1 Corinthians 3:1-23 - Doing God’s Work in Wisdom

1 Corinthians 3:1-23 

Carnal Sectarianism

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

Watering, Working, Warning

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Worldly Wisdom

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; 20 and again, “The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23 And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Doing the work of God requires humility in unity of the faith as well as work for the gospel of Jesus Christ according to godly wisdom found only in our position and standing in Him.  Worldly people following this sinful flesh vie for position and importance with influence over others but if we walk in the Spirit towards spiritual maturity and put these works to death then we are free to work God’s works instead.  Instead of jealousy, strife, and partisan alignments, we should be seeking the unity of the faith according to the word while not compromising the essential truths or seeking self importance.  This of course in not putting devotion to a single pastor or favorite writer of doctrine above any other who also speaks the truth.  Such partisanship is carnal according to this passage if we end up putting Christ second in the competition and comparisons of who we wholeheartedly follow. Remember to heed the instructions here to understand that each of us has a part to play in God’s work done through us as prepared (Ephesians 2:10) because we are the members of His body (Romans 12:4-8, Ephesians 4:11-13, 15-16) of whom we move in response to His direction as our head to proclaim the gospel and teach one another these truths of grace to live by.  We have been given the mind of Christ not to act in place of Him, but in concert under His direction with imparted understanding.  One plants seeds of the gospel in men and women, another waters that with further instruction for understanding, but it is always God who works in the hearts and souls for conviction and conversion to salvation.  We are His instruments and not the conductor of this work.  We should be about our Father’s business in proclamation of the Gospel and in following up with the watering of the seeds we have planted whenever possible, yet allowing others to water after us when needed as we trust God to work in the souls for the gift of faith to be imparted that they might be led to repentance and made a new creation (Galatians 2:20) by His work and not by attempting to force a conversion by our insistence for the hearers to pray a prayer without understanding and conviction for true salvation.  Our reward in heaven then is doing God’s work in God’s way and not to gain importance in the number of souls we allegedly save.  God has laid the foundation of Jesus Christ for us to build on and we labor together to teach new and maturing believers all things as the great commission tells us (Matthew 28:19-20) to do in His work prepared for us as the ambassadors and workers of the Kingdom of Heaven.  We ourselves and those we teach must be careful to follow the blueprint of scripture given to build wisely on this foundation with the Cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-6) set firmly in place.  We are told to use materials that last eternally and not temporally, for those represented by gold, silver, precious stones will last through the testing of fire, but the examples of wood, hay, and straw are consumed and leave nothing of value behind to offer back to God when we face Him.  The enduring works according to God’s word will endure and be rewarded while the ones which turn to ash are only suitable for sackcloth.  In the end we see that salvation is not at stake here but reward to offer back in worship to God for, “If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”  We do not lose our salvation but only the opportunity to glorify and honor the Lord with our work here.  True wisdom recognizes these truths and strives for holiness and not desecration of these temples which are our own bodies given to honor the One who bought us at such a great price!   Our own wisdom only gets us into trouble.  We must therefore boast in God’s work for and through us.  We have been given everything for life and godliness and should therefore live for Him because we belong to Him.