy among you and you quarrel with one another, doesn't this prove that you belong to this world, living by its standards? 4#1 Cor 1.12When one of you says, “I follow Paul”, and another, “I follow Apollos” — aren't you acting like worldly people?
5After all, who is Apollos? And who is Paul? We are simply God's servants, by whom you were led to believe. Each one of us does the work which the Lord gave him to do: 6#Acts 18.4–11, 24–28I sowed the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow. 7The one who sows and the one who waters really do not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow. 8There is no difference between the one who sows and the one who waters; God will reward each one according to the work each has done. 9For we are partners working together for God, and you are God's field.
You are also God's building. 10Using the gift that God gave me, I did the work of an expert builder and laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds. 11For God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no other foundation can be laid. 12Some will use gold or silver or precious stones in building on the foundation; others will use wood or grass or straw. 13And the quality of each person's work will be seen when the Day of Christ exposes it. For on that Day fire will reveal everyone's work; the fire will test it and show its real quality. 14If what was built on the foundation survives the fire, the builder will receive a reward. 15But if anyone's work is burnt up, then he will lose it; but he himself will be saved, as if he had escaped through the fire.
16 #
1 Cor 6.19; 2 Cor 6.16 Surely you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you! 17So if anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you yourselves are his temple.
18No one should fool himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise by this world's standards, he should become a fool, in order to be really wise. 19#Job 5.13For what this world considers to be wisdom is nonsense in God's sight. As the scripture says, “God traps the wise in their cleverness”; 20#Ps 94.11and another scripture says, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are worthless.” 21No one, then, should boast about what human beings can do. Actually everything belongs to you: 22Paul, Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and the future — all these are yours, 23and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.