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1 Corinthians 3

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Carnality and Immaturity in the Church 1–4

1
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. ​
2
I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able; ​
3
for ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal, and do ye not walk after the manner of men? ​
4
For when one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men?

Ministers are God's Fellow Workers 5–9

5
What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him. ​
6
I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. ​
7
So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
8
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. ​
9
For we are God’s fellow-workers: ye are God’s husbandry, God’s building. ​

Building on the Foundation of Christ 10–15

10
According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. ​
11
For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ​
12
But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; ​
13
each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man’s work of what sort it is. ​
14
If any man’s work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.
15
If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire. ​

The Community is God's Temple 16–17

16
Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? ​
17
If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye. ​

True Wisdom and Divine Ownership 18–23

18
Let no man deceive himself. If any man thinketh that he is wise among you in this world, 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 that taketh the wise in their craftiness: ​
20
and again, The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain.
21
Wherefore let no one glory 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 ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Corinthians 3

Verse 1

babes in Christ — 'Spiritual' is the pneumatikos of 2:15, the man who 'judgeth all things'. 'Babes' (nepios) is the word of Heb 5:13, 'every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe'. 'Babes in Christ' addresses them as believers who are still at the infant stage.

Verse 2

milk, and not… meat — 'Fed' is potizo, to give to drink, the verb rendered 'watered' in vv.6–8. 'Meat' is broma, solid food. Peter urges 'newborn babes' to 'desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby' (1 Pet 2:2); Christ said to his disciples, 'I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now' (John 16:12).

Verse 3

envying, and strife, and divisions — The proof of 'carnal' is the party spirit of 1:12, 'I am of Paul; and I of Apollos'. 'Divisions' (dichostasia) is found also in Rom 16:17 and Gal 5:20 ('seditions'). 'Envying and strife' recur in Rom 13:13 among the things to be put off, and James 3:16 says 'where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work'.

Verse 5

ministers by whom ye believed — Diakonos, servant, the word Paul uses of the civil ruler in Rom 13:4 and of himself in 2 Cor 3:6. The question follows from the party names of 1:12. Paul and Apollos are the servants through whom the Corinthians believed, each with the work 'the Lord gave to every man'.

Verse 6

I have planted, Apollos watered — Phyteuo, to plant, and potizo, to water (the verb of v.2). 'Gave the increase' is auxano, to make grow, and in v.7 it is again God's act: 'neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase'. Both men are named as servants in v.5.

Verse 8

are one — The planter and the waterer have one task, and each 'shall receive his own reward according to his own labour' (misthos, wages; kopos, toil). The same rule is stated in Rom 2:6, 'who will render to every man according to his deeds', and Rev 22:12. Verse 14 shows how the reward is reckoned: 'If any man's work abide… he shall receive a reward'.

Verse 9

God's husbandry… God's building — The Greek is 'God's fellow-workers', and the Corinthians are 'God's field' (georgion, found only here) and 'God's building' (oikodome). The farming figure of vv.6–8 gives way to the building figure that follows. Ephesians gives the second at length: 'built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets… groweth unto an holy temple' (Eph 2:20–21).

Verse 10

a wise masterbuilder — Architekton, chief builder, found only here in the New Testament. 'Laid the foundation' (themelios) is Paul's first preaching at Corinth. His practice was to preach 'not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation' (Rom 15:20). 'Buildeth thereon' (epoikodomeo) is the verb of vv.12 and 14, and each builder must 'take heed how'.

Verse 11

other foundation — Isaiah has the LORD say, 'Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation' (Isa 28:16), which Peter applies to Christ (1 Pet 2:6). Eph 2:20 names the same stone, 'Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone'. Here the foundation is Christ himself, and 'is laid' (keimai) says it already lies in place.

Verse 12

gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble — The gold, silver and 'precious stones' are among the materials David gathered 'for the house of my God' (1 Chr 29:2). 'Hay' (chortos) and 'stubble' (kalame, found only here) are plant matter, and with wood they make a second set of three. The next verse sets fire against all six.

Verse 13

revealed by fire — 'Made manifest' (phaneros) and 'revealed' (apokalypto, the verb of 2:10) describe the day when each work is shown for what it is. 'Try' is dokimazo, to test, as of faith 'tried with fire' in 1 Pet 1:7, where faith is set beside gold. The fire 'shall try every man's work of what sort it is'.

Verse 15

he shall suffer loss — Zemioo, to suffer damage or forfeit, the verb of Matt 16:26, 'lose his own soul', and Phil 3:8, 'I have suffered the loss of all things'. The loss here is of the work, and the man himself 'shall be saved; yet so as by fire', like 'a brand plucked out of the fire' (Zech 3:2).

Verse 16

the temple of God — 'Temple' is naos, the sanctuary itself, and 'ye' is plural. The Spirit 'dwelleth' (oikeo) in them, the verb of Rom 8:9, 'if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you'. The same claim is made in 2 Cor 6:16, 'ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them'.

Verse 17

him shall God destroy — One verb, phtheiro, stands for both 'defile' and 'destroy': to corrupt or ruin. The one who ruins the temple is ruined by God, for 'the temple of God is holy'. The warning continues the building figure, and the place ruined is where 'the Spirit of God dwelleth' (v.16).

Verse 18

let him become a fool, that he may be wise — 'Deceive' is exapatao, to deceive thoroughly, the verb of Rom 7:11 and 16:18. 'Fool' (moros) is the root of 'foolishness' (moria) in 1:18 and 2:14. The man who seems 'wise in this world' is under the woe of Isa 5:21, 'wise in their own eyes', and 1:21 names the way: 'the foolishness of preaching'.

Verse 19

He taketh the wise in their own craftiness — A quotation of Job 5:13 in the words of the KJV. 'Taketh' (drassomai, to grasp) is found only here in the New Testament, and 'craftiness' is panourgia, as in 'cunning craftiness' (Eph 4:14). 'The wisdom of this world' (kosmos) is 'foolishness with God', the judgment already given in 1:20.

Verse 21

let no man glory in men — 'Glory' is kauchaomai, the verb of 1:31, 'He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord', which echoes Jer 9:24. The boast 'I am of Paul' (1:12) puts a man where the Lord belongs. 'All things are yours' is the gift Paul states in Rom 8:32, 'shall he not with him also freely give us all things?'

Verse 22

Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas — Eight things are named, and the first three are the names of 1:12; Cephas is Peter's Aramaic name (John 1:42). The rest are 'the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come', which Paul lists again in Rom 8:38, 'neither death, nor life… nor things present, nor things to come'.

Verse 23

ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's — The chain ends at God. In 1:12 'I of Christ' was one party among others; here all believers are Christ's, and Christ is God's. 11:3 gives the order, 'the head of Christ is God', and 15:28 the end of it, 'that God may be all in all'.