1 Corintians 3

The Passage that I chose is 1 Corinthians 3:1-15 Paul is addressing the Corinthians regarding their spiritual growth. I don’t think it needs a ton of intro so lets just jump right in. I want to read the whole passage just so we can get the full idea.

1 Corinthians 3:1–15 NASB95

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? 5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Spiritual Appetite (1-3)

1 Corinthians 3:1 NASB95

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.

Paul says he could not speak to them as mere men. (Could Not) Why is it in the past tense? Its because he is speaking of his meeting prior with the Church of Corinth. We find this in Acts 18. And just to give you a little background lets do a quick recap of what happened last time in Corinth. Paul was in Corinth for a good amount of time. We know that it was at least 18 months. So… plenty of time to establish relationships with believers that were already there such as Priscilla, Aquila, and Titus Justus. But most of his time he spent preaching and teaching the gospel. He was meet with a decent amount of hostility and persecution especially from the Jews there. But God spoke to Paul and told him to go on speaking because he had many people there. Acts 18:9-10

Acts 18:9–10 NASB95

And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

Many people repented and were baptised including some higher ranking people such as Crispus the leader of the local Synagogue and his household. So the Church was established and the people asked Paul to stay. He declined and told them that He would return if God wills it.

Sweet, now that we have that info lets jump right back to the Passage.

1 Corinthians 3:1–2 NASB95

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,

Its understandable that the Corinthian Church would be imature in there last visit with Paul being brand new converts. But this almost feels like frustration from Paul as he finds them again, still not able to take the solid food because of imaturity. And I want to ask you guys. What do you think Paul means by sold food and milk? (If we think about milk you know its always taken from either an animal or a nursing mother. No major work has to be done on the part of the consumer. There is no preparing biting or chewing involved. Whereas solid food has to be thought through. Its something that may have taken hours to make. It has to be bitten off or broken apart chewed and digested. I think its kind of the same thing here in regards to what the church was able to receive. There is a similar passage in Hebrews that I think supports my claim. Its chapter 5 verses 12-14

Hebrews 5:12–14 NASB95

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

I came up with two definitions for these types of spiritual food.

MILK (Teachings by someone else that are easy to process and apply)

SOLID FOOD (Refined doctrines that are studied and meditated on and now ready to be taught to others)

So I think Paul’s main point here is that the Church of Corinth is not yet self sufficient. They are only able to feed of the teaching of others. There are some things that Paul is about to point out that need to change before the Church can become healthy, growing, able to do so on its own.

1 Corinthians 3:3 NASB95

for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

Jealousy and strife! Its interesting that these are the first two things that Paul might bring up. Especially when we read later in the book of some of the other things that are happening in the church. It might seem insignificant to us. I mean it seems almost like a given that there would be a little jealousy and a little strife every once in a while in a church. But Paul says that these are characteristics of mere men. Men without the sanctifying work of Christ. Its easy for us to get caught up in comparing ourselves to others. And as were about to see comparing spiritual status with other believers is never good.

Superior Authority (4-9)

1 Corinthians 3:4–5 NASB95

4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? 5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.

You can almost picture these arguments. Say two believers were talking about a passage in the old testament and conflicting conclusion came about. One of them might have said “well your obviously not gonna be able to divide the word like I am. I learned from Paul; The super apostle. Who did you learn form? Oh Apollos, yeah, he isn’t well known like Paul is”. and then the other might say. Oh yeah well I hear that Paul is 70 years old he’s probably delusional by now. Apollos he is much more put together.

It seems silly but don’t we at times do the same thing?

We hold up different preachers and authors up on such high pedistals. Because if Johnny Mac said it then it has to be gospel. This is so dangerous. Because it makes us dependent on the milk. Were not dividing the word for ourselves. And our own personal time with the Lord is not what it should be.

The Corinthians were so focused on Paul or Apollos they missed the whole point. These Apostles were there to point them to Christ. To get them established in the Word so that they could study it themselves.

1 Corinthians 3:6–7 NASB95

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

Paul and Apollos did their jobs. They had faithfully taken the word where The Lord had commanded them. Paul brought them the gospel and Apollos came later and built on that foundation. They were merely tools used by God in his plan of redemption for the Corinthians. And as Christians that’s what we are tools in the hand of the almighty to bring about his Will. Its pretty amazing to think about God’s intricate design and his plan of how He will bring Salvation to all his chosen ones. Lets look back at that verse in Acts.

Acts 18:9–10 NASB95

9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

“I have many people in this city.” That’s a pretty cool statement. The Lord has people in the city of Corinth. Paul was faithful in being God’s tool for the spread of the gospel there.

1 Corinthians 3:8 NASB95

8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

The end of verse 8 says that each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. We can’t expect to have a deep relationship with the Lord if all we are receiving is second hand truths. How much of a friend would someone be to you if you only heard about them from someone else and never spent any time with them? Your view of them would be only what that other person describes of them. it would be so impersonal. In fact they wouldn’t really be a friend at all. They would just be a friend of a friend.

I believe Paul is saying that the Corinthians need to focus on their own relationship with the Lord. Their own journey closer to Holiness and its gonna be work and not easy work. They need to train themselves in Christ to be able to handle the solid food. Like he talked about at the beginning of the chapter.

These believers needed to be equipped to build on the foundation of Christ which was set up by Paul in obedience to God.

Strength of Application (9-13)

1 Corinthians 3:9–11 NASB95

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

So Paul gives a command and a warning. Build but be careful! Even though a good foundation has been laid it is still possible for the building to be built improperly. If half were built on the foundation and the other half was built outside of it there would be some issues. Sometimes we think that were are serving. When in reality we might be just doing it for our own personal gain. Maybe it is to achieve some sort of spiritual status that we think others will be impressed with. We can even read the word just to check some sort of spiritual box or to feel better about yourself. That is why it is so important to test our heart attitude. Because its so easy for our hearts to get off track. Psalm 139:23-24

Psalm 139:23–24 NASB95

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

We search our hearts by seeing if it lines up with Gods Word. hebrews 4:12 says

Hebrews 4:12 NASB95

12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The passage goes on to say the the quality of each man’s work will be tested with fire

1 Corinthians 3:12–15 NASB95

12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Paul is telling the Corinthians to test themselves test their hearts. Why are they doing what they are doing? A distraction for this church in particular was superior spiritual status. And of course it is a good thing to develop a deep relationship with the Lord. Its a good thing to continue to serve and give in greater amounts. But only when the goal is being used by God for His glory. To build on the foundation of Christ. Sacrificial, God-focused, service to Him.

Takeaways

Are we growing? We have been given a great gift in having the inspired Word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NASB95

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2. Keep your heart in check. Its something we need to daily. I know that I often fall into the trap of letting my motives or desires be the reason why I serve. So lets