1 Corinthians 3
3
Divisions in the Church
1But I, brothers,#3:1 Or brothers and sisters could not address you as #ch. 2:15; Rom. 7:14 spiritual people, but as #[ch. 2:14] people of the flesh, as #Heb. 5:13; [ch. 2:6]infants in Christ. 2#Heb. 5:12, 13; 1 Pet. 2:2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for #John 16:12you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3for you are still of the flesh. For while there is #Gal. 5:19, 20; [ch. 1:11; 11:18; Rom. 13:13]jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4For #See ch. 1:12 when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” #[ver. 3]are you not being merely human?
5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? #2 Cor. 6:4; Eph. 3:7; Col. 1:25; [2 Cor. 3:3] Servants through whom you believed, #See Rom. 12:6as the Lord assigned to each. 6#ch. 4:15; 9:1; 15:1; Acts 18:4-11; 2 Cor. 10:14, 15 I planted, #Acts 18:27 Apollos watered, #[ch. 15:10; Col. 1:18]but God gave the growth. 7So #2 Cor. 12:11; Gal. 6:3; [Gal. 2:6]neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are one, and each #ver. 14; ch. 15:58; 2 John 8; [ch. 4:5; Gal. 6:4, 5]; See Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6will receive his wages according to his labor. 9For we are #Mark 16:20; 2 Cor. 6:1 God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, #Eph. 2:20-22; Col. 2:7; [ver. 16; Ps. 127:1]God’s building.
10 # [2 Pet. 3:15]; See Rom. 12:3 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled#3:10 Or wise master builder I laid a #ver. 11, 12; Rom. 15:20; [Rev. 21:14] foundation, and #[ch. 4:15]someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11For no one can lay a #Isa. 28:16 foundation other #[2 Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6, 7] than that which is laid, #[Eph. 2:20]which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13#ch. 4:5 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed #ver. 15; 2 Thess. 1:8 by fire, and #1 Pet. 1:7the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, #See ver. 8he will receive a reward. 15If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, #[Ps. 66:12; Isa. 43:2; Jude 23]but only as through fire.
16 # ch. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21 Do you not know that you#3:16 The Greek for you is plural in verses 16 and 17 are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For #[2 Cor. 7:1]God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 # [Isa. 5:21; Gal. 6:3] Let no one deceive himself. #[ch. 8:2; Jer. 8:8, 9]If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19For #See ch. 1:20 the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, #Cited from Job 5:13“He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20and again, #Cited from Ps. 94:11“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21So #ver. 4-6; ch. 1:12; 4:6 let no one boast in men. For #Rom. 8:28all things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23and #2 Cor. 10:7; Gal. 3:29 you are Christ’s, and #[ch. 11:3]Christ is God’s.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Corinthians 3
3
Teachers Are Only God’s Servants
1Brothers and sisters, when I was there, I could not talk to you the way I talk to people who are led by the Spirit. I had to talk to you like ordinary people of the world. You were like babies in Christ. 2And the teaching I gave you was like milk, not solid food. I did this because you were not ready for solid food. And even now you are not ready. 3You are still not following the Spirit. You are jealous of each other, and you are always arguing with each other. This shows that you are still following your own selfish desires. You are acting like ordinary people of the world. 4One of you says, “I follow Paul,” and someone else says, “I follow Apollos.” When you say things like that, you are acting like people of the world.
5Is Apollos so important? Is Paul so important? We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work God gave us to do. 6I planted the seed and Apollos watered it. But God is the one who made the seed grow. 7So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God is important, because he is the one who makes things grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters have the same purpose. And each one will be rewarded for his own work. 9We are workers together for God, and you are like a farm that belongs to God.
And you are a house that belongs to God. 10Like an expert builder I built the foundation of that house. I used the gift that God gave me to do this. Other people are building on that foundation. But everyone should be careful how they build. 11The foundation that has already been built is Jesus Christ, and no one can build any other foundation. 12People can build on that foundation using gold, silver, jewels, wood, grass, or straw. 13But the work that each person does will be clearly seen, because the Day will make it plain. That Day will appear with fire, and the fire will test everyone’s work. 14If the building they put on the foundation still stands, they will get their reward. 15But if their building is burned up, they will suffer loss. They will be saved, but it will be like someone escaping from a fire.
16You should know that you yourselves are God’s temple.#3:16 temple God’s house—the place where God’s people worship him. Here, it means that believers are the spiritual temple where God lives. God’s Spirit lives in you. 17If you destroy God’s temple, God will destroy you, because God’s temple is holy. You yourselves are God’s temple.
18Don’t fool yourselves. Whoever thinks they are wise in this world should become a fool. That’s the only way they can be wise. 19I say this because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He catches those who think they are wise in their own clever traps.”#Quote from Job 5:13. 20The Scriptures also say, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise. He knows that their thoughts are worth nothing.”#Quote from Ps. 94:11. 21So there is not a person on earth that any of you should be boasting about. Everything is yours: 22Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world, life, death, the present, and the future—all these are yours. 23And you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
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