[Note: The following is something I wrote and
had posted on my former website (pre-blog days).]

Some passages of Scripture suffer from distortion of interpretation due to the perceptual baggage that readers bring to them. 1 Corinthians 3 is a chapter that fits this category of poor interpretation. So, I'm providing this brief personal commentary on the chapter to help clarify what it is really saying. Please read slowly, thoughtfully and carefully. Let's look at the immediate context of the chapter and compare it with other relevant passages, letting Scripture interpret Scripture.

Milk or Meat?

 (1 Corinthians 3:1 ASV) And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ.

(1 Corinthians 3:2 ASV) I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able;

All fields of learning must be approached starting with the basics, at least whenever novices are involved. This is built right into our educational system. A freshman college student wouldn't ordinarily attempt (or even be permitted) to take a 400 level Chemistry class just because she was thinking about that subject for a Major. An exception would be made for a prodigy that had already mastered the basics before college, and could demonstrate said mastery through testing or other means.

The same principle applies to spiritual truths. Though the Good News of Jesus Christ can be understood by all who have an ear to hear, the deeper truths of Scripture can only be grasped with time and experience. The simple things must be known and comprehended before the intermediate, and so forth. Thus, the average unbaptized person who is not certain about Christ being the only was of salvation would not necessarily be helped by being taught the ins and outs of the major Christological controversies of the first centuries AD. Studies of the Mosaic law would be lost on new believers in Christ, who -- like infants -- must learn to crawl before they can walk.

The Apostle Peter, along with all the apostles, understood this when he said, "as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation" (1 Peter 2:2 ASV).

The writer of Hebrews rebuked some of the early Christians for not making better progress in their Christian lives when he wrote:

"For when by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food. For every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe. But solid food is for fullgrown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil" (Hebrews 5:12-14 ASV).Apparently, the Corinthian Christians were suffering from a similar malady, as we shall now see.

Strife and Faction

 (1 Corinthians 3:3 ASV) 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?

(1 Corinthians 3:4 ASV) For when one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men?

Conflict in a church is one of the most painful things a believer can go through. Whether it's the color of the carpet or what to do with a preacher caught in adultery, when conflict and division comes great distress is shared by all. It is a sad situation, and one that can have repercussions that never fully fade in this life. A church can be destroyed, and if not closed it may well simply limp along for years without recovery. People who leave are often bitter, and children who are exposed to it can grow up skeptical about religion in general and about Christianity in particular.

In the Corinthian church, people were taking foolish pride in certain men. They were claiming this man or that as their spiritual leader and benefactor. The church was being torn apart by unholy devotion to personalities. How often have we seen a church in our day that was not a church of Christ, but rather a "Church of Pastor Jones" or "Brother Billy's Church?" Even in churches that aren't dictatorially controlled by the minister we see this problem, particularly when he moves on somewhere else. A church of 100 in attendance can easily dip to 60 or fewer in a matter of weeks.

Arguing and fussing isn't the way the Lord wants His Church.

"If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others" (Philippians 2:1-4 ASV).

Who Really Matters?

 (1 Corinthians 3:5 ASV) What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him.

(1 Corinthians 3:6 ASV) I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

(1 Corinthians 3:7 ASV) So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

(1 Corinthians 3:8 ASV) Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.

(1 Corinthians 3:9 ASV) For we are God's fellow-workers: ye are God's husbandry, God's building.

This is a truly beautiful description of the church's real relationship with God and with those in church leadership

In verse 5 the preachers are credited as being those through whom the Corinthians heard and obeyed the Gospel of Christ. In verse 6 the Apostle Paul states that he planted the seed of God's word, more than likely he is referring to having started the church in Corinth. Then Apollos is mentioned as having "watered" the field. In other words, Paul started the church, but Apollos did the work of an evangelist in teaching and preaching the Gospel on a regular basis, keeping the church going. But the fruit, Paul tells us, came from God. Paul and Apollos, as obedient servants, did their part...but the increase and growth of the church came from God.

The One Who is truly important in this picture is God. If a church is of Paul, Apollos, Martin Luther, John Wesley or some other man but not of God in Christ, then it is nothing.

In verse 9 Paul makes it clear that he and the other Apostles, Prophets, Elders and Evangelists are mere men working together in God's vineyard. The people of God are His "husbandry" or "building." God is building a community made out of people who love and obey Him, and He is using men to call this community into being with His Word.

The One Foundation

 (1 Corinthians 3:10 ASV) 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.

(1 Corinthians 3:11 ASV) For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Most traditional hymnbooks in English contain that classic hymn "The Church's One Foundation." It's a beautiful song and very true.

The Apostle Paul affirms in the passage above that he was given grace by God to be a "wise masterbuilder." In the Old Testament we see God's Spirit teaching and enabling certain men to make vestments, furniture and constructions for the earthly, physical temple (Ex. 28:23; 31:3; 35:31). It would seem that Paul claimed similar divine instruction in how to go about establishing the Lord's church.

The foundation that Paul laid was that of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) and the only way of salvation (John 14:6). Although Paul laid the correct foundation, he warned in verse 10 that any who would build on this foundation should "take heed."

The church in Corinth was established on the Gospel truth of Jesus Christ. Now, any who would work with that church and lead it would have to be careful not to teach out of accord with God's will. All instruction and leading would have to be based on God's revealed Word and should draw the members nearer to Christ.

Summarizing before we continue: The building is the people of God. The preachers are the builders. The foundation of God's building is Jesus Christ.

Building a Solid Church

(1 Corinthians 3:12 ASV) But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble;

(1 Corinthians 3:13 ASV) 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.

(1 Corinthians 3:14 ASV) If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.

(1 Corinthians 3:15 ASV) If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.

Verse 12 continues the comparison of the people of God to a building under construction. The labor put forth is compared in quality to "gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay stubble." This should be fairly simple to grasp. Some preachers do an excellent job, presenting the whole counsel of God in their preaching and teaching, building up the church (God's people) with the good material of sound doctrine from the Word of God. Other ministers teach from God's word, but their teaching is weak, superficial or insubstantial.

The church with doctrinally sound preaching might or might not grow numerically, but if the evangelist has really done his job, then when times of trial and testing come, the church will continue on firm because the individual members are solidly grounded in the Truth. The church with an unsound preacher might grow exponentially, but just wait for trials to come! As soon as difficulty arises the members scatter and perhaps even renounce their faith.

Each worker's labor will be "revealed by fire." As some often say, "The proof is in the pudding." If a preacher builds a weak church on the foundation of Christ, when testing comes the church might well fall apart, but the preacher can still be saved. If he is in a right relationship with God, he can be saved, though as one fleeing from a burning building. A good preacher who stands by the true teaching of Scripture, though, can be assured that the result of his effort will be a strong church that can distinguish between good and evil, and even suffer hardship for the Gospel of Christ.

The Church is God's Temple

 (1 Corinthians 3:16 ASV) Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

(1 Corinthians 3:17 ASV) If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye.

Ephesians 2:19-22 also describes the church of God as a temple. The church as a whole is a temple of God on earth, but individual Christians are elsewhere described also as temples of the Holy Spirit. This has caused some confusion in many circles. A while back I saw a portion of a discourse by the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He spoke of the need for people to abide by their "Word of Wisdom" and not smoke, drink or do other thinks that pollute the body. Sadly, he quoted the above verse from 1 Corinthians 3 an misapplied it to our physical bodies. He probably meant to refer to the verse in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20:

"Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body" (ASV).In brief, 1 Corinthians 3 is talking about the body of believers being the "husbandry," "building" or "temple," not the individual believers. At the same time, 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 is talking about the individual, personal bodies of Christians.The difference this makes for interpretation is enormous.

God's Wisdom vs. Man's Foolishness

 (1 Corinthians 3:18 ASV) 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.

(1 Corinthians 3:19 ASV) For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He that taketh the wise in their craftiness:

(1 Corinthians 3:20 ASV) and again, The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise that they are vain.

Rarely does anyone consciously think that they can really outwit God, but in practice most of us do behave as though we can do better than God. Many people openly second guess and reject Scripture on the grounds that it is "barbaric" or otherwise beneath them. It is funny how high-minded modern people think they can do better philosophically that the Bible. The truth is that they have not given an adequate chance to Scripture. Instead, they judge it based on a thin reading, preconceived notions and/or a moral and intellectual evaluation of some people who believe in and claim to follow the Bible.

God is greater than all.

Keeping First Things First

 (1 Corinthians 3:21 ASV) Wherefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours;

(1 Corinthians 3:22 ASV) whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

(1 Corinthians 3:23 ASV) and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

We must keep things in perspective. Our faith cannot be founded on individual, fallible human beings. No prophet, priest or pastor has the last word about our salvation...none other than Christ who was and is our Prophet/Priest/Pastor. And this Holy One is the only-begotten Son of God.

Anyone who is in Christ in an heir of God, an adopted child. All things belong to those who remain with Him until the end.

______________________________________________________________________

Copyright 2005 Adam W. Gonnerman -- Permission is granted to reprint, copy, and distribute in any format this study in its entirety so long as this complete copyright notice is included.
 


Comments




Leave a Reply