Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What does 1st Corinthians Chapter 3 mean?

Paul made it crystal clear in chapter 1 that the Christians in Corinth would stand guiltless before God on the day of the Lord. Their saving faith in Christ had been affirmed by the fact that they had received gifts from the Holy Spirit. These Corinthians are undoubtedly Christians.

Now, though, Paul says the fact that they are saved does not mean he can call them spiritual people. They are not living as spiritual people. They are still living as if they were of the flesh. Paul compares them to a person stuck in infancy, who should have matured enough by now to be ready for the solid food of deeper Christian teaching. Instead, they’re still on a newborn’s all-milk diet. This is not an entirely unique problem, as the writer of Hebrews chastised his readers for a similar weakness (Hebrews 5:11–14). Instead of living in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit and according to God’s wisdom about spiritual things, the Corinthian Christians are still behaving as if they were mere, unspiritual human beings (1 Corinthians 3:1–2).

Paul’s evidence of this is the issue he brought up in chapter 1. The church in Corinth is divided. Some claim to follow Paul and others Apollos and still others Peter. Likely, they are rejecting the other Christian teachers in misguided loyalty to the one they prefer. Paul wants them to move past any idea that he and Apollos are in competition with each other. He describes both as servants of the Lord who helped the Corinthians to come to faith in Christ. They each did the job the Lord gave them to do. Why would the Corinthians follow the servants instead of the master (1 Corinthians 3:3–7)?

Paul compares himself and Apollos to field hands. He planted the seed of the gospel and Apollos watered it. God, though, is the one who caused the crop of their faith to grow. The Corinthians may have pictured two young men in a field, one of them working the plow and scattering the seed, the other following with the water bucket. Neither field worker owns the field, of course, but their master sends them out because both jobs need doing. The two are not in competition with each other. They work together and both will be paid by the master. In this metaphor, Paul says, the Corinthians are the field (1 Corinthians 3:8–9).

In the next metaphor, they are a building belonging to God. Paul pictures himself here as a skilled master builder who laid a foundation in Corinth when he introduced them to faith in Christ. Christ is the foundation for the building. Now new builders have come to add to the work Paul started. Those builders must build carefully, Paul warns. Paul may be referring to every Christian who builds into the life of the church by serving each other or he may be addressing ministers, teachers, and other church leaders. In either case, the quality of their work and the materials they use matters. Will they build with materials that last or with cheap building supplies like hay and straw (1 Corinthians 3:10–12)?

A fire is coming to test their work, Paul writes. That fire is Christ’s judgment of the work of Christians on the day of the Lord during the end times. Those whose work is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ will receive a reward. Those whose work is shown to be weak and worthless will suffer a loss, but they will be saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ. There will be no salvation, though, for anyone who destroys God’s temple, the church (1 Corinthians 3:13–17).

Instead of being wise by the world’s standards, Paul continues, one must become a fool in this culture to be wise before God. God will reveal the wisdom of those who deceive themselves by thinking they are wise to be worthless and futile. All things belong to those who are in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:18–23).

Chapter Context
First Corinthians 3 follows Paul’s teaching that only spiritual people can understand the wisdom of God. Paul cannot fully call the Corinthian Christians spiritual people, though, because they continue to live of the flesh, as if they were still infants trapped in an immature condition. Evidence includes the divisions among them. Paul insist that he and Apollos are both servants of the same master. The Corinthians should follow God, not them. Those whose work is worthless will suffer loss, but they will be saved. After this, Paul will expound on the idea that believers ought to set Christ as their example, rather than being defined in terms of their earthly leaders.

Verse by Verse

Verse 1. But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

This builds on two things Paul said in the previous chapter. First, he wrote that he and others taught God’s wisdom among the mature, apparently referring to those who have come to God by faith in Christ and are ready for the deeper truths of God (1 Corinthians 2:6). He also described spiritual people as Christians who understand and believe in spiritual things with the help of God’s Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Now, though, Paul writes to the Christians in Corinth that he cannot call them “spiritual” people. Is the problem that they have not truly believed in Jesus or that they have not received the Holy Spirit? No. Paul very clearly wrote in the first chapter how thankful he was that that their faith had been confirmed by the gifts of the Spirit given to them (1 Corinthians 1:4–9). He said they would absolutely stand blameless before God on the day of the Lord. These are Christians.

The problem, as Paul will go on to describe it in this chapter, is that they are still living as if they were unspiritual people: “merely human,” (1 Corinthians 3:3), suggesting someone lacking understanding as if they lacked the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14). They are like “infants in Christ”—spiritually speaking, they are still newborn, weak, undeveloped Christians. They continue to live in the flesh, meaning that they are living for self and their bodily appetites instead of living in the power God has given to them in the Holy Spirit.

Verse 2. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,

Paul has compared the Corinthian Christians to babies. Despite being saved for some unexplained length of time, they have not matured spiritually. The problem isn’t that they are not Christians, nor have they been denied opportunity to grow. These believers have access to the power of the Holy Spirit. They have simply not participated in the process of abandoning their selfish ways, so they can spiritually grow. They could behave as spiritually-empowered believers, but instead they behave as if they were “merely human” (1 Corinthians 3:3).

Paul writes that when he was with them—when they were first saved—he fed them with milk. By this, he means that he taught them the most basic things about God and what it means to be a Christian. As with any newborn, they were only prepared to consume and digest something very basic. Like babies, they began with liquids, milk. By now, however, they should be ready for solid food. Milk is meant to inspire growth into a more mature, more capable creation.

These believers should, by now, be ready for more challenging truths of selflessly walking in Christ and living according to the Spirit. They’re still not ready to chew, however. Why is it that the Corinthian Christians have gained so little maturity? Paul holds them responsible for their own lack of growth.

Verse 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?

At the beginning of this letter, Paul thanked God for His grace for all the Christians in Corinth. God had confirmed their faith in Christ by giving them gifts through the Holy Spirit. Paul was grateful that, because they were in Christ, they would stand blameless before God on the day of the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:4–9). These are saved, born-again people; however, they are not spiritually mature people.

Paul now expresses his great frustration with them, in that they have matured so little in their spiritual lives. They remain on the “milk diet” suited for newborns—for immature, brand-new Christians—and they are not ready for the solid food of deeper truths, or for abundant life in Christ by the power of God’s Spirit. They are not living as people indwelt by the Holy Spirit; they are living as if they were “merely human.”

Why has this happened? Paul says it plainly: “you are still of the flesh.” By this, he means that the Christians in Corinth, despite having power from the Holy Spirit, are still selfishly serving themselves first and foremost. They have access to God’s Spirit, and the ability to grow into selfless, Christlike lives, but they have not made any progress.

The first evidence Paul presents of their lack of growth is conflict and jealousy among them. While there will always be some level of friction among every other group of humans, Paul means something more concerning. He is referring to quarreling among the Christians of Corinth, according to personal reports of the representatives of a woman called Chloe (1 Corinthians 1:11).

As Paul will make clear, maturing Christians should begin to function differently from unsaved people, or brand-new born-again believers. Clearly, we must choose to actively participate in this growth. God can work in us through the power of the Holy Spirit, but if we’re careless or lazy, we’ll remain spiritual infants.

Verse 4. For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

Paul now directly addresses the source of quarreling and division among the Christians in Corinth, first introduced in chapter 1. There he wrote that the church in Corinth had divided itself into groups based on whether a person claimed loyalty to Paul, Apollos, Peter, or Christ (1 Corinthians 1:12). There may have been even more groups, but Paul’s point was that the church was being split according to those loyalties.

Some of this division may have been about personality. Paul has described himself as weak, fearful, and trembling when he was with the Corinthians, not presenting the gospel in an impressive way (1 Corinthians 2:1–5). We know from Acts 18:24–19:1 that Apollos was an “eloquent” man, who taught the Scriptures fervently, boldly, and powerfully. He came to Corinth after being trained in Ephesus by Paul’s co-workers Priscilla and Aquila.

Perhaps some of the division was about ethnicity. Both Paul and Apollos were Jewish, but it’s possible some of the Jewish Christians were more comfortable with Peter’s or Apollos’s approach to the issues of Jewish tradition and heritage than with the others. It’s not clear that Peter ever visited Corinth, however.

For Paul, the subtle nuances behind these divisions don’t matter. The problem is that they exist at all. These squabbles are evidence that the Corinthian Christians are behaving like unbelievers, or immature Christians, demanding their own way, rather than as Holy Spirit-empowered believers learning to express God’s sacrificial love to each other.

Verse 5. What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.

Paul is expressing frustration with the Corinthian Christians for their lack of maturity in Christ. The fact that they have divided themselves into factions based on which Christian leader they prefer is selfish and childish. Worse, it just doesn’t make any spiritual sense. Whatever the earthly motivations were—charisma, ethnicity, style—all that matters is that such cliques are spiritually inappropriate.

Paul begins to demonstrate a truth that seems obvious to some who reading these words with the benefit of hindsight. We must be careful, however. Any Christian can be as blind as the Corinthians were to the senselessness at the heart of our own immature conflicts and jealousies. We’re called on to be self-examining (2 Corinthians 13:5) and diligent (1 Peter 1:10) for that very reason. Just because we’re saved and redeemed doesn’t mean we’re immune to living out a “merely human” attitude (1 Corinthians 3:3).

Now Paul asks, what is Apollos? What is Paul? In chapter 1, Paul used sarcastic questions to show them that he was not Christ. Paul was not crucified for them. They were not baptized into the name of Paul. Why would they focus on anyone but Christ, who cannot be divided (1 Corinthians 1:13)? The intent here is the same—posing questions with their own obvious answers.

Paul describes what he and Apollos truly are. They are merely servants of the Lord, used by God to deliver the gospel the Corinthians believed. They each did the task God gave them. In other words, neither is worth following as compared to Christ. Neither is worth division between fellow believers.

Verse 6. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

Paul has described the Corinthian Christians as infants, still living in the flesh despite being given access to the power of the Holy Spirit. Now he is explaining to them, as if to children, why it is so foolish to divide themselves into factions based on which Christian leader they are loyal to.

In the previous verse, Paul wrote that he and Apollos are both merely servants of the Lord. God used each of them to bring the Corinthians to faith in Christ, but they should not be the focus of that faith.

Now Paul adds something that is helpful in this context but is also valuable in our understanding of how God’s work is accomplished on earth. Paul uses an agricultural metaphor. Paul planted the gospel; he introduced the people in Corinth to the message of the forgiveness of sin through faith in Christ. This parallels Jesus’ description of gospel evangelism as sowing of seeds (Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23). Paul describes Apollos as watering this seed. Likely, he means Apollos provided additional teaching, helping the seed of the gospel to take root in the hearts of the Corinthians. It might also mean Apollos was there to begin guiding the believers of Corinth in their discipleship.

Both men served God by doing the tasks given to them. God, though, is the one who caused the seed to grow. As Paul described in the previous chapter, God gave to the Corinthians the ability to believe the gospel through the Holy Spirit. In the end, God’s work among the Corinthians is the work that mattered most.

Verse 7. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

The Corinthians were embroiled in conflict and strife over what may seem to us now a very silly issue. They had divided themselves into factions over which Christian leader they were loyal to. We must be careful, however. Most of us fail to see how senseless our own conflicts with other Christians really are in the heat of the moment. And, believers can easily dismiss others based on their opinion of famous names in the religious community. Doctrine and teaching are important (Titus 2:1), but even today, some “divisions” are as absurd as the ones being condemned by Paul (Titus 3:9).

Paul is tackling this misunderstanding head on. He has equated himself and Apollos as servants of Christ: each completing the task given to them in Corinth. Using a gardening metaphor, Paul said that he planted the seed of the gospel and Apollos watered it. God, though, is the one who caused it to grow. Different emphasis, or different style, does not mean one is more godly or more important than the other.

Paul now connects the dots. Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters have any real power. The field hand doesn’t do magic, he does his assigned job. That work matters, but the work in and of itself cannot make seeds grow. Only God can give growth to the seed. That’s real power. God, then, is the only one worth following. As much as we might prefer certain jobs—or certain teachers—we can’t divide the body of Christ over such preferences.

Verse 8. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.

Paul has used an agricultural metaphor to tackle needless division and fighting in the Corinth. The Corinthians believers have divided themselves into factions based on which Christian leader they were loyal to. Most likely, this also meant them proclaiming which Christian teachers they stood against.

Paul has written that he and Apollos are both merely servants of the true source of power. One planted the seed of the gospel and another watered it, but only God could cause it to grow. Now Paul states clearly that he and Apollos are one. They are on the same side, working together to complete the same mission. They are not in competition, and it does not make sense to choose one over the other to be loyal to. Those who plant and water don’t seek a following; they just want to do the job they’ve been given.

Paul’s lesson here does not excuse false teaching or heresy. The point is not that every single person who claims Christ is an equally worthy source of spiritual knowledge (2 Peter 2:1). Rather, it is that differences are not the same as disagreements, and preferences are not the same as principles (Romans 14).

Paul adds that each will be paid for his labor. Paul teaches about awards for faithful service in several of his letters, but here his point may be that both he and Apollos are paid by the same master: God. This shows that both are working together for the gospel and not against each other. Why would anyone declare him- or herself a follower of one of the workers and not the one who is responsible for the entire project?

Verse 9. For we are God ‘s fellow workers. You are God ‘s field, God ‘s building.

Paul concludes his agricultural metaphor and begins a new one within the space of a few words in this verse. He is showing the Corinthians their divisive loyalty to one Christian leader over another is misplaced. Paul wants them to be unified, and not divided, so he is showing how pointless their bickering really is.

Instead of being important pillars of the movement of the Christian church, Paul has described the work he and Apollos do as it really is. They serve in God’s field, with one spreading the seed and the other following with the water bucket. They are co-workers, each performing a necessary task. They are also only common laborers doing the dirty work of establishing a crop. They might have different styles, or unique approach, but they are in fundamental agreement about the gospel. There is no reason for people to align themselves under the banner of Paul, or Apollos, or Peter, in opposition to others who “follow” some different teacher.

In short, God is the one who grows the crops, and they both work for Him. Paul is saying, “Don’t follow the field workers; follow the owner of the field.” Paul describes the Corinthians as the field itself. They are the ones in which the gospel was planted. God is the one who caused that gospel to take root and grow in them, bringing them to faith in Christ and eternal life.

Paul immediately also calls the Corinthians God’s building or construction project, introducing a new metaphor he will build on in the following verses.

Verse 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.

The previous verse completed a metaphor about planting a field. Paul pictured himself and Apollos as simple laborers among the field of the Corinthians, echoing something of Jesus’ parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23). The field belongs to God and that’s where the Corinthians should focus their allegiance, not on any human leader.

Now Paul has shifted to the metaphor of constructing a building, with a closely related point in mind. He pictures himself as a skilled or wise master builder by God’s grace. In that role, he is the one who laid the foundation. The building is the church, the community of Christians, in Corinth. The following verse will show that the foundation Paul put in place was Jesus Christ.

In other words, Paul is the one who introduced Christ and the gospel to the Corinthians. He began the work, providing the stable, supporting “starting point” for everything meant to come after. Now others have come to build on the foundation as the church grows both in numbers and, hopefully, in spiritual maturity.

Paul warns that those who continue the work be careful how they build in their teaching and leadership. He doesn’t seem to be calling out a problem with the current teachers and leaders. He is cautioning these leaders about the building work yet to be done. One cannot haphazardly throw materials into a stack—some building work is better than others.

Context Summary
First Corinthians 3:10–15 expands on Paul’s earlier point that only God, not any fallible human being, is worthy. Each person must build their ”works” on a foundation of Christ. Those works will be subject to judgment, to see what has eternal value. Lasting works are based in valuable, durable, precious things like wisdom and truth. Cheap and fragile materials won’t stand the fire of God’s judgment.

Verse 11. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Earlier, Paul explained that all human teachers, including himself and men like Apollos, are simply co-workers under Christ (1 Corinthians 3:5–6). Christian allegiance ought to be to exclusively to Jesus, and not divided based on which human servant we prefer to follow (1 Corinthians 3:7–9). Then, using the metaphor of constructing a building for the work of building the community of believers in Corinth, Paul has described himself as the skilled master builder who laid the foundation by preaching the gospel to them (1 Corinthians 3:10).

Jesus Christ is that foundation, and nobody else can put down any other foundation for the church. Put another way, the church will not stand on any other foundation besides Jesus Christ. The gospel—the good news from God about salvation from sin—starts and ends with faith in Jesus. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it or the message stops being the gospel.

Some Bible teachers suggest that perhaps Paul is referring to false teachers who are already in Corinth and are trying to teach a different gospel, a distorted message about Jesus. Other Bible scholars see Paul’s warning about what might happen in the future, perhaps especially if the Corinthians keep focusing their loyalty on Christian leaders instead of on Christ Himself. Either way, Paul’s point is that one’s faith needs to be grounded in Jesus, not a person, and not in some other concept.

Verse 12. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw —

Paul is still working with the metaphor of constructing a building. In that metaphor, the community of Christians in Corinth is the building. They are being built up in their numbers, perhaps, but also in their spiritual maturity through teaching and instruction in the way of Christ. Paul, describing himself as a skilled master builder, has laid the foundation of the building, which is Jesus Christ. It’s the only foundation on which any church can stand. With that foundation in place, Paul has left the scene and new builders have come in to continue the construction. These builders are the teachers and leaders of the church in Corinth.

Paul begins an if/then statement in this verse that is completed in the following verse. Continuing the building metaphor, he describes various materials. These new builders, those who lead the Corinthians to grow in Christ, might use these to continue the building project. Will they use quality building materials such as gold, silver, and precious stones? Will they build using sturdy, valuable, resilient stock, which will result in a robust structure? Or will they use wood, hay, and straw: cheap, easily acquired and inferior materials in order quickly raise walls that cannot stand the test of time?

What makes for good or poor building materials? In this case, teaching about Christ that is true and helpful would be quality material for growing the church. Teaching that distorts the message of Christ or waters down the truth would be the cheap stuff. The following verses will reveal the results of using either.

Verse 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.

This verse completes a somewhat complicated if/then statement. Paul has been using the metaphor of constructing a building to represent the growth of the Christians in Corinth and the church there. He pictures himself as a master builder who laid the foundation of Jesus Christ. He did this when he first preached the gospel of faith in Christ to them.

Now other builders, other Christian teachers, are building on that foundation. Paul has warned them to build well. In the previous verse, he wrote that these builders may use either high-quality or cheap building materials. This seems to represent the quality of their teaching and leadership. Teaching about the way of Christ that is true and helpful is like building with the “good stuff.” Like gemstones and precious metals, that teaching is harder to acquire and harder to build with, but far more durable. Teaching that is distorted, watered down, misleading is like using low-quality materials: easy to do, with little cost, but to no long-term benefit.

Paul now shows that the quality of the materials matters because a fire is coming that will reveal all. This fire will come on “the Day.” Paul is looking forward to what he called the “day of our Lord Jesus Christ” in 1 Corinthians 1:8. This is the day of Christ’s judgment that will come during the end times.

Paul pictures this specific judgment of God—intended for Christians, not unbelievers—as a fire that will test the quality of the work done by the Christian teachers and leaders. It will not be a judgment of the people themselves. Paul has written clearly that, by God’s grace and because of their faith in Christ, the Corinthian Christians will stand blameless or guiltless in that day (Romans 8:1). This is the “Bema Seat” judgment, applied only to those with faith in Christ, and only for the sake of determining eternal rewards (Romans 14:10–12).

Rather, this verse speaks of judgment of the works done by those who serve the church. Scholars differ on whether Paul intends this to mean just the works of the teachers and leaders or the works of all Christians who are meant to use our spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 1:5–7) to serve each other in the church (2 Corinthians 5:10). In either case, the fire of Christ’s judgment will show whether that work—not the person doing it—was worthwhile or worthless. The cheap, casual materials Paul mentioned before would be destroyed in a fire, while metals and gems would survive.

Verse 14. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.

Paul has been using a metaphor in which the community of believers is pictured as a structure built on the foundation of Jesus. Those who continue the building, teachers and leaders in the church, may use quality materials or worthless materials to build into the lives of the people. Good materials may refer to teaching that is true and helpful. Poor materials may refer to teaching that distorts or waters down the way of God (1 Corinthians 3:12–13).

One reason the quality of the work matters so much is that there will be a test. Paul has pointed forward to a day when Christ will judge the value of the work—not the value of the people (Romans 8:1)—of saved Christians. This is not the same as the ultimate judgment given to unbelievers (Revelation 20:11–15). Christ’s judgment, Paul has written, is like a fire that will reveal whether the builders have built in a way that endures, or with worthless materials that ignite and are consumed.

Now Paul writes that those who pass this test will do so because they have built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. In other words, their teaching and leadership has continued to focus on Christ and to correctly lead the church in how to continue in the way of Christ.

Scholars disagree about whether Paul is specifically describing judgment of the works only of teachers and leaders (James 3:1), or of all Christians, based on how they used their gifts to build up each other in the church. This verse aside, Scripture indicates every Christian will face a judgment of their works for which they will be rewarded or not (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Those whose works are shown to be lasting, whose works survive the fire of Christ’s evaluation, will receive a reward. This reward is not described, though later Paul will mention praise from the Lord as an outcome (1 Corinthians 4:5).

Verse 15. If anyone ‘s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

A fiery test is coming that will reveal the quality of the work of everyone who helps to build the church of Christ on earth. Paul’s metaphor pictures the church, the community of believers, as a structure that may be raised with either high-quality or poor building materials. He seems to equate these building materials with teaching that is true and helpful about the way of God versus that which is distorted and misleading (1 Corinthians 3:12–13).

Even structures built from cheap, weak materials may appear good and strong to casual view. Fire will reveal what the building is really made of. That fire will come with the judgment of Christ on the day of the Lord. This is a judgment of the work of Christians, not the Christians themselves (Romans 8:1). Non-believers must face a very different judgment (Revelation 20:11–15). Scholars disagree whether, in this case, Paul is describing the works of all believers or only of Christian leaders (James 3:1). In either case, all Christians will experience some judgment of their works (2 Corinthians 5:10).

We know this is not a judgment of whether a person is saved or not (Titus 3:5). It’s not God’s judgment on sin. Those who trust in Christ have been forgiven for their sin. Jesus already received God’s judgment for it. Paul made it clear at the very start of this letter that the Christians in Corinth, though many were still living “of the flesh” (1 Corinthians 3:3), would stand guiltless before God in the day of the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:8).

There will be loss, however. Those whose work is burned up, found to be worthless by Christ’s judgment, will suffer some unspecified loss. No detail is given, but it may be the simple loss of seeing all of one’s effort in this life revealed as nothing more than selfishness and wasted potential.

Even that person, though, with his or her sins covered by the blood of Christ, will be saved by God’s grace because of faith in Christ. Paul adds, though, that it will be as if they have gone through fire. Again, there is room for uncertainty about what this means.

Verse 16. Do you not know that you are God ‘s temple and that God ‘s Spirit dwells in you?

This verse creates the third metaphors that Paul uses to describe the local church in Corinth. First, he compared them to a field being planted and watered by himself and Apollos as God’s workers (1 Corinthians 3:5–9). Then, he compared their community of Christians to a building being constructed on top of the foundation of Jesus Christ by other teachers and leaders (1 Corinthians 3:10–15).

Now Paul compares them to the temple of God. The word for “you” here is plural, not singular. He is asking his readers, as the local church in Corinth, if they understand that they together are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in them.

This would likely have been an unusual idea to those living in this area. Those who had seen it would likely have pictured the massive, sprawling Jewish temple in Jerusalem, truly an impressive structure. By comparison, the church in Corinth likely had no building of their own, meeting instead in smaller groups in the homes of various members. How could they possibly be God’s temple?

Paul’s answer is to the point: God’s Spirit lives in them (1 Corinthians 2:12; 6:19). To be clear, God’s Spirit lives in each believer individually, but Paul shows here that in this way the Holy Spirit occupies the collected believers known as the church. Thus, they become the temple of God, even without a physical structure to meet in. As Christians often say, “the church” is the people, not the building.

Context Summary
First Corinthians 3:16–23 is the third metaphor Paul uses to explain the relationship between works, spiritual growth, and God’s judgment of our efforts. An emphasis here is on the superiority of God’s wisdom compared to the fallible knowledge of man, echoing statements from chapters 1 and 2. Paul’s main point here, again, is that we ought to focus on allegiance to Christ and His will, rather than being divided over loyalty to different human teachers.

Verse 17. If anyone destroys God ‘s temple, God will destroy him. For God ‘s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

A rhetorical question in the previous verse established that the church in Corinth was God’s temple, since the Holy Spirit lived in those believers. The same can be said of all local congregations: “the church” is the people, not a building, and those who are in Christ have God’s Holy Spirit in them.

In that way, Paul declares that God is enormously protective of them. More specifically, God is protective of His own holiness. Since they are God’s temple, and since God’s temple is holy, they together are holy before God. Paul here elevates the value of the local church of believers in Jesus to the highest level. A group of born-again, saved Christians is something far above a simple gathering of like-minded people. That collective body of believers, not the buildings they meet in, is God’s holy temple on earth.

Paul’s main point, though, is this: If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. He seems to have in mind not just those leaders who would build poorly on the foundation of Jesus, to use the metaphor from previous verse. Instead, Paul speaks of someone who would destroy the church altogether, perhaps with false teaching or by dividing the people instead of uniting them.

God will destroy that person. Does this mean He will end this person’s physical life or that this person will be condemned eternally? Paul doesn’t specify, but he clearly means to refer to God’s harsh and painful judgment. A broader look at the New Testament shows that God might allow persecutors of the church to survive, for now, but all men will face eternal judgment for their conduct towards Christ and His church (Revelation 20:11–15).

Verse 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.

Paul sums up his teaching on wisdom and foolishness from earlier in his letter (1 Corinthians 1:18—2:16). He urges his readers not to deceive themselves. In other words, he is asking the Corinthian Christians to check their assumptions about what is true and what is false.

Specifically, Paul warns of the danger of wanting to be wise “in this age” or wise by the standards of the world in any given era. As he taught earlier, the wisdom of the world is limited to what can be observed with human senses and what can be worked out based on those observations. Human beings have no access to spiritual truths. So, they reject faith in Christ as foolishness, and turn away from His death on the cross as payment for human sin.

Still, even for those who trust in Christ, it is tempting to want to be thought wise by those in our culture, especially those who are respected or powerful. We are drawn to prove we agree with their understanding of the world, so they will give us respect.

Paul warns that we must become fools in the eyes of the world, according to the wisdom of this time and place. The only way to be truly wise is to receive God’s wisdom, and that comes only by revelation with the help of His Holy Spirit. God’s wisdom leads to vastly different conclusions than human wisdom based on a partial understanding of what is knowable. This does not mean actual ignorance (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:18–23), but a willingness to follow God’s truth even when the ungodly world considers it absurd or unpopular.

Ministers, teachers, pastors, and Christian leaders, especially, must be willing to be foolish according to the world’s standards if they hope to lead believers towards the true wisdom of God.

Verse 19. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”

Paul has urged his readers to become foolish according to limited human wisdom in order to become truly wise according to God’s wisdom. Now he writes that you can’t hold on to both at the same time. Human wisdom and God’s wisdom contradict each other. God knows the wisdom of the world to be folly or foolishness and so should all who trust in Christ.

The issue here is not that human beings are incapable of knowing any truth, or any wisdom, at all. God places reason and evidence in our lives and expects us to use them (Psalm 19:1; Colossians 2:8). The problem with worldly human wisdom is the self-deception Paul mentioned in the previous verse. Those wise according to the world’s standards believe themselves to be ultimately wise and enlightened. That includes their arrogant rejection of faith in Christ and His death on the cross for human sin. Nonbelievers can be scholars, thinkers, intellectuals, speakers, and teachers (Romans 1:18–23).

God doesn’t care. Paul quotes from Job 5:13 to show that God catches those who are supposedly wise in their craftiness. He knows all their supposedly wise ideas and teachings will not help them to escape a face-to-face meeting with Him in the end.

Verse 20. and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

One cannot hold on to human wisdom and God’s wisdom at the same time, or in equal measure. They are opposed to each other. Human wisdom can only go so far, and soon reaches its limits (Isaiah 55:8–9). Once that limit is reached, reliance only on our own wisdom leads to rejecting faith in Christ and His death on the cross for sin. Without the revelation of God’s truth through God’s Spirit, a fallible human being simply cannot comprehend it (1 Corinthians 2:14). So, the non-believer considers it foolish (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Because of this, every man-centered thought of those wise in human terms is wasted (Colossians 2:8). Ungodly assumptions are based on the wrong premises since they have eliminated God’s wisdom and faith in Christ as a possibility.

Paul quotes from Psalm 94:11 to sum it up. The Lord knows the thoughts of those wise in human wisdom are ultimately futile (Romans 1:18–23). All their thinking leads away from the truth instead of nearer to it. Without receiving the revelation of the spiritual truths of God with the help of the Holy Spirit, human wisdom remains worthless in the long run.

Verse 21. So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,

Paul has summed up once more that human wisdom and God’s wisdom cannot coexist. Human wisdom unaided by the Spirit, rejects faith in Christ because the human mind is unable to comprehend spiritual truth (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Paul now writes that those who are in Christ should not boast in men. More specifically, Paul has in mind that the Corinthians must stop dividing themselves over their loyalty to one Christian leader over another (1 Corinthians 1:11–12). This way of thinking is based on human wisdom, and it is futile and worthless. It is an attempt to selfishly see themselves as wise in their own eyes by selecting the “better” leader as their own.

Paul now shines a bright light on a truth that should free them from this: All things are yours. In other words, why cut themselves off from any of God’s good gifts to them for the sake of pride? God has gifted the Corinthians with good teaching from Paul and Apollos and Peter. They are settling for too little by simply declaring themselves to belong to one teacher or the other. Why not receive the ministry of all three men as their own?

Verse 22. whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours,

In this and the previous verse, Paul offers an astounding new reason why the Christians in Corinth should not be divided over which Christian teacher they follow, and which ones they don’t. Paul is saying, “Why limit yourself to following the teaching of just one human teacher when God has given all these teachers to you as a gift? Why say ‘I follow Paul’ when God has given to you Apollos and Peter, as well, to learn from?”

Then Paul takes this idea to an even more expansive level: All things belong to those who belong to Christ. This includes the service of Christian teachers, yes, but also the world. And life and death. And the present and the future. In other words, why would any believers see themselves as being limited by anything in the world, including life and death and time? Christ is over all of that, and we are in Christ.

The point here is not that all so-called-Christian teaching is equally valuable. Paul has just pointed out that some human efforts won’t stand the fires of God’s judgment (1 Corinthians 3:12–15). Scripture also clearly warns of the dangers of false teachers (Galatians 1:8–9; 2 Peter 2:1). But when teachers of truth differ only in name, or style, or emphasis, it’s counterproductive to bicker about which one deserves more loyalty.

Paul is asking the Corinthian Christians to own the idea that by being in Christ we gain not only salvation but also all that comes with sharing in Christ’s inheritance as the Son of God (Romans 8:12–17). Literally nothing that belongs to God is not available to us through Christ.

Verse 23. and you are Christ ‘s, and Christ is God ‘s.

Paul has written to the Christians in Corinth that they should not limit themselves to following one Christian teacher or another. After all, God has given to them the service of several Christian teachers, including Paul, Apollos, and Peter. Why should the Corinthians declare themselves dependent on one and reject the others? His presumption here is that this applies to multiple teachers of legitimate truth (1 Corinthians 3:12–15). Paul is not, in any sense, telling believers to accept every single person who claims to have spiritual knowledge (James 3:1; Galatians 1:8–9) .

Instead, he has urged them to see that, as heirs with Christ, everything that is His is theirs, too. This even includes the world, life, death, the present time, and the future. Belonging to Christ brings with it enormous and endless gifts. We can, and should, seek to benefit from the spiritual wisdom of any godly teacher (Proverbs 24:6; 1 Corinthians 12:12–13), rather than artificially separating ourselves from other Christians over which teacher we prefer.

Paul adds that Christ is God’s. Taken together, Paul’s writings do not mean to say Christ is separate from God or that God “owns” Christ in a crass sense. The three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist together as one God. We come to God through Christ. Christ “lives to” God and to nothing else, though, mysteriously, both are one.

End of Chapter 3.

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