Walking Through Corinth Chapter 3 part 2. Building on Solid Ground.

Wisdom: Building on Solid Ground

What Are You Building On?

A few years ago, a builder in Florida got a call about a house that was cracking apart. Doors wouldn't close right.

Floors were sloping.

Windows had cracks running corner to corner.

The owners thought it was a plumbing leak, or maybe the drywall settling. They called someone to patch the cracks, paint over it, fix the surface.

But the builder didn't even walk inside.

He walked around the perimeter of the house first and he found it in about five minutes. The foundation had been poured over unstable, improperly compacted soil.

Everything above it the walls, the roof, the rooms where that family ate dinner and celebrated birthdays and tucked their kids in at night all of it was sound.

The materials were good.

The craftsmanship was fine.

But none of it mattered, because the ground underneath was never solid to begin with.

You can't fix a foundation problem with a paint job.

Here's the thing ,every one of us is building something.

A life, a family, a career, a legacy.

And most of us spend our time and energy on what's visible the walls, the paint, the furniture.

We work on our reputation.

We work on our schedule.

We work on how things look from the outside.

But few of us stop and ask the question that actually matters: What am I building on?

Because if the foundation is wrong, it doesn't matter how good your materials are.

It doesn't matter how hard you work, how disciplined you are, how impressive the structure looks from the street.

Eventually maybe not today, maybe not this year the cracks are going to show.

And when they do, they won't be a surface problem.

They'll be a foundation problem.

The apostle Paul wrote to a church that was cracking. Not because they lacked talent or passion they had plenty of both. They were cracking because they'd started arguing over which teacher to follow, comparing themselves to each other, building their identity on things that were never meant to hold that kind of weight.

So Paul stops them and asks the same question we're going to ask today:

What are you building?

What are you building it on? And when the fire comes because it will, will what you've built survive?

Foundation in Christ and Building Materials

1 Corinthians 3:10–13 MEV

According to the grace of God which has been given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, but another builds on it. Now let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no one can lay another foundation than that which was laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble, each one’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done.

IT is so important to have a strong foundation to build upon.

A Solid Ground.

To live like a Christian is like constructing a building.

First thing is making sure your foundation is correct. What are you building upon? My pastor friends and I were discussing a few things the other day and a few pastors who some would consider celebrities were brought up.

One could make the argument that if you build your foundation on what we hear the majority from those guys.

Our foundation would be built with wood, hay, and straw.

What is your foundation on?

The Greek word for Wood here intends to be a wood that is cheap, temporary, perishable, not meant for lasting.

Things like, I followed Apollos because he preached in this way or this manner.

Feel good messages that get you through the week because they hit the spot for the moment that you were in, only to not stand the test of the fire and get burnt up.

Hay and straw should never be a building material it'll get you out of the cold, but would never work and stay for the tenure of a building. Eventually those materials will fail, they’ll rot they will fall to the wayside.

We can liken these type of materials like:

Pray this prayer and you will receive $1000 by the end of it.

I can live like I want and still make it to Heaven.

I don't have to have fellowship or get into my Word or have a relationship.

Preaching only for feel good moments.

Paul talks about this type and style of preaching to Timothy in his second letter to him

2 Timothy 4:3 MEV

For the time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine, but they will gather to themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, having itching ears,

If I do this certain amount of good things in this certain amount of time then I will make it to Heaven.

All of these things are building your house upon things that will burn and fall to the wayside.

They look good in the moment, they look presentable and nice for a second but they do not last. Most church and parsonage physical buildings are built like this. This is the cheapest thing, this is the item that will get us by in the moment with no thought of the future, and the structure seems to always fail, and I get it things like this are donation based and it feels like we can’t afford this or that etc etc.

The fact remains church, your life, your family’s lives are all more important than trying to find the cheapest material that will get you by in this season.

Singular verses picked out to make you feel good for the moment, to get you by. They may keep you warm, but they will not last.

Building for Eternity with Lasting Materials

We are told by Paul to build on the things that are gold and precious jewels.

Build your life with eternity in mind.

Jude 21 MEV

Keep yourselves in the love of God while you are waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, which leads to eternal life.

John 12:25 MEV

He who loves his life will lose it. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

John 6:27 MEV

Do not work for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

Paul warns us that the quality of each one's work will be tested by fire.

The Tony Evans Bible Commentary A. Divisions in the Church (1:10–4:21) To seek to obey God's Word and be faithful with what he has given you is to build wisely using precious metals and stones.

But to disregard his Word and live for yourself is to build foolishly using worthless materials.

Such work just won't stand the test.

Church seek strength in genuine commitment to Christ, Ensure that your contributions to the church are enduring and meaningful.

Build conversations and fellowship with those out in the world that need to see the Gospel lived out.

Be available, be of purpose.

Allow yourself to be placed in spaces that allow the Gospel to go forth.

The Day of Judgment and Eternal Rewards

The Tony Evans Bible Commentary A. Divisions in the Church (1:10–4:21)

The day will disclose everyone's work (3:13)—that is, "the day" when Christians stand before the judgment seat of Christ (see 2 Cor 5:10).

Under the revealing gaze of the Lord Jesus, the quality of our work will be tested by fire to determine our level of loss or rewards (3:13).

Those whose deeds and faithfulness withstand the flames will receive a reward (3:14).

But anyone whose work is burned up … will experience loss before Christ.

Though he himself will be saved … as through the fire of Christ's judgment seat, he will receive nothing to show for a life that should have been lived for God.

Don't give God your leftovers; give him the best you've got to offer.

I heard one preacher put it like this, at this time of judgement, you’re going to be faced with your life as it was, and your life as it could have been. You’ll see everytime that you chose to build with hay and straw, and every time that you chose to build with lasting foundations.

That’s when his everlasting grace is revealed when you see what your life could have been versus what your life actually was.

God's Spirit Dwells Within You

4. Witness: Dwelling Together in Spirit 1 Corinthians 3:14–16

1 Corinthians 3:14–16 MEV

If anyone’s work which he has built on the foundation endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, still going through the fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Paul tells the Corinthians that God's own Spirit dwells among them but don't let that truth stay abstract or distant.

Bring it home to yourself.

If the Spirit of God dwells in His people, He dwells in you.

Not in a building, not in a program, not in someone else's ministry in you, specifically, personally, right now.

The place where God has chosen to dwell isn't out there somewhere; it's your heart, your mind, your daily choices.

That is an enormous privilege, and it comes with enormous personal weight.

It is weighty to think that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us. Where we go we take Him with us, what we say We say with Him in us.

Your Choices Build Lasting or Temporary Legacy

And notice the picture right before it the testing by fire.

You are building something on the foundation of Christ with your life: your choices, your words, how you spend your time, how you treat the people in front of you.

Some of what you build is gold and silver and precious stone things done for God's glory, in His strength, for eternal purposes.

Some of it is wood, hay, and stubble things that looked fine in the moment but were really about your own name, your own comfort, your own kingdom.

Paul says a day is coming when fire will reveal which is which.

You are saved either way, but what you built, whether it lasts or burns up, is very much in question.

This is personal.

Your growth isn't something you can outsource to someone else's faithfulness, and it isn't something you can hide behind a crowd.

When you mature spiritually, when you actually build with lasting material, that's a decision only you can make, day by day, in the small moments nobody else sees.

Four Practical Steps for Spiritual Growth

So what do you do with this?

First, take an honest inventory of your own life.

Ask yourself plainly: is what I'm building right now my time, my habits, my relationships, my private thoughts gold, silver, and precious stone, or is it wood, hay, and stubble?

You don't have to wait for the fire to ask yourself that question now. Now would be the time to change it from building with those faulty building supplies. Now would be the time to make a change in what you’re doing.

Second, remember that the Spirit lives in you specifically, and that should change how you treat other people.

If God's presence dwells in you, then gossip, bitterness, refusing to forgive those aren't just bad habits, they're things you're doing while carrying God's presence inside you.

Let that reality shape your words before they leave your mouth.

Third, let the presence of the Spirit inside you be your personal filter for temptation. When you're tempted, when you're drawn back to the things of the world, remember: God's Spirit resides in me would I take Him around that?

Would I want Him here when I commit that sin?

If you run your decisions the "can I do this" and "should I do that" moments through that one question, you'll find yourself pausing a lot more often before you act.

Fourth, invest in what lasts. Pour your own time into prayer, the Word, and genuine service to others — not because it's flashy, but because it's the kind of building material that survives the fire, and it's material only you can lay down with your own life.

True Wisdom vs. Worldly Wisdom

1 Corinthians 3:18–20 MEV

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”

Notice how Paul starts: "Let no one deceive himself." Not "let no one deceive you" — deceive himself. The most dangerous lie isn't the one someone else tells you. It's the one you tell yourself about how wise you really are.

We live in a culture that has its own blueprints for a good life get ahead, look out for yourself first, chase comfort, chase applause.

And it can look wise. It can look like the smart way to build.

But Paul says the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

That means some of what you're building with some of the materials you've picked up from culture, from comparison, from what "everybody knows works" might be wood, hay, and stubble dressed up to look like gold.

So ask yourself: whose blueprint am I actually building by? God's wisdom often looks foolish to the world:

turning the other cheek,

giving instead of grasping,

trusting instead of controlling.

And the world's wisdom often looks foolish to God.

You can't build a lasting structure using a foolish set of plans, no matter how smart they look on paper.

Your Inheritance in Christ — No Boasting in Men

1 Corinthians 3:21–23 MEV

Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Remember how this chapter started arguments over which teacher was better, "I follow Paul," "I follow Apollos."

Paul's been correcting that division the whole time it almost feels like we will never get out of this, he spends 4 whole chapters because if you read ahead next week to chapter 4 you’ll see that same theme Stop causing Divisions.

Division is destructing to churches.

Division is destructing to families.

Division is Destructing.

Here is what Paul says to hopefully get us to stop causing Division, he says : stop boasting in men.

Why? Because you don't need to.

"All things are yours."

Not Paul's.

Not Apollos'.

Yours. Whatever leader you admire, whatever teacher shaped you, whatever built into your life — none of that is where your security comes from.

You don't have to pick a side and defend it like your identity depends on it.

Your identity was settled already: "You are Christ's, and Christ is God's."

That's the whole chain.

You belong to Christ;

Christ belongs to God.

Nothing missing, nothing to prove, nothing to fight over. It's the foundation underneath everything Paul has already said in this chapter.

You can examine your building materials honestly, without despair, because your standing isn't up for review.

You can let go of worldly wisdom, without fear of losing status, because your value was never tied to looking impressive. You already belong to Christ.

Building a Legacy That Endures

The work built on Christ will endure.

Make sure what you're building with your own choices, your own time, your own heart is worth enduring.

Don't build by the world's wisdom, no matter how smart it looks on paper.

And don't boast in men, as if your identity depends on which teacher or leader you follow.

You already belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God that's not up for review.

So build from that place.

Build knowing who you are, not to prove who you are.

That's the kind of work that survives the fire.

Conclusion: Let me leave you with this as a lasting point as we close out chapter 3.

It seems to be that the totality of the chapter boils down to this:

Security vs Insecurity.

We all if we are honest probably deal with insecurity of some sort. We aren’t enough. We haven’t arrived, we don’t know what tomorrow holds, it at times can creep in quietly, sneaking in and making us fearful of what to expect.

Paul shuts this out with these verses.

1 Corinthians 3:21–23 MEV

Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

The World, Life, Death, the present, and things to come are all yours. and You are Christ and Christ is God’s.

Whatever and wherever you find yourself understand this, if you know Christ You are His and He will not leave nor forsake.

He does not have any insecurity in Him, but in fact He remains Secure and gives us the ability to remain Secure in Him.

This is the Security of the Believer, that if we know Christ, We can be secure in our salvation, our future, and yes even in our death.