1 Corinthians 3
Paul rebukes the Corinthians for their spiritual immaturity and factionalism, they are still infants in Christ. He explains that leaders are co-workers in God's field, each with different roles. The church is God's temple, and each person's work will be tested by fire.
1 CorinthiansChapter 3 of 1623 versesBerean Standard Bible
In this passage: ApollosJesusPaul
If God speaks to you through 1 Corinthians 3, record what He said in Doxa and come back to it.
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ.
I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready,
for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?
For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.
I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds.
For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,
his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work.
If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.
If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.
Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he 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.”
He catches the wise in their craftiness
“He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.”
Read Job 5:13›And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile
“The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.”
Read Psalms 94:11›Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours,
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you,
and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Read next
How to Hear God’s Voice: A Practical Guide for BelieversScripture is the record of a God who speaks. This guide covers how to hear Him today and keep what He says.Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 3
1 Corinthians 3:11Ephesians 2:20
“built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.”
1 Corinthians 3:11Isaiah 28:16
“So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.”
1 Corinthians 3:161 Corinthians 6:19
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;”
1 Corinthians 3:16Ezekiel 36:27
“And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.”
“He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.”
Cross-references from OpenBible.info, licensed CC BY.
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