1 Corinthians 3 - Are You Ready for the Meat?

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The Chu,rch and Its Leaders

3 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. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.

Paul rebukes the church and its leaders for being spiritually immature. They were not ready for meat but needed to be spoon-fed with milk.

So what was the problem? They weren’t living by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who was given to them when they believed. The key to growing to be mature in your faith is to live your life in the power of the Spirit, not the flesh.

These Christians, to some extent, are thinking and acting according to the flesh, not the Spirit. Of course, the flesh does not dominate every aspect of their life, or they would then have no evidence of being born again. But Paul is addressing issues where they clearly are thinking and acting in a carnal – that is, in a fleshly – manner. (Guzik)

“The carnal Christian is a child of God, born again and on his way to heaven, but he is traveling third class.” (Redpath)

This issue presented itself as they favored Paul over Apollos, or visa versa. Paul tells them it is not about following a particular leader. Each leader has their role to play in the church but it is not about them at all. He introduces a concept, which is used frequently to describe how God’s kingdom works through the church.

6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

Paul preached the gospel and then Apollos followed up by teaching it and explaining how it fit with what they knew from the Old Testament. They each had their role to play but most importantly it was God who caused the seed to come to fruition.  When someone comes to faith in Jesus it is by hearing the gospel and being convicted by the Holy Spirit. 

Someone might have invited them to church. Someone might have greeted them. The pastor preached the gospel, and maybe there were the prayers of the people. They experienced the power of the fellowship after the church. They might have attended a follow up bible study the following week. These are all the seeds and watering, but God brings it to bear fruit.  

Paul realized that as he traveled to many areas as a missionary and apostle of the gospel, that he laid the foundation of the building, but others were building on it. Importantly the building is the church itself whose foundation is Jesus Christ. This is where we get the old hymn "The Church's One Foundation".  

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

Paul then teaches that one day the quality of work will be revealed as we work on His building, the church.. He gives this litmus test. 

 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

The phrase "the Day" is always a reference to the day of judgment when Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead, as we confess in the Apostle's Creed. Our work and our motivation for our work will be revealed on the day of Christ Jesus. If we build up the building of God on the foundation of Jesus led by the Spirit of God, it will be like we are building this building with costly stones like gold and silver. When the day of judgment comes that work will survive. But if we built God's house with impure motives or to glorify ourselves that work will be like wood, hay, and stubble. When the flames will quickly burn it up like chaff. 

Notice that the amount of the work isn’t going to be evaluated (though it does have some relevance). Paul says the work will be tested to see what sort it is. If one did a lot of the wrong sort of work, it will be as if he did nothing. His work will be burned and will vanish in eternity. Moody wisely said that converts ought to be weighed as well as counted. (Guzik)

Paul then uses a metaphor that he will use again when talking about the church. He says we are the "temple of God". As God inhabited the Jewish temple made of stones, he inhabits the temple, which we call the church. He inhabits it by His Spirit, who lives in each of us. There is a sense in which each of our bodies is a temple of the Holy Spirit, but also a collective sense in which as we gather at the church, God dwells in us by His Spirit. 

When you walk into a church, you can tell usually right away if the church is filled with the Spirit. You will sense it in the people, the worship, and the message. There will be joy, excitement, and fellowship that the world cannot give.  This is why we go to church to be in God's temple and be in His presence. Though watching online is better than nothing, especially for elderly people who can't make it to church, it doesn't compare to being at church live. 

Paul closes by warning them again not to think these are wise by human standards. The wisdom of the world is foolishness in God's eyes. There was no reason for them to boast about human leader because the real leader of the church is Christ himself, and through him we have all things!