Building on the Foundation: 1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.

The letter was being read in Gaius's house. The room was crowded. Factions sat in clusters. The Paul party on one side. The Apollos admirers opposite. The tension was palpable.

Mere infants. Nepiois. Babies. The Corinthians considered themselves mature. Spiritually advanced. Gifted. Paul called them infants.

I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

Milk. Gala. Baby food. Solid food. Broma. Meat. They weren't ready then. They still weren't ready.

Crispus shifted uncomfortably. He had been among the first converts. Surely he was mature by now?

You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?

Worldly. Sarkikoi. Fleshly. Carnal. The evidence: jealousy and quarreling. Zelos and eris. Envy and strife.

Are you not acting like mere humans? Kata anthropon peripatete. Walking according to human patterns. The Spirit-filled should be different. They weren't.

For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere human beings?

The factions named again. The room stirred. People glanced at each other. The accusation landed.

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

Only servants. Diakonoi. Ministers. Not masters. Not lords. Not party chiefs. Servants.

Through whom you came to believe. The means, not the source. Faith came through them. Faith wasn't in them.

As the Lord has assigned to each his task. Different assignments. Same Lord directing.

I planted the seed, Apollos watered, but God has been making it grow.

The agricultural image. Paul planted—he founded the church. Apollos watered—he taught and nurtured. But God made it grow. Auxano. The growth was divine.

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

Neither is anything. Oudeis estin. Nothing. Not Paul. Not Apollos. Zero status apart from God's work.

Only God, who makes things grow. The glory belonged to the gardener, not the garden tools.

The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

One purpose. Hen eisi. United. Not competing. Each rewarded according to their own labor. Individual accountability, but shared mission.

For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building.

Co-workers. Sunergoi. Partners with God. Not rivals with each other. You are God's field. Agriculture. God's building. Architecture. Two images for the same church.

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.

Foundation laid. Paul started the church. Wise builder. Sophos architekton. Master architect. Someone else building on it. Apollos and others. Each one should build with care. Blepo pos—watch how. The construction mattered.

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

The foundation was singular. Jesus Christ. Non-negotiable. No other option. No alternative base.

If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.

Building materials varied. Gold, silver, costly stones—durable, precious. Wood, hay, straw—flammable, worthless.

The Day. That day. The day of judgment. Will bring it to light. Phaneroo—reveal, make manifest. All construction would be tested.

It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work.

Revealed with fire. Fire as tester. The fire will test. Dokimazo—prove, examine. The quality. Not quantity. Hopoion—what sort of work.

If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

Two outcomes. Survival—reward. Burned up—loss. But the builder will be saved. The work might perish; the worker would survive. As one escaping through the flames. Dia puros—through fire. Barely. Singed.

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?

The temple image. You yourselves—plural. The community together. God's temple. Naos theou. The holy of holies. God's Spirit dwells in your midst. The divine presence among them.

If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

Destroys. Phtheiro—corrupt, ruin. God will destroy that person. Phtherei—same verb. Reciprocal. The temple was sacred. Hagios. Holy.

You together are that temple. Plural again. Not individual bodies—that came later. The community as temple.

Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become "fools" so that you may become wise.

Self-deception warned against. Think you are wise—the Corinthian danger. By the standards of this age. Worldly wisdom.

Become fools. Moros genestho. Let yourself appear foolish. So that you may become wise. True wisdom through apparent folly.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness."

The reversal. World's wisdom—foolishness to God. He catches the wise. Job quoted. The clever trapped by their own cleverness.

And again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."

Psalm 94. The wise—their thoughts futile. Mataioi. Empty. Useless.

So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours.

No more boasting. Stop it. Human leaders—Paul, Apollos, Cephas. They weren't worth dividing over.

All things are yours. The stunning claim. The inheritance vast.

Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours.

The list expansive. Paul—yours. Apollos—yours. Cephas—yours. The teachers belonged to the church, not the church to the teachers.

The world. Life. Death. Present. Future. All yours. Nothing withheld.

And you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

The chain of belonging. You are of Christ's. Christ is of God's. The unity restored. The hierarchy established.

Not "I am of Paul."

But "all are mine, and I am Christ's."

Gaius finished reading. The room was silent.

The factions had been exposed.

The building had been inspected.

The temple had been honored.

And all things were theirs.

If only they would stop dividing.