The Book of
1 Corinthians 3
23 verses≈ 3 min3 peopleBSB
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In this chapter
Where we are
- 1–4DivisionsChrist crucified, not rival leadersChapter 3
- 5–6A holy peopleDiscipline, lawsuits and the body
- 7–10Your questionsMarriage, food and freedom
- 11–14Worship togetherThe Supper, gifts and love
- 15–16Raised with ChristResurrection hope; the collection
God’s Fellow Workers
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, for you are still worldly.
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For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.
I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Who grows it?
Whiteboard
Paul draws a picture from the farm. He planted the gospel in Corinth, and Apollos came later and watered it. But the growing is God’s work alone. So the workers are nothing to boast about, and they are not rivals. They are “God’s fellow workers,” and the church they serve belongs to God.
Reflect
Planted and watered
Paul says, “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” Think of the people who planted and watered faith in you: a parent, a friend, a pastor, a teacher. Thank God for each one. Then ask yourself where you might plant or water for someone else this week, and leave the growing to Him.
Christ Our Foundation
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds.
For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:11
If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.
Question
Quick question
Paul calls himself “an expert builder.” He laid the foundation when he first preached in Corinth, and now others are building on it.
What is the one foundation “already laid”?
God’s Temple and God’s Wisdom
Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
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Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
Therefore, stop boasting in men.
All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
1 Corinthians 3:21–23
Pray
God’s temple
Paul tells a divided church, “you yourselves are God’s temple,” and “God’s Spirit dwells in you.” Pray for your own church by name. Ask God to guard it from rivalry and pride, to keep it building on Christ alone, and to make it a place where His presence is plain. Thank Him that “you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”
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1 Corinthians 3
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A verse to carry with you
For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:11
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