1 Corinthians 3

1 Corinthians 3

We see many divisions in our world around us.  1 Cor. 2 and 3 divides people into 3 spiritual divisions:

1)  The "natural" man (the person who is not saved.) The New Living translation calls such a person one who isn't spiritual. 1 Cor. 2:14. He cannot understand spiritual things because he does not have the presence of the Holy Spirit.

2)  The "spiritual" man (the person who is saved--has trusted Jesus). 2:15, 16  He willingly allows the Holy Spirit to lead and teach him.

3)  The "carnal" man (the person who is saved but is an immature believer who does not submit to the ministry of the Holy Spirit within him.) 1 Cor. 3:1-4. These people do not submit to the leadership of the Holy Spirit even though He lives within them. They are controlled by their sinful nature. They are not ready to understand the deeper things of God; they are jealous and quarrelsome; they live like people of the world; they foster divisions in the church. This tells me that we all have a free will to choose whether or not to obey God and submit to His leading.

Paul deals with the divisions in the following verses. He tells the Corinthians that the men who they follow are merely God's servants spreading the Good News. Each does his own work, but God makes the change. He uses seeds and buildings as examples. When he uses the building analogy, he warns to the people to make sure the foundation is Jesus Christ. v. 11 Those who build their Christian lives with eternal and lasting materials will earn rewards in heaven. Those who waste their Christian lives on trivial, earthly things, will still be saved, but they will lose rewards. vv. 12-15

In vv. 16 and 17, Paul continues with the picture of believers as a building, but he expands the analogy to the church. His discussion after all is about unity. "Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?" So in reality, the individual believer is the temple of God because God the Holy Spirit lives within him, but the church or body of believers is also God's "building" or temple. (The church building itself is not the church--the people are. We can be a church even if we meet in someone's living room or basement.) v. 17 warns sternly about anyone who destroys God's holy temple!

The remainder of the chapter reminds the Corinthians not to glory in human wisdom. It's OK to pursue knowledge and wisdom, but we must be very sure to remember that God's wisdom is far above ours, so much so that in comparison the world's wisdom seems foolish.