1 Corinthians 3
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1Brothers, I couldn’t speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ. 2I fed you with milk, not with meat; for you weren’t yet ready. Indeed, not even now are you ready, 3for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men? 4For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you fleshly? 5Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him? 6I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. 7So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building. 10According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. 11For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble; 13each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. 14If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. 15If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire. 16Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are. 18Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.” 20And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.” 21Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, 23and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
World English Bible (public domain)
“"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."”
1 Corinthians 3:7
Summary
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul addresses the Corinthian believers, pointing out their spiritual immaturity as they engage in divisions and quarrels, aligning themselves with different church leaders. Paul emphasizes that he and Apollos are merely servants through whom they came to believe. He uses the metaphor of planting and watering to illustrate that it is God who gives growth, urging them to see beyond human leadership and focus on God's work. He also compares the church to both a field and a building, stressing that each builder should take care in how they build on the foundation, which is Jesus Christ. Theological themes of unity, spiritual growth, and divine judgment emerge as Paul warns that everyone's work will be revealed by fire on the Day of the Lord to test its true quality. He concludes by affirming that all things belong to the believers, and they belong to Christ, who belongs to God.
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