A STUDY OF FIRST CORINTHIANS

Chapter 3

Introduction: Paul gets into the reason for the tone in which he writes this letter. They were not acting spiritually. He also warned them about taking care how they built upon the foundation. He told them that Christ must be presented as the only foundation upon which to build the temple of God. He further warns them not to be trapped by the wisdom of the world.

Carnality Because of Sectarianism 

Verses 1-4. Paul said that the Corinthian brethren were behaving like immature children. Paul had to thus treat them like children in the manner in which he delivered the message of the epistle. He offers two pieces of evidence in determining their spiritual immaturity. First, they allowed envy, strife and division to exist among them. Usually these three negative elements of character follow that same logical progression. Where there is envy, strife is soon to follow (James 3:14, 16). Where there is strife, division is certainly in the area (1 Cor. 12:24-30). Second, they were holding up certain men as people of note. Some were putting one man up against another. We can see this today in various segments of the religious world. People become puffed up over what preacher with whom they happen to be aligned. They attend they church where so and so preaches. This they say, not as a matter of fact, but as a matter of boast and pride. Such ought not be.

Verses 5-9. The Corinthians needed to understand that the men who were instrumental in their conversions were just that: instruments. God used them to achieve His purpose. All Paul and his companions did was to preach the gospel. Some did this by sowing the seed and others by watering the seed. God, however, made the seed grow. The message was not Paul’s, Peter’s or Apollos’. The message of the cross was delivered by the Lord (1 Cor. 15:3; Gal. 1:11-12). What Paul and the others did was work together to build up the body of Christ or house of God. All those who were added to it were added, not by Paul and others, but by the Lord (Acts 2:47). Paul and his company were working in concert with God. God sent them into the field to sow, nourish and reap. Paul and his company were the builders and the Corinthians were God’s building. The building was being built according to God’s design. Paul and the other laborers were not deserving of praise and honor. God, however, was. Paul and his companions believed that their reward and honor will come in the life to come. 

Verses 10-15. Paul and his company exercise care in how they built upon the foundation of Christ. He laid the foundation while another builds upon it. Now they do not come and lay another foundation. Paul was not the foundation, nor was Apollos, Cephas or anyone else.  As a preacher and teacher of the gospel labors, he bears some responsibility as to the kind of material that will be added to the foundation. A preacher may labor long and hard to win someone to Christ who may later fall away or prove to be unworthy of eternal life. This fact will be made known in the time of trials. The ability of a convert being able to hold up under trials may be determined by the kind of labor put into that person by those who taught him. If the person’s labors endure, even unto the Day of Judgment, he shall have a reward. What reward? I believe it will be one’s ability to rejoice more enthusiastically (Phi. 2:14-16; 1 The. 2:19-20). If testing by fire consumes the preachers work he will not have the benefit of seeing the fruit before the Lord. Thus, he loses that aspect of his joy. Even Paul contemplated the fact that he would have suffered loss and thus consider some of his labors vain (Gal. 4:11; 1 The. 3:5). However, the preacher, if the fires of trial prove that he labored with care, then he shall be saved (see Eze. 3:16-21).

Verses 16-17. Paul identifies the building to which he referred in verse 9. The church is considered to be the temple or sanctuary of God. It is the place where God dwells. Thus the church is to be holy. Yet, by carnal minded factions, some where helping to destroy the temple or defile the temple. Those that would do such shall themselves be the recipients of God’s wrath to their own destruction.

Dangers of Worldly Wisdom 

Verses 18-23. The only way one can become wise to God is to be as a fool to the world in regard to wisdom. The world glories in its own understanding and innovations. It has long since felt that it can do just fine without the counsel of God. How can the creature rise above the creator in knowledge and wisdom? What the world considers wise, God calls foolishness. Paul quotes and captures the meaning of a passage from Job 5:13, the only passage from Job quoted in the New Testament. Eliphaz, though an uninspired speaker, does speak the truth about the wise in this case. When man seems to have all the answers and seems to know what’s best God will leave him to his own devices only to show the folly of man’s wisdom (Rom. 1:26-27). Where is the Titanic? God knows what is in man (John 2:25). Much of man’s thinking is vain (Rom. 1:21-23). For this reason, no one should glory in men. This is especially true of God’s people. Do not boast about with whom you may be aligned. All things are the saints. They boasted as having given themselves to these men when in fact it was the other way around. Those men were the Corinthian brethren’s servants. This is true of the world. The Christian will use the world and its vast resources to make the most of life in his aim to glorify God. The non Christian is used and possessed by the world. He is its slave. The only one to whom these saints belonged was Christ. And Christ is subservient in rank only to the Father.