1 Corinthians 3
3
Wisdom applied to divisions in the church
1Brothers and sisters, I couldn’t talk to you like spiritual people but like unspiritual people, like babies in Christ. 2I gave you milk to drink instead of solid food, because you weren’t up to it yet. 3Now you are still not up to it because you are still unspiritual. When jealousy and fighting exist between you, aren’t you unspiritual and living by human standards? 4When someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and someone else says, “I belong to Apollos,” aren’t you acting like people without the Spirit? 5After all, what is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants who helped you to believe. Each one had a role given to them by the Lord: 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow. 7Because of this, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but the only one who is anything is God who makes it grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters work together, but each one will receive their own reward for their own labor. 9We are God’s coworkers, and you are God’s field, God’s building.
10I laid a foundation like a wise master builder according to God’s grace that was given to me, but someone else is building on top of it. Each person needs to pay attention to the way they build on it. 11No one can lay any other foundation besides the one that is already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12So, whether someone builds on top of the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, or hay, 13each one’s work will be clearly shown. The day will make it clear, because it will be revealed with fire—the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. 14If anyone’s work survives, they’ll get a reward. 15But if anyone’s work goes up in flames, they’ll lose it. However, they themselves will be saved as if they had gone through a fire. 16Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and God’s Spirit lives in you? 17If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person, because God’s temple is holy, which is what you are.
18Don’t fool yourself. If some of you think they are worldly-wise, then they should become foolish so that they can become wise. 19This world’s wisdom is foolishness to God. As it’s written, “He catches the wise in their cleverness.”#3.19 Job 5:13 20And also, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are silly”.#3.20 Ps 94:11 21So then, no one should brag about human beings. Everything belongs to you— 22Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, things in the present, things in the future—everything belongs to you, 23but you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
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. 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.