1 Corinthians 3
Labels:
Important messages
Chapter 3
Carnality versus spirituality
1.
But
I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the
flesh, as infants in Christ.
2.
I fed
you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you
are not yet ready,
3.
for
you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you,
are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
4.
For
when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not
being merely human?
The Corinthians were in a contradictory state. On the one
hand they were certainly people, who were recipients of the grace of God. They
were rich in Christian speech and wisdom, and were receiving and practicing spiritual
gifts. Yet, Paul said that they were still in the flesh. He went to Corinth
somewhere near 52 A.D. and this letter is written from Ephesus around 56 to 57
A.D., so they had been Christians for four or five years. They are still
infants (1).
Fleshly-minded people follow men and put their trust in
men and their ministries. Because different men and ministries have been
presented to the Corinthians, there are different opinions about which one has
been the most profitable to them (4). Therefore there is jealousy and strife
between the different members of the church (3). In his second letter to them,
Paul revealed his goal to betroth “you
to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ” (2 Co.11:2). When
this goal is reached in a practical, heart-felt sense, then Christians reach a
spiritual state and the factions cease.
Fleshly-minded people think like men and function, in a
practical sense, according to human ability and wisdom. The wonderful truth of
being espoused to Christ alone has not yet illuminated their minds and hearts
and so they remain in a carnal state. They have profited from the “pure spiritual milk”, but are still
not ready for solid food (2).
Isaiah 55:7-9 demands repentance from a sinner’s ways and
thoughts: “Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord.” If
a person is to turn to God, he must forsake his ways and thoughts, because God
says, “My thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” God’s ways and thoughts are far
superior to his: “As the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than
your thoughts.”
Mature Christians not only have the mind of Christ
dwelling in them, as stated in chapter 2:16, but His thinking dominates their
thoughts and His ways dominate their actions. They are experiencing a radical
change, being “transformed by the
renewal of your mind” (Ro.12:2a). Because they are learning God’s ways,
they are able to “discern what is the
will of God” (Ro.12:2b). Because they think and act in a godly way,
different from the world around them, therefore they are not “conformed to this world” (Ro.12:2c).
They live in a completely different realm, not only from the world’s people,
but from that of Christians, who still, in large part, see things from a
worldly perspective.
Christians are not to be mere men and women. The most basic and decisive difference, which exists
on this planet is not a racial or national one, between Africans, Asians,
Europeans, or Native Americans, nor is it a sexual one, between males and
females. The great distinction between created beings is whether they have been
born twice or only once. A Christian is born-again; he is born from above, his
citizenship is in heaven, and he is a supernatural child of God.
Jesus taught this clearly to His disciples: “If you were of the world, the world would
love you as its own, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out
of the world, therefore the world hates you” (Jn.15:19). This hatred,
caused by the marked contrast between Christians and the citizens of the world,
is the reason that martyrdom multiplies in this “civilized” 21th
Century. The 20th Century produced more martyrs than ever before,
since and including the time of the apostles.
God and His servants
5.
What
then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord
assigned to each.
6.
I
planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
7.
So
neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the
growth.
8.
He
who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according
to his labor.
9.
For
we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
10. According to the grace of God given to me,
like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building
upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.
11. For no one can lay a foundation other than
that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Paul defines himself, Apollos and their particular
ministries. The Greek noun is diakonos
and we have it translated here servants. A
true minister of the gospel is a servant; first, he is a servant of Christ and
then he is a servant of the people. He never rises to any level beyond that.
The Lord has called him and given him his assignment. He is called to serve the
people, in order that they might come into faith (5).
Paul was basically a planter in Corinth and Apollos was
the irrigator. Their lowly service was dwarfed by the life-producing power of
God (6). In a true sense, Paul and Apollos are observers, who have the
privilege of being close enough to God, in order to contemplate His matchless
work. The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares reveals that even in the matter of
sowing the seed, human beings are simple laborers, but Christ must cause the
seed to penetrate the soil and sprout: “The
one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man” (Mt.13:37). All the credit
and all the glory belongs to God and the believer must focus on Him (7).
Christ’s true ministers work together for a common goal.
So it was between Paul and Apollos and so it must be today. If there is strife
and jealousy among the ministers, nothing more can be expected from the
converts. That will be a condition taken into account, when the rewards are
handed out. However, the rewards themselves will be given individually: “Each of us will give an account of himself
to God” (Ro.14:12). There will be no team awards (8).
Every servant is called of God and labors with Him and
under Him. I see no room for self-appointment or man-made plans. The servant will
be in the yoke with Christ, working closely with him, to carry out the purposes
of God. The disciple must follow Christ; the yoke is not elastic! Paul says
that the Corinthians are God’s field or God’s building (9).
He changes the analogy now, in order to speak as a
constructor. However the former analogy of a field, in which only God gives the
growth, is still in play. When it comes to building, “except the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Ps.127:1).
Because the minister is a simple servant does not mean that he is not skilled. He
is working with divine grace and heaven’s work requires supernatural skill and
gifts of the Holy Spirit. The apostolic ministry is foundational, upon which
everything else must be built. The building is only one and God is the
architect, therefore He will bring in many other skilled constructors. We will
learn in the following verses that working on the right building does not
necessarily mean that all will build with the best materials. Care must be
taken (10).
The foundation of all, in which God is involved, is Jesus
Christ. Christ gives us another analogy in John 15:1-8 and begins, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the
vinedresser.” There are many vines, but He is the only true vine and the only one, which the Father planted and, in which
He is intimately involved (11).
Building materials
12. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-
13. each one’s work will become manifest, for
the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire
will test what sort of work each one has done.
14. If the work that anyone has built on the
foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
15. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will
suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Paul gives us a vitally important lesson, which we must
learn as Christians. He showed that the Corinthians, although partakers of God’s
grace and supernaturally endowed with spiritual gifts, were nevertheless
carnal. Now we will see that the work, in which true Christians are involved, is
not necessarily spiritual, but can be very carnal. The famous lady missionary,
Amy Carmichael said, “The work will never
go deeper than we have gone ourselves.” If we are carnal, the work will be
carnal.
He is still talking about God’s building and not about
the personal life of an individual believer. I am happy that he uses valuable
elements as examples of the building materials, because he is discussing a most
extravagant building. It seems to me that some missionaries take the highest
task on earth rather for granted, when I hear them speak somewhat glibly of “church
planting”. In the first place, Christ said, “I will build my church” (Mt.16:18) and in this chapter we are
learning that the apostle is a fellow worker with God. Christ is the architect
of the general body of the church and is the one who calls workers, initiates and
oversees every detail of the local church .The blue print should not be drawn
by human hands.
The apostle divide the materials into two basic groups…
that which is flammable and that which is incombustible. There are three
examples given of each kind: gold, silver and precious stones, then wood, hay
and straw (12). We note again, as in verse 8 (also in verse 10) that the
rewards or lack of rewards involve the individual worker. I will then point out
that in the ESV that the word Day begins
with a capital letter… a very specific day. Most certainly, Paul refers to the
Judgment Seat of Christ, where each one will
give account of his own work. The root word for manifest means shining, and
the revealing element is the fire of God. The flaming eyes of Christ which
clearly discern every work, will set the individual work on fire, and the true
substance of that work will be clear to everyone (13), though its success today
might have many people confused.
If it burns, it is obvious that it is a work of the
flesh, that is, a work of man’s intelligence and capabilities. I believe that
to build with gold, silver and precious stones is to build purely in the power
of the Holy Spirit. It is to build spiritually and supernaturally, with that
which originates in heaven (14). To build with wood, hay and straw is to rely
on human capabilities. Warren Wiersbe states what I have always firmly believed
and states it better and more concisely than I could do:
“There is a wisdom
of this world that works for the world, but it will not work for the church.
The world depends on promotion, prestige, and the influence of money and
important people. The church depends on prayer, the power of the Spirit,
humility, sacrifice, and service. The church that imitates the world may seem
to succeed in time, but it will turn to ashes in eternity. The church in the
book of Acts had none of the ‘secrets of success’ that seem to be important
today. They owned no property; they had no influence in government; they had no
treasury (‘Silver and gold have I none,’ said Peter); their leaders were
ordinary men without special education in the accepted schools; they held no
attendance contests; they brought in no celebrities; and yet they turned the
world upside down!”
“God has a specific
plan for each local church (Phil.2:12-13). Each pastor and church leader must
seek the mind of God for His wisdom. 1 Corinthians 3:19 warns that man’s wisdom
will only trap him (a quotation from Job 5:13) and 1 Corinthians 3:20 warns
that man’s wisdom only leads to vanity and futility (a quotation from
Ps.94:11). Though the church must be identified with the needs of the world, it
must not imitate the wisdom of the world.”
The text makes it clear; the builder will be saved (15).
This is not a lesson concerning salvation and the trial is not one of condemnation,
but of rewards. There are many Christian workers and much ‘church building’,
which will burn, when it is brought to the test. The great need of our times,
when so many attractive means are available, is to see a people, who know what
it means to move under the power and direction of the Holy Spirit. It is
essential and yet extremely rare! Before the flaming eyes of Christ, the
decorative materials used to draw, entertain, and train disciples are seen as
cheap word, hay and straw.
God’s temple, God’s ministers, and God’s
Christ
16. Do you not know that you are God’s temple
and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
17. If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will
destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among
you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may
become wise.
19. For the wisdom of this world is folly with
God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”
20. and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of
the wise, that they are futile.”
21. So let no one boast in men. For all things
are yours,
22. whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the
world or life or death or the present or the future – all are yours,
23. and you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.
God spared nothing in bringing salvation to men: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave
him up for us all” (Ro.8:32). We work with Him, as He builds His temple. He
also gave us the very best in order to carry out the building of His temple,
using evangelism, missions, and Christian discipleship and edification. He
poured out upon us His Holy Spirit (16). In other words, He did more than
shower blessings upon us; He gave us Himself. All has been purchased through
the cost of the blood of His Son. That truth boggles the mind and sets the
mission of the church far above anything upon earth. You must meditate upon it
in order to begin to grasp its significance. I can try to summarize it with four
adjectives: We are involved in the spiritual, the heavenly, the supernatural and
the eternal!
Many have not appreciated the supreme value of that, in which
the Christian is involved, in fact it can even be demeaned. Some cross a thin
line and actually oppose and try to destroy the work of the Lord (17). The apostle gives them a dire warning. The
Reformation cost the blood of martyrs and so did the period following it.
Revival movements, which brought hundreds of thousands to their knees in
repentance, were challenged by those, who thought that they were defending the
church.
Paul returns to the argument against human wisdom. He
quoted Isaiah in chapter 1, “I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise.” All is due to men, who are motivated by it
and by a worldly mentality. They are tied to the earth and fearful of losing
the praise of men. Those who are most beautifully adorned with the wisdom of
men are the most beggarly paupers before God. There
is only one way to deal with that blemish, when it is found in an individual in
the church. He must repent and be stripped of those earthly rags. He must
unlearn, before he can grasp the hidden, secret thoughts and ways of God (18).
We should return to Wiersbe’s comments on verses 19 and
20: 1 Corinthians 3:19 warns that man’s
wisdom will only trap him and 1 Corinthians 3:20 warns that man’s wisdom only
leads to vanity and futility. In order to comprehend that worldly wisdom
has trapped a huge percentage of modern church leadership, all we have to do is
see the prominence of business meetings over prayer meetings.
Paul concludes the admonition against the tendency to
argue and divide in Corinth, due to loyalty to different men. He has related it
to carnality and shown its combustible nature before Christ’s Tribunal. Let all
eyes turn to Christ and the glory of God (21). The apostle endeavors to reason
with them that there is nothing to argue about. There is no reason why every
believer cannot enjoy the benefits of more than one leader. They are all at the
member’s disposal and in addition, all of nature and the happenstances of world
events are all geared to the benefit of the church (22).
The petty differences in the church can all be chalked up
to a lack of illumination, concerning the nature of the wonder and glory into
which we have been immersed. I have tried to shed a little light on it in this
article. I am saying that we are involved in something infinitely superior to
the highest of earth’s aspirations, as sure as the ways of God are infinitely
above anything on earth. You are brought into fellowship with Christ, “the ruler of kings on earth” (Rv.1:5).
You have been inducted into the eternal purpose of the Omniscient and Almighty.
Meditate upon that and there will be no time to strive with human thoughts and
ways (22).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Recommended Books
Post a Comment