1 Corinthians 2:10-3:23

1 Corinthians 2:10 “these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”

-  This is the heart of Paul’s argument that he has been stating all along.  We cannot even see let alone understand the wisdom of God (the gospel) unless the spirit reveal it to us.  That man does not nor has ever possess the ability to understand the Gospel but rather it must be revealed to him.

1 Corinthians 2:11–12 “For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.”

Paul is beginning to explain another very important reality.The Corinthians viewed their experience in Spiritual Gifts as the ultimate expression of our faith.That it meant that they had arrived and in the process deny the physical body and seek only after the ecstasy of the manifestation of the Spirit.      

Paul is beginning to explain that the Spirit’s purpose isn’t an ends in and of itself but rather a means to an end.The expression of Spiritual gifts is meant to reveal the true depths of God’s Spirit- salvation through Jesus Christ (a true understanding of the gospel) (so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us) 

1 Corinthians 2:13 “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.”

Paul is now basing the authority of his teaching on the revelation of the Spirit of God. 

While the Corinthian church in their arrogance though of Paul’s teaching as milk rather than true spiritual meat, Paul was telling them the message of the cross was spiritual meat but since they were focusing on the manifestation of the Spirit they were actually hooked on the milk, because the Spirit reveals the true wisdom so it is a precursor to the revolution of the cross which is what actually changes us. 

Remember it is our submission to the work of the Holy Spirit that allows us to live out the reality of a redeemed life.Not the other way around. We cannot be redeemed without first the spirit working in us.And we cannot live the redeemed life (righteousness, holiness etc.unless the spirit of God enables us)     

1 Corinthians 2:14–16 “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

- Paul is making a distinction between those who are of the flesh and those who are of the spirit.  Remember Paul’s development of the great mystery of God isn’t that there is some unknown reality from God the only some believers know.  It is the Gospel.  And Paul is saying that there isn’t a distinction in Christianity between believers (more spiritual or less spiritual) it is that we are all born of the spirit and have had the mystery of Christ revealed to us through His spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:1–3 “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?”

So remember I said that one of the main questions being asked and addressed in this letter is “what does it mean to be truly spiritual” Another question is “what does it mean to be wise”

These are at the heart of the accusations they have leveled against Paul and were really at the heart of the poison that was infecting the church.

While we need to acknowledge the fact that these people have received they Spirit of God. They have been saved they are filled however they aren’t acting like it and Paul is making the two realities (being of the Spirit and being divided) 

Paul is saying that they cannot call themselves Christians if they are divided so they need to knock it off.

So as we said before they thing they are more spiritual than even Paul they are actually divided which is evidence that they are not acting like people who are of the spirit.In fact they are fleshly.Their actions have indicted them.   

When Paul was with them he couldn’t go into much depth because they needed to hear the simplicity of the Gospel because they hadn’t believed yet

And because they had exchanged the centrality of Christ with the earthy wisdom of themselves and other philosophers they had missed the whole point behind the Gospel to begin with.

1 Corinthians 3:3–7 “You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”  

-  We need to remember this today as well.  You are not my people, this is not my church.  You are God’s people and this is His Church.  And we, as teachers and leaders are here to serve not to create our own following.

1 Corinthians 3:7–9 “So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”

So understand God owns the fruit, God owns the field and God owns the workers.He receives the credit, he receives the harvest and we have the privilege to use whatever gifts he has given us.  

So who is Paul, who is Apollos, who is Mac, who is Thor.Jesus must be the very center of it ll.He is the only one we should belong to.   

I was listening to a lesson by Gordon Fee regarding this passage, and he relayed something very poignant.He said we spend a lot of time wondering who the our leader is, who do we serve, who do we answer to in the church when really what we should be asking is “who is serving”Paul is speaking out against them placing too high a value on what the world seems as wise.   

You are God’s building. 

-  One thing must be clear, we cannot read ourselves into these passages.  Paul is very specifically talking to the Church as a community not individuals.  And this is important because I’m sure there were some wonderful people who were not caught up in all of the divisions but the reality is that all the strife had poisoned the entire community.  

1 Corinthians 3:10–11 “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

-  This is a great waring to those that are one of those gifts to the Church.  We all jut work for God and he actually grows the thing but be careful how you serve his kingdom.  You must always build on no other foundation than Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 3:12–15 “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”

Again he isn’t talking to those that are outside of the faith and at this moment he isn’t even talking to the the everyday person who believes in Christ, He is talking to those that are building the faith of those they are influencing.   

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”

Again don’t think that we are talking to individual people but His Church collectively.  

They poison of tribe and division that was being spread by “people of the faith” but were acting like “people of the flesh and it was poisoning the entire temple.They are individually the temple of God yes, but Paul is speaking to the entire Church, they are collectively the temple of God as well.But the leaders and teachers were not caring for the Church.   

They as a Church were supposed to stand in stark contrast to the culture of the world.They were to provide an alternative culture and alternative way of life. 

1 Corinthians 3:18–23 “Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you 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.” So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.”

-  So in the beginning of this letter we see Paul complaint about the fact the people were saying “ I belong to Paul or Apollos”  when in reality they belonged to the people.