WEDNESDAY
Yesterday we saw Paul expressing his displeasure at the Corinthians’ lack of spiritual maturity as revealed by their jealousy and strife that existed in their fellowship. Remember, they were dividing up into factions behind their favorite teachers: Paul, Peter, and Apollos. In the next verses, he seeks to correct any faulty thinking they have on the nature of leadership in the church.
To correct their thinking, he uses two more metaphors: a garden and a building. Now, astute observer that you are, you’ll perhaps have noticed that these two images are not all that far removed from one another in Hebrew thinking. The Garden of Eden is portrayed as a temple and the temple contained images of the Garden. So it should come as no surprise that this leads Paul to say in verses 16-17 that the church is the temple of God.
Today we are going to walk through the text and tomorrow we will apply it.
1 Corinthians 3:5-9 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.
In verses 5-9 the garden metaphor dominates. Paul’s main point is that he and Apollos only did their parts and they are both dependent upon God. What matters most is that God gives growth. If he doesn’t, then it doesn’t matter what he or Apollos do. Therefore, any rivalry between laborers is absurd. He caps the idea off in verse 9 by saying that they all belong to God anyways—he and Apollos are fellow workers of God’s, the church is God’s field or building. He reiterates this idea in verses 22-23.
With the mention of a building, Paul launches into his other metaphor. This metaphor serves to make the point that God will judge the work of his laborers and they will be rewarded accordingly.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 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. 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 has laid the foundation by preaching the gospel of Jesus. Jesus is the foundation of the church. Paul is sure to acknowledge that even the work he did was by the grace of God in verse 10. Apollos and others have built on that foundation by further teaching. The foundation is the most important piece. If it isn’t level, the rest of the building won’t be level. If it isn’t deep enough, the rest of the building may sag and fall over time. So, the rest of the building must be in accord with the foundation.
The teaching that others provide is represented by different materials in descending value and durability—gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw. Paul is alluding to Solomon’s temple, as the foundation was laid and it was built with gold, silver, precious stones, and wood (1 Chr. 29:1-7; 1 Kgs. 5:17; 6:20-21). The quality of each teacher’s work will be proven on the Day of the Lord, when Jesus returns and judges creation. Jesus’ judgment will be like a fire that will burn up the cheaper materials (wood, hay, and straw), but the better quality material will remain (gold, silver, precious stones).
Teachers who build on the foundation of Christ with quality materials will receive a reward. The specifics of the reward aren’t spelled out, but it most certainly refers to a reward in the new creation, not something in this life. If a teacher’s work is “burned up” (i.e., proven to be hay or straw and not according to the truth of the gospel) then they will receive less of a reward than they otherwise would have (”suffered loss” in v. 15). This isn’t a salvation issue, as Paul is confident that those teaching the Corinthians are saved. But if their teaching isn’t the quality materials of the true gospel, the image is of someone escaping a burning building. They will be saved but have little reward after the judgment of Jesus.
The driving point is that Jesus will determine the quality of the teaching when he returns. He will judge his teachers. Verses 16-17 drive this point home. .
1 Corinthians 3:16-23 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.
The church is God’s temple. If a teacher is destroying the church, God will destroy that person. Yikes! God’s church is holy and he is able to preserve its holiness. They can leave it to God. They don’t have to line up behind their teacher and fight over the nuances of the faith. God’s got this. He’ll reveal who was right in the end.
1 Corinthians 3:18-23 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.
The Greeks loved wisdom and logic. But the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected didn’t compute with conventional logic and wisdom. But it was God’s beautiful plan of redemption. To grasp the gospel, we will need to surrender to God’s wisdom and not depend solely on our own and the wisdom of this world. This true gospel is the teaching that corresponds with gold, silver, and precious stones—the teaching that will survive the fire. It is the gospel, the beautiful story of redemption that culminates in Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension. It is the gospel taught in the power of the Spirit.
Therefore, Paul is saying the church shouldn’t align so closely with their preferred teacher that they overlook their unity in Christ. When Jesus returns he will show a leader’s work for what it truly is.