1 Cor. 3:10-23 - Builders and Boasters?

When you boast in Christ, it affects how you build, how you respond (work) for Him and for His glory.

“All things are yours” - God gives the church all things, just like all was given to Adam - to us PROPERLY, and WISELY, according to GOD’S wisdom!

The church does not belong to us, we belong to the church, and the church belongs to Christ

What has God given the church

Leaders - use your leaders wisely, learn from, etc.

Present opportunity

Future promise of glory

The world - to possess the word is to be free from its threat

Life and death - awareness of our mortality, should prompt reliance on Him, not us - if THIS life is what you live for, you will be disappointed

FUTURE - similar to , fellow heirs

Paul has corrected their divisions - a positive outcome, BOAST in GOD

1:31, 2:16, and here, possess all things. Use all things to His Glory

The Building

The Building

The building activities were the result of the grace of God (works AFTER salvation/receiving grace)

Field - God owns it and makes it productive

Building - God owns it, and inspects the quality of each builder

This project, as a whole, takes a lot of time, lots of workers doing their part - big picture has to be in mind

No matter when you “got hired” or came to the job site, you have a job to do

Fire destroys everything except the most durable materials

Gold, silver, stones, BELIEVERS

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The First Letter to the Corinthians b. The Corinthians Are God’s Building (3:10–15)

To spell it out, building materials that will be burned up are those in keeping with human wisdom instead of the wisdom of God, which is the fullness of the message of the cross

How are we to be judged? Based on whether we live according to human wisdom or God’s wisdom. The wisdom of the cross: the cross is not merely an “entrance point” to heaven (salvation), but a life-long guide to the wisdom we follow.

Follow the “foolish” aspect of the cross? - God’s wisdom

Conform to the world - man’s wisdom

Look at our “building” - How we serve is directly tied to the local church, the establishment ordained by God (clear that He has)

Sunday-onlys: not much in the way of building