1 Corinthians 3
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · AD 54 – AD 55 · The early church · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
23 verses · 438 words · ~2 min read · ~3 min listen
Godʼs Fellow Workers
1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, 3for 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? 4For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
5What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role. 6I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9For we are Godʼs fellow workers; you are Godʼs field, Godʼs building.
Christ Our Foundation
10By 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. 11For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13his 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 manʼs work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.
Godʼs Temple and Godʼs Wisdom
16Do you not know that you yourselves are Godʼs temple, and that Godʼs Spirit dwells in you? 17If anyone destroys Godʼs temple, God will destroy him; for Godʼs temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18Let 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. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in Godʼs sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” 20And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
21Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you, 23and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Footnotes (5)
- a v8 Literally are one
- b v16 Or among
- c v19 Job 5:13
- d v20 Psalm 94:11
- e v22 That is, Peter
Study notes on this chapter · 1
The temple destroyed and raised
After Jesus drives out the traders he says, 'Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up', and John explains that he spoke about the temple of his body. The New Testament elsewhere says the church, or each believer, is God's temple, a dwelling built of living stones.
When: Solomon's temple, c. 960 BC; Jesus' temple cleansing, c. AD 27–30.
Ways people read this (3)
- Jesus' resurrected body replaces the temple as the place where God and humanity meet.
- The church as a community is the new temple (Ephesians 2, 1 Peter 2), and individual believers are also called temples (1 Corinthians 6:19).
- Some also see in this a hope of a rebuilt temple in a future age; others see the temple as fulfilled in Christ.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.