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<h2><a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,'all');">1Cr 3</a> - Carnal Christians and Godly Ministers</h2>
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<p>A. Carnality in the Corinthian church.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,1);">1</a>) Paul confronts their condition.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual <i>people</i> but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. These people are part of the family of God (he calls them <b><span class="c3">brethren</span></b>), and that is the problem. Though they have the Holy Spirit (unlike the <i>natural man</i> of <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',2,14);">1Cr 2:14</a>) they are not behaving like <b><span class="c3">spiritual people</span></b>, but like <b><span class="c3">carnal</span></b> - that is, fleshly -people, like immature Christians (<b><span class="c3">babes in Christ</span></b>).</p>
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<p class="c5">i. There is a significant debate as if there can be such a thing as a <b><span class="c3">carnal</span></b> Christian. Some say it is a contradiction in terms, that Paul is really saying that these <b><span class="c3">carnal</span></b> ones are not Christians at all. Yet he clearly calls them <b><span class="c3">brethren</span></b>, and says they <b><span class="c3">babes in Christ</span></b>. How could these terms be used of someone who is not a Christian?</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. These Christians, to some extent, are <i>thinking</i> and <i>acting</i> according to the flesh, not the Spirit. Of course, the flesh does not dominate <i>every</i> 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 <b><span class="c3">carnal</span></b> - that is, fleshly - manner.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. “The carnal Christian is a child of God, born again and on his way to heaven, but he is traveling third class.” (Redpath) <a onclick="return mV('Rom',7,'all');">Rom 7</a> is a portrait of the carnal Christian; indwelt by the Spirit, but mastered by the flesh.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. There is a difference between being <i>fleshy</i> (<i>sarkinos</i>, used in <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',3,3);">2Cr 3:3</a>) and being <i>fleshly</i> (the Greek word <i>sarkikos</i>, used here in this passage).</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <i>Fleshy</i> is simply “made of flesh”; it can speak of the weakness that is common to every fallen human.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii.<i> Fleshly</i>, when used of a person, means “characterized by the flesh.” It speaks of the one who can and should do differently but does not. Paul says that the Corinthians were<i> sarkikos</i>.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. Paul has spoken to us about three categories of men. There is the <i>natural man</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',2,14);">1Cr 2:14</a>), who is patterned after Adam and rejects the things of the Spirit. There is the <i>spiritual</i> man (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',2,15);">1Cr 2:15</a>), who knows the things of God. And there is the <b><span class="c3">carnal</span></b> man who knows the things of God, yet in some significant ways is still characterized by the flesh. Which one are you?</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,2);">2</a>) How Paul treated carnal believers.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able <i>to receive it</i>, and even now you are still not able.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">I fed you with milk</span></b>: Paul kept his teaching on the basics, even though they had an inflated view of their spirituality. They believed they were ready for the “deeper things,” but were not living any deeper in the basic things he had already preached to them!</p>
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<p class="c4">b. The difference between <b><span class="c3">milk</span></b> and <b><span class="c3">solid food</span></b> is one of degrees, not kind. Every doctrine that can be taught in seminary can be taught to children, though not in the same words.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. There are not two gospels, one for the learned and one for the unlearned; there is no part of the gospel that we are authorized to keep back from the people.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">You were not able to receive it</span></b>: It wasn’t that God was preventing the Corinthians from receiving the <b><span class="c3">solid food</span></b> Paul had to give them. The real problem was the Corinthian attraction to spiritual “junk food,” based on man’s wisdom and eloquence. They were so “filled” with this junk food that they were <b><span class="c3">not able to receive</span></b> the spiritual <b><span class="c3">solid food</span></b> Paul wanted to give them.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Some “spiritual junk food Christians” are greatly blessed when they get a spiritual meal of <b><span class="c3">solid food</span></b>. But others, when presented with <b><span class="c3">solid food</span></b>, are <b><span class="c3">not able to receive it</span></b>, because their spiritual “taste buds” are so conditioned to junk food, that is all they have a taste for.</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,'3-4');">3-4</a>) Evidence of their carnality.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>For you are still carnal. For where <i>there are</i> envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like <i>mere</i> men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I <i>am</i> of Apollos,” are you not carnal?</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal</span></b>: The Corinthian Christians thought of themselves as spiritual, but their divisions show that they are in fact fleshly.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The problems they had in human relationships showed there was something wrong in their relationship with God. It was evidence of carnality, of a fleshly way of thinking and living.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. Divisions, envy and strife in a body are not the only signs of fleshiness, but they are the ones most evident among the Corinthians.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?</span></b> Paul did not say that they <i>were</i> <b><span class="c3">mere men</span></b> (that is, not saved), only that they were <b><span class="c3">behaving like mere men</span></b>. Christians have a higher call than living like the rest of humanity!</p>
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<p class="c5">i. “Spiritual people are to walk in the Spirit. If they do otherwise, they are “worldly” and are called upon to desist. <i><span > </span>Remaining worldly</i> is not one of the options.” (Fee)</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">When one says, “I am of Paul,” . . . are you not carnal?</span></b> We might have thought that Paul would be more kind to his own “fan club.” Instead of letting their praise stroke his flesh, Paul denounced even his own partisans.</p>
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<p>B. How to regard leaders in the church.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,'5-7');">5-7</a>) The foolishness of exalting church leaders.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>Who then is Paul, and who <i>is</i> Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Who then is Paul? </span></b><span > </span>Paul and Apollos are not the ones you believed on for salvation; they only brought Jesus to you. They are <b><span class="c3">through whom you believed</span></b>, not <i>on</i> whom you believed.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. “So what was the use of fighting which of two nothings was the greater?” (Maclaren)</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">I planted, Apollos watered</span></b>: Christian workers have different jobs, and see different results. But God is the one who gets the work done; <b><span class="c3">God . . . gives the increase</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. When a farmer plants a seed, and waters it, he really does not <i>make</i> it grow. The miracle of life does that. All the farmer can do is provide the right environment for growth, and trust in the miracle of life. We do the same thing in ministering Jesus to other people.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. Some people are frustrated because they want to water when God has called them to plant, or they want to plant when God has called them to water. Others are frustrated because they want to make the increase happen, when only God can do that. Real fruitfulness in ministry happens when we are peacefully content with what God has called us to do.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Planted</span></b> and <b><span class="c3">watered</span></b> are in the ancient Greek aorist tense, marking definite acts in the past; <b><span class="c3">gives the increase</span></b> is in the imperfect tense, marking the continued work of God.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,'8-9');">8-9</a>) Christian workers work together, but are rewarded according to their own labor.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, <i>you are</i> God’s building.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">He who plants and he who waters are one</span></b>: In combating the Corinthian desire to divide among leaders, Paul reminds them they are all on the same team.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. How silly to say, “Planting is what is really important. Those waterers are really missing the boat.” Or to think, “Watering is where it’s at. Those planters better get their priorities straight.” The fact is planters and waterers are both necessary, both need each other, and both are working towards the same goal.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Each one will receive his own reward</span></b>: All work together, but each is rewarded individually. Reward is not given according to gifts, talents, or even success, but according to their <b><span class="c3">own labor</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. God knows how to reward properly. On earth, many ministers either receive too much or too little reward.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. “The faithful, laborious minister or missionary who labours in obscurity and without apparent fruit, will meet a reward far beyond that of those who, with less self-denial and effort, are made the instruments of great results.” (Hodge)</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. Young preachers used to ask G. Campbell Morgan the secret to his preaching success. He would answer: “I always say to them the same thing: work; hard work; and again, work!”</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">We are God’s fellow workers</span></b>: God has given us the amazing opportunity to work with Him. We cannot work without Him, and He will not work without us (generally speaking). God wants <i>you</i> as His working partner!</p>
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<p class="c5">i. When you consider all the ways God <i>could</i> have done His work, it is even more amazing to know He wants our participation.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">You are God’s field, you are God’s building</span></b>: The work Paul did with God was to work “on” God’s people. They were his “field” (using the picture of a farmer planting and watering), and they were his “building” (using the picture of a builder).</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,'10-15');">10-15</a>) The church as a building.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation <i>with</i> gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on <i>it</i> endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">According to the grace of God</span></b>: In describing Paul’s work among the Corinthians, he begins with a declaration of <b><span class="c3">grace</span></b>. He knew that his status as a worker in God’s field, or on God’s building, was based on <i>God’s undeserved favor</i>, not on his own deserving or merit.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. It is an exalted thing to be a <i>fellow worker</i> with God. But God doesn’t choose exalted people to do His work. It isn’t anything in them that makes them worthy to be His worker, it is <b><span class="c3">according to the grace of God</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">I have laid the foundation</span></b>: When Paul founded the church in Corinth (<a onclick="return mV('Act',18,'all');">Act 18</a>), he set the only foundation that can be laid: the person and work of <b><span class="c3">Jesus Christ</span></b>. Yet he knew that others would come after him and build on the foundation he set.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. So, <b><span class="c3">let each one take heed how he builds on it</span></b>. There is only one foundation for the church. If it isn’t founded on Jesus Christ, it isn’t a church at all. So one can’t build on any other foundation; but one can build <i>unworthily</i> on the one foundation.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. God will test the building work of all His <i>fellow workers</i>, <b><span class="c3">each one’s work will become manifest</span></b>. So some build with precious things like <b><span class="c3">gold, silver, precious stones</span></b>; others build with unworthy materials like <b><span class="c3">wood, hay, </span></b>and <b><span class="c3">straw</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. By using the figures of <b><span class="c3">gold, silver,</span></b> and<b><span class="c3"> precious stones</span></b>, Paul seems to have in mind the temple building materials (<a onclick="return mV('1Ch',22,14);">1Ch 22:14</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Ch',22,16);">22:16</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Ch',29,2);">29:2</a>). The “building” God is constructing in His people, with His <i>fellow workers </i>is His “temple.”</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. <b><span class="c3">Precious stones</span></b> doesn’t mean jewels, but fine stone materials like marble and granite. Mixing the wisdom of men with the wisdom of God in the work of building the church is like using alternate layers of straw and marble in building. Straw may be fine, it may have a place (in the barn), but it is an inadequate building material. In the same way, human wisdom and fleshly attractions may have a place in life, but not in the building of the church.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">The fire will test each one’s work</span></b>: When our work is tested by God, it will be <b><span class="c3">revealed</span></b> what kind of work it was. Just as fire will destroy <b><span class="c3">wood, hay,</span></b> and <b><span class="c3">straw</span></b>, but not <b><span class="c3">gold, silver,</span></b> and <b><span class="c3">precious stones</span></b>, so the work of some will be revealed as <i>nothing</i> on that Day.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Notice that the <i>amount</i> of the work isn’t going to be evaluated (though it does have some relevance). Paul says the work will be tested to see <b><span class="c3">what <i>sort</i> it is</span></b>. 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. D.L. Moody wisely said that converts ought to be weighed as well as counted.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. Paul also referred to this great testing in <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',5,10);">2Cr 5:10</a>: <i>For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad</i>. When our work is tested before the Lord, we will be rewarded according to what remains.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. It is a sobering thought: many, many people who believe they are serving God, but are doing it in an unworthy manner or with unworthy “materials” will come to find in eternity that they have, in reality, done <i>nothing</i> for the Lord. Some will be saved, but with a life that was wasted, and receive no crown to give to Jesus, for His glory (as in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',4,'10-11');">Rev 4:10-11</a>). <b><span class="c3">He himself will be saved, yet so as through the fire</span></b>: Saved, but barely saved, and saved with everything gone.</p>
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<p class="c4">e. <b><span class="c3">If anyone’s work</span></b>: The fire does not purify the <i>worker</i>, it tests their <i>workmanship</i>. Roman Catholics use this passage to teach purgatory, the idea that when we die, we go to a place where we are purified by fire before we go to heaven. The idea of purgatory has nothing to do with this passage, and nothing to do with any other passage in the Bible. Purgatory is strictly a human invention, and denies the finished work of Jesus for the believer.</p>
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<p class="c4">f. This passage has first application to Christian leaders, because this is Paul’s topic in context. But the application extends to all of our service for God.</p>
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<p class="c1">4. (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,'16-17');">16-17</a>) The church as a temple.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>Do you not know that you are the temple of God and <i>that</i> the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which <i>temple</i> you are.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">You are the temple of God</span></b>: Paul will later (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',6,'19-20');">1Cr 6:19-20</a>) speak as individual Christians being temples. Here his emphasis is on the church as a whole (though it has application to individuals).</p>
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<p class="c5">i. When Paul calls the church a temple, don’t think he is using a picture. The physical temple was the picture; God’s dwelling in us is the reality.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. What makes the church a temple? <b><span class="c3">The Spirit of God dwells in you</span></b>. The word used for <b><span class="c3">temple</span></b> (<i>naos</i>) refers to the actual sanctuary, the place of the deity’s dwelling, in contrast to the broader word <i>hieron</i>, which was the temple area in general.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">If anyone defiles the temple of God</span></b>: If you defile the church, God will <b><span class="c3">destroy</span></b> you. God’s temple - His church - is <b><span class="c3">holy</span></b>, and it matters to God how we treat His holy temple.</p>
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<p>C. How to glorify God.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,'18-20');">18-20</a>) Glorify Him by pursuing real wisdom.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their <i>own</i> craftiness”; and again, “The <span class="c6">Lord</span> knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">If anyone among you seems to be wise</span></b>: Paul is being a little sarcastic here. Of course the Corinthians considered themselves <b><span class="c3">wise in this age</span></b>! That was one of their problems, their love of worldly wisdom.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. What is one to do if they are <b><span class="c3">wise in this age</span></b>? If they are wise according to a human measure of wisdom? They are to <b><span class="c3">become a fool that he may become wise</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Paul asks them to renounce all worldly wisdom, all <i>humanism</i> (man centered philosophy), even if it means being called a fool. If one is not willing to be considered a <b><span class="c3">fool</span></b> by those who value only human wisdom, they will never be able to truly <b><span class="c3">become wise</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. God has evaluated the <b><span class="c3">wisdom of this world</span></b>, and He considers it <b><span class="c3">foolishness</span></b>, <b><span class="c3">craftiness</span></b>, and <b><span class="c3">futile</span></b>. Will we agree with God’s evaluation, or not?</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,'21-23');">21-23</a>) Glorify God by seeing His servants in the right perspective.</p>
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<p class="c2"><span>Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come; all are yours. And you <i>are</i> Christ’s, and Christ <i>is</i> God’s.</span></p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Let no one glory in men</span></b>: How prone we are to <b><span class="c3">glory in men</span></b>! We are more excited about being with the influential and famous of this world than about being with God. We value the gifts and honors of men more than the gifts and honors God gives. How we need to hear, <b><span class="c3">let no one glory in men</span></b>!</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">For all things are yours</span></b>: To say <i>I am of Paul</i> or <i>I am of Apollos</i> is to have a view that is too narrow, too constricted. Both Paul and Apollos belong to you; the whole universe is yours in Christ.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Why, even <b><span class="c3">death</span></b> is “ours”; it is our servant, not our master! Death may be to us as the angel who touched Peter in <a onclick="return mV('Act',12,'all');">Act 12</a>, causing his chains to fall off, and leading him through a gate that opens by itself, into real freedom.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">All are yours</span></b>: This is Christian liberty. <b><span class="c3">And you are Christ’s</span></b>: This is Christian responsibility.</p>
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