Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 3:1
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, [even] as unto babes in Christ.
Ch. 1Co 3:1-4. The partizanship of the Corinthians a hindrance to spiritual progress
1. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual ] The Apostle has said much of the superiority of the wisdom which is the result of spiritual illumination. He now warns the Corinthians that the majority of them do not possess it, or at best but in the scantiest measure, and thus remain on the threshold of the Christian life.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And I, brethren – See 1Co 2:1. This is designed to meet an implied objection. He had said 1Co 2:14-16 that Christians were able to understand all things. Yet, they would recollect that he had not addressed them as such, but had confined himself to the more elementary parts of religion when he came among them. He had not entered upon the abstruse and difficult points of theology – the points of speculation in which the subtle Greeks so much abounded and so much delighted. He now states the reason why he had not done it. The reason was one that was most humbling to their pride; but it was the true reason, and faithfulness demanded that it should be stated. It was, that they were carnal, and not qualified to understand the deep mysteries of the gospel; and the proof of this was unhappily at hand. It was too evident in their contentions and strifes, that they were under the influence of carnal feelings and views.
Could not speak unto you as unto spiritual – I could not regard you as spiritual – as qualified to enter into the full and higher truths of the gospel; I could not regard you as divested of the feelings which influence carnal people – the people of the world, and I addressed you accordingly. I could not discourse to you as to far-advanced and well-informed Christians. I taught you the rudiments only of the Christian religion. He refers here, doubtless, to his instructions when he founded the church at Corinth. See the note at 1Co 2:13-15.
But as unto carnal – The word carnal here sarkinois is not the same which in 1Co 2:14, is translated natural psuchikos. That refers to one who is unrenewed, and who is wholly under the influence of his sensual or animal nature, and is no where applied to Christians. This is applied here to Christians – but to those who have much of the remains of corruption, and who are imperfectly acquainted with the nature of religion; babes in Christ. It denotes those who still evinced the feelings and views which pertain to the flesh, in these unhappy contentions, and strifes, and divisions. The works of the flesh are hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, envyings Gal 5:20-21; and these they had evinced in their divisions; and Paul knew that their danger lay in this direction, and he therefore addressed them according to their character. Paul applies the word to himself Rom 7:14, for I am carnal; and here it denotes that they were as yet under the influence of the corrupt passions and desires which the flesh produces.
As unto babes in Christ – As unto those recently born into his kingdom, and unable to understand the profounder doctrines of the Christian religion. It is a common figure to apply the term infants and children to those who are feeble in understanding, or unable, from any cause, to comprehend the more profound instructions of science or religion.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Co 3:1-12
And I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal babes in Christ.
Incapacity in hearers
I. That the ignorance and sinfulness of a people are a just cause why faithful and wise ministers of the Word do not sometimes preach of the more sublime and excellent points in Christianity. Paul desired not only to lay a good foundation, but also to build an excellent superstructure, but the ignorance of his hearers restrained him. Even as the husbandman does not sow his best seed, wheat, and the like, because his ground is so barren that it will not bear it. As the schoolmaster teacheth not his choicest notions, because the scholar cannot receive them. To open the doctrine, consider that in Christianity, and so in our preaching, there is a twofold kind of matter.
1. That which is fundamental, plain, necessary, and easy, being the first principles of religion, the total ignorance whereof damneth.
2. There are admirable consequences and conclusions to be deduced from and improved out of these, unto which the godly are to grow, not resting in the former, but greedily desiring the latter. This is to show you that Christs school hath many forms, and it is a sin and a shame to be always in the alphabet. For further prosecuting the doctrine, consider, first, how ignorance doth restrain the ministers abilities. And ignorance is an impediment to our preaching, in these particulars: first, the more eminent and sublime mysteries of the gospel about Christ and His righteousness we cannot so frequently preach upon, but these things which may be known of God by the natural light of conscience and by the works of creation. There are things known of God partly by natural light of conscience, especially if furthered with education, and things by supernatural revelation and authority of the Scripture merely; such is the old doctrine about Christ and His offices. Now this later sort of matter, which is the marrow end life of all preaching, many of our congregations, as they now stand corrupted with blindness and ignorance, are not prepared to receive it. Secondly, as those sublime mysteries cannot be often preached on (though sometimes we must, because we are debtors to the wise as well as the foolish, and there are spiritual as well as carnal in our congregations), so likewise that growth in knowledge, and increase more and more in heavenly light and knowledge, cannot be pressed where gross ignorance is. Can we expect any increase or fruit when men are not so much as plants planted by God? Alas! the ministers of God have far higher and larger degrees of knowledge and grace to press you to if once the foundation were laid. Thirdly, there are many choice and excellent duties in the exercise whereof a Christian would have much joy and bring much glory to God; but the ignorance of a people makes the minister not so frequently urge those, because other things must be done first. The duties are these: Let the Word of God dwell plentifully in you, teaching and admonishing one another (Col 3:6). Fourthly, the ignorance of a people restraineth the ministers of God, that they cannot so powerfully press at first the pure and sincere worship of God, and the leaving of all superstitious and traditional ways of worship; but they must by degrees, here a little, and there a little, as they are able to bear it. Thus much for ignorance. Then the sinfulness of people makes them incapable of many precious truths in religion. As, first, the ministers labour is most spent in discovering the damnable nature of gross sins, taking them off from their brutish ways; and as for spiritual sins, unbelief, diffidence in the promises, carnal confidence in themselves, &c. These they cannot so much press against, because such auditors come far short of civility, and therefore much less reach to piety. Secondly, to a people living in gross sins we cannot so frequently and gloriously preach Jesus Christ in the offices of a Mediator. We cannot make it our work to set forth the promise of the gospel in its glory. We cannot preach of joy and peace in believing. Thirdly, the performing of duties in a spiritual and gracious manner, so as to have communion with God and to enjoy Him. This also is too high for wicked men. Use: To awaken people out of their ignorance and sinfulness. If Aristotle thought a young man no fit auditor for his morals because he was subject to unruly affections, how fit can people blind in mind, corrupt in affections, be to receive the truths of God! How much of the study, labour, parts, and godliness of a minister may be lost through the indocibleness of hearers! Though we preach not Latin, yet the matter we preach may be so spiritual, heavenly, that it may be as unintelligible as an unknown tongue.
II. That even among those who are truly and indeed of the visible Church of God, there is a vast difference; some are spiritual, some are carnal, some are men, some are babes. Though God created Adam and Eve in their full perfection, :yet He doth not regenerate us into a full stature in Christ. The apostle in the text speaks of two degrees only amongst the godly–the spiritual and the carnal, the men and the babes. These Corinthians are said to abound in all utterance, and they came behind no Church in any gift; yet no Church so carnal. Here were gross heresies, divisions, and several gross practices; so that a spiritual people is not a people of parts and knowledge and abilities only, but of grace and raised sanctification also. Now as there are these degrees in the truly godly, so there are peculiar duties required of them. The spiritual man is, first, to be charitable and indulgent to those that are weaker, not to despise them. Secondly, the spiritual man is to walk humbly, and to be always in an holy fear and trembling. Thirdly, the spiritual man is to consider God requireth mere of him than of others; his account will be the more terrible. Then as for the carnal or babes, two things belong to them. First, that they be not dejected, or quite out of hopes, because they are babes. Fathers have naturally tender affections to those children that are most infirm and weak. Secondly, take heed of resting in low things. To be always weak, to be always carnal, doth highly provoke God and grieve a faithful ministry; to grow in grace and bring forth much fruit are made necessary to our continuance in the state of grace.
Use 1. To confute that proud and arrogant doctrine that will have none members of a Church but who are perfect, and those also who arrogate perfection to themselves. Where can such be found?
Use 2. If those that are truly godly, yet imperfect, retaining some ignorance and some infirmities on them, are such a trouble unto the godly ministers, how unsufferable then are such as are altogether carnal! If wheat, because of some blemish in it, be to be blamed, what then is cockle and plain weeds? If imperfect fruit displease the gardener, what then do brambles and weeds? (A. Burgess.)
The comparative carnality of Christians
I. Christians are decidedly, though not wholly, spiritual. The marks of their spirituality are these:–
1. A freedom from wilful and habitual subjection to any sin.
2. The measurement of their obedience by the perfect law.
3. The ascribing of all the excellences attained by them to a Divine source.
4. Union among themselves.
II. But they have the remains of an opposite character still existing within them, in the midst of which this new one has sprung up. They remain too much carnal and become too little spiritual.
1. They bear not affliction well.
2. Their behaviour in the Church is not good; they quarrel and contend.
3. They pay too much attention to the pomp of this world. This state must be altered. Be no longer carnal, but walk ye in the Spirit. (J. Leifchild, D. D.)
Reflections for Churches
I. The graduating method of teaching (1Co 3:1-2). Truth is to be administered with regard to the receptive powers of the student, just as the administration of bodily food must have regard to the digestive capacities of those who need it. Though men might live on milk, strong meat would kill children. There are truths in the gospel of such an elevated character, requiring so much intellect and culture to appreciate them, that to enforce them on the attention of mental and moral children would be positively to injure them. Christ practised this method of teaching. He had many things to say which His disciples could not bear. This method of teaching shows–
1. That a minister that may be useful to one class of men may be unprofitable to another.
2. The necessity of all who would enjoy the higher teaching to cultivate their mental and moral powers.
II. The carnality of churchisms (1Co 3:3-4). By churchisms I mean sectarianisms, denominationalisms, &c. Paul says this is carnal. Carnal because it engrosses the soul–
1. In the human rather than the Divine.
2. In the personal rather than in the universal.
3. In the selfish rather than in the self-denying.
4. In the transitory rather than in the permanent.
III. The unity of all true ministers (1Co 3:5-8).
1. One, notwithstanding the diversity of talents and kinds of labour.
2. One in grand practical aim. What were they working for? The spiritual cultivation of mankind. One planting, another watering, &c. Different kinds of labour, but still one.
3. One in their connection with God.
(1) Whilst all depended on God for success, God gave the increase.
(2) All were co-workers with Him. Labourers together with God.
4. One in their ultimate reward (1Co 3:8). Each from the same God, each according to his work. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
St. Pauls spiritual treatment of the Church whilst in a state of faction
Note–
I. His economic management of truth. Economy in a household means frugality in opposition to extravagance. In the dispensation of truth it means that prudent distribution which does not squander it uselessly, but which apportions to each age and capacity the amount it can turn to good account. For different ages, different kinds of food. For childhood, or babes in Christ, milk, &c.; but reverse this, and what is strength to the man is injury to the child–it cannot bear it.
1. The doctrine which the apostle calls strong meat, if taught at first, would deter from further discipleship. No man putteth a piece of new cloth into an old garment, &c. Now strong meat does not mean high doctrine, such as election, regeneration, justification by faith, but strong demands on self, a severe, noble life. St. Paul taught the Corinthians all the doctrine he had to teach, but not all the conceptions of the blessed life which he knew of. He showed them that, leaving the principles of doctrine, they were to grow up unto Christ in all things, but by degrees. From a child we must not ask sublime forgiveness of injuries. That which would be glorious in a man might be pusillanimity in a boy. You must content yourself at first with prohibiting tyranny. Do not ask of your child to sacrifice all enjoyment for the sake of others; but let him learn first not to enjoy at the expense of another.
2. Another reason for this is the danger of familiarising the mind with high spiritual doctrines to which the heart is a stranger, and thus engendering hypocrisy–e.g., self-sacrifice, self-denial, are words easily got by rote; and while fluently talking of these high-sounding words, and of mans or womans mission and influence, it never occurs to us that as yet we have not power to live them out. Let us avoid such language, and avoid supposing that we have attained such states. It is good to be temperate; but if you are temperate, do not mistake that for self-sacrifice. It is good to be honest; but when you are simply doing your duty, do not talk of a noble life. The danger of extreme demands made on hearts unprepared for such is seen in the ease of Ananias. These demands were not, as we see, made by the apostles; but public opinion, which had made sacrifice fashionable, demanded it. And it was a demand like strong meat to the weak, for Ananias was unable to bear it.
II. His depreciation of the part played by man in the great work of progress, and his exhibition of the part of God (1Co 3:5).
1. In all periods of great social activity there is a tendency to exalt persons and means of progress. Hence, in turn, kings, statesmen, parliaments: and then education, science, machinery, and the press. Here, at Corinth, was minister-worship.
2. St. Pauls remedy was to point out Gods part and ours. Ye are Gods husbandry, we are only labourers. We execute a plan which we only slightly understand–nay, not at all, till it is completed, like workmen in a tubular bridge, or men employed in Gobelin tapestry, who cannot see the pattern of their work until the whole is executed. Conceive the labourer saying of some glorious piece of architecture: Behold my work! or some poet, king, or priest, in view of some progress of the race: See what I have done! Who is Paul, but a servant of higher plans than he knows? (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
The ministerial once
As their dissensions had reference to their religious teachers, the apostle endeavours to correct the evil by presenting the ministerial office in its true light.
I. Ministers were not heads of schools or rival sects, as were the Grecian philosophers, but mere servants, without any authority or power of their own. One may plant, and another water, but the whole increase is of God (1Co 3:5-7).
II. Ministers Are One. They have one Master and one work. They may have different departments in that great work, but they are like fellow-labourers on the same farm, or fellow-builders on the same temple (1Co 3:8-9).
III. In the discharge of their respective duties they incur a great responsibility. If they attempt to build up the temple of God with the rubbish of their own wisdom, they will be severely punished. If they employ the materials which God has furnished, they will be rewarded (1Co 3:10-15). The Church is the temple of God, and ministers will be held to strict account for the doctrines which they preach and for the way in which they execute their office (1Co 3:16-17).
IV. No minister need deceive himself in this matter. He cannot preach a higher wisdom than the wisdom of God; and to learn that wisdom he must renounce his own (1Co 3:18-20).
V. Therefore the people should not place their confidence in ministers, who belong to the Church, and not the Church to them. To the interests and consummation of the Church all things, visible and invisible, are made subservient (1Co 3:21-23). (C. Hodge, D. D.)
Prod an example to Christian ministers
I. His wisdom
1. He discriminates the spiritual condition of his charge.
2. Unfolds it.
3. Adapts himself to it.
II. His humility.
1. He repudiates all the glory of his success.
2. Claims no superiority over his brethren.
3. Ascribes all honour to God.
III. His exalted views of his work
1. Co-operation with God.
2. Gods husbandry.
3. Gods building.
IV. His deep sense of his responsibility.
1. He would build on the right foundation.
2. With solid material.
3. Under the solemn conviction that his work must be tried by fire. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
I have fed you with milk and not with meat.—
Milk for babes
This second verse is a further amplification of Pauls complaint: they were babes, and not strong men. Wherein did this appear? By the meat he did provide for them. He compareth himself to a nurse, who does not provide strong meat, but milk for babes; for that were to kill them rather than to nourish them. Now this action of Pauls does denote the great skill and prudence which the apostle used, considering what was fit for his hearers, and condescending thereunto. He that was rapt up into the third heavens, what sublime mysteries might he have preached upon! But he preaches not to show his learning, but to do good to them.
I. There is a great deal of prudence and wisdom required in the ministers of god so to preach as that it, may be profitable to the hearers. The nurse is carefully to observe what meat the child may eat; the shepherd, what are the fit pastures for to lead his sheep into; the husbandman, what is the proper seed for such ground; the physician, what is the proper physic for such constitutions. To open this doctrine, consider that a ministers duty of feeding his flock lies in two things–his teaching of them and his governing of them–and both these require great prudence. If Solomon, above all things, prayed for wisdom to govern the people in civil things, how much more have we cause to pray for wisdom in the administration of spiritual things? How easily may we give you poison for bread without wisdom I
1. For information. There is required judgment and a sound mind to separate truth from falsehood; to know which is gold and precious stone, and which is hay and stubble; to winnow the chaff from the wheat.
2. As wisdom is required to choose out true and sound matter, so to proportion it to the capacity of the hearers.
(1) To preach the nature of God and His attributes; of original sin, of conversion, of justification; as also about Christ and His offices.
(2) To preach comfort, and dispense the grace of God in the gospel. But here is much wisdom required that he doth it not to impenitent sinners.
(3) To rebuke and reprove for sin. Now how great a skill is it wisely to reprove, to have zeal and knowledge together! Some must be reproved sharply (Tit 1:13), cuttingly. We must not spare. Thus John called some a generation of vipers (Mat 3:7), and our Saviour, Woe to you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, many times repeating that, upbraiding of them. Others, again, are tender, tractable; meekness will do more than austerity. As for Church government, the wise management of that is far more difficult than political. Let us consider the reason why this doctrinal feeding requireth such skill and prudence. First, because Divine truths are not to be managed by human, worldly wisdom, but by spiritual wisdom. As it is God that teacheth people to profit (Isa 48:17), so it is God that teacheth the minister to preach profitably. Secondly, therefore, is wisdom necessary in our preaching of Divine things, because the miscarriage of these precious truths is a far greater loss than any earthly loss. It is pity for want of skill in any calling to miscarry in a mans worldly affairs, but much more in heavenly; there needs not only faithfulness, but wisdom. Thirdly, therefore is wisdom necessary, because of the untowardness and unteachableness of people which have sundry humours, sundry appetites, sundry affections and desires. Use: To show peoples duty, how much they are to pray unto God for their teachers, that they may be directed into all good thoughts for their souls good. The second doctrine remaineth to be amplified, which is–
II. That it is very necessary to have a people instructed with the principles of religion before they make further progress in religion. Consider, first, and bewail the miserable atheism, ignorance, and blindness that every man naturally is born in about religion and Divine truths. Darkness covers our congregations, as it did the chaos at first. Secondly, as people are thins naturally ignorant of Divine truths, so also their wilful slothfulness about them is much more damnable. Thirdly, because naturally we are thus like a wilderness full of briars, therefore God hath strictly commanded this duty of instructing and informing those that are rude and ignorant in the ways of God. Fourthly, the two principles of religion are reduced to several heads, and are both short and easy, but necessary to be known. The doctrine about God, and Christ, and ourselves, which is the Credendum; the doctrine about faith and repentance, which is the Agendum; and about things to come, which is the Sperandum. But now, when we say these Divine principles are easy, you must take heed of two mistakes.
1. We do not mean that the Divine faith and belief of them is easy to flesh and blood. No; but they are easy supposing the grace of God in respect of other particulars in religion. The principles of religion are easy and plain to the mind enlightened, but they are either foolishness or absurdities to the greatest scholar, that is, if his heart be not opened.
2. We do not mean that the bare saying of the principles of religion by heart and rote is the true believing and knowing of them. As the child is not said to be fed with milk unless it swallow it down and be nourished by it, so neither can they be said to believe the principles of religion unless they do with understanding apply them and receive them into their hearts. Now the grounds for instruction in these principles are, first, because God accounts of no zeal nor devout affections if they be not the fruit of knowledge. Thus Christ told the woman that was so zealous for her Fathers worship, Ye worship ye know not what (Joh 4:22). Secondly, the principles are foundations, and are the root. Now, he would be an unwise artificer that should intend to rear up a house and lay no foundation. So that, so long as we preach to a people ignorant of these, we have no bottom to stand upon. Thirdly, without this good foundation laid, no preaching or duties can have any spiritual effect. Fourthly, conversion cannot be wrought without some knowledge of the principles. We cannot believe in Him we do not know. We cannot love Him we do not know. Fifthly, the knowledge of these principles is necessary to salvation. You that are ignorant totally of them cannot upon any just grounds hope for salvation. This is eternal life, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent (Joh 17:2). They are a people of no understanding, therefore He that made them will not save them (Isa 27:11). God would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth (2Ti 3:7). Sixthly, none can pretend excuses for their ignorance herein. That it is a great sin and just reproach to a people that have lived long under the means of grace if they have not got the true profit by it. The Word preached is commended in Scripture for several and Divine operations. Now if thou hast many years been under these droppings, and yet art a dry wilderness, how unsufferable is it! In other things of the world you think it not to be endured.
I. For opening this, let us consider what are those choice and noble effects of the ministry for the defect whereof a people may be severely blamed. First, illumination and enlightening of the understanding to believe the first principles and foundations of religion. Every science, and so that of Divinity, hath its first principles, which are easy and plain. They shine with their own light, as the sunshineth with its own light; you need not another sun to see it. So, though the sun be never so visible, if the eye be not prepared all is in vain to a blind man. What do such bats and owls in the sunshine of the gospel? Oh, if thou hadst lived in Sodom or Egypt, it had not been such a wonder; but in Jerusalem to be so blind argueth thy case damnable! Secondly, the Word preached expects this effect, not only to lay a foundation, but to build upwards; not only to plant, but to grow. Thus Eph 4:13, the offices in the Church are to bring us to a full stature in Christ. Where God gives talents, He looks for increase. The ministry is a talent of which God will require a strict account. As Paul doth sharply reprove the Hebrews for this want of growth (Heb 6:1-20.). Oh, then, sit not down at the lower round in the ladder, stay not at the bottom of the hill! Christianity is a race. There is work, and work enough for thee. Let all the world see there is a vast difference between living under no ministry, or a negligent ministry, and an instructing one. If corn should grow no better in improved grounds than in the barren heath it would be very strange. To a blind man the day and night is all one; he seeth as well at one time as another. Oh, fear thyself in a state of blindness, to whom preaching and no preaching, the ministry and no ministry, is all one; for thou makest no more progress! Thirdly, a third effect of the ministry is to establish and settle in the truth, to give a sound mind. For through mens corruptions, pride, and vainglory, the ministry, as it may increase mens parts, so accidentally increase their errors. As April showers that make the flowers fresh and sweet, so cause many croaking frogs also. Lastly, it is a shame to a people living under the ministry of the gospel a long while if they are not thereby furnished with abilities for those several personal duties that God requireth of them. Oh, the many duties God looks for at your hands which will not be expected from others!
II. In the next place, let us observe what a sin it is if people are not able to bear or receive the practical operations of the Word. For all knowledge, if it be not after godliness, is a tinkling cymbal. The Word is not only the tree of knowledge, but the tree of life also. If ye would receive the Word in the light and efficacy of it, keep not any compliance with carnal lusts. The truth is above your natural understanding, and the duties above your corrupt lives and affections. Sore eyes cannot bear the light. Festered wounds cannot bear salt; and yet the ministry is both light and salt. (A. Burgess.)
The distinction between milk and meat
I. Negatively. This distinction is not–
1. That between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God. Paul did not preach the wisdom of the world to babes in Christ, and the wisdom of God to advanced Christians.
2. Not that between the Disciplina Arcani, or doctrine of the hidden essence of Christianity, which was introduced in later times. For the sake either of conciliating the heathen, or of preventing beginners from forming false notions of the gospel, it became common deliberately to conceal the truth. This is the foundation of the Romish doctrine of reserve–inculcating a blind faith and keeping the people in ignorance.
3. That which prevailed in the early Church between truth as the object of faith and as the object of knowledge. This is a distinction true in itself, but, as then understood, it meant nothing less than the difference between the doctrines of the Bible and the speculations of men. Philosophers of our own and of every other age have been willing to allow the people the truth as presented in the Scriptures, provided they themselves were allowed to explain them away into philosophic formulas. The true nature of the distinction is to be learnt–
II. Positively.
1. From the import of the figure, which leads to the conclusion that the difference is rather in the mode of instruction than in the things taught. The same truth in one form is milk, in another strong meat. Christ, says Calvin, is milk for babes, and strong meat for men. Every doctrine which can be taught to theologians is taught to children. We teach a child that God is a Spirit, everywhere present and knowing all things, and he understands it. We tell him that Christ is God and man in two distinct natures and one person for ever. This to the child is milk, but it contains food for angels. The truth expressed in these propositions may be expanded indefinitely, and furnish nourishment for the highest intellects to eternity. The difference between milk and strong meat, according to this view, is simply the difference between the more or less perfect development of the things taught.
2. From parallel passages. In Heb 5:11-14 the reference is to the distinction between the simple doctrine of the priesthood of Christ and the full development of that doctrine. The important truth is that there are not two sets of doctrine, a higher and a lower form of faith, one for the learned and the other for the unlearned; there is no part of the gospel which we are authorised to keep back from the people. Everything which God has revealed is to be taught to every one just so fast and so far as he has the capacity to receive it. (C. Hodge, D. D.)
The doctrines of the gospel the food of Christians
I. What doctrines the apostle preached to the Corinthians. In all teaching it is necessary to begin with essential and fundamental principles. The same holds good in preaching the gospel to those who never heard it, and 1Co 2:2; 1Co 3:10 show that this was the apostles practice in Corinth, and the contents of his two Epistles bear this out.
1. The moral depravity of man lies at the foundation of the gospel, otherwise he would not need that salvation which it offers. Accordingly we find the apostle bringing this into view (1Co 2:14).
2. This sentiment is intimately connected with regeneration. For if natural men are under the dominion of sin, then their hearts must be renewed before they can become heirs of the kingdom of heaven (2Co 4:6; 2Co 5:5).
3. The immediate effect of regeneration is love, which is the essence of all true religion (chap. 13.). Love to God produces love to Christ; and love to Christ is the very essence of that faith, which is connected with eternal life. Accordingly the apostle exhorted the Corinthians to embrace Christ as the only ground of salvation (2Co 5:18-21).
4. After men have become reconciled to God, they still need the Spirit of promise to carry on a work of sanctification in their hearts (2Co 3:18).
5. The doctrine of perseverance is a consequence of sanctification (2Co 1:22; 2Co 5:1; 2Co 5:5; 2Co 5:8).
6. As God begins and carries on a good work in whom He pleases, so Divine sovereignty is an essential doctrine of the gospel (1Co 3:6). Which leads up to the doctrine of the Trinity (2Co 13:14).
II. Why he called these doctrines milk. Heb 5:12-14 throws light upon the metaphor. The doctrines which Paul preached to the Corinthians may properly be called milk, because–
1. They are easy to be understood. Milk is much easier to digest than meat. So the first principles of the oracles of God are plain to the lowest capacity. They require attention rather than deep penetration.
2. They are highly pleasing to the pious heart. Peter represents all Christians as new born babes who desire the sincere milk of the word.
3. They are nourishing. The converts at Corinth made swift advances in knowledge and holiness, while they were fed by the doctrines according to godliness (1Co 1:4-7).
III. Why the apostle preached such plain and practical doctrines rather than any others.
1. Their internal state required such plain preaching. They were Genthes who had never been favoured with the knowledge of Divine revelation (1Co 1:21).
2. Their external state required the same mode of preaching. The heathen philosophers opposed the pure truths of the gospel, and endeavoured to persuade the Christians to renounce them and return to their former superstition. Nor were they altogether unsuccessful, for they overthrew the faith of some. By clearly unfolding the fundamental doctrines of the gospel, the apostle took the best method to guard them against the plausible arguments of infidels.
IV. Improvement.
1. If the metaphor of milk has been properly explained, then by meat Paul means some other sentiments less plain and necessary to be known by common Christians. Such as–
(1) The rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic dispensation. We can hardly suppose that he would teach the Genthe Corinthians these dark things, because they were not prepared to understand them.
(2) The types and predictions respecting the character and coming of Christ. It would have been very difficult to explain these things intelligibly to a people who were without the Old Testament.
(3) The predictions in the New Testament concerning the great apostacy; the rise and fall of the man of sin; the calling in of the Jews; the millennium; and the state of things to the end of the world.
2. It appears from what has been said, that Pauls doctrines have been greatly misrepresented. How many ministers have quoted his own words against himself, and employed the text to justify themselves, not only in neglecting to preach the doctrines which he preached, but in stigmatising those doctrines!
3. This subject affords an infallible criterion, by which to determine who are the plainest preachers in point of sentiment. Those who preach the doctrines which Paul called milk are the plainest preachers, and the easiest to be understood by every class of hearers. There never was, and there never can be, any false scheme of religion so easy to explain and understand as that which Paul taught.
4. If the foregoing observations are just, then there is no reason to think that any people are unable to bear the doctrines which Paul preached to the Corinthians. The inability lies in the heart, and not in the understanding.
5. It also appears that now is a proper time for ministers to feed their people with milk, and not with meat. Our congregations, in general, are in a situation very similar to that of the Corinthians. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
For ye are yet carnal and walk as men.—
Carnality
The two ideas of the text are–Men, as men, are carnal; Christians, as Christians, ought not to be carnal. Note–
I. What it is to be carnal, and how far the charge may be made good against humanity.
1. The word is of the same kindred as flesh, fleshly, &c. Flesh, however, is sometimes used in a good sense, as the heart of flesh, and sometimes in an indifferent sense, as all flesh is grass. Mostly, however, it expresses what is bad. Perhaps the terms carnal and fleshly have become the equivalents of depraved humanity from the fact of mans being in the body, and therefore from the evil in him being more openly manifested by the lustings and corruptions of the animal appetites. There might have been sin without the body, but in that case men would not have been stigmatised as carnal. Having thus got the identity of carnal and fleshly, observe the kinds and gradations of their manifestation.
(1) The first sphere is that known as fleshly lusts–irregular animal appetites. Everything that partakes of brute impulse; gluttony, drunkenness, lust.
(2) Fleshly wisdom, by which is meant not only falsehood and cunning to gain ones own ends, but thought which has no regard for God or duty, but which may be quite moral.
(3) The fleshly mind–the actings of the intellect and heart in relation to truth and love which are irregular or defective. Note the forms in which it displays itself.
(a) The form in which the intellect rejects truth altogether and turns away from Gods revelations in nature and the Bible, to its own systems and philosophies.
(b) Or the revelations may be admitted, but so corrupted by hypotheses as to make the Divine in nature and the Bible merely the occasion for filling the invisible with monstrous creations, turning the truth of God into a lie.
(c) There may be a holding of the truth simply and uncorrupted; but they who hold it may be so little instructed in it as to know nothing but its first elements, and remain babes.
2. To be carnal in any of these forms is characteristic of man as man. In illustration take–
(1) The history of man as connected with civilisation. Begin with a nation in a state of barbarism and we see disgusting outbreaks of appetite and lust. Elevate them a stage. Let the nation rise into a really civilised society, and understand the nature of prosperity, social comforts, arts, arms, science and commerce; when all the energies look no further than the present life. You know what develops then–pride of prosperity, graspings of avarice, lust of power. Then, when things have advanced further, and minds appear with high spiritual capacity, they surround themselves with forms of beauty, and school themselves in philosophy. But speculation runs rampant, professing themselves wise they become fools. They are as far from God as when given up to the gratification of animal passion.
(2) Sacred history. Soon after the Fall, with abundant testimonies of Gods character before it, the world got so corrupted that it had to be purified by the flood. The little church preserved in the ark had a fresh earth to begin upon, and erected its first altar to the true God. But in a very short time all was wrong again. Next, for the maintenance of the Divine idea, out of the mass of idolaters one man was taken, and Abrahams seed were separated from the world and shielded from corruption. Alas! their constant effort was to break away and get back to the carnal. And when by afflictions and successive revelations the national mind was improved carnality broke out in Sadduceeism and Pharisaism. Then, when Jesus appeared and revealed His truth and established His Church, came the man of sin, and all men worshipped him.
(3) The history of the individual. He begins as the slave of his appetites. By and by he awakes as if another soul were given him, and becomes respectable; he now serves his passions instead of his appetites: a mere man instead of an animal. But some go farther. They get tired of their passions, as they did of their appetites, and take themselves to philosophy, taste, and science, vainly puffed up with their fleshly mind.
(4) Society and literature for the last two hundred years. At the close of the seventeenth century English literature and manners were licentious in the extreme. The latter part of the eighteenth century was an improvement; people got prudent, calculating, and respectable. Their understanding was developed; but there was a want of all high perception of the spiritual and the Divine. To come to the present day, men talk differently from the moralists of the last century. They speak of the Divine and of the vast things for which man was made, and there is a warmth and grandeur about their speculations. But, with all their grand thoughts, and their respect for Christianity and Christ, they have no idea of sitting at the feet of Jesus. It is just the worship of taste, beauty, and mind.
II. The reasons inherent in Christianity why Christians are not to be carnal. Because–
1. Christianity claims to be a system of supernatural dogmatic truth. The gospel meets man at the highest point in the development of the carnal mind, asking, What am I, whence and whither? and says, I can tell you; I can discover to you the unseen and the eternal. Listen to me with unhesitating faith. All who will do this will find there is not a single question respecting God, man, wants, duties, prospects, which it cannot answer, and by answering put an end to the intrusions of the fleshly mind.
2. The truth thus revealed aims at the purification of our spiritual nature, and must necessarily counteract carnality. It is the grace of God which bringeth salvation, and under it men live soberly, putting away carnality from the body, the first sphere of its manifestation; righteously, putting it away from social life–the second sphere; and godly, putting it away from the spirit–the third sphere.
3. Christianity as a system of influence forbids it.
(1) It is contained in a Book. I come to that Book that it may meet me in my spiritual condition as a sinner and teach me how to be reconciled to God; and if rightly studied it will be the instrument of constant development of intellectual and moral strength.
(2) It employs, in addition, the preacher, whose office it is to cause men to grow in righteousness and true holiness.
(3) It is a system of worship. Christians approach the Infinite. What an influence for purifying the heart, raising man above the carnal, inspiring him with the Divine.
(4) And all are under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
4. The opposite of this–the temper and habits of a spiritual life are essential to their character and preparation for a life to come.
5. They cannot give any other satisfactory evidence of their being Christians.
6. The work they have to do forbids it. They are the light of the world, the salt of the earth. The tendency of man as man is to darkness and corruption, which have to be counteracted by the strenuous efforts of the life of faith and spirituality.
III. General observations.
1. Christianity, whether true or false, contains those things which, carried out, would care all the disorders of the world, and make society everywhere virtuous and healthy. There can be no question that carnality in its grosser forms is the enemy of all purity, health, and joy; and in its higher manifestation tends to degrade and disorganise humanity.
2. The nature of Christianity demonstrates its truth. It would be a greater miracle for carnal man to have been its creator, than for it to be the supernatural thing it is.
3. He that hath this hope purifies himself even as Christ is pure. (T. Binney.)
The remains of corruption in the regenerate
I. That the relics of corruption, which do abide in the godly, ought to be a heavy burden to them, against which they are daily to strive and combat. Though the tree be cut down, yet here is the stump and root in the godly. To open this, consider–
1. That even the most spiritual that are, the Christians of the first magnitude, even those that shine like suns in the world, have yet blemishes in them. But the best gold will have some dross; the best garden will have some weeds.
2. Yet there are other Christians who have sin more prevalent over them, and are easier overcome, and these deserve more to be called carnal than the former, their corruptions are more visible than their grace. Oh, take heed that thy life be not as the sluggards field, all grown over with briers and thorns.
3. As corruption doth thus abide in all the godly, and worketh differently, so it doth sometimes flame out into open fire; so that it is no longer the lust and motions of sin within, but the gross operations without. In Peter you see what a leak there was ready to drown the whole ship.
II. Whence it is that the godly do not fully conquer sin. For if you respect Christ He is greater than the devil; and if you respect grace, that is more efficacious than sin. How, then, should any lusts, passions, or motions abide in us? Now the efficient grounds are these: and then the final grounds shall be mentioned afterwards.
1. The efficient, because original corruption, which is the fountain of those streams, is not wholly dried up. So that there cannot but be those sinful affections and corrupt desires stirring in thee; these noisome vapours cannot but exhale as long as that filthy lake or bog is within thee.
2. The Spirit of God by which we come to mortify these corruptions doth not put forth its full power.
3. Therefore doth corruption remain, because the instrument of sanctification and mortification, that also is imperfect and weak. Faith purifieth the heart (Rom 11:1-36). So that if our faith be weak, the effects of it also will be weak. Lastly, therefore doth corruption abide in us, because the Law of God is spiritual, pure, and exact.
This is not an efficient ground, so much as occasional, to discover and manifest that this sour leaven still is in us. In the next place, observe the final grounds.
1. Because God intends in this life to glorify evangelical grace, and the righteousness of the gospel by faith, as the Epistles of Paul abundantly witness. Take the advantage to glorify the grace of the gospel; say thou needest Christs robes all the day long for thy nakedness.
2. God suffers these relics in us, that there may be daily exercise for faith, patience, and other graces, so that these are left to increase the crown of glory, not to diminish it. Tempests and winds discover the skill of the mariner. Thou mayest turn these clods of earth into chains of pearl.
3. That we might not he puffed up in ourselves, nor others lift up by admiration. Lastly, These thorns are still in thy side, that heaven may be the sweeter. Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. (A. Burgess.)
For whereas there is among you envying, strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal?—
Envying
The apostle generally declared the ground of their incapacity of heavenly truths. Now he enumerates the particulars, whereof envy stands in the front.
I. That envying, wheresoever it is, is a fruit of the flesh, and such a sin that a godly man should especially watch against. Are ye not carnal because of this envying? To open this doctrine, consider–
1. That the original and fountain of this envy is the same with the other great impieties that are committed in the world, viz., the flesh, or corrupt part in a man. So Gal 5:1-26. and Jam 4:1-17.
2. This sin of envy may either be in the full predominancy of it, or only in motions and combats; or if breaking out into act, bewailed and repented of. In the former manner it is in wicked men; in the latter sort it may be even in the godly. The Church of God would always abide like an ark, compacted so close together that no waters could enter in; did not envyings and evil eyes upon one another dissolve the cement and soldering whereby they are united. We shall find the disciples of John and of Christ, even those sweet roses, to have these worms breed in them.
3. Consider that envy is accompanied with a grief and a trouble, that others are indeed, or in an apprehension, in a better condition than themselves.
Now, the good that is in others, for which this envy may work, may be of several natures. As–
1. Because of the riches, power, greatness, and outward prosperity of others. And shalt thou be bad to thy own soul because God is good to others?
2. It may be because of the applause and honour, or esteem others have.
3. It may be still higher because of the parts and abilities that others have better than theirs. And it is a greater sin to envy others because of their religious parts and abilities than for any outward mercy, because these are the free gift of Gods Spirit. Now for this were the great envyings amongst the Corinthians. It is far more happy to have sanctifying graces than enlarged gifts; far more glorious to have love than large knowledge. Lastly, that is the highest wickedness that can be in envy, viz., when it is for the graces and godliness of others. How many men are reproached, envied by their neighbours and others, merely for their godliness!
Thus much for the object of envy. In the next place let us consider the subject, who are prone to it and–
1. Those that are of weak, ignorant, and narrow spirits (Job 5:21). Envy slayeth the silly one. It is the fruit of weakness in a man, his very envy betrayeth his thoughts, that he thinks others are above him.
2. Those are subject to this sin of envy, who are in a similitude of condition, estate, trade, or profession, or where there is any competition for one thing, and both cannot have it. One tradesman envieth another of the same trade. These were teachers, and they thought Paul like themselves, ambitious of glory.
3. Such are subject to envy who, because they cannot abide the good of others, they therefore study all the ways to disparage, and obscure the name and excellency of such. Thus where charity covereth a multitude of sin envy covereth a multitude of graces.
(1) Of all envyings take heed of that which is against men, because they are godly, because they live more holily than thou dost.
(2) You that are godly especially take heed of this. How contrary is this spirit of envy to that love Christ hath put into you! Let us, in the next place, consider the aggravation of this sin.
1. The wickedness of this sin may be excellently illustrated by that admirable good it is opposite to; for this is a rule, that privation is the worst whose habit is the best, that is the greatest evil which is opposite to the greatest good.
2. It opposeth that admirable goodness in Christ. Oh, come with admiration, and read, and consider the life of Christ and His death, and you will see envy is as direct contrary to Him as the serpent to the dove.
1. The grace of love and charity is often prayed for, and that by Christ Himself, that His people might have it. He prayeth for nothing so earnestly as that. It is made the sign of Christs disciples, not by miracles, not by prophecies, but by love, shall all men know Christs disciples.
2. There is still further abomination in this sin; for it is the very lively image of the devil.
3. This sin of envy is a mother-sin, a fountain-sin. There is no wickedness in the world but this sin will conceive it and bring it forth.
4. This sin is a just torment to him that commits it.
5. This sin of envy doth deprive Christians of all exercise and comfort of common graces. Lastly, it is a tenacious inbred sin. These worms will breed in the sweetest roses; these moths in the finest garments. So that the more contumacious and inherent this sin is, the greater cause to be afraid of it. Well, if it be so dangerous a sin, what remedies may be used against it?
1. Turn envy into pity; and this is an excellent cure. Nothing breaketh envy so soon as pity. He hath received more talents, and so greater increase is expected; so that he is more to be prayed for. He having a greater treasure is more obnoxious to thefts and dangers.
2. Consider that if instead of envy thou wouldst bless and praise God for the gifts and graces bestowed upon others, they would thereby be made thine. Lastly, be contented with thy condition. Envy commonly comes from discontent at what is ours. (A. Burgess.)
Strife.—
Contentions
We are come to the second sign specified. This thorn argued them to be brambles, not figs. In a great measure carnal, not spiritual. Observe that strifes and quarrelling contentions among Christians argue them to be so far carnal. Consider–
1. That the true ground of all love and peace, all concord ,and agreement, can only be upon a motive of godliness and honesty. Only godly men can truly love one another, because the motive of it is the image of God. The cause of it is Gods command, and the end of it is to do good, temporal and spiritual, to one another. Hence this is called love in the faith (Tit 3:15), and in the Spirit (Col 1:8). And therefore, if the people of God at any time quarrel, and strive with one another, there is so much manifestation that their love was not because they were godly, but for other ends. In the second place, take notice there is a twofold striving or contention.
1. That which is good and laudable. Thus Jude commands to contend for the faith once delivered. To be in an agony for it (verse 4).
2. There is a sinful and ungodly striving, And that may be about a twofold object. Either in civil worldly things quarrelling and wrangling about them, or in religious matters.
(1) Show the sinfulness of the causes.
(2) The effects wherein they manifest themselves, and–
(3) The aggravation of the sin. The cause in the general is that bitter poisonous fountain of corruption within every man. Man by nature is a spider, a toad. He can spit nothing but venom. He is a bramble that tears every one that cometh near him. Thus Gal 5:1-26.; strifes and contentions are made the manifest works of the flesh.
But the particular lusts are–
1. Pride. Where pride is there is contention (Pro 13:10). A proud man, he cannot but strive, no more than fire cannot but set all on a flame where it is. The chimney that is higher than other parts of the house, puts out all the smoke and dark vapours; and those sometimes that would exalt themselves above others, they must needs evaporate their loathsome stomach against others.
2. Ambition and vain-glory, which comes near to pride. Absaloms ambition for the kingdom, what a terrible shake did it make in Israel!
3. Malicious froward dispositions. There are some of that rancorous, turbulent nature that they cannot be quiet but in the disturbing of others. Salamanders that can live nowhere but in tire, never at rest but when they are in brawlings or contentions.
4. Covetousness and sinful love to the things of the world that makes men quarrel and brawl. Lastly, impatience, when men know not how with patience and godly wisdom to pass by many injuries and wrongs.
Now the sinful effects
1. Of striving about worldly things is discovered–
(1) In passionate and railing speeches. Let all clamour and evil speaking be laid aside (Eph 4:31; Mat 5:22).
(2) It is seen in backbiting, slandering, inventing of lies against others, whispering, and secretly reproaching of others where they are not present to justify themselves.
(3) A delight to go to law, and to implead others at the courts of judicature (chap. 6.).
(4) Lastly, this civil or uncivil contention, rather, is seen in the procuring of all that hurt and mischief to others we can, either in name or estate.
2. As for striving in religious matters, that is seen two ways.
(1) When men are given to cavil and contradict the truth, though never so evidently discovered, especially because of the purity of it, because it convinceth and arraigneth thy lusts, greatly condemning them.
(2) When men dote about questions and disputes that have no profit, or if profit, yet attend not to them in their place (Tit 3:9).
3. I come to the aggravation of this sin of contention.
(1) This striving temper is directly opposite to many commands that vehemently press love, brotherly kindness, peaceableness (Rom 12:18; 1Pe 3:8).
(2) These strifes and quarrellings make all our prayers and religion in vain.
(3) The relation we are in commands peace and unity. There is one God, one Christ, one Spirit, one baptism (Eph 4:5). (A. Burgess.)
Divisions.—
Discord
That divisions and factions do quickly creep into the best and purest Churches. This Church of Corinth was a garden planted by Paul, and, notwithstanding all his care, his constant inspection, yet these weeds grow up in it.
1. Divisions or factions may be either–
(1) Civil or ecclesiastical. Civil are all those rents and ruptures that are made by the lusts of men in a commonwealth. Thus Jeroboam made a division, he rent ten tribes from the other two. The other divisions are in the Church, and they are of two sorts, either when different doctrines or opinions are maintained, and these are called heresies. Or when there is a soundness of doctrine, yet men break the bonds of love, and live in malice and uncharitableness, and this is called schism.
(2) Factions or divisions are either personal, between godly men particularly, or more public between societies and societies, Churches and Churches. Between persons. Thus Paul and Barnabas, they were in a bitter dissention one with another (Act 15:39). So Paul and Peter; Paul reproved Peter, and withstood him to the face (Gal 1:1-24.). Or more public. Thus many Jews that believed raised great dissensions about circumcision, and the retaining of the customs of the law.
2. In the next place, what makes division or faction? And–
(1) That is, when men promote any false or wicked way against truth and godliness.
(2) Faction and division is seen when though the matter be true or good they strive for, yet they do it not in a godly, orderly way. A good intention, even in a good matter without good order, is not warrantable.
(3) A third thing in division is when men do not keep to their proper places, to their offices.
(4) Thus it is division and faction when the affections and passions of men are embittered with any carnal distempers; so that this sin doth affect the heart and spirit of a man, and then it breaks out into actions.
3. In the next place, what are the causes that make these the efficient causes?
(1) The ignorance of men, as long as men know but in part, have not perfection in the understanding; and this breedeth difference of opinions, and difference of opinions difference of affections.
(2) Self-confidence and arrogancy.
(3) The last efficient are worldly hopes and desires of carnal advantages.
(4) Lastly, there is an occasional cause, but not efficient, and that hath been the tyranny and scandalous lives of Church officers. This hath many times made sad rents. (A. Burgess.)
And walk as men.—
Walking as men
The apostle in this phrase, To live as men, or, According to man, may imply these things.
1. Mere men have no Divine faith in the matters of religion, wrought in them by the Spirit of God, but walk according to the natural dictates of conscience and education, and so are for that religion which they have been brought up in and accustomed to, whether it be right or wrong, whether good or bad. This our Saviour cleareth, when Peter made that excellent confession of faith, that Christ was the Son of God. Our Saviour graciously accepts of it, and tells him, Flesh and blood hath not revealed this to him (Mat 16:17).
2. To walk as a mere man is to propound some outward inferior comforts as the ultimate end and chief felicity of our souls. Take a man, as a mere man, and the utmost end for which he labours and strives in this world is some earthly advantages. Oh, but what saith the apostle of true Christians? We walk not by sense, but by faith (2Co 5:7).
3. To walk as mere men is to put confidence and hope only in second causes and visible instruments, not trusting the promise of God or believing His power, that He reigneth and ruleth in heaven and earth, doing what He pleaseth.
4. To walk like men is to be full of falsehood, deceitfulness, or hypocrisy, to have no truth in heart or word one to another.
5. To walk as men is here in the text to be in anger, hatred, and revengeful thoughts one against another; whereas all beasts agree among themselves, even the savage bears and tigers, yea, the devils are not divided one against another. Man naturally finds nothing so sweet as revenge upon others.
6. To walk as men is to make a mans self the Alpha and Omega, the centre wherein all the lines must meet. All seek their own, and not the things of Jesus Christ (Php 2:21).
7. Lastly, to walk as man is to commit any sin rather than to be persecuted for the truth of God. To swear, or foreswear, to turn into all shapes, to avoid danger. How are all our congregations? How live they? How walk they? Do they not live as men? Yea, how many like brute beasts? (A. Burgess.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER III.
Because of the carnal, divided state of the people at Corinth,
the apostle was obliged to treat them as children in the
knowledge of sacred things, 1-3.
Some were for setting up Paul, others Apollos, as their sole
teachers, 4.
The apostle shows that himself and fellow apostles were only
instruments which God used to bring them to the knowledge of
the truth; and even their sowing, and watering the seed was
of no use unless God gave the increase, 5-8.
The Church represented as God’s husbandry, and as God’s
building, the foundation of which is Christ Jesus, 9-11.
Ministers must beware how and what they build on this
foundation, 12-15.
The Church of God is his temple, and he that defiles it shall
be destroyed, 16, 17.
No man should depend on his own wisdom; for the wisdom of the
world is foolishness with God, 18-20.
None should glory in man as his teacher; God gives his followers
every good, both for time and eternity, 21-23.
NOTES ON CHAP. III.
Verse 1. I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual] This is a continuation of the preceding discourse. See the notes there (1Co 2:14, 1Co 2:15, and 1Co 2:16).
But as unto carnal] , Persons under the influence of fleshly appetites; coveting and living for the things of this life.
Babes in Christ.] Just beginning to acquire some notion of the Christian religion, but as yet very incapable of judging what is most suitable to yourselves, and consequently utterly unqualified to discern between one teacher and another; so that your making the distinctions which you do make, so far from being a proof of mature judgment, is on the contrary a proof that you have no right judgment at all; and this springs from your want of knowledge in Divine things.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The apostle plainly returneth in this chapter to reprove them for their divisions and factions, for which he had begun to reprove them, 1Co 1:11; and (as some think) here he anticipateth an objection, which they might have made against him, against his reproving and judging of them, whereas he that is spiritual (as he had now said) is judged of no man.
I, ( saith he), brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, that is, as to Christians who had made any great proficiency in the ways of God, and had arrived to any just degrees of spiritual perfection;
but as unto carnal, that is, persons who, though you axe not under the full conduct and government of your flesh and sensitive appetite, yet are far from being perfect, either in faith or holiness.
In Christ, but not as grown men, but as babes, as the apostle fully explaineth this term, Heb 5:12,13, such as had need be taught again which are the first principles of the oracles of God; and have need of milk, and not of strong meat: for every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. And Ithat is, as thenatural (animal) man cannot receive, so I also could not speakunto you the deep things of God, as I would to thespiritual; but I was compelled to speak to you as I wouldto MEN OF FLESH.The oldest manuscripts read this for “carnal.” The former(literally, “fleshy”) implies men wholly of flesh,or natural. Carnal, or fleshly, implies not they werewholly natural or unregenerate (1Co2:14), but that they had much of a carnal tendency; forexample their divisions. Paul had to speak to them as he would to menwholly natural, inasmuch as they are still carnal (1Co3:3) in many respects, notwithstanding their conversion (1Co1:4-9).
babescontrasted withthe perfect (fully matured) in Christ (Col1:28; compare Heb 5:13;Heb 5:14). This implies they werenot men wholly of flesh, though carnal in tendencies. They hadlife in Christ, but it was weak. He blames them for being still in adegree (not altogether, compare 1Co 1:5;1Co 1:7; therefore he says as)babes in Christ, when by this time they ought to have “comeunto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness ofChrist” (Eph 4:13). In Ro7:14, also the oldest manuscripts read, “I am a man offlesh.“
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you,…. Though the apostle was a spiritual man himself, had spiritual gifts, even the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, could judge all things, had the mind of Christ, and was able to speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, yet could not speak it to them,
as unto spiritual; not but that they had the Spirit of God in them, and a work of grace upon them; for they were, as the apostle afterwards says, the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelt in them; they were washed, sanctified, and justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God; but had not that spiritual discerning, or judgment in spiritual things, which some believers had, at least when the apostle was first with them; and now they were under great spiritual declensions, and had not those spiritual frames, nor that spiritual experience and conversation, which some other Christians had:
but as unto carnal: not that they were in a carnal state, as unregenerate men are; but had carnal conceptions of things, were in carnal frames of soul, and walked in a carnal conversation with each other; though they were not in the flesh, in a state of nature, yet the flesh was in them, and not only lusted against the Spirit, but was very predominant in them, and carried them captive, so that they are denominated from it:
even as unto babes in Christ; they were in Christ, and so were new creatures; they were, as the Arabic version reads it, “in the faith of Christ”; though babes and weaklings in it, they were believers in Christ, converted persons, yet children in understanding, knowledge, and experience; had but little judgment in spiritual things, and were unskilful in the word of righteousness; at least this was the case of many of them, though others were enriched in all utterance and knowledge, and in no gift came behind members of other churches.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Spirit of Party Reproved. | A. D. 57. |
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
Here, I. Paul blames the Corinthians for their weakness and nonproficiency. Those who are sanctified are so only in part: there is still room for growth and increase both in grace and knowledge, 2 Pet. iii. 18. Those who through divine grace are renewed to a spiritual life may yet in many things be defective. The apostle tells them he could not speak to them as unto spiritual men, but as unto carnal men, as to babes in Christ, v. 1. They were so far from forming their maxims and measures upon the ground of divine revelation, and entering into the spirit of the gospel, that is was but too evident they were much under the command of carnal and corrupt affections. They were still mere babes in Christ. They had received some of the first principles of Christianity, but had not grown up to maturity of understanding in them, or of faith and holiness; and yet it is plain, from several passages in this epistle, that the Corinthians were very proud of their wisdom and knowledge. Note, It is but too common for persons of very moderate knowledge and understanding to have a great measure of self-conceit. The apostle assigns their little proficiency in the knowledge of Christianity as a reason why he had communicated no more of the deep things of it to them. They could not bear such food, they needed to be fed with milk, not with meat, v. 2. Note, It is the duty of a faithful minister of Christ to consult the capacities of his hearers and teach them as they can bear. And yet it is natural for babes to grow up to men; and babes in Christ should endeavour to grow in Stature, and become men in Christ. It is expected that their advances in knowledge should be in proportion to their means and opportunities, and their time of professing religion, that they may be able to bear discourses on the mysteries of our religion, and not always rest in plain things. It was a reproach to the Corinthians that they had so long sat under the ministry of Paul and had made no more improvement in Christian knowledge. Note, Christians are utterly to blame who do not endeavour to grow in grace and knowledge.
II. He blames them for their carnality, and mentions their contention and discord about their ministers as evidence of it: For you are yet carnal; for whereas there are among you envyings, and strifes, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men? v. 3. They had mutual emulations, and quarrels, and factions among them, upon the account of their ministers, while one said, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos, v. 4. These were proofs of their being carnal, that fleshly interests and affections too much swayed them. Note, Contentions and quarrels about religion are sad evidences of remaining carnality. True religion makes men peaceable and not contentious. Factious spirits act upon human principles, not upon principles of true religion; they are guided by their own pride and passions, and not by the rules of Christianity: Do you not walk as men? Note, It is to be lamented that many who should walk as Christians, that is, above the common rate of men, do indeed walk as men, live and act too much like other men.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
But as unto carnal (‘ ). Latin carneus. “As men o’ flesh,” Braid Scots; “as worldlings,” Moffatt. This form in – like in 2Co 3:3 means the material of flesh, “not on tablets of stone, but on fleshen tablets on hearts.” So in Heb 7:16. But in Ro 7:14 Paul says, “I am fleshen () sold under sin,” as if represented the extreme power of the . Which does Paul mean here? He wanted to speak the wisdom of God among the adults (1Co 2:6), the spiritual ( , 2:15), but he was unable to treat them as in reality because of their seditions and immoralities. It is not wrong to be , for we all live in the flesh ( , Ga 2:20), but we are not to live according to the flesh ( , Ro 8:12). It is not culpable to a babe in Christ (, 1Co 13:11), unless unduly prolonged (1Cor 14:20; Heb 5:13). It is one of the tragedies of the minister’s life that he has to keep on speaking to the church members “as unto babes in Christ” ( ), who actually glory in their long babyhood whereas they ought to be teachers of the gospel instead of belonging to the cradle roll. Paul’s goal was for all the babes to become adults (Col 1:28).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Carnal [] . Made of flesh. See on Rom 7:14, and on flesh, Rom 7:5.
Babes [] . From nh not, and epov a word. Strictly, non – speakers. Compare the Latin infans. Strongly contrasted with perfect; see on ch. 1Co 2:6.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
CARNALITY HINDERS SPIRITUAL GROWTH
1) “And I, brethren” (Greek kago adelphoi) means “even I, brethren” or “and I brethren” direct address to members of the church at Corinth.
2) “Could not speak unto you,” (ouk edunethen lalesi humin) “was not able or empowered to speak to or address you” because they could little comprehend spiritual things, much like our Lord’s disciples, Joh 16:12.
3) “As unto spiritual.” (Greek hos pneumatikois) as unto spiritual men, or men of spiritual comprehension. The spiritual man refers to the “new man” or “regenerated man”‘ who walks according to the wilI of the Spirit, Gal 6:1.
4) “But as unto carnal.” (All’ hos sarkikos) “but as to shly ones” – ones of the old nature, of the order of depravity, who walks or lives after the old Adamic order of an unrenewed man, 1Co 2:14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. And I, brethren He begins to apply to the Corinthians themselves, that he had said respecting carnal persons, that they may understand that the fault was their own — that the doctrine of the Cross had not more charms for them. It is probable, that in mercantile minds like theirs there was too much confidence and arrogance still lingering, so that it was not without much ado and great difficulty that they could bring themselves to embrace the simplicity of the gospel. Hence it was, that undervaluing the Apostle, and the divine efficacy of his preaching, they were more prepared to listen to those teachers that were subtle and showy, while destitute of the Spirit. (145) Hence, with the view of beating down so much the better their insolence, he declares, that they belong to the company of those who, stupefied by carnal sense, are not prepared to receive the spiritual wisdom of God. He softens down, it is true, the harshness of his reproach by calling them brethren, but at the same time he brings it forward expressly as a matter of reproach against them, that their minds were suffocated with the darkness of the flesh to such a degree that it formed a hindrance to his preaching among them. What sort of sound judgment then must they have, when they are not fit and prepared as yet even for hearing! He does not mean, however, that they were altogether carnal, so as to have not one spark of the Spirit of God — but that they had still greatly too much of carnal sense, so that the flesh prevailed over the Spirit, and did as it were drown out his light. Hence, although they were not altogether destitute of grace, yet, as they had more of the flesh than of the Spirit, they are on that account termed carnal This sufficiently appears from what he immediately adds — that they were babes in Christ; for they would not have been babes had they not been begotten, and that begetting is from the Spirit of God.
Babes in Christ This term is sometimes taken in a good sense, as it is by Peter, who exhorts us to be like new-born babes, (1Pe 2:2,) and in that saying of Christ,
Unless ye become as these little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God, (Luk 18:17.)
Here, however, it is taken in a bad sense, as referring to the understanding. For we must be children in malice, but not in understanding, as he says afterwards in 1Co 14:20, — a distinction which removes all occasion of doubt as to the meaning. To this also there is a corresponding passage in Eph 4:14.
That we be no longer children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, and made the sport (146) of human fallacies, but may day by day grow up, etc
(145) “ Combien qu’il n’y eust en eux ancunc efficace de l’Esprit;” — “Though there was in them no efficacy of the Spirit.”
(146) Our author gives in this, as in many other instances, the substance of the passage quoted rather than the express words In the expression “ made the sport of human fallacies,” he seems to have had in his eye the term κυβεια — rendered by our translators sleight (of men,) which, as Calvin himself remarks when commenting upon the passage, is “ translatum ab aleatoribus, quod inter eos multae sint fallendi artes :” borrowed from players at dice, there being many arts of deception practiced among them. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES
1Co. 3:1. And I.Q.d. As any other spiritual teacher would have to do. So Ellicott; but perhaps laying undue stress upon the and, which, if more than merely a half-colloquial redundance, may rather be parallel with 1Co. 2:1; q.d. Accordingly I, etc., i.e. in agreement with the broad lines of necessary procedure laid down in 1Co. 2:6-16. Spiritual.In the precise and quasi-technical sense of chap. 2 [or inter alios, Gal. 6:1]. Carnal.We should have expected natural (= psychical, animal-souled). But this would have denied to them any participation in the grace and awakening and renewal of the Spirit. They are Christians of a low type, but not so low as that. They are in Christ, but only as babes. Note the reading: only appearing in the Received Text in 2Co. 3:3, but now here also and in Rom. 7:14; Heb. 7:16. Some deny any distinction between the old form and the new, except of literary rank. Trench would ( 72) distinguish as between fleshly (= the displaced reading) and fleshy or fleshen, parallel to wooden (= the new reading, and in 2Co. 3:3); as if distinguishing between men in whom the flesh was indeed predominant, but with many gracious checks and restraints, and men in whom the one apparent feature in life was so much the literal flesh that they were not anti-spiritual, but un-spiritual, flesh and little more, when they might have been much more. Yet he regards the word as conveying a less grave accusation than the ordinary word for carnal (fleshly) does. The varying judgments of the authorities show how slight at best is the distinction.
1Co. 3:2.Cf. Heb. 5:11 to Heb. 6:4, where note that the doctrine of 1 Corinthians 15 is amongst the elements, the milk for babes. Also Paul preached the Resurrection to the merely natural men of Athens (Act. 17:18). Cf. New wine in old bottles; new cloth on old garment. So Christ only spoke plainly to the disciples about His death, when, e.g., Peters faith in His Godhead had first risen into a bold confession; and then also the announcement, so perplexing to a Jew, and so distressing to a friend like Peter, was followed up by a view of his Master in His true, native glory (Mat. 16:20-21). Cf. Neither yet now are ye able with Ye cannot bear them now (Joh. 16:12). Also cf. earthly things and heavenly things (Joh. 3:12).
1Co. 3:3.Helps to a definition of the flesh; as does Gal. 5:19-20, by no means a catalogue of bodily sins alone. See life in the flesh plainly differentiated from life in the material body (Rom. 8:9), Ye are not in the flesh. Note the changes of translation in After the manner of men.So in 1Co. 15:32. But the special colouring of the phrase, whether neutral or condemnatory, varies from instance to instance of its use.
1Co. 3:4.Less complete enumeration than in 1Co. 1:12. Perhaps for the reason explained in 1Co. 4:6. Also he and Apollos were more closely connected than any others with the origin and growth of the Corinthian Church.
HOMILETIC ANALYSIS.1Co. 3:1-4
Babes in Christ.(Read Critical Notes, on carnal.)
I. The Creator has stamped His own unity upon His many-sectioned creation in the many homologies which link together part and part, and, above all, natural things and spiritual things, physical facts and the facts of the world of morals and religion. Just because Christ knew these links of idea and these correspondences most perfectly, He spake parables as never man spake. He saw Nature parabolic as never man saw it. He stood at the central point of Gods Idea, and saw its radiating lines of expression touching, traversing, connecting, the concentric [and, as the geometer says, similar] areas of diverse classes of facts. The physical history of the human body, the natural, morally neutral history of the development of the human mind, is a Parable in Nature, easily, early, always read. [1Jn. 2:12-14 is a good example of this way of reading. (a) There are the little children who barely know more, but who do know this, that they know their Father, and that because of forgiven sin there is nothing but love between them. Loving, happy, living childhood, content to be alive and know Him and His favour. (b) There are the young men, victorious over the Wicked One, with well-knit body, and the firm tread of vigorous early manhood, to which the indwelling Word is bread and life. (c) There are the fathers, of whom only one thing is saidthey know Him that is from the beginning. The strength, lan, enterprise, of manhood is perhaps gone; in a sense, the life has returned to its starting-pointas children they knew Him; but now with a deeper insight, with the experience of an intercourse of long years standing; as an adult, mature man who is a father, for the first time knows his father.] In St. Paul babes is never a word of praise. He hurries forward to, and hurries forward his converts to, perfection; the adult manhood, with its perfection; of harmonious development of every power and faculty and grace; of knowledge of the world of spiritual things with which for years the man in Christ has been conversant; of ripeness of character without any first touch of senile failure or weakness or decay. These are babes at Corinth.
II. Babes and carnal.
1. Natural (chap. 2) would hardly have been too strong for the fact. Envying, strife, schisms, and these ruling and raging, are incompatible with the spiritual mans life. These are works of the flesh. In fact, the discrepancy, as to area and included human contents, between the Ideal Church and its actual, historical, disciplinary expression and embodiment and enumeration, had already begun to appear. The Church, as its Lord reckons its census, may here and there overpass the bounds of the Church, as our humanly designed and most faithfully administered methods mark it off from the world. But much oftener it shrinks far within the boundary-line of our survey, and leaves the Church, of any real, effective, sanctified life, a central area of occupation within a much larger one which is hardly more than in name and claim and ownership still Christs. These men are still within the bound of the external organisation; the branch most utterly dormant, if not utterly dead, is still in mechanical connection with the Vine, as Paul cultivates and cares for it. He had not cut these off, as he bade them without pity or delay do with incestuous man (1Co. 3:5). Indeed, in the hopefulness of charity, he goes further than logically would be possible, and speaks of these men over whom sin has such clear dominion (Rom. 6:14), as in Christ, though babes. [Does he? Has he really given to those who had lapsed from any but the external, mechanical connection with Christ, the elementary lessons which, elementary as they are, belonged really to a stage in advance of them?] But it is at most the tender judgment which without any tampering with, or disloyalty to, the inevitable distinction between natural and spiritual, is willing for the moment to look no deeper than the outward profession and the still maintained connection with the Church. None but a reckless hand will lightly disturb even the outward connection, if it has at one time meant life, and is not manifestly declared unreal by flagrant sin or long-continued indifference. So long as it continues, there is always the happy possibility that the branch may again fill and thrill and throb with life; it will not lightly be disturbed. The claim of the Church is paramount that it should be kept pure; the claim of the Head of the Church demands that all dead or unworthy membership be cut off; but the claim of the redeemed soul demands that the membership, once admitted, shall be tenderly dealt with, and rated at its most hopeful value. Envying, strifes, partisanship, and the like; yet Paul will concede to them a place in Christ, if it be only as babes, and will speak to them accordingly.
2. How many members never get beyond the stage of babes in Christ.There is a beauty about infancy, in nature and in grace. Nothing more charming than the simple, unaffected, direct love of Gods little children towards Him and towards each other. Happy manhood, both in nature and grace, which never loses the affectionate, childlike heart; keeping it fresh under, and along with, all the manly gains in knowledge and experience. A beauty about the simple directness of a childs trust in all that is told to it; it may be deceived and misled, but the faith of a little child is more beautiful and more receptive of grace than the cynical scepticism of the man who always begins by suspecting, and presumes the worst. A beauty about the loving obedience which belongs to at least the ideal of childhood, and is one of the first, most tender fruits of the Spirits new birth. What music in Gods ear, and how delightful to a perfect man in the life of God, the first, unschooled, open, spontaneous, unconventional utterances of their thoughts and experiences, from the lips of Gods little children! But this beauty is no beauty when it becomes permanent. Fifteen, or fifty, with the face and mind and powers of five years of age, would be a calamity to the grown child, an agony to parents, a subject of mockery or of pity to outsiders. She sees of the travail of her soul and is satisfied,that mother into whose arms is laid the helpless babe, that does not yet know her, or know itself, but simply lives, and is perfectly formed and healthy. To Him who died that His people might have life, that He might Himself see His seed, life is better than death; life is full of all possibilities; death has no possibilities, no future, but corruption. It is some measure of reward for His pangs, some measure of satisfaction, when His people begin to live, even as babes in Him. In a human home, in Christian lands at any rate, the child that grows weakling, puny, sickly, deformed, often calls out a love that seems intensified by the very need of love in the dependent creature; the tenderer the child, the tenderer the love. But the satisfaction is in the children who grow hearty and strong, who develop girlish beauty and youthful strength, until at last womanhood and manhood fill the parents heart with satisfying joy. What a disappointment to Paul [may the same human word be attributed to Christ also?] that after these years, since he first went to Corinth, these members of the Church there, enriched in everything for the sustenance and training of the new-born life (1Co. 1:5-7), were still, at the most favourable estimate, only babes in Christ! There was no beauty or satisfaction or honour in such a standstill life. There are such in every Church. Always learning to stand, to walk, to do; never accomplishing much at either; indeed, spiritually always learning to live. To them the Church is hardly yet a school; certainly not a workshop; more truly a nursery. Every pastor has many such, who must not only be looked after incessantly, lest, like naughty or heedless children, they stray away into the world, but who must be nursed lest the feeble flicker of life be extinguished in death. How large a part of the work of the Churches, how large a part of the care of the ministry, must be absorbed in the working of keeping up to the level of even babes in Christ, some who have been in outward membership for years! [The coincidence of our paragraph with Heb. 5:11-14 is noteworthy.]
3. Paul refers to their food: Milk, not meat.No humble child of Gods family but acknowledges how often, in some of the lessons of Gods school, he has never seemed to get beyond the A B C of teaching. The same discipline year after year, the same trials, because the one lesson has never been perfectly learned yet. To promote His scholar into the work of the next higher form, whilst yet the lessons of the lower have never been mastered, would only be to ensure bad work, to attempt to rush up a building upon a badly laid foundation. The Jerusalem scoffers in Isaiahs day cried half in scorn, half in anger, Whom shall he [the prophet] teach knowledge? weaned babes? Does he take us for such, with his precept upon precept, here a little, there a little? (Isa. 28:9-13). The words are read by some, and are as true, if they be seriously spoken, perhaps by the prophet himself. What they said in scorn was a simple, sad necessity. They were fit only for such lessons. There are truths which alone the children can take in. There are truths which are of the secret of the Lord, only revealable to the grown men. There must not be on the part of the human teachersfrom any mistaken policy, or from any fear of being misunderstood by their youngest pupilany such keeping back of truth as makes what is taught all but falsehood. Economy, reserve, are not for man, for ecclesiastics, to practise. If the Spirit of God has only gradually (Heb. 1:1) brought out the full round of truth, it has been from no desire to conceal anything; the disclosure has been conditioned by the receptiveness of the scholars, and by that only. To Nicodemus the Master Himself distinguished between earthly things and heavenly things (Joh. 3:12), as being of different grades of comprehensibleness. Human teaching will adapt; it will not for the teachers sake reserve anything which is needful and can be communicated. The human difficulty is to teach elementary truth without so far distorting it that before anything more can be added, something must be unlearned; we must often pull down a little before we can graft the new work upon the old. The model should be the teaching of the Revealing Spirit; all absolutely true, so far as it goes; no need for unlearning in order to new learning; from milk to meat in His teaching is one orderly, harmonious progress and growth of truth. But how long He has to say, Ye were not able to bear it; neither yet now, etc.
4. Note the special token of carnality, of infancy.They are children with their favourites, over whom they boast and wrangle and quarrel. No sign of manhood in Christ, to be so devoted to one man, or one type of minister, as to appreciate and be helped by no other.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Butlers Comments
SECTION 1
Commence With Spiritual Feeding (1Co. 3:1-4)
3 But I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh, as babes in Christ. 2I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not ready for it; and even yet you are not ready, 3for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving like ordinary men? 4For when one says, I belong to Paul, and another, I belong to Apollos, are you not merely men?
1Co. 3:1-3 a Babyish: It is of first importance to note that while in chapter two the contrast is between uninspired human beings (or psychikos, physical, finite man) and the inspired apostles (or pneumatikos, spirit-guided one), the contrast in chapter three is between Christians who are carnal or fleshly-minded (Gr. sarkikois) and the spiritual maturity they should have attained (pneumatikois). Chapter two deals with divine revelation given by God to some and not to others. Chapter three deals with spiritual maturation which all Christians may attain through study and practice of the written word of God. The use of different Greek words in the two chapters makes the difference apparent.
There is, course, an essential connection between the two chapters. Paul is connecting his claim (in chapters one and two) for the divinely inspired authority of his teaching to the spiritual problem (in chapter three) of the Christians in Corinth. Had they fed themselves on apostolic revelation more than on Greek sophistries, they would not have the problems of immature, fleshly-minded attitudes toward Christian ministry.
There was something wrong with the feeding the Corinthian church was getting. We are what we eat . . . is an adage some apply to the physical person. The same principle holds true in the spiritual person. Jesus stated this principle very clearly in his great sermon on the Bread of Life (Joh. 6:25-71). Unless a man feeds on the Bread of Life he will have no spirituality in him, and Jesus plainly said that his words were spirit and life (Joh. 6:63). Jesus said his own food was to do the will of the Father who sent him (Joh. 4:31-34). If Jesus found it necessary to feed his mind and life on the will of God, so must we! The explicit work of the Christian ministry is the feeding of the flock of God (see Act. 20:28-32; Joh. 21:15-19; 1Pe. 5:2) to bring it to spiritual maturity (see Eph. 4:1-16; Col. 1:24-29; Heb. 5:11-13).
What is spirituality? Paul clearly defines spirituality as setting the mind on the things of the Spirit (see Rom. 8:5-8). Spirituality is not emotionalism. Spirituality is not measured by quantity of good deeds. Spirituality is fundamentally a mind-set. No matter how emotional we may become or how many religious ceremonies we perform, if our motives or our reasons for doing them are carnal (worldly) and selfish, we are not spiritual. Jesus called the very religious Pharisees hypocrites because their reasons for being religious were self-serving (cf. Mat. 6:1-8; Mat. 23:1-39).
If spirituality is setting ones mind on the things of the Spirit, where do we find the things of the Spirit in order that we may set our minds on them? That is precisely what Paul is talking about in I Corinthians, chapters 1 and 2the things of the Spirit are revealed in the teachings of the apostles. The apostles have the mind of Christ and of God because they are the ones to whom the Spirit of God has revealed them! The things of the Spirit are not found innately in mans heart. The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately corrupt (see Jer. 17:9). God has not put his mind in every man in some subjective way. God has put his mind in his Word in an objective way through the revelation given to the apostles. Now any man who wants to assimilate the mind of God into his mind may do so by assimilating the objective word of God. This assimilative process involves, of course, putting the things of the Spirit to practice in ones life. We cannot have Christ in us unless we do his commandments (1Jn. 2:24; 1Jn. 3:24). But we cannot know what the will of God for us is until we read, understand and believe the revelation of God made to us in human language by the apostles.
Paul declared to the Corinthians that he had to address them as infants (Gr. nepiois) in respect to their spiritual maturation. It was clear to him that they were not setting their minds on the things of the Spirit because they were still thinking as worldly-minded people would. Paul does not mean that he was talking to non-Christians for he plainly calls them brethren. He means simply that having made their initial commitment to Christ and having been baptized into him (cf. Act. 18:8), they did not feed themselves on Gods word enough to bring them to a state of spiritual growth commensurate with their opportunities and privileges. They had not trained their faculties by practice and study of the apostolic message to be able to distinguish good from evil as well as they should (see Heb. 5:11-14). They were allowing their ways of thinking and living to be dominated more by the habits of their pre-Christian life than by Gods will.
Do not wonder that Paul still called them brethren. Spiritual maturation comes, like physical growth, slowly. We would not throw away a baby brother in our physical family because he did not grow into physical manhood overnight. But we do insist that a baby brother eat, learn, exercise and grow. And we make all kinds of personal sacrifices to see that he does. So must we tenderly feed and strengthen our spiritual brethren, no matter what stage of spiritual growth they may manifest. All of us are spiritually deficient when we compare ourselves to Christ, our Elder Brother. The leadership of the church cannot relax its dedication to the ministry of bringing all members to spiritual maturity in Christ. There may be many causes for Christian immaturity:
a.
Inadequate study of the Bible in the corporate worship of the church; superficial sermonizing, unhermeneutical Bible studies.
b.
Low expectations for individual growth. Teachers and preachers may not expect their Bible students to be able to think deeply. Expect the most from every brother.
c.
Failure of the church leadership to provide opportunities for all members to share in the Lords work (each part working properly . . . Eph. 4:16).
d.
Failure of the church leadership to accept their call from Christ to exercise firm, but gentle and merciful, moral guidance to church members.
e.
Just plain unwillingness on the part of Christians to give up thinking and doing worldly things. If any one is willing to do Christs will, he will mature (see Joh. 7:17).
There was something seriously deficient in the process of Christian maturation within the Corinthian church. Whether it was the fault of those charged with the feeding or of those being fed (probably both) we are not certain. It is certain that it had to do with the teaching and believing of the most fundamental Christian doctrine of allthe resurrection of Jesus Christ (cf. comments on 1Co. 15:33). They were still infantile in their thinking. They were still acting like children, apparently able to be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles . . . (Eph. 4:14).
1Co. 3:3 b 1Co. 3:4 Biased: The party spirit is a sign of spiritual immaturity. Only the carnal (worldly-minded) think of structuring the church in terms of human superiority and arrogance. Paul tells the Corinthian Christians they were behaving like run-of-the-mill (non-Christian) human beings who, through jealousy and strife, scheme and plot to promote their own fame and fortune.
Probably the most crucial issue Jesus had to deal with in his ministry on earth was the nature of the kingdom of God. Most people conceived of the kingdom as a place to establish worldly fame and to promote their own advancement. This involved jealousy and strife by:
a.
Mary, the mother of Jesus (Joh. 2:3-4)
b.
Disciples of John the Baptist (Joh. 4:25-30)
c.
Thousands of followers (Joh. 6:15)
d.
The twelve apostles (Mar. 9:38-41; Luk. 9:49-50)
e.
The disciples wondering who is the greatest (Mat. 18:1)
f.
Jesus own half-brothers (Joh. 7:3-4)
g.
Those dining at the Pharisees home (Luk. 14:7-14)
h.
James & John (and their mother) asking Jesus for chief honors (Mat. 20:20-28; Mar. 10:35-45)
i.
Pharisees in their love for the places of honor in synagogue (Mat. 23:5-12)
j.
Twelve apostles at the Last Supper arguing about who would be greatest among them (Luk. 22:24-28)
k.
Peter, refusing to let Jesus wipe his feet as a servant (Joh. 13:5-11)
These instances do not take into account the multitude of inferences (from Acts through Revelation) that such jealousy and strife arose among the early churches. The life-style of the person whose highest hopes begin and end with this present world and a fleshly existence is one of immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like (see Gal. 5:19-21). Those who belong to Christ have put such a life-style to death (crucified it). Christians, who believe there is a higher plane on which to live than bodily functions and who believe there is another world coming, live a life-style of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. They trust Jesus Christ that this is true and real because he lived such life-style to perfection on earth, was slain because of it, but rose from the dead to vindicate it forever.
Jesus statement, He who would be greatest among you, let him be the servant of all (Mat. 20:27) is proven true by his resurrection from the dead. Those who say, I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos are not living in the light of Christs truth.
Appleburys Comments
His Spiritually Immature Converts (14)
Text
1Co. 3:1-4, And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able; 3 for ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal, and do ye not walk after the manner of men? 4 For when one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men?
Commentary
And I brethren.Paul continues his rebuke of the sin of division. When he was at Corinth, he found some who were more interested in their own wisdom than in the word of the cross. Some of his converts were spiritually immature. They were divided over loyalties to men. They had evidently failed to heed the plain message of Gods wisdom which Paul preached to them. But he calls them brethren for they were in Christ even though they were only babes so far as development was concerned.
not spiritual, but carnal.Spiritual implies inadequate appreciation of what it means to be a new creature in Christ (2Co. 5:17). It is not to be equated with mere emotionalism. It begins with an intelligent grasp of the facts of the gospel as proclaimed by the inspired apostles. It is conviction and determination to act in accord with the teaching of Christ. It also implies the stirring of the deepest emotions of which the human heart is capable, that is, Christian love, joy, and peace. See Rom. 14:17.
Carnal in this context refers not to the man of the world but to the spiritually immature babes in Christ. There are two words translated carnal in this section. In verse two, the word means made of flesh. In verse three, it means belonging to flesh. The distinction is interesting. Think of Christians who should live in the realm of spirit being made of flesh and belonging to flesh. This was the result of following the teaching of men rather than the word of the cross.
Neither of these terms suggests the depravity of human nature inherited from Adam. Both made of flesh and belonging to flesh are used with reference to the state of arrested, development which characterized those who failed to make progress in the Christian life.
A similar situation is described in Heb. 5:11-14; Heb. 6:1-8. Some had been Christians long enough that they should have become teachers, but they needed some one to teach them the A B Cs of the gospel. They were like babes who had to be fed on milk, not solid food. They were without experience in the word of righteousness. There is solid food in the gospel for the mature Christian, but the people at Corinth were not able to appreciate it.
In chapter two Paul contrasts the natural man with the one who is spiritual. The context shows that this distinction referred to the uninspired man in contrast to the inspired apostles. In chapter three, however, the contrast is between the one who belongs to flesh and the one who is spiritually mature. It is the contrast between arrested development and normal growth in Christians. To equate carnal with natural and to assume that all men by nature are incapable of responding to the teaching of the Holy Spirit which was revealed through the apostles is to completely ignore the context in which the two terms are found.
Paul proves his charge that they are carnal by reminding them of their jealousy and strife. This is the very opposite of love which, if followed, will overcome strife, faction, division, pride, and jealousy in the church (1Co. 13:1-13).
babes in Christ.According to Heb. 5:13, the one who is inexperienced in the word of righteousness is a babe. He is the one who is fed on milk, that is, who is to be taught the elementary things of the gospel. Solid food is for the mature Christian. It includes such things as the teaching about Christ our high priest; the necessity of pressing on to perfection; the issues of faith, repentance, and the possession of the promises of God. See Heb. 6:1-12.
Every new Christian is in a sense, a babe in Christ. Some, of course, begin this experience with greater understanding and appreciation of what it means than others. But all start with the basic elements of the gospelbelief in Christ based on the resurrection (Rom. 10:9-10); a determination to forsake sin and to live for Christ (repentance); entering into the agreement with Christ to acknowledge Him as prophet, priest, and king (the good confession); and, as the culminating act of being born into the family of God, being immersed in water in the name of Christ for the remission of sins (baptism). How well one grasps the significance of these things may well determine the rate of his spiritual growth in Christ.
The writer of Hebrews chides his readers for still being babes when they had been Christians long enough to have become teachers. Although this condition at Corinth had been produced by jealousy and strife, it is possible that some spiritual immaturity today may arise from other causes. It may be produced by a failure to provide an adequate program of Bible instruction for the whole church. It may be the result of indifference and lack of a real desire to know the rich things of the Word. Too often people have assumed that all the Bible should be as simple as kindergarten lessons. If that were true, it is doubtful if there would ever be such a thing as a fullgrown Christian. Probably one of the greatest causes of spiritual immaturity is the failure of the leadership in the church to provide opportunities for all to share in the Lords work. Merely attending worship services and training classes will never do it. Each one, if he is to become a mature servant of the Lord, must be led to share in spreading the gospel by at least making friendly, Christian calls that will demonstrate that the church is interested in others. The very finest of diet without exercise will produce weaklings. There is a crying need today for programs that will help people take an active part in spreading the gospel. The usual Sunday morning scolding which the church receives for not doing this will only make the situation worse. Those who can make calls should take the inexperienced along until they too have learned the value and blessing of actually doing something for the Lord. Putting money into the church treasury to hire a paid caller wont accomplish the desired end. There are millions of Christians who have never been directly responsible for the conversion of one soul to Christ. I believe this is largely because they have not been shown how and what to do. It will take some organization, planning, and specific information about when, where, why, and on whom the calls are to be made. With adequate Bible teaching and actual work in sharing the gospel with others, there is no reason why churches cannot be filled with mature Christians.
not yet able.It was bad enough that Paul encountered them as spiritual dwarfs; it is a worse tragedy that they remained like that. In view of what is said about them in First Corinthians, it would be necessary for them to get rid of their divisions, immorality, lawsuits before pagan judges, factions that prevented them having the Lords supper, and all other things contrary to the gospel before they could be looked upon as mature in Christ.
I am of Paul.In spite of all the effort Paul made to exalt Christ, it is strange that some were saying, I belong to Paul. This is the sort of thing that one would expect in the realm of politics, not the church. But because these things were present, the apostle asks, Are ye not men? Evidently the Christian who has Gods revealed wisdom in the Bible should stop conducting himself according to the standards of men. If they were Christians of the sort they should be, that is, proving by their lives that they really belonged to Christ, they would be glorifying God in the body (1Co. 6:20).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
III.
(1) And I.Again, as in 1Co. 2:6, the Apostle shows how general principles which he has just explained were exemplified in his own conduct. In the closing verses of 1 Corinthians 2 St. Paul has enunciated the general method of teaching spiritual truth as being dependent upon the receptive powers of those who are being taught. He now proceeds to point out to them that their own character, as being wanting in spirituality, was the real hindrance to his teaching them the higher spiritual truth which may be called the wisdom of the gospel.
As unto carnal.Better, as being carnal. Our version may seem to imply that the Apostle spoke to them as if they were carnal, though they really were not so; but the force of the passage is that they were indeed carnal, and that the Apostle taught them not as if they were such, but as being such. Carnal is here the opposite of spiritual, and does not involve any reference to what we would commonly speak of as carnal sin.
Babes in Christ.This is the opposite of the full grown in 1Co. 2:6, to whom the wisdom could be taught. (See also Col. 1:28, full grown in Christ.) It may be an interesting indication of the manliness of St. Pauls character and his high estimate of it in others, that he constantly uses the words babe and childhood in a depreciatory sense. (See Rom. 2:20, Gal. 4:3, Eph. 4:14.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 3
THE SUPREME IMPORTANCE OF GOD ( 1Co 3:1-9 ) 3:1-9 And I, brothers, could not talk to you as I would to spiritual men, but I had to talk to you as to those who had not yet got beyond merely human things, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food. But now not even yet can you digest solid food, because you are still under the sway of human passions. Where there is envy and strife among you, are you not under the sway of human passions and is not your behaviour on a purely human level? For when anyone says, “I belong to Paul,” and, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not acting like merely human creatures? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are only servants through whom you believed, and what success each of them had was the gift of God. It was I who planted; it was Apollos who watered; but it was God who made the seed grow. So that neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything; but God who made the seed grow is everything. He who plants and he who waters are in the same category. Each will receive his own reward according to his own labour. We are fellow-workers and we both belong to God; you are God’s husbandry; you are God’s building.
Paul has just been talking about the difference between the man who is spiritual (pneumatikos, G4152) , and who therefore can understand spiritual truths, and the man who is psuchikos ( G5591) , whose interests and aims do not go beyond physical life and who is therefore unable to grasp spiritual truth. He now accuses the Corinthians of being still at the physical stage. But he uses two new words to describe them.
In 1Co 3:1 he calls them sarkinoi ( G4560) . This word comes from sarx ( G4561) which means flesh and is so common in Paul. Now all Greek adjectives ending in -inos mean made of something or other. So Paul begins by saying that the Corinthians are made of flesh. That was not in itself a rebuke; a man just because he is a man is made of flesh, but he must not stay that way. The trouble was that the Corinthians were not only sarkinoi ( G4560) they were sarkikoi ( G4550) , which means not only made of flesh but dominated by the flesh. To Paul the flesh is much more than merely a physical thing. It means human nature apart from God, that part of man both mental and physical which provides a bridgehead for sin. So the fault that Paul finds with the Corinthians is not that they are made of flesh–all men are–but that they have allowed this lower side of their nature to dominate all their outlook and all their actions.
What is it about their life and conduct that makes Paul level such a rebuke at them? It is their party spirit, their strife and their factions. This is extremely significant because it means that you can tell what a man’s relations with God are by looking at his relations with his fellow men. If he is at variance with his fellow men, if he is a quarrelsome, argumentative, trouble-making creature, he may be a diligent church attender, he may even be a church office-bearer, but he is not a man of God. But if a man is at one with his fellow men, if his relations with them are marked by love and unity and concord then he is on the way to being a man of God.
If a man loves God he will also love his fellow men. it was this truth that Leigh Hunt took from an old eastern tale and enshrined in his poem:
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said,
“What writest thou?”–The vision rais’d its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answer’d, “The names of those who love the Lord.”
“And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,”
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still; and said, “I pray thee then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men.”
The angel wrote, and vanish’d. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And show’d the names whom love of God had bless’d,
And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest.
Paul goes on to show the essential folly of this party spirit with its glorification of human leaders. In a garden one man may plant a seed and another may water it; but neither can claim to have made the seed grow. That belongs to God and to God alone. The man who plants and the man who waters are on one level; neither can claim any precedence over the other; they are but servants working together for the one Master–God. God uses human instruments to bring to men the message of his truth and love; but it is he alone who wakes the hearts of men to new life. As he alone created the heart, so he alone can re-create it.
THE FOUNDATION AND THE BUILDERS ( 1Co 3:10-15 ) 3:10-15 According to the grace of God that was given to me, I laid the foundation like a skilled master-builder, but another builds upon it. Let each see to it how he builds upon it; for no one can lay any other foundation beside that which is already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds upon that foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, straw, stubble, it will become quite clear what each man’s work is. The Day will show it because it is going to be revealed by fire, and the fire itself will test what kind of work each man’s work is. If the work which any man erected upon that foundation remains he will receive a reward. If the work of any man will be burned up he will lose it all. But he himself will be saved, though it be like one who has passed through fire.
In this passage Paul is surely speaking from personal experience. He was of necessity a foundation layer and was forever on the move. True, he stayed for eighteen months in Corinth ( Act 18:11) and for three years in Ephesus ( Act 20:31); but in Thessalonica he can have stayed less than a month, and that was far more typical. There was so much ground waiting to be covered; there were so many men who had never heard the name of Jesus Christ; and, if a fair start was to be made with the evangelization of the world, Paul could only lay the foundations and move on. It was only when he was in prison that his restless spirit could stay in the one place.
Wherever he went, he laid the same foundation. That was the proclamation of the facts about and the offer of Jesus Christ. It was his tremendous function to introduce men to Jesus Christ because it is in him, and in him alone, that a man can find three things.
(a) He finds forgiveness for past sins. He finds himself in a new relationship to God and suddenly discovers that he is his friend and not his enemy. He discovers that God is like Jesus; where once he saw hatred he now sees love, and where once he saw infinite remoteness he now sees tender intimacy.
(b) He finds strength for the present. Through the presence and help of Jesus he finds courage to cope with life, for he is now no longer an isolated unit fighting a lonely battle with an adverse universe. He lives a life in which nothing can separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus his Lord. He walks life’s ways and fights its battles with Christ.
(c) He finds hope for the future. He no longer lives in a world in which he is afraid to look forward but in one where God is in control and working together all things for good. He lives in a world where death is no longer the end, but only the prelude to greater glory. Without the foundation of Christ a man can have none of these things.
But on this foundation of Christ others built. Paul is not here thinking of the building up of wrong things, but the building up of inadequate things. A man may present to his fellow men a version of Christianity which is weak and watered down; a one-sided thing which has stressed some things too much and others too little, and in which things have got out of balance; a warped thing in which even the greatest matters have emerged distorted.
The Day that Paul refers to is the Day when Christ will come again. Then will come the final test. The wrong and the inadequate will be swept away. But, in the mercy of God, even the inadequate builder will be saved, because at least he tried to do something for Christ. At best all our versions of Christianity are inadequate; but we would be saved much inadequacy if we tested them not by our own prejudices and presuppositions, nor by agreement with this or that theologian, but set them in the light of the New Testament and, above all, in the light of the Cross. Longinus the great Greek literary critic, offers his students a test. “When you write anything,” he said, “ask yourself how Homer or Demosthenes would have written it; and, still more, ask yourself how Homer and Demosthenes would have listened to it.” When we speak for Christ we must speak as if Christ was listening–as indeed he is. A test like that will rescue us from many a mistake.
WISDOM AND FOOLISHNESS ( 1Co 3:16-22 )
3:16-22 Do you not know that you are God’s temple, and that the Spirit of God has his dwelling place in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy and you are that temple.
Let no one deceive you. If any one among you thinks he is wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it stands written, “He who clutches the wise in their cunning craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of their hearts are vain.” So then, let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your;, but you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.
To Paul the Church was the very temple of God because it was the society in which the Spirit of God dwelt. As Origen later said, “We are most of all God’s temple when we prepare ourselves to receive the Holy Spirit.” But, if men introduce dissension and division into the fellowship of the Church, they destroy the temple of God in a double sense.
(a) They make it impossible for the Spirit to operate. Immediately bitterness enters a church, love goes from it. The truth can neither be spoken nor heard rightly in that atmosphere. “Where love is, God is,” but, where hatred and strife are, God stands at the door and knocks and receives no entry. The very badge of the Church is love for the brethren. He who destroys that love destroys the Church and thereby destroys the temple of God.
(b) They split up the Church and reduce it to a series of disconnected ruins. No building can stand firm and four-square if sections of it are removed. The Church’s greatest weakness is still its divisions. They too destroy it.
Paul goes on once again to pin down the root cause of this dissension and consequent destruction of the Church. It is the worship of intellectual, worldly wisdom. He shows the condemnation of that wisdom by two Old Testament quotations– Job 5:13 and Psa 94:11. It is by this very worldly wisdom that the Corinthians assess the worth of different teachers and leaders. It is this pride in the human mind which makes them evaluate and criticize the way in which the message is delivered, the correctness of the rhetoric, the weight of the oratory, the subtleties of the arguments, rather than think only of the content of the message itself The trouble about this intellectual pride is that it is always two things.
(a) It is always disputatious. It cannot keep silent and admire; it must talk and criticize. It cannot bear to have its opinions contradicted; it must prove that it and it alone is right. It is never humble enough to learn; it must always be laying down the law.
(b) Intellectual pride is characteristically exclusive. Its tendency is to look down on others rather than to sit down beside them. Its outlook is that all who do not agree with it are wrong. Long ago Cromwell wrote to the Scots, “I beseech you by the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken.” That is precisely what intellectual pride cannot think. It tends to cut men off from each other rather than to unite them.
Paul urges the man who would be wise to become a fool. This is simply a vivid way of urging him to be humble enough to learn. No one can teach a man who thinks that he knows it all already. Plato said, “He is the wisest man who knows himself to be very ill-equipped for the study of wisdom.” Quintilian said of certain students, “They would doubtless have become excellent scholars if they had not been so fully persuaded of their own scholarship.” The old proverb laid it down, “He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not is a fool; avoid him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not is a wise man; teach him.” The only way to become wise is to realize that we are fools; the only way to knowledge is to confess our ignorance.
In 1Co 3:22, as so often happens in his letters, the march of Paul’s prose suddenly takes wings and becomes a lyric of passion and poetry. The Corinthians are doing what is to Paul an inexplicable thing. They are seeking to give themselves over into the hands of some man. Paul tells them that, in point of fact, it is not they who belong to him but he who belongs to them. This identification with some party is the acceptance of slavery by those who should be kings. In fact they are masters of all things, because they belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. The man who gives his strength and his heart to some little splinter of a party has surrendered everything to a petty thing, when he could have entered into possession of a fellowship and a love as wide as the universe. He has confined into narrow limits a life which should be limitless in its outlook.
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible
2. This God-revealed philosophy not understood by the partisan carnality of the Corinthians, 1Co 3:1-4.
1. And I In accordance with the elevated character of the spiritual in 1Co 2:14-16.
Could not Consistently with the reality of the case.
Spiritual carnal babes In 1Co 2:14-15, the spiritual man is opposed to the natural, or entirely unregenerate; here he is opposed to the regenerate, who are in Christ, and yet, by being in a degree carnal, are but babes. Were they wholly carnal they would not even be babes, but be unregenerate. Short-comings, infirmities, and sins, have reduced them from spiritual manhood into babyhood. For these carnal are clearly a part of that whole who are called in 1Co 1:2, saints, sanctified in Christ Jesus. They are that same class as in 1Co 6:1-11 are guilty of the shame of going to law, and yet, 1Co 3:11, are in part sanctified. And throughout this epistle the class so severely reprehended, and even menaced, by St. Paul, are held by him Christians, but faulty Christians, who needed to ascend into a higher level of holiness. From this it follows that there may be “sin in believers.” Not every sin forfeits regeneration. Such sin dwarfs the spiritual stature, and lessens the glorious reward. But not until all justifying faith is lost is the name blotted from the book of life. As babes is the antithesis in the Greek to perfect adult, in 1Co 2:6 so it duly defines it. Babes implies childhood; perfect simply implies adulthood. So the Jews had the distinction of novices or babes, and adults or full grown, in knowledge of the law. And Alford quotes Philo as saying, “Since to babes the food is milk, and to adults (same Greek word as perfect, 1Co 2:6) cookeries of grain, so also there are of the soul milk diets suited to child-stature; adult foods for men.” A perfect man in Christ Jesus is simply an adult man in Christ Jesus. But this adult man is also the spiritual, and includes the full attainments and privileges of 1Co 2:12-16. Any thing short of this is short of adulthood in Christian life, and approximates toward childhood.
But many commentators err in making this adulthood, or Christian perfect growth or perfection, depend, as in physical development, upon time. Scripture and experience show that in spiritual life there is many a babe of two and threescore; many a soul that springs almost from spiritual birth, by a strong, living, persevering faith, to vigorous adulthood.
These two classes may not be divided by a sharp line; they may, indeed, shade into each other, just as the old and the young are classes that shade into each other; but they are, on the whole, so clearly diverse that they can be classified and specified by two different terms. Such a spiritual class is recognised in 1Co 14:37. It does not appear, here or elsewhere, whether the individual made a distinct profession of being spiritual; though others may have recognised him as such from his life and spirit. Yet it cannot be required of the man who lives in nearness to God that he should withhold full statement of the fact, whether profession or not. It is the best kind of profession of holiness when a man does not so much profess it himself as oblige his friends, by his holy life, to profess it for him.
Carnal According to the best readings, the Greek word here rendered carnal differs in termination from that in 1Co 3:3-4. The former is , the latter . The terminations differ needy as our English terminations ine and ic differ; the former indicating the material of which a thing consists, the latter the quality of the thing. The former word, signifying consisting of flesh, is used in 2Co 3:3 in a good sense. As is a New Testament word, not used in the classics, Stanley thinks that the other word has here been substituted by copyists, to make a confirmation with classical usage; but Alford believes it to be the true reading. The meaning would then be, as unto beings made of flesh human like the men of 1Co 3:3.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Unfortunately Their Present Behaviour Is a Sign of their Immaturity For The Objects of Their Devotion Are But Instruments of God. Their Eyes Are Fixed In The Wrong Place (3:1-7)
‘And I, brothers, could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly (sarkinos), as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, not with meat, for you were not yet able to bear it. No, even now you cannot. For you are yet fleshly (sarkikos). For whereas there is among you jealousies and strife, are you not fleshly and walk after the manner of men?’
Having stressed the spiritual nature of the Gospel and the men who truly preached it, and of those who are united with Christ, he now turns to the Corinthians themselves and presents his diagnosis of their condition. He declares that he cannot speak of them as ‘pneumatikoi’. They probably boasted that they were ‘spiritual’ because of their manifestations of ‘spiritual gifts’ (chapter 14). So he informs them that they are not in fact revealing themselves to be spiritual at all, but to be ‘fleshly’. This latter is not quite the same as the ‘natural man’, but only one step from it. The fleshly man has the Spirit but yields to the flesh (Gal 5:16-17), rather than being devoid of the Spirit. Nevertheless the difference is significant. He can still say to them, ‘you are a Temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you’ (1Co 3:16).
‘Could not speak to you as to spiritual (pneumatikois), but as to carnal (sarkinois).’ To be spiritual means to be illuminated by the Spirit, to have an understanding of the wisdom of God in His divine activity, to be concentrating on the crucified and risen Christ, and responding to Him, and, as we have seen in the previous chapter, to be able to judge all things, and not to be judgeable by any. But Paul can see none of this in the Corinthians. He cannot address them as ‘spiritual’. He sees them as deficient.
But surely if 1Co 2:14 refers to Christians as against non-Christians, those indwelt by the Spirit in contrast with those not indwelt by the Spirit, then he surely is speaking to them as pneumatikoi. And if he has just described them as pneumatikoi, and as those who could discern all things, he would want them to know that he spoke to them as such, and that therefore they should be ashamed of their condition. It would help his case. It would mean that they had the basic factor which would enable their discernment, a factor which he could not deny, and that therefore it made them even more inexcusable.
The point he makes, however, is that he cannot speak to them as pneumatikoi. This suggests that 1Co 2:14 cannot refer directly to them, for in such close connection he could hardly insist that they were peumatikoi and then say he could not speak to them as such. He would want to speak with them as such. On the other hand if 1Co 2:14 refers to Jesus Christ as ‘the Spiritual One’, and their relationship with Christ is such that they are not drawing on Him, not walking in the Spirit but walking in the flesh (Gal 5:16-19), thus not drawing on His spirituality which they have in Him, then we can understand why he can say that they are not ‘spiritual’, using the word in the same sense as in 1Co 14:37. They are not making use of the spirituality that they have in Christ, therefore they are not ‘spiritual’, and he cannot speak to them as though they were.
Those who see 1Co 2:14 as including a description of them as Christians then have to say that what Paul means is, ‘you are pneumatikoi, but I cannot speak to you as such because your lives do not reveal it’. This not only seem unlikely, but it also appears a little forced in such close proximity to 1Co 2:14.
However that may be, these Corinthians seemingly could not, or would not, receive such things for they were like ‘babes’. In Paul the word ‘babes’ does not mean what many mean today when they speak of ‘babes in Christ’ but always indicates those who lack the fullness of a position in Christ. In Rom 2:20 it parallels ‘the foolish’, those not having the full truth. In 1Co 13:11 it speaks of when Paul himself was a ‘babe’, believing childish things, prior to achieving adulthood. In Gal 4:1; Gal 4:3 it describes those still under the Law and under the elements of the world. In Eph 4:14 it speaks of those carried around on any wind of doctrine, deceived by crafty men after the wiles of error. And yet here he can speak of them as being ‘in Christ’. They are thus a contradiction in terms. They are those who have the Spirit and yet are muddled as to the truth. It possibly suggests that he his holding his verdict on them somewhat in the balance. They are not ‘natural men’ but they certainly seem to think like it. And yet they have believed.
Indeed they had been ‘fleshly’ (sarkinos), wrapped up in themselves and their own wants. And the trouble was that they did not seem to be emerging from their condition. Rather it was getting worse. They were still fleshly, but this time sarkikos, too wrapped up in their jealousies and constant bitter arguments to fully appreciate the truth of the cross. They were being controlled by the fleshly side of their nature and concentrating on personalities and their emphases and their different approaches to teaching, and on the outward trappings of their religious observations. And they were especially proud that they had been baptised by a ‘spiritual’ person. And this concentration meant that they were not looking at Christ, except possibly dimly and vaguely, but were taken up with concentrating their efforts on upholding, against all comers, their heroes, and what they taught in distinction from the others. They were thus not experiencing the word of the cross with its power. They were too taken up with strife and division on secondary matters. And because their link to the Spiritual One was weak their spirituality was low. They had not advanced their spiritual side, the spirituality that they had in Christ in the Spirit.
‘Fleshly.’ The difference between the two words sarkinos and sarkikos is not very great in their use in the New Testament, but Paul is possibly using the difference to compare the selfishness and self-expression which is the natural, though unhelpful, result of the flesh with the selfishness and sinful self-expression of badly behaved adults who still behave ‘like children’ which is even more unacceptable. We might see sarkinos as suggesting ‘behaving like someone naturally so composed’, but which is not good, and sarkikos as ‘ruled by flesh, characterised by fleshly ways, even when they should have grown out of it’, which is worse. Indeed in Rom 7:14 Paul could speak of himself as sarkinos in contrast to the Law which was psychikos. His fleshly part only too often prevented him from fulfilling what was spiritual, but did not prevent him being spiritual. Sarkikos in contrast wars against the soul (1Pe 2:11). It describes wisdom which is contrary to the grace of God (2Co 1:12). But it can also mean simply something which is simply physical and not spiritual in a neutral sense (1Co 9:11; Rom 15:27; 2Co 10:4; Heb 7:16). 1Pe 2:11 and 2Co 1:12 are more pertinent here. Thus the distinction is not large but possibly indicates some deterioration. However it is clearly an adjective which can be associated with Christians, although in a fashion which warns against it because of its bad effects.
These adult ‘works of the flesh’ are described in Gal 5:19-21, and they do not make pretty reading. Strife, jealousy, bad temper, divisiveness, behaving like children without self-control. And if they continue like this, they are warned, it will be testimony to the fact that they are not really God’s children, that they ‘will not inherit the kingdom of God’ (Gal 5:22). Thus it is now time that they grew up and proved that they really are children of God, by revealing that they possess ‘the things that accompany salvation’ (Heb 6:9), the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, self-control, and that they have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:22-24). What they must do is let Christ’s spirituality take over in their lives, and let the cross do its work.
‘– as to fleshly, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with meat, for you were not able.’ This refers first of all to when he had previously known them, but it is then described as being still applicable. They had clearly not been fully receptive to true doctrine, to the full significance of the word of the cross. What they had received had been to them milk and not meat. Paul had not deliberately fed them milk. That was how it had turned out because of their fleshliness. This is not describing first principles taught to the new Christian. Paul would expect those to be taken as meat. It is describing what they actually received because of their inadequacy.
Or it may be that they had in fact accused him of only giving them milk because he had not taught them ‘wisdom teaching’ and that he is being sarcastic. He could be pointing out that it was only because they were babes in their ability to receive doctrine that what he fed them had to be milk. Either way the fault is theirs, and not because Paul chose to feed them only milk. For the fact seems to be that they were to be seen as blameworthy even in this, as ‘fleshly’ demands.
‘No, even now you are not able.’ These still seemed not to be able to take what he taught as ‘meat’, the deep truths of the Gospel. They still would not fully receive the word of the cross. They did not learn from it to die to self and live to Christ (Gal 2:20). They did not give the impression of abiding in the true vine (in Christ) and of producing Christ-like fruit (Joh 15:1-6). They were too concerned with other things, which showed that they were still controlled by ‘the flesh’ (human aims and desires, the feeding of the ego and the gratifying of the senses, the acceptance of teaching devoid of the Spirit), rather than with divine aims and ideas, with spiritual doctrine and to be part of Christ’s pure and mutually loving people. It may be that their spiritual gifts made them think that they were spiritual. Paul makes clear that that is not so. Having Christ’s spirituality would result in their being like Christ, and had they had that sufficiently they would not behave as they do.
‘For you are yet carnal (fleshly – sarkikos).’ This is here defined in terms of human emotions and reactions, ‘jealousy and strife’. Their human side is on top and they are too concerned about earthly things, and this has led them to be jealous about such things and to fight among themselves as rivals, splitting up into different parties and fighting for personalities. They are behaving as though they were just ordinary people not affected by the word of the cross and its message and power, and not appreciative of it. They are behaving as though they were earthly and not heavenly. They walk after the manner of men who are devoid of the Spirit.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Christ Crucified For Us And The New Birth Through the Spirit Are the Two Central Foundations of Christianity (1:10-4:21).
Paul begins this section by revealing his concern that the Corinthians are in danger of splitting up into different parties around the teaching of certain leading teachers (1Co 1:10-17), and concentrating on secondary aspects of that teaching, rather than being united around the one central truth of Christ crucified, the one fact which is central to the Christian message, and around which all should be united, and which points to the One Who alone, by means of what He accomplished there, is effective in bringing about their salvation through the power of God (1Co 1:18; 1Co 1:24; 1Co 1:30 ; 1Co 2:2; 1Co 2:4), and is the very foundation of the Christian faith (1Co 3:10-15).
The crucifixion of Christ, points out Paul, has brought about the raising up of a wholly new situation. The world is now divided into two. On the one hand is ‘the natural man’, devoid of the Spirit, taken up with human wisdom, divided, rejecting God’s way, despising the cross (1Co 1:19 onwards leading up to 1Co 2:14), and on the other ‘the spiritual one’, receiving true wisdom from God, trusting fully in the word of the cross, enlightened, the temple of God indwelt by the Spirit (1Co 2:4-15; 1Co 3:16; 1Co 1:24).
The ‘natural man’ is the world in Adam, the first man, and as such earthy and without the Spirit and unable to discern the things of God, with no hope of the resurrection to life (1Co 2:14; 1Co 15:45-47). The Spiritual One is the last Adam, the second man, the heavenly One, in Whom are found those who are heavenly, Who has given His Spirit to His own so that they might understand the things of God as manifested through the power of the word of the cross, and know the things that are freely given to them of God, and come finally to the resurrection of life (1Co 2:10-16; 1Co 15:42-49).
But sadly the Corinthian church, while having become a part of the second, are revealing themselves as still very much taken up with the first. They are divided, looking to earthly wisdom, arguing about different teachers as though they brought different messages, rich and yet poor, reigning and yet not reigning (1Co 1:12; 1Co 2:5 ; 1Co 3:3-4; 1Co 4:8), neglecting the word of the cross, and the Crucified One, still behaving as fleshly rather than as spiritual (1Co 3:1-3). They are not allowing the word of the cross to do its work in them.
They need to recognise that the teachers are in themselves nothing, ‘weak and foolish’ tools of God (1Co 1:26-29) who must themselves account to God (1Co 3:10-15), whose task is to build on the One foundation which is Christ, for they are building the Temple of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is indeed the one Holy Spirit Who reveals through these teachers the crucified Christ and what He has done and is doing for them (1Co 2:10-16). For it is one Christ Who has been crucified and through Whom we are being saved.
What should therefore be all important to them is Christ and Him crucified (1Co 2:2), the word of the cross (1Co 1:18), foreordained before the creation (1Co 2:7), the central message they proclaim (1Co 3:11), and around which they must unite, for it is He who has been made to them the wisdom from God, even righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1Co 1:30). He is the one foundation on which they are built (1Co 3:11). The church is one and it is this message that separates them from the outside world which in its folly and blindness despises Him ( 1Co 1:20-23 ; 1Co 2:6; 1Co 2:8) and what He came to accomplish. Thus must they maintain unity in Him, partaking in His one body (1Co 10:17; 1Co 12:12-13), presenting a united witness to the world (1Co 1:10-12), recognising that they are the one Temple of God (1Co 3:16), rather than splitting up into a group of different argumentative philosophical groups having lost the recognition that what they have come to believe in Christ is central to the whole future of all things. They need the grand vision.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Carnality of Strife and Divisions Paul begins his efforts in 1Co 3:1-4 to being sanctification of the mind to the believers in Corinth by indicting them of the error of bringing strife and divisions among themselves, which is an indication of immaturity. He called this behavior a sign of their carnality.
1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:1
Scripture References – Note similar verses that refer to babes in Christ:
1Co 14:20, “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.”
Heb 5:12-14, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
1Pe 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:2
[109] Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi E. Murkoff, and Sandee E. Hathaway, What to Expect the First Year (London: Simon and Schuster Ltd, 1989), 210.
Heb 5:12, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:3
1Co 3:3 Comments – Andrew Murray says, “‘This life of ‘the flesh’ manifests itself in many different ways. It appears in the hastiness of spirit, or the anger which so unexpectedly arises in you, in the lack of love for which you have so often blamed yourself; in the pleasure found in eating and drinking, about which at times your conscience has children you; in that seeking for your own will and honor, that confidence in your own wisdom and power, that pleasure in the world, of which you are sometimes ashamed before God. All this is life ‘after the flesh’. ‘Ye are yet carnal’.” [110]
[110] Andrew Murray, The Prayer Life (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, no date), 21-22.
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
1Co 3:4
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Church Divisions: Sanctification of the Mind to Stop Respecting Persons In 1Co 3:1 to 1Co 4:21 Paul returns to the issue of divisions within the church at Corinth, in which he will emphasize the sanctification of the mind, so that the believers at Corinth understand that Christ is the preeminent head of the body, and not particular members. He opens this passage by explaining that strife and divisions are an indication of carnality (1Co 3:1-4). He then explains how the offices of himself and Apollos are united in the Gospel by using the analogies of husbandry (1Co 3:5-9) and building a house (1Co 3:10-17). He uses these two analogies to explain that ministers are simply servants of God, who are labouring to build upon the foundation of what Jesus Christ laid in the Gospels. However, those who think themselves to be wise and try to serve the Lord by being independent from others and doing things their own way, which includes labouring within divided groups within the Church, are actually unwise. Paul encourages them to become “fools” for Christ and stop boasting in the works of men (1Co 3:18-23). Paul then explains the stewardship that is required by the true servants of Christ (1Co 4:1-5). The evidence of Paul’s divine stewardship is seen in the prosperity of the Corinthians and in the hardship that Christ’s ministers must endure for their sake (1Co 4:6-13). Paul then declares his spiritual authority over them because he brought them to faith in Christ (1Co 4:14-21).
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. The Carnality of Strife and Divisions 1Co 3:1-4
2. The Unity of Christian Ministry 1Co 3:5-17
3. Warnings on Boasting in Men 1Co 3:18-23
4. The Stewardship of Christian Ministry 1Co 4:1-5
5. Evidences of Paul’s Stewardship 1Co 4:6-13
6. Paul’s Spiritual Authority over the Corinthians 1Co 4:14-21
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Sanctification by the Holy Spirit In 1Co 3:1 to 1Co 14:40 Paul takes the greater part of this epistle to teach them about the process of sanctification by the Holy Spirit. However, the ways in which these issues are presented reflect the sanctification of man’s mind, body, and spirit, in that order. For example, Paul’s discussion on church divisions (1Co 3:1 to 1Co 4:21) emphasizes the sanctification of our minds so that we learn not to prefer one church member, or church leader, above another. His discussion on fornication (1Co 5:1 to 1Co 7:40) emphasizes the sanctification of our bodies, as we offer them as holy vessels to the Lord. His discussion on meats offered until idols (1Co 8:1 to 1Co 11:1) emphasizes the sanctification of our spirits as we learn to walk and conduct our lifestyles with a clean conscience, which is the voice of the spirit. Paul then turns his attention to issues regarding public worship (1Co 11:2 to 1Co 14:40). Remember in the Old Testament how the priests and Levites had to sanctify themselves before entering into the service of the Tabernacle and Temple. Therefore, Paul uses this same approach for the New Testament Church. As we allow our minds, bodies and spirits to yield to the work of sanctification by the Holy Spirit, we become vessels in which the gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit can operate.
Outline – Here is a proposed outline:
1. Divisions in the Church 1Co 3:1 to 1Co 4:21
2. Fornication in the Church 1Co 5:1 to 1Co 6:20
3. Idolatry and foods offered to idols 1Co 8:1 to 1Co 11:34
4. Public Worship 1Co 11:2 to 1Co 14:40
The Two Issues of Fornication and Foods Offered Unto Idols Reflect Heathen Worship Note that the two major topics that are covered in this epistle of 1 Corinthians, fornication and meat offered to idols, are two of the four issues that those the Jerusalem council decided to ask of the Gentiles. Note:
Act 15:20, “But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.”
Act 15:29, “That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.”
Act 21:25, “As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.”
In submission to the church apostles and elders a Jerusalem, Paul delivered these ordinances to the Corinthian church earlier while he lived there. In this epistle, Paul expands upon them:
1Co 11:2, “Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.”
Note also that Jesus told the church in Pergamos in the book of Revelation that these were the two doctrines of Balaam.
Rev 2:14, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication .”
Therefore, the practice of feasting in idolatry and fornication appears to have been a common practice in Asia Minor among the temple worship of the Greeks. We also see in Rom 1:18-32 how idolatry was followed by fornication as God turned mankind over to a reprobate mind. Thus, these two sins are associated with one another throughout the Scriptures. However, first Paul deals with church divisions.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
A Reproof of Spiritual Pride.
The marks of carnal men:
v. 1. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
v. 2. I have fed you with milk and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
v. 3. For ye are yet carnal; for, whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men?
Paul has held before the Christians of Corinth the wonderful blessings which belong to all believers through the Gospel, and which should be used and exercised by them in a proper way. To his great sorrow, he is obliged to state that the Corinthians whom he addresses do not yet measure up to the standard which should be found in those that have the proper understanding. But to show his confidence in them, he addresses them also in this section as “brethren. ” His words are harsh, for he connects his reprimand with the statement that the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: And I, consequently, was not able to speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. He implies that he might well have expected by this time that he could address them as men that were governed in all things by the Spirit of God. Instead of that, however, he finds that he is obliged to speak to them as men that follow the thoughts of the flesh, that are governed by their unregenerate nature, by the old Adam. As to little children, to veritable babes in Christ, he must speak. Note how the addition “in Christ” softens the harshness of the censure and pleads with the better knowledge of the Corinthian Christians. But the rebuke stands: they are indeed children of God in Christ, but as yet without the experience and maturity which might justly be expected of them. This thought he drives home with an emphatic comparison: Milk I gave you to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet equal to t. He was obliged to give them nourishment suited to their age for the entire length of time that he was with them on the second journey. He could impart to them instruction only in the rudiments, the fundamentals, of Christian knowledge. See Heb 5:13-14. They made such slow progress in Christian knowledge that the apostle could not go beyond the simplest and easiest truths in his instruction. But the matter would not have been so serious if now, after an interval of several years, they would have been able to receive solid food and to go on to perfection in knowledge. However, even at the present time they were not yet strong enough in spiritual apprehension, they had made no progress in proportion to the expectations of their teacher. And the more presumption they showed in their party spirit, as though they had been graduated from the elementary department of Christian doctrine, the sharper was the reproof of their teacher telling them that he could not consider their promotion. And the reason he flatly tells them: For yet are you carnal. They were still governed by considerations of their flesh, of their unspiritual nature; they permitted the desires of the flesh to control their actions instead of yielding to the gentle leading of the Spirit. There was still jealousy, dissension, wrangling among them, which are essentially works of the flesh, Gal 5:20; they permitted partisan rivalry to hold sway among them. And that was proof positive that they were carnal, that their unregenerate, carnal self, Rom 7:1-25, had gained the ascendency. And so the conclusion, which Paul puts in the form of a question, was right, namely, that they were conducting themselves as unregenerate men are apt to behave under like circumstances, Rom 8:5, that they were conforming to the average person’s irreligious condition.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
1Co 3:1-4
The carnal conceit of the spiritually immature.
1Co 3:1
I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual. Though softened by the word brethren, there was a crushing irony of reproof in these words: “You thought yourselves quite above the need of my simple teaching. You were looking down on me from the whole height of your inferiority. The elementary character of my doctrine was after all the necessary consequence of your own incapacity for anything more profound.” As unto carnal. The true reading here is sarkinois, fleshen, not sarkikois, fleshly, or carnal; the later and severer word is perhaps first used in 1Co 3:3. The word sarkinos (earneus), fleshen, implies earthliness and weakness and the absence of spirituality; but sarkikos (carnalis) involves the dominance of the lower nature and antagonism to the spiritual. As mite babes in Christ. The word “babes” has a good and a bad sense. In its good sense it implies humility and teachableness, as in 1Co 14:20, “In malice be ye babes;” and in 1Pe 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word;” and in Mat 11:25. Here it is used in its bad sense of spiritual childishness.
1Co 3:2
I fed you with milk. The metaphor is expanded in Heb 5:13, “Every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the Word of righteousness; for he is a babe.” The same metaphor is found in Philo; and the young pupils of the rabbis were called “sucklings” () and “little ones” (camp. Mat 10:42). Not with meat; not with solid food, which is for full grown or spiritually perfect men (Heb 5:14). For hitherto; rather, for ye were not yetwhen I preached to youable to bear it. The same phrase is used by our Lord in Joh 16:12, “I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now;” and he taught them in parables, “as they were able to bear it” (Mar 4:33). Not even now are ye able. Though you imagine that you have advanced so far beyond my simpler teaching.
1Co 3:3
For ye are yet carnal. This is the reason for the spiritual dulness which your pride prevents you from recognizing. Envying, and strife, and divisions. The two latter words are omitted in some of the best manuscripts, and may have been added from Gal 5:20. Partisanship and discord, the sins of the Corinthianssins which have disgraced so many ages of Church historyare works of the flesh (Gal 5:19), and involve many other sins (Jas 3:16), and are therefore sure proofs of the carnal mind, though they are usually accompanied by a boast of superior spiritual enlightenment. As men; that is, “as men, not as Christians.” To walk as a mere ordinary human being is not to “walk in the Spirit” (Gal 5:25); comp.,” I speak as a man” (Rom 3:5).
1Co 3:4
For when one saith, I am of Paul. This is a proof that there were jealousies and partisanships among them. We again notice the generous courage of St. Paul in rebuking first those adherents who turned his own name into a party watchword. Are ye not carnal? The true reading is, “Are ye not men?” (, A, B, C, and so the Revised Version); i.e. Are ye not swayed by mere human passions? The Spirit which you received at baptism ought to have lifted you above these mean rivalries. You ought to be something more than mere men. Religious partisanship is, in the eye of St. Paul, simply irreligious. He sets down party controversies as a distinct proof of carnality. Those who indulge in it are men devoid of the spiritual element.
1Co 3:5-15
The one foundation and the diverse superstructure.
1Co 3:5
Who then is Paul? The better reading is what? (, A, B). The neuter would imply a still greater depreciation of the importance of human ministers. Ministers. The same word as that rendered “deacons” (diakonoi); “ministers of Christ on your behalf” (Col 1:7). Through whom ye believed. Through whom,” not “in whom” (Bengel). They were merely the instruments of your conversion. In the second Epistle (2Co 3:3) he calls them “the epistle of Christ ministered by us written with the Spirit of the living God.” As the Lord gave to him. The gifts differ according to the grace given (Rom 12:6).
1Co 3:6
I planted. St. Paul everywhere recognized that his gift lay pre eminently in the ability to found Churches (comp. Act 18:1-11; 1Co 4:15; 1Co 9:1; 1Co 15:1). Apollos watered. If, as is now generally believed, Apollos wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, we see how striking was his power of strengthening the faith of wavering Churches. Eloquence and a deep insight into the meaning of Scripture, enriched by Alexandrian culture, seem to have been his special endowments (Act 18:24, Act 18:27). The reference of the word “watered” to baptism by Augustine is one of the numberless instances of Scripture distorted by ecclesiasticism. God gave the increase. The thought of every true teacher always is, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name give the praise” (Psa 115:1).
1Co 3:7
Anything. The planter and the waterer are nothing by comparison. They could do nothing without Christ’s aid (Joh 15:16), and were nothing in themselves (2Co 12:11). But God that giveth the increase. The human instruments are nothing, but God is everything, because, apart from him, no result would follow.
1Co 3:8
Are one; literally, one thing. God is the sole Agent; the teachers, so far from being able to pose as rival leaders, form but one instrument in God’s hand. Their relative differences shrink into insignificance when the source and objects of their ministry are considered. His own reward his own labour. In the lower individual sphere the work of teachers shall be fairly estimated and rewarded as in the parable of the pounds and talents (comp. Joh 4:36; Rev 22:12).
1Co 3:9
God’s fellow workers. Throughout the Bible we are taught that God requires the work of man, and that he will not help those who will do nothing for themselves or for him. The world was to be evangelized, not by sudden miracle, but by faithful human labour (Mar 16:20). God’s husbandry; rather. God’s field, or tilled land. The thought which he desires again and again to enforce is that they belong to God, not to the parties of human teachers. The word” husbandry” may also mean vineyard, and the metaphor is the same as in Is 1Co 5:1; 27:2; Joh 15:1; Mat 13:3-30; Luk 13:6-9; Rom 11:16-24. God’s building. This is one of St. Paul’s favourite metaphors, as in Rom 11:16, Rom 11:17; 2Co 6:16; Eph 2:20-22; Rom 15:20; 2Ti 2:19.
1Co 3:10
According to the grace of God which is given unto me; rather, which was given. Here, again, we have St. Paul’s baptismal aoristhis habit of regarding his whole spiritual life as potentially summed up in the one crisis of conversion and baptism. This phrase is a favourite one with him (1Co 15:10; Rom 15:15; Gal 2:9; Eph 3:2). As a wise master builder. “Wise” only in the sense of subordinating every pretence of human wisdom to the will of God; and here the adjective only applies to the wisdom required by a builder. In other words, “wise” is here equivalent to “skilful.” Since Paul had received the grace of God for this very purpose, he was made “wise” by the knowledge of Christ (for the metaphor of building, see Mat 7:24; Mat 16:18; Eph 2:21; 1Pe 2:5). The foundation; rather, a foundation. Though in truth there is but one foundation, as he proceeds to say, St. Paul always refused to build on the foundation laid by another (Rom 15:20). Another. Perhaps the special allusion is to Apollos.
1Co 3:11
Other foundation can no man lay. Any “other” gospel is not merely “another,” but “a different” gospel (Gal 1:9). That which is laid; rather, that is lying. It has not been placed there () by any human bands, but lies there by the eternal will. Which is Jesus Christ. “The doctrine of Jesus Christ is the foundation of all theology; his person of all life.” This is again and again inculcated in Scripture: Isa 28:16, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.” On this rock the Church is built (Mat 16:18 : Act 4:11, Act 4:12; Eph 2:20).
1Co 3:12
Gold, silver. Perhaps St. Paul thought for a moment of the gorgeous metals rod rich marbles used in the Corinthian temples, as well as in the temple at Jerusalem. But it is surely fantastic to suggest that his reference is an historical reminiscence of the melting of gold and silver in the burning of Corinth by Mummius, nearly two hundred years before. Costly stones; i.e. costly marble from Paros, Phrygia, etc. Wood, hay, stubble. These words seem to symbolize erroneous or imperfect doctrines, which would not stand the test, and which led to evil practices. Such were the” philosophy and vain deceit,” “the weak and beggarly dements,” “the rudiments of the world,” of which he speaks in Gal 4:9; Col 2:8. So in the Midrash Tehillin, the words of false teachers are compared to hay. The doctrines to which he alludes are not anti christian, but imperfect and humansuch, for instance, as, “Humanas constitutiunculas de cultu, de victo, de frigidis ceremoniis” (Erasmus).
1Co 3:13
Each man’s work shall be made manifest. The real naturethe worth or worthlessnessof each man’s work, will be made clear sooner or later. The day shall declare it. “The day” can only mean “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Co 1:8), which would specially “make manifest the counsels of the hearts” (1Co 4:5), and “judge the secrets of men” (Rom 2:16), and make all men manifest “before the judgment seat of Christ” (2Co 4:10). It shall be revealed by fire; rather, because it is being revealed in fire. The phrase “is being” is called bad English, but some such phrase is positively needed to render the continuous present tense, which here expresses certainty, natural sequence, perpetual imminence. This tense is constantly used to express the continuity and the present working of Divine laws (comp. Mat 3:10). As the nominative is not expressed, it is uncertain whether “it” refers to “each man’s work” or to” the day.” Either gives an apposite sense (Mal 4:1; 2Th 1:8). Some would make “he” (namely, Christ) the nominative, because “the day” means “the day of Christ;” and in favour of this view they quote 2Th 1:7, “The revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven in flaming fire.” But the ellipse of an unexpressed nominative is harsh. The fire itself shall prove each man’s work. This is the “probatory” or testing fire of the day of the Lord, of which we read very frequently in the Fathers. The doctrine of purgatory has been in some measure founded on this verse; but such a view of it cannot be maintained. The reader will find the subject examined and the quotations from the Fathers given in the writer’s ‘Mercy and Judgment,’ p. 69. All that is said here is that the fire of Christ’s presencethe consuming fire of God’s loveshall test the work, not purge it. The fire is probatory, not purgatorial, and it is not in itself a fife of wrath, for it tests the gold and silver as well as the inferior elements of the structure. It is the fire of the refiner, not of the avenger.
1Co 3:14
If any man’s work shall abide. St. Paul is speaking primarily of teachers, though, of course, his words apply by analogy to all believers. He shall receive a reward. One of the teacher’s rewards will be his converts (1Th 2:19), who will be “his joy and crown of glorying” (Php 2:16); another will be “a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1Pe 5:2, 1Pe 5:4; Dan 12:3); yet another will be fresh opportunities for higher labour (Mat 25:23).
1Co 3:15
He shall suffer loss. He shall not receive the full reward to which he might otherwise look (2Jn 1:8). He himself shall be saved. It is an inexpressible source of comfort to us, amid the weakness and ignorance of our lives, to know that if we have only erred through human frailty and feebleness, while yet we desired to be sincere and faithful, the work will be burnt, yet the workman will be saved. Some of the Fathers gave to this beautiful verse the shockingly perverted meaning that “the workman would be preserved alive for endless torments,” “salted with fire” in order to endure interminable agonies. The meaning is impossible, for it reverses the sense of the word “saved;” and makes it equivalent to “damned;” but the interpretation is an awful proof of the distortions to which a merciless human rigorism and a hard, self styled orthodoxy have sometimes subjected the Word of God. Yet so as by fire; rather, through or by means of fire ( ). We may be, as it were, “snatched as a brand from the burning” (Zec 3:2; Amo 4:11; Jud 1:23), and “scarcely” saved (1Pe 4:18). Similarly it is said in 1Pe 3:20 that Noah was saved “through water” ( ). The ship is lost, the sailor saved; the workman is saved, the work is burned.
1Co 3:16-23
The peril and folly of glorying in men.
1Co 3:16
Know ye not. The phrase is used by St. Paul in this Epistle to emphasize important truths, as in 1Co 5:6; 1Co 6:2,.9, 15; 1Co 9:13, 1Co 9:24. Out of this Epistle it only occurs in Rom 6:16; Rom 11:2. That ye are the temple of God. “Ye,” both collectively (Eph 2:21) and individually; “God’s shrine;” not built for men’s glory. The word “temple” in the Old Testament always means the material temple; in the Gospels our Lord “spake of the temple of his body;” in the rest of the New Testament the body of every baptized Christian is the temple of God (1Co 6:16), because “God dwelleth in him” (1Jn 4:16; comp. Joh 14:23). In another aspect Christians can be regarded as “living stones in one spiritual house” (1Pe 2:5). The temple; rather, the shrine (uses) wherein God dwells (naiei), and which is the holiest part of the temple (hieron).
1Co 3:17
If any man defile the temple of God. The verb is the same as in the next clause, and should be rendered, If any man destroy the temple of God; but the word is perhaps too strong, and the word “mar” or “injure” might better convey the meaning (Olshausen). The two verbs are brought into vivid juxtaposition in the original: “God shall ruin the ruiner of his temple.” St. Paul was, perhaps, thinking of the penalty of death attached to any one who desecrated the temple of Jerusalem. Inscriptions on the chel, or “middle wall of partition,” threatened death to any Gentile who set foot within the sacred enclosure.” Which temple ye are; literally, the which are ye; i.e. ye are holy. St. Paul is here referring to the Church of Corinth, and to the false teachers who desecrated it by bringing in “factions of destruction” (2Pe 2:1). Ideally the Church was glorious, “not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing” (Eph 5:27).
1Co 3:18
Let no man deceive himself. Like the other formula, “Be not deceived” (1Co 6:9; 1Co 15:33; Gal 6:7); “Deceive not yourselves” (Jer 37:9); “Let no man deceive you” (Marl 24:4; Luk 21:8; 2Th 2:3; Eph 5:6; 1Jn 3:7). We are so liable to self deception (1Jn 1:8; Gal 6:3), as well as to being deceived by others (2Ti 3:13), that there was need to repeat this warning incessantly. Seemeth to be wise; rather, thinketh that he is wise. He is referring specially to the Apollos party, who vaunted their esoteric knowledge, and so were “wise in their own eyes, prudent in their own conceits” (Is 5:21).
1Co 3:19
The wisdom of this world. Here the word for “world” is kosmos, in the last verse it was alert. Kosmos is the world regarded objectively; aion the world regarded in its moral and intellectual aspect. He that taketh the wise in their craftiness. This is one of the few references to the Book of Job in the New Testament. It comes from the speech of Eliphaz in Job 5:13, but St. Paul substitutes the words “clutching” (drassomenos) and “craftiness” (panourgia) for the milder katalabon and phronesei of the LXX.
1Co 3:20
The Lord knoweth, etc. A quotation from Psa 94:11. St. Paul substitutes “the wise” for the “men” of the original, because the psalmist is referring to perverse despisers of God. Dialogismoi is rather “reasonings” than “thoughts.” It is used in a disparaging sense, as in Rom 1:21; Eph 4:17.
1Co 3:21
Wherefore. St. Paul, with this word, concludes the argument of warning of the previous section, as in 1Co 3:7; 1Co 4:5; 1Co 8:1-13 :38; 1Co 11:33; 1Co 14:39; 1Co 15:58 (Wordsworth). All things are yours. It is always a tendency of Christians to underrate the grandeur of their privileges by exaggerating their supposed monopoly of some of them, while many equally rich advantages are at their disposal. Instead of becoming partisans of special teachers, and champions of separate doctrines, they might enjoy all that was good in the doctrine of all teachers, whether they were prophets, or pastors, or evangelists (Eph 4:11, Eph 4:12). The true God gives us all things richly to enjoy (1Ti 6:17).
1Co 3:22
Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas. All were their servants for Jesus’ sake (2Co 4:5). Instead of becoming partisans of either, they could enjoy the greatness of all. Or the world. The sudden leap from Cephas to the world shows, as Bengel says, the impetuous leap of thought. There is a passage of similar eloquence in Rom 8:38, Rom 8:39. The “hundredfold” is promised even in this world. Or life. Because life in Christ is the only real life, and Christ came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly (see Rom 8:38). Or death. To the Christian, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Php 1:21). So that death is no more than
“The lifting of a latch;
Nought but a step into the open air
Out of a tent already luminous
With light which shines through its transparent folds.”
Or things present, or things to come. “He that overcometh shall inherit all things” (Rev 21:7), because Christ has received all things from the Father.
1Co 3:23
And ye are Christ’s (see 1Co 6:19; 1Co 15:23; Rom 14:8; Gal 3:29). Christians possess because they are possessed by Christ (Meyer). Christ is our Master, and God our Father (Mat 23:10). And Christ is God’s; because “Christ is equal to the Father as touching his Godhead, but inferior to the Father as touching his manhood.” Hence in 1Co 11:3 he says, “The head of Christ is God;” and in 1Co 15:28, we read of Christ resigning his mediatorial kingdom, that God may be all in all. Perhaps St. Paul implies the thought that Christ belongs, not to a party, but to God, the Father of us all. But the ultimate climax from Christ to God is found also in 1Co 4:1 : Rom 15:5, etc.
HOMILETICS
1Co 3:1-8
Reflections for Churches.
“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual,” etc. In these verses are three subjects worthy of the profoundest contemplation.
I. THE GRADUATING METHOD OF TEACHING. “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk,” etc. Truth is to be administered with a practical regard to the receptive powers of the student, just as the administration of bodily food must have regard to the digestive capacities of those who need it; “milk” for children, “meat” for men. This is Paul’s metaphor; though men might live on milk, strong meat would kill children. There are truths in the gospel of such an elevated character, requiring so much intellect and culture to appreciate them, that to enforce them on the attention of mental and moral children would be positively to injure them. Christ practised this method of teaching. He had many things to say which his disciples could not bear. Had he preached to them the doctrines of the cross at first, they would have been shocked. When at one time they were merely intimated, they produced a kind of revulsion in Peter, and he exclaimed, “That be far from thee, Lord.” This method of teaching shows:
1. That a minister that may be useful to one class of men may be unprofitable to another.
2. The necessity of all who would enjoy the higher teaching to cultivate their mental and moral powers.
II. THE CARNALITY OF CHURCHISMS. “For whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” etc. By Churchisms I mean sectarianisms, denominationalisms, etc. What are Churches? The best Churches in Christendom today are but the organization of certain opinions concerning Christ and his gospel. Some men extol one class of opinion more than another, and they set up one Church in opposition to another, and so on. Paul says this is “carnal.” Carnal, because it engrosses the soul:
1. In the human rather than the Divine.
2. In the personal rather than in the universal.
3. In the selfish rather than in the self denying.
4. In the transitory rather than in the permanent.
III. THE UNITY OF ALL TRUE MINISTERS. “Who then is Paul? and who is Apollos? but ministers by whom ye believed,” etc. Again, “He that planteth and he that watereth are one.”
1. One, notwithstanding the diversity of talents and kinds of labour. Paul, Peter, and Apollos differed in many personal respects; they differed in ,the kind and measure of their faculties, in their temperaments and attainments; still they were one in spirit and aim.
2. One in grand practical aim. What were they working for? The spiritual cultivation of mankind. One planting, another watering, etc. Different kinds of labour, but still one.
3. One in their connection with God.
(1) Whilst all depended on God for success, God gave the “increase.”
(2) All were coworkers with him; “labourers together with God.”
4. One in their ultimate reward. “Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” Each from the same God, each according to his work.
1Co 3:9
God a Husbandman.
“We are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry,” etc. The words lead us to look at God as the great Husbandman of human souls. As a husbandman
I. HE IS THOROUGHLY ACQUAINTED WITH THE SOIL.
1. He knows its original state. The soil in its pristine state, with all its original powers, he knows.
2. He knows its present condition. Its present barren and wilderness state he understands. To him it seems like the “field of the slothful” mentioned by Solomon. It is stony, weedy, and thorny.
3. He knows its tillable capabilities. He knows what can be made of it, notwithstanding its present condition. He knows what every soul is capable of producing. He knows that some are far more capable than others. Some can become the majestic cedar, whilst others only the shrub.
II. HE HAS ALL NECESSARY INSTRUMENTALITIES. This stony, weedy ground requires certain well contrived implements to work it into a fruitful condition.
1. He has them in the events of life. All the dark and painful circumstances in life are his implements to break up the fallow ground. All the pleasant and propitious are instruments for mellowing the soil.
2. He has them in the revelations of truth. There is Law and love, Sinai and Calvary. All are soul culturing implements.
III. HE POSSESSES THE PROPER SEED. The seed he has to sow is good seed, and seed adapted to the soil. What is it? His Word. His Word is seed in many respects.
1. In vitality. Every seed has life in it. His Word is Spirit and life.
2. In completeness. The seed is complete in itself.
3. In prolificness. One seed in course of time may cover a continent. The Word of God is wonderfully fruitful.
IV. HE COMMANDS THE CULTURING ELEMENTS. The best agriculturists, who understand the soil, possess the best implements and the best seed, are thwarted in their efforts, because the elements are not propitious. God has command over the elements. He is the great Husbandman of souls, and we his husbandry.
1Co 3:10-15
The true foundation of character.
“According to the grace of God,” etc. The words suggest certain important thoughts concerning character.
I. That there is an ANALOGY BETWEEN THE FORMATION OF CHARACTER AND THE ERECTION OF A BUILDING. “If any man build,” etc. It is like a building in three respects.
1. In the variety of its materials. Buildings are generally formed of a variety of materialsstone, wood, iron, etc. Moral character is built up by a variety of thingsthe impressions that are made on us, the emotions that rise in us, etc.
2. In the unity of its design. Every building is formed on some plan. One design shapes the whole. So with character. The master purpose of the soul, whatever it may be, gives unity to the whole.
3. In the function it fulfils. Buildings are generally residences of some kind or other. The soul lives in the character. It is its home. In some cases the home is the mere sty of the animal; in some, the shop of the barterer; in some, the prison of the guilty; in some, the temple of the saint.
II. THAT CHRIST IS THE ONLY FOUNDATION OF A TRUE CHARACTER. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” There are sometimes splendid edifices and poor foundations, and the reverse. All characters are based upon some one idea.
1. Some are based on the sensual idea; such as that on which the prodigal son started, etc.
2. Some are based on the secular idea. On this Judas, the young lawyer, and Demas built.
3. Some are based on the ambitious idea. Absalom, Haman, Herod, are examples.
4. Some are based on the Christian idea. What is that? Supreme sympathy with God; and this requires Christ. Christ is its Foundation, for he does two things to generate this supreme sympathy in the soul.
(1) Demonstrates to man the propitiableness of God.
(2) Reveals to man the moral loveliness of God.
III. THAT TO CHRIST, AS A FOUNDATION, MEN BRING WORTHLESS AS WELL AS VALUABLE MATERIALS. Some build edifices of “gold, silver, precious stones,” and some of “wood, hay, stubble.”
1. There are edifices partially formed of “wood, hay, stubble.”
(1) The mere creedal character is worthless.
(2) The mere sentimental character is worthless.
(3) The mere ritualistic character is worthless.
All these characters are formed of “wood, hay, stubble “things of no solidity, no value, no duration.
2. There are edifices entirely formed of valuable materials brought to Christ. They are formed of “gold, silver, precious stones.” The profoundest thoughts, the strongest sympathies, the gold and silver of the soul, are connected with Christ.
IV. THAT THERE IS AN ERA TO DAWN WHEN ALL THE EDIFICES BUILT ON THIS FOUNDATION SHALL RE TRIED. “Every man’s work shall be made manifest.” Heaven has appointed a day for testing character. Individually, it is the day that dawns at the end of our mortal life; universally, it is the day that dawns at the end of this world’s history.
1. This day will be injurious to those who have built on this foundation with worthless materials.
(1) They will suffer lossthe loss of labour, opportunity, position.
(2) Though they suffer loss, they may be saved”saved, yet so as by fire.” Though his favourite theories and cherished hopes shall burn like “wood and hay,” yet he himself may survive the flames.
2. This day will be advantageous to those who have built on this Foundation with right materials. “If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.”
1Co 3:16, 1Co 3:17
Humanity the temple of God.
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” The apostle is writing not to those who were spiritually perfect; on the contrary, to those who were characterized by most salient moral defects. Yet he says, “Ye are the temple of God.” Let us, therefore, look at man
I. As A DIVINE “TEMPLE.” “The temple of God.” In what respects a temple?
1. He is a special residence of God. God is in all material objects, but he is especially in moral mind.
2. He is a special manifestation of God. God is seen everywhere in this world, but never so fully as in the mind of man. “We are all his offspring,” and we are like the Father in essence, conscience, freedom.
3. He is a special meeting place with God. The temple at Jerusalem was God’s special meeting place with man. “There will I commune with thee.” Man can meet with God in material nature, but not so fully and consciously as in mind. “The highest study of mankind is man.”
II. As a Divine “temple” THAT MIGHT BE DESTROYED. “If any man defile [destroy] the temple of God.” The destruction of a temple does not mean the destruction of all its parts, but the destruction of its use. Man might live forever, and yet be destroyed as the temple of God, the special residence, manifestation, and meeting place of God. Now, mark, this destruction, if it takes place, is not by God. He will not destroy the temple, only by man. “If any man defile [destroy] the temple.” Alas! men are destroying this temple, i.e. destroying their natures as the temple of God. An awful work this!
III. As a Divine temple, the DESTROYER OF WHICH WILL BE DESTROYED BY GOD HIMSELF. “Him shall God destroy.” Destroy, if not his existence, all that makes existence worth having or even tolerable. “He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.” “The temple of God is holy,” that is, ideally holy, ought to be holy.
1Co 3:18-20
Worldly wisdom.
“Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” The “wisdom” here referred to is what Paul calls elsewhere “fleshly wisdom,” the “wisdom of the world,” or of the age. It is the same wisdom as he refers to in 1Co 1:20. The “wisdom of this world” may be regarded as mere intellectual knowledge, applied to secular and selfish ends; however vast and varied its attainments, it is worldly in the apostolic sense; it is “earthly,” “sensual,” “devilish,” not like the “wisdom which is from above,” which is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits.” In relation to this wisdom three remarks are here suggested.
I. It is SELF DELUDING. “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world,” etc.
1. This worldly wisdom deceives a man, inasmuch as it leads him to overrate the value of his attainments, he imagines that this kind of knowledge, “wisdom,” is everything for a man. Hence the enthusiastic promotion of secular schools and colleges. But all such knowledge is of no value to man as man, and beyond his brief and uncertain earthly, life. He deceives himself in its value.
2. This worldly wisdom deceives a man, inasmuch as it leads him to overrate his own importance. He is “vainly puffed by his earthly mind,” as Paul says elsewhere (Col 2:18). Such a man imagines himself to be very great; he becomes a pedant; he “struts and stares and a’ that.”
II. It is SPIRITUALLY WORTHLESS. A man with this worldly wisdom must “become a fool, that he may be wise.” Two things are here implied.
1. That with all his wisdom he is already really a “fool.” He is a “fool;” for he looks for happiness where it is not to be found. Happiness does not spring from a man’s brain, but from his heart; not from his ideas, but from his affections. Moreover, he is a “fool” because he practically ignores the chief good, which is love for, resemblance to, and fellowship with, the great God. Hence God esteems this wisdom as foolishness. “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” The most illustrious scholar, sage, orator, who is considered by himself and by most of his contemporaries to be a man of wonderful wisdom, to the eye of God is a fool.
III. It is ULTIMATELY CONFOUNDING. “It is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” It must confound a man sooner or later, either
(1) here in his conversion, or
(2) yonder in his retribution.
“Who are the wise?
They who have govern’d with a self control
Each wild and baneful passion of the soul,
Curb’d the strong impulse of all fierce desires,
But kept alive affection’s purer fires;
They who have pass’d the labyrinth of life
Without one hour of weakness or of strife,
Prepar’d each change of fortune to endure,
Humble though rich, and dignified though poor,
Skill’d in the latent movements of the heart,
Learn’d in the lore which nature can impart,
Teaching the sweet philosophy aloud
Which sees the ‘silver lining’ of the cloud,
Looking for good in all beneath the skies!
These are the truly wise.”
(Prince.)
1Co 3:21-23
A call to the utmost expansiveness in religious sympathy.
“Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours,” etc. The attendants on a Christian ministry may be divided into two classes.
1. Those who esteem the doctrine because of the teacher. There are not a few in all congregations who accept doctrines simply because of the strong sympathies they have with the preacher. Paul seems to have thought of these when he wrote this chapter. He alludes to the men in the Church at Corinth who had been taken more with the teachers than with their doctrines. The other class of attendants on a Christian ministry are:
2. Those who esteem the teacher because of his doctrines. A man who preaches to them they feel is estimable only as he embodies and propounds the true doctrines of the gospel. The impropriety of glorying in teachers rather than in their doctrines is strikingly illustrated in these verses by three things.
I. THE UNIVERSE IS FOR THE CHURCH. “All things are yours.” “All things,” not some things.
1. The ministry is for the Church. “Whether Paul, or Apollos.” There is no agency more valuable on earth than the Christian ministry; in every way it serves manintellectually, socially, materially. But its grand aim is to restore the human spirit to the knowledge, image, and fellowship of its God. Why, then, should it glory in one form? Let those who like Paul take Paul, and be thankful, and not find fault with those who regard Apollos as the most effective preacher.
2. The world is for the Church. By the world we mean the earth, with all its beauties and blessings. In the sense of legal possession the world, of course, is not the property of Christians, nor is it the property of others. For he who claims the largest number of acres has but a handbreadth compared with its numerous islands and vast continents. Yet in the highest sense it is the property of the Christian. He feels an intense sympathy and oneness with God who created it.
3. Life is the property of the Church. “Or life.” There are certain conditions in which we find men on this earth, in which they cannot be said to live. There are some chained in their cell, under the sentence of death; they have forfeited their life. There are others whose limbs are so paralyzed that they can neither speak nor move; life is not theirs. Morally, sinful man is as a criminal; he is under the sentence of death; he is dead in trespasses. But life is the Christian’s; his sentence of death is removed; his moral infirmities are healed, and all his faculties and powers are alive unto God.
4. Death is the property of the Church. “Or death,” What is death? Who shall define it? Who shall penetrate its meaning? The word has unfathomable depths of the wonderful and the terrible. But it is for the Christian; it is his. It delivers him from the imperfections of the present state; it frees him from all that is incompatible with his peace, his safety, and his advancement; it introduces him into the scenes, the services, the society, of a blessed immortality. It is his; it is the last step in the pilgrimage.
5. General events are the property of the Church. “Things present, or things to come”an expression including all the circumstances of existence. “Things present,” whatever their character, are ours. “Things to come:” what things are those? Now, if all these things are for the Church, why should any of its members give themselves up to any one particular ministry to the disparagement of others?
II. THE CHURCH IS FOR THE REDEEMER. “Ye are Christ’s.” There are two very different senses in which Christian men are Christ’s. They are his:
1. By his relationship to them. He is the Creator of all. “By him were all things created.” He is the Mediator of all.
2. By their pledge to him. They have pledged themselves to him as their moral Leader. They have vowed unqualified obedience to his teaching. If they have thus consecrated themselves to him as their great Teacher, how absurd to glory in subordinate and fallible teachers! Why live under the rays of the rushlight, when you can bask under the beams of the sun? Follow a Plato in philosophy, a Solon in law, a Demosthenes in eloquence, a Bacon in sciences, but no one but Christ in religion. Value the Calvins, the Luthers, the Wesleys, for what they are worth, but disclaim them as leaders.
III. THE REDEEMER IS FOR GOD. “And Christ is God’s.” Jesus, as a Mediator, is the Messenger and Servant of the Eternal.
1. Christ is God’s Revealer. He is the Word of God, the Logos.
(1) He reveals him in creation;
(2) he reveals him in his personal ministry.
2. Christ is God’s Servant. He came here to work out God’s great plan of saving mercy.
Learn from this subject:
1. The infinite worth of Christianity. It gives all things to its true disciples. None of the “all things” specified here are possessed by those who are not his genuine disciples. The ministry is not theirs. If they attend preaching they are mere instruments in the hands of the preacher; they are carried away by the emotions of the hour. The world is not theirs, however large a portion of it they claim legally; the world uses them as its tools. Life is not theirs; it is forfeited to justice. They have no true enjoyment in it. Death is not theirs; they are its. “Through fear of death they are all their lifetime subject to bondage.” “Things present and things to come” are not theirs; they are the mere creatures of circumstances. It is Christianity alone that makes all these things man’s. It attunes the soul to the influences of God, as the AEolian harp is attuned to the winds; and every passing breeze in its history strikes out in music the anthem, “The Lord is my Portion, saith my soul.”
2. The contemptibleness of religious sectarianism. How wretchedly mean and base does sectarianism appear in the light of this subject! The men who glory in their own theological peculiarities, ecclesiastical sect, and religious teachers, have never felt the grandeur contained in the text, that the universe is for the Church, the Church is for Christ, and that Christ is for God.
HOMILIES BY C. LIPSCOMB
1Co 3:1-4
Spiritual condition of these Corinthian partisans characterized.
These men were in a low state of Christian development, their growth in grace having been arrested by the jealousy and strife dominant in their midst. Under such circumstances, personal progress and Church progress were impossible. Individual self assertion and arrogance could net but lead to the depreciation of others, nor could envious rivalries tolerate merit and worth in those whom it sought to crush. On the other hand, looking at the Church as an organic body, its virtue was a common stock, to be cherished, honoured, and diligently maintained by every one of its members. Its zeal was not a solitary flame burning on an isolated altar, but the combined warmth of many hearts. Diversity, too, is God’s law, diversity reaching down into temperament, diversity in the highest realm of gifts, diversity of insight and experience, and this factious temper was fatal to diversity. Agreeably to the Divine method, diversity was preliminary to unity, and men were allowed free action of individuality, that the strongest and best elements of character, and especially its latent qualities, might be brought out and incorporated in the totality of the Church. A very miscellaneous world environed these Corinthians; the Christian community itself was made up of Jews, Greeks, and Romans; and the reasons were, therefore, exceptionally stringent that they should, as brethren, be very closely banded together in one mind, “the mind of Christ.” Had they been a homogeneous people, circumstantial motives, which have a very important part to play in the scheme of providence, would not have been so imperative. But these dissensions involved their national peculiarities, and hence the antecedents of blood, the residuum of former bitterness, would surely come in to aggravate their animosities. They were “babes in Christ,” and furthermore, they were “carnal;” and this infantile and carnal state, in which all growth had been stopped, was due solely to intestine discord. Had they considered what a grievous evil it was? Paul and Apollos, Tarsian and Alexandrian, had been put by no choice of theirs in a position very unenviable, nay, in despite of their earnest remonstrance. Leaders they were, leaders they must be, leaders of the Church; and on this very account, nothing could be more ill timed, nothing more abhorrent to their personal feelings, nothing so little like “the mind of Christ,” as the attempt to make them heads of factions. Alas for such unwise friends, blocking up their way and multiplying the hazards, already enormous, of their ministry in Achaia! If this audacious effort continued, how could they withstand their enemies? The heart of St. Paul is stirred, and, in this chapter, it swells to the full compass of his apostleship. Intellectual heroism is needed now, and in that, as in the other qualities of an habitual hero, he is never wanting.L.
1Co 3:5-10
St. Paul’s view of the ministry.
After declaring to the Corinthians that they were carnal in their estimates of God’s ministers, the apostle exposes their folly in this particular, by assuring them that he and Apollos were but ministers, or servants, whom God had commissioned to labour in their behalf. Halfway work he never did. To show their error, and prove that it was a worldly sentiment disguised under a fictitious admiration, he sets before them the true idea of the ministry, as an instrument through which the Divine agency of the Holy Ghost operated. No one enjoyed proper sympathy and affectionate regard more than St. Paul, whose heart overflowed into everything that offered a channel for its diffusion. There is nothing about him of Cato, whose virtue runs into the fanaticism of hatred; or of Coriolanus, who looks upon the people as “if he were a god to punish, and not a man of their infirmity.” Nevertheless, he guards his tenderness against effeminacy, nor will he accept the slightest tribute to himself at the expense of truth. The hardest thing in our nature to organize is impulse; and yet this man, whose sensibilities were so quick and strong (1Co 4:14, 1Co 4:15; 2Co 2:13), could not tolerate the homage paid him by partisans. And in this spirit he asks, “Who then is Paul?” Only a medium used by the Spirit for their faith, and the medium itself valueless, except so far as the Spirit made it effective. Their very capacity to receive St. Paul’s influence was the gift of God, and would they now turn the gift against the Giver? St. Paul’s figures are not poetic, but practical, and his imagination is always the offspring of the reason; and hence the illustrative image”I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase”began and ended in a breath, with no delight in it beyond utility. Two conclusions follow: one, the entire dependence upon God for the increase; and the other, the coworking with him who is the only Source of the increase. Neither the sower nor the seed, however good, can secure the yield; this is from the great Husbandman, who apportions the result according to his sovereignty, and under conditions which St. Paul subsequently points out. The workman is rewarded for his labour; he does not create the reward, but receives it from God; nor could reward have any other basis than free and unmerited grace, seeing that we are coworkers with God. If this were not the law of nature and providence, it could not be a law of grace, nor could the figure of seed and sower have any logical force. But, at the same time, the workman under the gospel has a special relation to God, and, in a sense peculiar to the gospel, is a “coworker.” This is one of St. Paul’s favourite ideas (see 2Co 6:1). It is not working, but co-working, that evidences the spirituality of the work and gains the recompense. Among the sources of deception, not one is so insidious as our work. The old man, long a servant of God, looks back upon his labours; his eye is tranquil now; it has grown to be a very honest eye; and nothing in the past surprises him so much as the mixture of self with work that he once thought was unselfish. Early manhood and middle life, if not absolutely incompetent to form a perfect idea of disinterestedness, are yet very prone to fall into a mistake on this subject. No doubt St. John imagined that he was doing Christ’s work when he forbade the man casting out devils in Christ’s Name; and, likely enough, St. Peter put a special value on his courage in the garden, when he drew his sword for the Lord’s defence. If our tastes and self will can be gratified, we are often ready to be enthusiastic workers for what we suppose is the cause of Christ. But God’s rule is unyielding. You must labour according to his will, or the work will be rejected. And just here, his thought in transition to another aspect of the great topic, St. Paul brings into view the co-relationship of ministers and people, God being all in all. “We” and “ye””we” are co-labourers with God, and “ye” are not our husbandry and building, but God’s. What claims he for himself? He is a builder, a master builder, a wise one too; and he is free to assert it, because it is the utterance of humility, and humility is under obligation to speak the exact truth about itself, under valuation being wrong, as well as over valuation. The preface attests the spiritual purity of the avowal: “According to the grace of God which is given unto me,” while the elaboration of the figure, taken from architecture, indicates more of the Grecian mode of illustration than the Jewish.L.
1Co 3:11-15
Workmen and their works.
St. Paul affirms that he had laid just such a foundation in Corinth as became a wise master builder. Like a good architect, he had made sure of a solid basis, but had the edifice in process of erection been true to the cornerstone? There was but one FoundationJesus Christand a man might build rightly or wrongly on it in the materials used. The range of substances which might be employed in the superstructure was large. Large it must needs be, for, it’ the builders are many, the material must be manifold. Individuality in workmen must be respected, and, though the risks are numerous and great, yet Christianity can only adhere to its fundamental principle of each man as a man in himself. Brutus sacrificed his instincts to what he deemed patriotism in the murder of Caesar; Rome taught her best men to have no conscience except what she dictated; but Christianity laid a stress on personality in the human will in order to secure the full activity of individual responsibility. Providence ordains our home and life in a very ample world. The amplitude is seen, not in its size nor in the mere variety of its objects, but in the endless adaptability to human tastes and dispositions. Despite the curse, this earth is a grand historic memorial of the original idea of humanity, and a prophecy likewise of a glory be recovered. “The field is the world;” and this is true of every man in it, so true indeed that our connections with the great world are far more vital and operative on our destiny than we imagine. This, furthermore, is our discipline. We have a world from which to choose our resources, means, and opportunities, and hence the wonder of experience is the multitudinous additions ever making to the world we inhabit as our own world. Now, to each Christian, “the field is the world;” and therein he finds a vast miscellany”gold, silver, precious stones,” and they are side by side with “wood, hay, stubble.” Redeemed man is treated by Providence and the Holy Ghost, not on the bare idea of what he is in an earthly condition, but also and mainly on the ideal of his capacity in Christ. And consequently, when St. Paul says (1Co 3:21), “All things are yours,” he has only formally wrought out the truth involved in the workman’s command of his diversified materials. Just because the worker is in such a vast and heterogeneous world, he must “take heed.” Nothing short of spiritual discernment can protect him against woeful blunders. A hard worker he may be, a sincere and enthusiastic worker, but he must have Divine insight, and show himself” a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,” and the work must be true and acceptable work, or his labour will inevitably perish. St. James is often referred to as the supporter and defender of the doctrine of work. From his point of view Christianity was the final outgrowth of Judaism, its culmination and crown, and, quite in accord with his instincts, he presents the work side of religion with a very vigorous emphasis. St. Paul, however, confines himself in the text to the kind of work, and puts forth his strength on a single line of thought. What is uppermost in his mind is the absolute need of spiritual insight. The practical man is in the eye of St. James, and he writes of “religion pure and undefiled” as its spectator and analyst among the actualities of the world. Caesar, in the ‘Commentaries,’ is not more terse and compact, nor does he observe more rigidly the requirements of intensiveness as a mental law than St. James in his great monograph. Be it noticed, however, that St. Paul is viewing this matter as a branch or offshoot of a topic engrossing at the time his sympathies, and, consequently, he limits himself to the difference between work which shall be found worthy of reward and work undeserving of recompense. Two cases are before himin the one the man is saved and his work rewarded; in the other, the man is saved and his work disallowed and destroyed. The latter suffers loss, but not the loss of his soul, and, though the ordeal be severe, the man is “saved, yet so as by fire.” Now, this view of work, truthful in itself, was specially suited to these noisy, impulsive, erratic Corinthians. And may we not reasonably conjecture that he had the products of partisanship in his eye while writing of the fiery test? Looking at the world’s history, we can scarcely fail to see that the fruits of factions are the most perishable things in civilization, and, in Church history, the fact is still more obvious. But the apostle has something further to say.L.
1Co 3:16-23
Believers as the temple of God.
Previously St. Paul had said, “Ye are God’s building;” and now he adds, “Ye are the temple of God.” Along with this comes the idea of sanctity: “The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” If, then, these Corinthians were the temple of God, and if the Spirit of God dwelt in them, no stronger motive could bear upon them than the need of holiness; and this holiness is a personal matter. “If any man”whoever he be and whatever his gifts”if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.” The man’s duties to the Church are duties to the Spirit of God in the Church; and the purity of principle and affection, purity of motive and aim, purity of life, which he is bound to maintain,in brief, his spiritual character, grows out of his relation to the Holy Ghost. “Know ye not” this factthat the Church is much more than a society for mutual helpfulness, much more than a human institution, and most truly human when most Divine? To violate this relation in such a way as to “defile the temple of God” is to incur a fearful punishment: “Him shall God destroy.” Hitherto in the argument no such language had been used. Did the thought of the gross sinthe son taking the father’s wifecross his mind at the instant, and leave its darkness in his memory? Whether so or not, St. Paul knew of moral corruption in the Church as well as religious defection, and he reminded the Corinthians of their peril. Observe the change; a man’s work, if rejected, shall be burned, but he shall be “saved, yet so as by fire.” Amid the danger, God will rescue him. But if a “man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.” And now the exhortations: “Let no man deceive himself.” And wherein lies the danger of deception? It is in the “wisdom of this world.” Intellect exposes us to dangers because it is the great organ of receptivity, by means of which the outer world finds unceasing access to our souls. Through the open avenues of the senses, myriad influences gain an entrance within and distribute themselves over every portion of our nature. Very many of them are unchallenged. Few men criticize their senses and hold them accountable for truth and fidelity in their momentous functions. What habits come from this facile power of sensuousness over the mind, we all understand, alas! too well. The natural man (animal man) has the world of sensation on his side. Instead of the body growing more and more into harmony with spirit and participating in its elevation, the opposite more commonly occurs, so that men become in large measure the creatures of the senses. St. Paul had a very clear insight into this fact. No man makes so many references, direct and indirect, to the physiological connections of sin. As a writer of Scripture, the terrible truth of the “fleshly mind” is often before him, and from him we learn the supreme necessity of keeping the body under, lest we become castaways. “Castaways” are far more numerous than we take knowledge of. Short of downright materialism and its counterpart in sensual degeneration, we have innumerable evidences of the wreck of the spiritual nature. These nerves of oursdelicate threads that interlace the whole body and are frequently too fine for the eyewhat a machinery for the hand of Satan, skilled by the practice of centuries, to play upon! We err when we confine our view of materialism to its professed advocates. We err also when we measure the sensualism of the age by its grosser forms. Far greater, far more harmful, and far more widespread, are the deleterious effects, often unrecognized, that work havoc among our spiritual sensibilities. It is this deadening of the intellect by the sensuousness that keeps itself aloof from overt sensualism which St. Paul so earnestly assails as “the wisdom of this world.” Not seldom it beasts of morality, cultivates beauty, patronizes aesthetics, and abounds in animalized poetry and eloquence and science. Meantime it lends all its aid, acting through an army of auxiliaries, to encourage men in a bloated sense of self sufficiency, until there is no felt need of God and still less of Christ. Most of all, this state of mind is inimical to the agency of the Holy Ghost upon the human heart, and consequently we find in our times a much more wilful and violent rejection of the Holy Ghost and a contempt for his gracious offices than hostility to the Father and the Son. Against this most evil and fatal habit St. Paul lifts a vehement remonstrance. And he was the only man of his day competent to this task. No rude Galilean was he; no obscure and unlettered person; but a cultured soul, whose endowments had been signalized before he went forth to convert an empire to Christ. “Become a fool”a fool in the world’s estimation”that ye may be wise.” It is “craftiness,” argues the man who had experimentally known it all, and, furthermore, it ensnares itself in its own net. And hence glory not in man; there is no wisdom in it, no plea and no excuse for it, since “all things are yours.” Party spirit shuts us up in narrow limits; Christianity gives the freedom of the world. Party spirit makes us the disciples of men; Christianity declares that we do not belong to Paul, Apollos, Peter, but that they belong to us, and all Divine in them ministers to the Divine in ourselves, so that our life superabounds by means of theirs. Nor is this all. The vast inventory embraces things as well as men: “The world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours.” No room for pride here, since it is a common possession; no opportunity to thank God like the Pharisee that we are not as others are, for God’s grace humbles the natural man, that it may endow and then exalt the Christian. If we undertake to be Christians of a particular sort, it is certain that we shall be cast in a very dwarfing mould, and get our colouring from a very earthly pigment. To be a true Christian is not to adopt the Name of Christ as the watchword of a sect or party, but to accept and venerate it as the watchword of humanity redeemed in the Son of man. Any other use of Christ’s Name is essentially schismatic. All things are ours only so far as we are Christ’s. And it is the Christ of God, the Son of God, the anointed Messiah, who was filled with the unction of the Spirit, and who said, “I do nothing of myself,”it is this Christ who is ours. Seen in hint, life redeems itself from everything low, groveling, and merely sensuous; and even the human body, whose wants and demands are the unmanageable factor in all civilization, and whose warfare against the Spirit is the most fearful hazard in moral probation, becomes, through Christ, the temple of the Holy Ghost. Spiritualize in this sense the human body; sanctify its large and. beautiful capacity for a true sensuousness; organize its habits until it becomes almost the automaton of the Spirit, and self denial, prayer, and praise, by virtue of the automatic and semi automatic laws of the physical system, are well nigh incorporated in the nervous functions. Ask art, science, philosophy, to attempt such a task, and would they set themselves to it? Political economy, physiology, hygiene, sanitary: science, concern themselves much with the human body, and are entitled to honour for their interest in its welfarewelfare only, however, stopping very far short of genuine well being. Let no word of ours be understood as depreciating these invaluable services. But, nevertheless, their field lies in a department of life comparatively humblelife as existence, as organic and vegetative, life as intellectual and moral, not in life as spiritual. Now, at this very point, the incomparable glory of Christianity demonstrates itself by a profound interest in the human body as a religious question, and, first and last, its words are, “temple of God.” No wonder that St. Paul rises to the height of exultation. The eagle wing smites the upper air in its buoyant strength, and the eagle eye, catching a radiance unknown in the thick atmosphere of earth, commands the scope of a vast horizon. One of his grand powers was this instinctshall we call it?of exultation, always held in check till the Divine fulness of Christ and the sublimity of humanity in Christ kindled it into rapture. Nor is he ever more like himself nor ever nearer to us than in these moments”such high hour of visitation from the living God.”L.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON
1Co 3:6-8
Spiritual husbandry and growth.
A man, looking upon the world, sees according to his power of vision; i.e. not simply according to what he finds in it, but to what he brings to it. To the eye of the Apostle Paul, the world was a wilderness which might be made a garden. There was, he saw, rude, worthless growth to be extirpated, rich soil to be tilled, plants of worth and renown to replace the weeds. His prophetic eye beheld the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose. And to his mind Christians were plants, and Christian ministers were gardeners and husbandmen.
I. SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION NEEDS HUMAN INDUSTRY. There is need, in order to the progress and perfection of the work of God, of:
1. Intelligent and willing labourers. Men are employed by Divine wisdom to labour among their fellow men. Saved, renewed, and consecrated labourers have ever been blessed in the work of securing a spiritual harvest. The olive yard, and the vineyard cannot flourish and prosper without unstinted toil, vigilance, skill, and care; so is it with the garden of the Lord.
2. Divinely commissioned labourers. They work best for Jesus who have heard his voice saying, “Go, work today in my vineyard;” whom the authoritative Lord has addressed in his own commanding language, “Unto men I now send thee.”
II. SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION DEMANDS A VARIETY OF CHARACTER AND ABILITY IN THE TOILERS.
1. One class of labourers are especially adapted to the work of planting. There are Christian missionaries and evangelists who have the gift of awakening attention, arousing concern, eliciting inquiry, calling forth repentance, founding Churches even among the ignorant and degraded heathen.
2. Another class possess the grace of watering the plants already placed in the spiritual soil. These, as pastors and bishops, impart instruction, administer consolation, exercise guidance and control. Catechists and teachers carry on the work which missionaries have begun.
3. All classes co operate towards the one great end in view. All true labourers are one in motive and in aim, in spirit, in mutual confidence and love. None may say to the other, “I have no need of thee.” Each has his service, and none is more indispensable than another.
4. All are individually noticed, appreciated, and rewarded. “Then shall every one have praise of God;” “I will give unto every one of you according to your works;” “My reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
III. SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION DEPENDS FOR ITS EFFICIENCY AND SUCCESS ENTIRELY UPON THE BLESSING OF THE LORD.
1. From God comes the vitality of the spiritual plant; his is the gospel and his the Spirit, by whose co-operation the result is brought about.
2. From God comes the preparation of the labourer; whose intellectual gifts, whose emotional sympathy, and whose spiritual power are all alike of heavenly origin.
3. From God comes the living energy to which is owing the progress and increase of that which man plants and waters. Thus the excellency of the power is seen to be of God, and not of us.T.
1Co 3:9
“God’s fellow workers.”
God is ever working. Let this thought shame those foolish, worthless persons who deem it derogatory to labour. Not only when he fashioned this world and made it fit for our dwelling place, not only when he created man, but always and everywhere is God working. The laws of nature are the operations of the Almighty, and he is working as well in the spiritual sphere as in the physical.
I. TRUE CHRISTIANS ARE SPIRITUAL LABOURERS. Christian evangelism and pastors, teachers and bishops, are all working in prominent positions in the harvest field of spiritual toil. Bat spiritual labour is the natural outcome of the spiritual life. Every sincere follower of Christ is seeking an end outside of himselfthe promotion of the kingdom of righteousness and the glory of the Divine Master. Our hearts may rest in the Lord, but our hands work for him.
II. CHRISTIANS ARE FELLOW LABOURERS ONE WITH ANOTHER.
1. There is difference in natural powers, in spiritual gifts, in ecclesiastical position, in length of service.
2. But there is unity in aim, in hope, in the relation all sustain to him by whose authority and for whose glory they toil.
3. And there is sympathy, mutual good will, and helpfulness. If there is defect here, it is a discredit to the common profession, a hindrance to the general usefulness, a grief to the one Lord.
III. CHRISTIANS ARE FELLOW LABOURERS WITH GOD AS THEIR MASTER.
1. All are alike called by him who scuds forth labourers into his harvest. He is independent of us, and it is to his grace we owe it that we are permitted to labour for him.
2. All are alike directed to labour for the one great endthe universal and immortal reign of truth and righteousness, holiness and love.
3. All are alike instructed by him as to the special means by which the one end is to be secured. He gives to every one the appropriate implement for his toil, the weapon adapted to his warfare.
4. All alike receive the needed strength and guidance from him, the spiritual impulse and power which gives efficacy to their service.
5. All rejoice that, whether they plant or water, the same Lord “gives the increase.”
IV. CHRISTIANS ARE LABOURERS WITH GOD AS THEIR FELLOW WORKER. This interpretation, whether justifiable or not grammatically, does not seem liable to a charge of irreverence.
1. In Christ Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme Exemplar of spiritual labour. “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” Jesus calls us to do what he himself is doing. What power there is in his appeal, “Work, not only for me, but with me!”
2. The agency of the Divine Spirit is never withheld. The husbandman can only work effectually when God works with him by the agencies of nature; the mechanist, only when physical forces can be employed under his control, the physician, only when his treatment is in harmony with physiological laws. So the Christian labourer is successful, not through independence, but just because he avails himself of the co-operation of the Lord and Giver of life; because, in all devotion and diligence and humility, he endeavours to live and to toil as a fellow worker with God!T.
1Co 3:11
The one Foundation.
There was a tendency on the part of the Corinthians to exalt their favourite teachers and leaders. Such exaltation could not but be at the expense of the Lord Jesus himself. In dissuasion from such a course of Church thought and practice, the inspired Apostle Paul puts in a just and clear light the relative positions of the teachers, the taught, and the great theme of all Christian instruction. He makes use of a familiar figure of speech, based upon the common craft of masonry. Christ is the Foundation; the people of Christ are the stones of the structure reared thereon; and the apostles and other teachers are builders of the spiritual edifice. It is of the Foundation that the text especially treats.
I. JESUS CHRIST IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE SPIRITUAL TEMPLE.
1. The temple is composed of human souls, fashioned into a Divine unity and endowed with a Divine life.
2. The temple is inhabited and inspired by the Holy Ghost consecrating and honouring it.
3. This temple has actually and historically been called into existence by the ministry and mediation of Jesus Christ, who has thus constituted himself its Foundation. As Son of God and Son of man, as the accepted Mediator, as the authoritative Teacher and rightful Lord, he is the Author and the Basis of the true Church.
II. THE PERFECT SUFFICIENCY OF THIS FOUNDATION.
1. Christ is a Foundation deep and strong enough to support the fabric reared upon him. No fear need be entertained as to the permanence of Christ’s Church. It may be assailed by the storms of persecution, it may be threatened by the decaying force of time; but “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” It rests on Christ, and the Foundation standeth sure.
2. Christ is a Foundation broad and comprehensive enough to underlie the widest, stateliest structure. None who is conversant with the character, the designs, the promises of Jesus Christ, can question this. In our day, all systems that are narrow are doomed to contempt and destruction. This fate Christianity need not fear; it has only to be true to the Divine Head and Lord, and nought can overturn it or even injure it.
III. THE EXCLUSIVENESS OF THIS FOUNDATION. Upon this the text lays an especial stress.
1. No other is permitted by God. It would be dishonouring to the Father to suppose that his Son can be replaced or supplemented by any other; the sufficiency of the Divine provision does not admit of question.
2. No other is needed by man.
3. No other is possible. Any other than the Divine Foundation must be of man’s appointment, must be indeed merely human. The apostle teaches that he and Apollos were only builders upon the Foundation, and could not therefore be the Foundation itself.
IV. THE RELATIONS MEN SUSTAIN TO THIS FOUNDATION.
1. All Christians are represented as living stones built upon Christ. Each has his own place and his own use; but all are alike in this factthey support themselves upon the strong foundation laid in Jesus.
2. All Christian pastors and teachers are building upon Christ. The question for them to ask is this: Are we building into the walls of the temple such material as will endure the test of trial and the test of time?T.
1Co 3:13
The test of fire.
“Fire is a good servant, but a bad master.” The element is symbolical of proof and testing; for where it has its liberty and may do its work unchecked, there is little that can withstand its assaults and outlast its ravages. How many a city, like this Corinth itself, has been burnt, and laid for the most part in ashes, so that only the most substantial buildings have survived the conflagration! So shall all spiritual work, sooner or later, be tested and put to the proof. The means may seem severe, but the result shall be decisive.
I. THE WORK.
1. It is spiritual, not material work, of which the assertion is made. All are builders, not only of their own character and. destiny, but of the character and destiny of some associates. There is an awful solemnity attaching to this responsible work in which men are bound to engage.
2. Every man’s work is in question, especially that of every professedly Christian laborer who aims to build in the temple of the living God. The learned and the illiterate, the sober and the enthusiast, the sanguine and the desponding,all are teaching Christian doctrine, and are more or less exercising influence over human souls.
3. Work of every kind is includedgenuine and. pretentious, hasty and gradually progressive, sound and superficial.
II. THE FIRE. This must be something universally applicable, since it is not represented as an accident befalling here and there one, but as an incident of every man’s labour of every kind to pass through this fire. We shall not be wrong in terming it the fire of judgment, fire being the discriminating and decisive element. The fire may purify, and it may consume. It is possible that this fire may burn here and now; it is certain that it will burn hereafter, when God “shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”
III. THE TEST. There are circumstances and times which have no virtue of probation. There is weather in which the soundly built house, the well found ship, cannot be distinguished from the most ill planned and faultily constructed house, the most unseaworthy craft. But the storm tries both. And the fire of judgment puts to the proof the workmanship of the spiritual labourer. “Judge nothing before the time.” “The day will declare it, for it shall be revealed in fire.” None can evade this trial or deceive him who shall then cast all work into the furnace of his probation.
IV. THE RESULT. It shall be unmistakable and decisive.
1. To the work which is sound and workmanlike glory shall accrue, and credit to the faithful and diligent labourer. The precious metals and the costly marbles shall be none the worse but rather the better for the test; their qualities shall shine out the more resplendent.
2. To the work which is bad destruction shall come; for the wood, hay, and stubble of false doctrine and of worthless profession shall be consumed and shall disappear. The builder may escape, though only as through the burning embers and the falling sparks. “If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”T.
1Co 3:16, 1Co 3:17
“The temple of God.”
The temple at Jerusalem was holy, being constructed according to Divine directions, inhabited by the Divine glory, and con-secreted by divinely appointed services and sacrifices. But that temple was local, temporary, and for a purpose. It was, in accordance with the Lord’s prediction, destroyed and abolished before the generation which rejected him passed away. And it was not intended that it should be replaced by any material edifice. The spiritual temple was destined to supersede the material and to abide forever. It is of this spiritual structure that the apostle here speaks.
I. THE MATERIALS OF WHICH THIS TEMPLE IS COMPOSED. “Ye,” says the apostle, “are the temple.” Not that the Corinthians were more than other Christians entitled to this honourable distinction; for this language was addressed to all Christians. All Christ’s people were and are living stones, each in its proper place, and all alike upon the one Foundation. How noble a conception! how worthy of Christ himself, to whom the material was ever of secondary interest, and in whose view the spiritual was of supreme significance and value!
II. THE PRESENCE BY WHICH THIS TEMPLE IS CONSECRATED. The first temple had been hallowed by the Shechinah glory which hovered over the ark of the covenant. The second templethe body of the Lordhad been consecrated as the dwelling place of the mind of the Holy One. This third temple is the residence and the shrine of the Spirit of God. In his transforming, quickening, purifying power, the eternal Spirit penetrates his separated and consecrated society, and makes it growingly his own. His light and glory glow within it, so that its spiritual lustre excels that of the holy house at Jerusalem.
III. THE WORSHIP WHICH IS IN THIS TEMPLE OFFERED. Here is the living oracle; here is the consecrated priesthood; here are the spiritual sacrifices. The offerings are those of willing obedience and grateful praise; the incense is the incessant worship which floats in fragrance from the spirits of the just; the music that fills these courts is the anthem of adoration, the harmony of imperishable love. Worship is here not occasional, not frequent, but unceasing; there is no moment when this spiritual temple is not telling the praises of the Lord.
IV. THE ATTRIBUTE BY WHICH THIS TEMPLE IS CHARACTERIZED. “The temple of God is holy.” This expression does not import simply a ceremonial and nominal holiness, but such a character as was both exhibited and required by the Lord Jesus himself. Holiness, not only of word and deed, but of purpose and desire, is required by him who searches the heart and tries the reins of the children of menholiness such as the Holy Spirit alone can create.
V. THE REGARD AND TREATMENT WHICH THIS TEMPLE SHOULD RECEIVE.
1. It deserves to be regarded with reverence. Men treat with respect the palaces of kings. Of how much deeper a reverence is that true palace of God, that temple of the Holy Ghost, that home of Christ, deserving!
2. It should not be defiled or destroyed. Every member of Christ’s Church is called upon to purify himself, lest his impurity should dishonour the sacred edifice. “Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, forever!”T.
1Co 3:21-23
“All things are yours.”
These are great words; but if they were not so great they would here be out of place. Men are given to boast of their possessions; but the Christian’s boast is in this respect larger and grander than any man’s beside. Men are wont to glory in belonging to some select society, some great nation, some illustrious king; but the Christian glories in belonging to a greater than the greatest who owes his honour to this world. “All things” are his; and he is “Christ’s.”
I. OUR PROPERTY IN ALL THINGS. To Christians it may be saidit was said by the inspired apostle:
1. All ministries are yours; the dead and the living, the speaking and the writing, the official and the unrecognized.
(1) The ministry of doctrine and of conversion, such as that of Paul, who planted.
(2) The ministry of eloquence and of edification, such as that of Apollos, who watered.
(3) The ministry of morality and zeal, such as that of Cephas. Each has his gift, and the Church is not for the ministry, but the ministry for the Church.
2. All circumstances are yours.
(1) The world, which is ours by the gift of God and by the redemption of Christ.
(2) Life is yours, in its opportunities and its manifold blessings.
(3) Death is yoursnot your master, but your servant and your friend.
3. All times are yours.
(1) The present, in enjoyment, which is more the Christian’s than it is the worldling’s.
(2) The future, in reversion, which has for him brightness, glory, and joy. The future can deprive the Christian of no real good; it must bring him advantages unnumbered.
II. CHRIST‘S PROPERTY IN US. To Christians it may be said, “Ye are Christ’s:”
1. By the purchase of his blood. For, “Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price.”
2. By his choice and ours. “I,” says he, “have chosen you.” And, “We love him because he first loved us.”
3. By the inhabiting of his Spirit, whose gracious presence makes us his. It is not a case of mere property, but of spiritual affinity: “The Lord knoweth them that are his.”
4. By our grateful and affectionate service. That Christians are his, it is their daily aim to prove, by their delight in his Word, their devotion to his cause, their obedience to his commands.T.
HOMILIES BY E. HURNDALL
1Co 3:1
Carnal Christians.
I. MANY SUCH ARE FOUND IS THE CHURCH. Christians in whom Christianity is not dominant. They have a portion of the Spirit, but a very large portion of the flesh. They allow Satan to hinder them. The world has still much power over them and much attraction for them. They love Christ, but not enough to lead them to live very near to him. They are conspicuous chiefly for fault and failure. They reach the verge of Christianity and stay there. They desire “to be saved,” and beyond this they have few spiritual longings. They are no credit to Christianity, but make it questionable in the eyes of the world. Spiritual dwarfs, who have not even the advantage of stimulating curiosity, seeing they are so numerous.
II. THEIR RELATION TO THE FAITH. They are babes; but notebabes in Christ. It is better to be a babe in Christ than a full grown man apart from him. Still, these are babes in Christ when they ought to be men in Christ. As babes, they are:
1. Of no practical use in the Church. They cannot be relied upon for service; they are not fitted for real work. In spiritual things they are weaklings. They draw upon the resources of the Church rather than add to them. They are encumbrancessources of weakness rather than of strength. They require much looking after. The Church has to nurse them when she should be converting the world. Yet withal they often have a very high opinion of their own powers, and sometimes are exceedingly anxious to take up a great workas anxious as they soon become to put it down again. Childish instability of purpose, as well as lack of spiritual power, prevents them from being useful. And work that is done is done after so carnal a manner that often it had better have been left undone. It is child’s work, having in it more marring than making.
2. Not a source of joy. A babe in Christ delights the hearts of all true Christianswhen it ought to be a babe; but continuous babyhood is monstrous and revolting. Carnal Christians are babes without promise; often it seems as though they would never get out of their spiritual long clothes. They sadden the heart of their spiritual parent. They are disappointments. Hope deferred concerning them has made the heart sick. Neither to Christ, nor to man, nor to themselves, are they satisfactory. The Church which has many of them will have its share of spiritual depression. Carnal Christians are kill joys.
3. Often fretful and peevish. Carnal Christians are often quarrelsome Christians. They are fault finders, and if they cannot find faults they can always make them. Into the Church they bring ill temper, which is contagious, and thus they become the cause of not a little mischief. They have considerable destructive power. They have only enough Christianity to make them miserable. They are fractious and self willed, and always want to have their way, whether it is a good way or an ill.
4. Fond of toys. They must have their playthings, even in Church. Things pleasing to the senses are the things pleasing to them. Ornate ritual, pretty pictures, gaudy decorations, elaborate but unsuitable music, have been brought into the Churches by those babes in Christ, carnal Christians. Where they have their way the sanctuary resembles nothing so much as a toyshop or an opera house.
5. Not very open to reasonable appeal. They are wilful. Having very little knowledge, they believe that they possess all. They are hard mouthed, and the bit of reason controls them but little. To argue with a babe is not promising, but it is quite as hopeful as to reason spiritually with a carnal Christian.
III. CONSPICUOUS SIGNS OF THE CARNAL STATE.
1. Jealousy. Partisan spirit, rivalry, pride; in opposition to “in honour preferring one another.” Leading to:
2. Strife. Active opposition instead of hearty co-operation. Creation of causes of strife; evident fondness for it. The carnal Christian is seldom at peace except when he is at war. Love of fighting other Christians rather than love of fighting Satan. The disciples at the table had a strife for pre-eminence, and thus showed their carnality.
Leading to:
3. Division. Estrangement, separation, hatred; instead of unity, peace, love. The carnal Christian’s progress is very different to the true pilgrim’s progress.
4. Men followers rather than Christ followers. The carnal Corinthians showed their carnality conspicuously in this respect.
5. Arrest or retardation of development. “Not even now are ye able” (1Co 3:2). If the carnal Christian does not go back, he tends to stand still.
6. Weak spiritual digestion. (1Co 3:2.) Poor spiritual appetite. Little power of assimilation. Spiritual food does not seem to feed the carnal believer. He is lean. There are many religious dyspeptics.
IV. HOW TO BE DEALT WITH.
1. To be fed. (1Co 3:2.) Not to be neglected as of no account or cast out as evil. Whilst some of these babes may have little appetite, others of them may be noisy because they are hungry. To be fed; if the rod is not to be spared, still less are the spoon and cup. Carnal Christians are in the care of the Church, and must be dealt with kindly and helpfully, in the hope that, by the Spirit’s working, manhood may be attained at last.
2. With milk. Food suited to their condition. With milkgood food; unadulterated, for they need the bestthe “sincere milk of the Word.” Sweet milk; for babes like sweetness, and sour milk can only injure them. With milk, which may nourish and strengthen; not with the vinegar of scolding condemnation, which some seem to favour. Not too much physic; abundance of milk.
3. Not with meat. This would choke them. Babes may cry for strong meat, but they must not have it. The Corinthians found much fault with the simplicity of Paul’s teaching; but Paul knew what they needed, though they clamoured for something else. Not with the deeper things of God, which can be appreciated only by the matured (1Co 2:6); but with the more elementary truths put in elementary forms. The carnal Christian can appreciate only the exterior parts of gospel truths; these must come first; the surface must be passed before the internal can be reached. So, though Paul did not conceal any doctrines from the carnal Corinthians, he could only carry them with him in his teaching as far as they were prepared to go. Milk is the simple religious view; meat, the profounder. The same doctrine can be presented as milk and meat; the carnal Christian only goes so far in comprehending it, the spiritual searches into its depths. The doctrine of Romish reserve is not sanctioned by Paul.H.
1Co 3:6
Man’s work and God’s.
I. MAN‘S WORK. It is:
1. Varied. Paul speaks of planting and watering; may extend to the multiform operations of agriculture. We cannot all do the same work. Let us seek to do that for which we are fitted. There is some spiritual work suited to each of us. In agriculture all find employment, from the boy with his clapper scaring away the birds, to the presiding mind which controls all operations. If Christians do nothing it is because they want to do nothing.
2. Important. As in husbandry, unless we sow and water we may not look for a harvest, so as a rule in things spiritual, Never think that what you can do is unimportant. You may think too little of your work as well as too much. You will think too little if you think that your work may safely be left undone.
3. Honourable. Christian work itself,what can compare with it for an instant? Further, in it we are “God’s fellow workers” (1Co 3:9). The Christian worker is one of God’s nobility.
4. Limited. We can only do so much. We may sow and water, but not give the increase. It belongs to us to preach and teach, not to convince; to invite and warn, not to convert. We cannot produce spiritual results. We are not responsible for them.
5. Not independent. We cannot do our own work apart from God; it is “as the Lord gave to every man” (1Co 3:5). The seed that we plant is God’s; the soil and water are God’s; our powers employed are not “ours” but “God’s.”
6. To be rewarded. Upon just principles; according to the “labour” (1Co 3:8); according to faithfulness in the labour (Mat 25:14-30). Not according to success. We cannot command this, though success usually follows faithful labour, and lack of success often means lack of diligence, or lack of something which should not have been lacking. Many Christians have an unhappy facility in accounting for failure.
II. GOD‘S WORK.
1. Wonderful. Deeply mysterious. How marvellous the development of the seed after it is planted! Before this expansion and multiplication of life science stands dumb and confounded. So with the seed of the Word in the human heart. What inexplicable working and result! Well may we bow in adoring awe before this mystery of Divine might.
2. All important. The great need: without this, all nothing. If the increase comes not, of what service is it to plant and irrigate? If the Divine blessing rests not on our preaching and teaching, of what possible service can it be? Alas! how often we forget this! No harvest because God ignored.
3. Independent. God is not in any way dependent upon us or others for the increase; neither is he for the sowing and watering. The storm wind can be his seed sower, the rains and the dews are his servants.
III. REFLECTIONS.
1. God’s work and man’s are usually conjoined. God works generally by means. Let us, therefore, see that our part is done.
2. As our part is important, let us do it with the utmost possible efficiency.
3. Let us ever remember that we are working in God’s field, and near to him, under his observation, etc.
4. Let us never attempt to do God’s part or take any of the glory when it is done.
5. Let us ever bear in mind the relative importance of God’s work and ours. Our work is nothing in comparison with his; we are nothing in comparison with him (1Co 3:7).
6. When we have done our part, let us look in faith to God to accomplish his.
7. Let us think little of man, much of God.
8. Let us never expect God’s work from man.
9. As we work with and for the same God, let us cultivate unity.H.
1Co 3:10, 1Co 3:11
The great Foundation.
I. WHAT IT IS. It is Christ (1Co 3:11). He is the Foundation of:
1. Christianity. Its basis is conveyed in its name. It rests upon Christ. If he be removed, it falls to the ground in ruins; if he be diminished (as in the denial of his divinity, for example), Christianity becomes weak and tottering. As Christianity is of Christ, so is it strong, abiding, glorious.
2. The Christian Church. Its doctrines and practice. How many other foundations have been laid for it from time to time! how often there has been an attempted union of other foundations with the one Foundation, Jesus Christ! To tamper with this Foundation is perilous indeed; to add to it is to deteriorate and to threaten the whole superstructure. The Christian Church should look to her Foundation, and clear away all that is not of Christ. No hurricane or storm will move her if she is on the Rock; but if her dependence be upon the shifting sands of wealth, position, world power, human learning, or other things of man, woe betide her!
3. Religious work. How Paul made Christ the Foundation of his work amongst the Corinthians when he determined to know nothing but Christ and him crucified (1Co 2:2)! When we teach we should teach Christ, when we preach we should preach Christ. Our work amongst men is not to be based upon our fancies or upon human theories, but upon Christ and his great redemptive work. We may amuse men with the fireworks of rhetoric or startling supposition, but the blaze will soon be over, and the old darkness will seem more intense than ever. If we want to bring abiding light to men, we must not divert them with pyrotechnic displays, but we must bring them to the Sunthe Sun of Righteousness. Much “religious work” is like a house built upon nothing. The marvel is, not that it should last so short a time, but that it should last at all.
4. Godly life. There is no sure foundation but this. Christ is the way to holiness. A life’s labour after true excellence will be thrown away unless Christ be the Starting point. We shall not reach God without Christ: “No man cometh unto the Father but by me” (Joh 14:6); “Without me ye can do nothing.” From Christ we receive power to live aright. Many seek to be godly that they may come to Christ, instead of coming to Christ that they may be godly. We have heard of the man who resolved to rear the house first and put in the foundation afterwards, but he was not a successful builder.
5. National greatness. A nation is truly great only in so far as it is based upon Christ and the principles which he expounded. The nations have perished one after another; their greatness was spurious, and therefore they were ephemeral; they rested upon that which moved, not upon that which is immovable” The same yesterday, today, and forever.” When the nation arises which shall be founded upon Christ and his truth, its glory and greatness shall excel the palmiest days of Solomon, and it shall abide. Our duty as subjects is to remove from the national foundations all that is not of Christ. Sacrifice may be entailed, but never loss: it is never loss to cast away the bad.
II. HOW IT IS LAID.
1. By human instrumentality. At Corinth by Paul: “wise” (1Co 3:10) was he as a master builder to lay this foundation, as well as wise in his manner of laying it. Here is marvellous honour conferred upon human creatures, that of laying the great foundation. We may participate in this vast privilege; we may have the high joy of laying the Foundation, Jesus Christ, in some unsaved souls. If archangels could envy, assuredly they would envy us this sublime, all glorious work. How readily should we run to it! how gladly devote to it our every power! how unceasingly labour and pray until “Christ be formed in” those whose salvation we desire!
2. Under Divine direction and by Divine help. What wisdom is here required! and of ourselves we are but foolish; what power! and we are weaklings. “Our sufficiency is of God.” Only are we “wise master builders” when we constantly look up for guidance and rely upon Omnipotence. If we do anything in this matter it can only be “according to the grace of God” (1Co 3:10). This grace must be sought. When received and made effective in our lives, all the glory of that which is accomplished must be ascribed to him from whom the grace has flowed.H.
1Co 3:10-15
Christian work and its testing.
I. CHRISTIAN WORK:
1. Should be rightly based. Christ is the only Foundation for the spiritual building. This Foundation may have been already laid for us by others where we are called to labour: if so, we must see that we are building upon it; if it be not laid, by “the grace of God” (1Co 3:10) we must seek to lay it without delay. All our teaching must rest upon Christ. He is not only the Omega to be ended with, but the Alpha to be begun with. All our efforts will be fruitless unless identified with him. The well constructed house built upon the sand perishes; so the most earnest and devoted labour is thrown away where Christ is ignored. The Christian builder should look carefully to his foundation. Whilst others build upon all sorts of things, he should build only upon Christ.
2. Should be wisely ordered. It is not enough to work; we must work wisely and well. Some seem to think that if they engage in Christian service, it is no matter how they engage in it; if the work be but done, it is no matter how it is done. Some of the most slipshod slatternly work under God’s sun is done in God’s Name and in connection with his kingdom. In other departments of life, care, watchfulness, anxiety, assiduity, are demanded; but in the religious sphere the thing is to get the work done somehow or other, and if it be but done somehow, all is likely to be well! Such careless builders sadly need the apostolic blast of warning: “Let every man take heed how he buildeth” (1Co 3:10). Christian work should be conformed to Christ in every particular. The superstructure should correspond to the Foundation. Epithets may go for little with us; in our teaching we should be just as “narrow” as Christ and just as “broad” as Christ. Our building will be of right dimensions if it is neither wider nor less wide than the Rock foundation upon which it rests. As to being “old fashioned,” we need not greatly dread this if thereby we are more fully identified with our Lord; or “new fangled,” if thus we and our work are more truly after his mind. Christian work is planned work. As the architect has a plan for his work, so the great Architect has a plan for his work, and for that part of his work which he entrusts to us to perform. If we “take heed how we build,” we shall take heed that we build only according to the Divine plan. Knowledge of this is to be sought in prayer and from the Divine Word. There is one way in which our life work should be done; that way has been conceived by the Divine mind; we should seek a revelation of it. The Christian must not be his own architect.
3. In Christian work right materials should be used. It is not enough that we teach; we must teach the truth, and we must teach the truth as it is in Jesus. Our doctrine must be of Christ, and it must be sound doctrine, the “sincere milk” of the Word; the revelation of God, unedited by man. What rubbish has been and is taught by not a few! how much “wood, hay, stubble,” placed in the great spiritual building! No wonder that the Christian soldier is so often worsted when he fights with gingerbread weapons. Shame upon men that, when the right material for labour is provided, they go hunting about for the wrong. The Scriptures are the great quarry and mine in which costly stones and gold and silver abound, and no zealous spiritual builder need lack who will search these mines.
II. CHRISTIAN WORK WILL BE TESTED. A solemn thought. Our work will be tested! When Christian work is done, that is not the end of it. It will be tried. Well may we ask:
1. When? On “the day,” says the apostle. Christian work is tested on many days. Much of it does not stand the test of these days. But on the daythe day of daysthe judgment dayall shall be tested and finally tested. “Each man’s work shall be made manifest;” its true character will then be seen. “The day shall declare it” as it is, not as it has been thought to be. Now it may look well; but then? A veil now rests upon Christian work, then the veil shall be taken away; now the scaffolding obscures the building, then it shall fall, and then shall be seen “of what sort” the building is. The final test cannot be escaped from.
2. How? By “fire.” (Not by the fires of purgatory; the apostle speaks of fire applied to work, not to persons,not remedial, but testing.) The test will be thorough, searching, perfectly efficient. The false work will stand this test when hay and wood and stubble can abide unchanged in the flame; but not till then. Our work may look well now, but how will it bear the fire test?
3. By whom? God. At the great day he will be Judge, and will try every man’s work. He will apply the fire test. He loves truth and hates lies, which we call shams. On that day he will manifest the truth concerning work done in his Name. Whatever it has seemed before, it will then seem as it really is. The careless and the false may well tremble at the thought of this ordeal; but the sincere and faithful may have confidence; for as no work then will be made to appear better than it is, none will be made to appear worse.
III. THE ISSUES OF THE TESTING OF CHRISTIAN WORK.
1. As to the work tested. Some will stand. The pessimists will then be ashamed; railers and mockers will then be silenced There is some work (and who shall say that it is little?) which will approve itself to God, and stand the final and most searching trial. This, doubtless, will be the work done in Divine strength, and, whilst the doers of it will rejoice with exceeding joy, they will as assuredly cry, “Not unto us.” Some work will not stand the test. As hay and wood and stubble are speedily consumed in the fire, so this work will perish in the last testing flames. To see a life work destroyed in a day! A life lived and no fruit. No “Well done” because all has been ill done. And perhaps all through carelessness, sluggishness, self reliance, inattention to the “mind of Christ.” Sad, sad close of a “Christian course.”
2. As to workers. Some shall “receive a reward;” their work has borne the test. Though they say truly that this reward is “unmerited,” they shall have it. “Doth Job serve God for nought?” Certainly not; no man ever did or shall. We lose nothing by labouring for Christ; and note that we lose nothing by labouring thoroughly for him. We may lose by labouring half heartedlywe may lose our reward. It is best every way to do our best in Christ’s service. Some receive no reward. Their work perishes and they “suffer loss,” but they themselves are saved, “yet so as by fire,” i.e. barely, with difficulty. The reference is to those who hold fundamental truths (for they are supposed to build on the one Foundation, verse 12), but who mingle with their teaching the wood, hay, and stubble of human notions. Strikingly are we here taught that salvation is not of works; for the works perish, but the salvation abides. Doubtless we must suppose that in such cases there is true Christian living and a real desire to do the Master’s will; for these are necessary evidences of a saved, regenerate state; but the vital truth of salvation by faith is pointedly illustrated by the chief works of the life (upon which all would have been resting if salvation were of works)suffering ignominious rejection. Being saved “so as by fire” is in Striking contrast to “the abundant entrance.” May we have the ecstatic joy of the latter, and the holy gladness which comes from seeing that we have not “lived in vain”!H.
1Co 3:16, 1Co 3:17
God’s temple.
Declared to be the Church of Christ. Each community of Christians is a temple of God. The old temple has perished; this is the new and the imperishable. The Christian Church has often been insignificant in numbers, wealth, position, earthly learning; men have despised her; judged by human standards she has appeared contemptible; but the Divine thought has been thisthe temple of God!
I. RESEMBLANCES.
1. Erected under Divine direction. The old and new temples are of God; they express his thought and purpose. Believers who constitute the new temple become believers through him; for faith is the gift of God. They are gathered into the Church as spiritual stones, by his servants, under his direction, and each has an appropriate place. God is the Author of the constitution of the Church.
2. Erected for the Divine glory. The supreme object. Everything in the Church to be made subservient to this. To glorify God should be the life object of the redeemed. And:
3. Erected for the welfare of men. The temple of old was for God and also for man. The Church has a great mission to the world. There is no conflict between the two objects. As the Church seeks to save the lost, she is most truly seeking to bring glory to God. Her worship is likely to be a mockery unless her work is faithfully performed.
4. Set apart for God. The Church should be separate, holy, peculiarly God’s. “A peculiar peoplea people for God’s own possession” (1Pe 2:9); “Ye are not your own.”
5. An object of beauty. The beauty of holiness should clothe the Church. The world’s admiration has often been commanded, in early days and since. And better still, God has approved.
6. Of great variety in its parts. Vast diversity in gift and condition, but one spiritual building. In the Christian Church there cannot, perhaps, be too much variety as there certainly cannot be too much oneness.
7. The dwelling place of God. Not only for God, but God’s dwelling place. This was the glory of the Jewish templethe Shechinahthe Divine presence. The Church’s joy and glory are that “God is in the midst of her.” He dwells not now in temples made with hands, though he does dwell in the temples made by the Divine hands. The ancient temple was unmeaning and useless without the presence of Jehovah. So is the Christian Church: “Ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph 2:22).
8. From it true worship should arise. Sanctuary worship, home worship, business worship, recreation worship, worship throughout all the life of those who constitute the temple.
9. In it should ever be the great sacrifice. Not the sacrifice of the Mass, but “Christ crucified” manifestly set forth. The temple of old would have been offensive to God without sacrifice, so we cannot be acceptable to him without the atonement. When the Church loses the cross she loses God. In every Christian community there must be a Calvary. And the true Jerusalem has not its Calvary “without the gate;” Christ crucified is central, chief, predominant.
II. PUNISHMENT FOR INJURY. Aaronic priests who violated the ancient temple were doomed to death; injurers of the Church of Christ will meet a terrible fate. In 1Co 3:17 the Greek verb, which means “to bring into a worse state,” is repeated; what we do to the Church, God will do to usif we injure it, he will injure us. At Corinth the dividers of the Church were likely to become destroyers, and so God will “destroy.” These are far more serious offenders than those named in 1Co 3:12 and 1Co 3:15. God is jealous over his temple, and men may not do evil to it with impunity. Those who sin against it sin directly against him. Note: We may injure the temple of God in many ways. For example, by
(1) false doctrine;
(2) unchristian spirit;
(3) personal unholiness;
(4) conniving at unholiness in others;
(5) failing to do our part;
(6) failing to take our place in the Church.
III. HOW CAREFUL WE SHOULD BE IN ALL THAT CONCERNS THIS TEMPLE. In Church life and Church work. How serious are these! in them there is no room for trifling. Alas! how many are living in the Church, and even labouring in it, who seem to feel little or no responsibility! Let us realize what this Church is, and then assuredly with more care than the Aaronic priests shall we comport ourselves. To avoid offence and injury and failure, we shall need the wisdom that cometh down from above (1Co 3:18-20).H.
1Co 3:21-23
The believer’s possessions.
I. WHAT THESE ARE.
1. Ministers. The Corinthians had made a strange mistake; they had been regarding ministers as masters, and choosing which they preferred to serve. In a singular loss of dignity (singular because many of them were not a little afflicted with pride) they had become ambitious of belonging to ministers, forgetting that ministers, as such belonged to them. Ministers are the servants of the Church, and thus among the believer’s possessions; instead of quarrelling over them, he should use and enjoy them. God has greatly enriched his people by sending to them many able and faithful ministers. Whilst these should be highly esteemed for their work’s sake, their true relation to the Church should never be lost sight of. They should bear it in mind, and thus check any tendencies towards lordship.
2. The world. It is generally thought that the world belongs to the Wicked One and his children, seeing that it appears to be largely in their hands. This is a popular blunder. The world was made and is kept for the people of God. Unbelievers have no right to the things which they grasp. The ungodly hold their possessions upon a precarious tenure. They are very short leaseholders, or rather they are tenants at will. Believers are the freeholders, and at last “the meek shall inherit the earth.” The child of God has not yet “come of age;” but his title is good, and now he enjoys as much of his inheritance as is good for him in his present state. But as believers look at the world they can say, “It is oursall of it, and all things in it work together for our good.” Cowper says
“The Christian looks abroad into the varied field
Of nature, and, though poor perhaps compar’d
With those whose mansions glitter in his sight,
Calls the delightful scenery all his own.
His are the mountains, and the valleys his,
And the resplendent rivers; his t’ enjoy
With a propriety that none can feel
But who, with filial confidence inspir’d,
Can lift to heaven an unpresumptuous eye,
And smiling say, ‘My Father made them all.'”
3. Life. Without Christ there is nothing worthy of the name of life. Life is emphatically the believer’s. What possibilities it has for him! how vast are his opportunities! Pity it is that some believers seem only half alive to this. The child of God has in life the experience most likely to benefit him: mercies, joys, trials, temptations, painsall his, to do him good. The lives of others are also controlled for the welfare of the redeemed.
4. Death. Death, a precious possession. The entrance to the life immortal. Death conquered has become the believer’s servant. Death, the dire loss of the impenitent, the great gain of the saints. The death of those outside the Church is ordered for the well being of those within. God strikes down the foes of his people when the right hour has come.
5. Things present. The present order and movement in the world; all governments and powers; the march of the ages;all these things are made subservient to the great work of redemption. “God moves in a mysterious way,” but always moves for his people.
6. Things to come. Not only the present order of the world, but the future. Believers often tremble for what is coming; the Church quakes, for she dreads some future movement, glimmerings of which she can discern, perhaps, in the present. But God is in the future, giving that future to his people. All discoveries, all increase of knowledge, all progress, shall be for the weal of Zion: “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” And the believer reckons amongst things to come, the heavenly world, the life immortal, the higher service, the perfected nature, the unsullied joy. All these are his. How rich, how blessed, is he!
7. All things. Marvellous truth, that there is nothing of which he can say, “It is not mine.”
II. SECURED BY THE BELIEVER‘S CONNECTION WITH CHRIST. Believers are Christ’s. His servants? yes; his friends? yes; but his “brethren,” and thus “heirs” with him”joint heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17). Christ is God’s. All that the Father hath is the Son’s. All that the Son hath belongs to those that are his; and this is “all things.” What an amazing transformation, then, there is in conversion! The unsaved has nothing; the saved, “all things.” Are we unutterably poor or infinitely rich? The question is answered when another is: “Are we Christ’s?”H.
HOMILIES BY E. BREMNER
1Co 3:1-9
Christian teachers and their work.
The apostle has still in view the dissensions prevailing in the Corinthian Church. Throughout the first four chapters this subject is never absent from his mind, even when it is most in the background. The spirit of party, with the various phases of thought and life that found expression therein, suggests the several topics on which he enlarges.
I. THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER ADAPTS HIS TEACHING TO THE CAPACITIES OF HIS HEARERS. (1Co 3:1-4.) Paul has already said (1Co 2:6) that he ” spake wisdom among the perfect,” and here he presents the other side.
1. At Corinth he had to deal with carnal Christians. In the last verses of the previous chapter he has contrasted the natural man and the spiritual man, the latter alone being able to discern the things of the Spirit. Here the comparison is not between Christians and non Christians, but between different classes of Christians, distinguished according to spiritual attainment. Every believer in Christ is a spiritual man as compared with those who do not believe; but one believer may be carnal in comparison with another believer. The new nature may be weak and sickly and all but overlaid by the old. This was the case with the Corinthians, whose fleshliness of mind appeared in the prevalence of “jealousy and strife” and of party spirit. These things spring from the flesh (Gal 5:20), wherever they are found. When the Church is rent by faction, and men think mainly of the aggrandizement of their favourite party, no further proof is needed of the reign of carnality. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, peace.” A fleshly Christian! What opposites must we unite in describing real character!
2. They were as yet “babes in Christ.” Conversion is a new birth: young converts are newborn babes (1Pe 2:2). They have in germ all that is to be found in the full grown man; but they are weak, dependent, immature. Young Christians have the rudiments of the Christian character in more or less clear outline, but only the rudiments. Infancy is beautiful in its season, and so is the young life of the new convert; but out of season, its beauty is gone. A child with the years of a man is a monstrosity in nature; an old Christian with the crudeness of a young convert should appear to us as great a monstrosity in grace. The “babe in Christ” is meant to develop into “a full grown man, into the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph 4:13).
3. As babes, they must be fed “with milk, not with meat.” Infants and men must each have food suitable to their capacity. The doctrines of the faith may be presented in the form of milk or of solid food. Milk has in it all the nourishing elements to be found in strong meat, though in more diluted form. The facts of the gospel history contain all the truths of the most elaborate theological system; a child can digest them in the one form, but not in the other. Every wise teacher will adapt his teaching to the capacity of his hearers. He will give to each only such food as he can receive and assimilate. He will not give solid food to infants, nor will he feed full grown men merely with milk. The preacher should consider the wants of women and children, as well as of men, and adapt some part of the public service to them (comp. Heb 5:12-14).
II. MINISTERS ARE GOD‘S SERVANTS, NOT PARTY LEADERS. The childish condition of the Corinthians was shown in their party divisions. They gloried more in the leader after whom their faction was called than in Jesus Christ. To correct this the apostle presents the right view of spiritual teachers and their work.
1. Ministers are but servants. They are not heads of sects or schools, whose object is to gather disciples for themselves. They are servants of God, doing his work. Therefore they are not to be lifted above their position, as they are when they are regarded as masters in the Church; nor are they to sink below it, as they do when they take the law from any other but God.
2. Each minister has his own peculiar work. “I planted, Apollos watered.” Paul began the work at Corinth; Apollos continued it. One minister is sent to preach the gospel to sinners, another to edify believers, another to teach the ignorant, another to comfort the sorrowful; but all are contributors to the same great interest. The servant’s work, however, is but a subordinate instrumentality. Planting and watering are the ordinary conditions of growth, but they do not of themselves cause growth. It is “God that giveth the increase.” In the spiritual sphere, as in the natural, the life giving power is Divine; but in both cases this power usually works through human ministries. It is only in connection with diligent planting and watering that we can expect the increase.
3. Each minister has his own peculiar reward. All are one, inasmuch As all are servants of one Lord and engaged about the same work. Hence they are not to be set against each other as rivals. Their work is one, yet diverse; and so is their reward. No faithful servant shall go without a recompense at his Master’s hand; but each shall receive his own, alike in kind and in degree. The principle that determines this is”according to his own labour.” It is not according to the fruit or result of our labour, but simply according to the measure of our labour. What reversals of human opinion are in store for us! Men applaud success; God praises fidelity. Many an obscure but faithful worker shall receive a greater reward than he who has been less faithful but more prominent and successful.
4. Ministers are God’s fellow workers. All God’s servants are fellow servants as workers for him; but here the fellowship is carried still higher. We are workers along with God, who is pleased to associate us with himself in the great work of his kingdom. What a thought is this!
(1) What dignity it gives to the Christian ministry! It is to work with God.
(2) How inspiring to the Christian worker! Who would not labour when God is with him?
(3) How sure the reward! Will God leave his fellow workers without a due recompense?
III. BELIEVERS ARE GOD‘S FIELD. The same idea is elsewhere expressed under the figure of a garden (Isa 58:11) and a vineyard (Isa 5:1-30.). Consider:
1. The Proprietor of the field. The Church is God’s field. It is not the Church of Paul, or Apollos or any other; but “the Church of God, which he purchased with his own blood” (Act 20:28). It belongs to him; it exists for him; it is called by his Name. Hence the spirit of faction, which ranges parties and sects under the names of rival leaders, robs God of his glory as the Church’s Lord.
2. The labourers in the field. These are apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc. (see above).
3. The field itself.
(1) Its original condition. Wild, untilled, full of merely natural growths. Believers are originally a part of the world, living in a state of sin, under no gracious culture.
(2) The work bestowed upon it. Preparatory work: trenching, ploughing, gathering out stones, fencing; and then the sowing of seed, planting, weeding, etc. Corresponding to this there is a preparation of heart for receiving the truth, an awakening to a sense of sin and need, a quickening into spiritual life, a culture of the new life into fulness and strength, etc. For these ends every true labourer works, but always in dependence on the rower of the Holy Spirit, who alone can make our labour fruitful.
(3) Its produce. The farmer looks for a return from his field in the form of fruit in harvest; God expects his Church to yield fruit to his glory. Christian character, life, usefulness, productiveness,these are some of the returns for which the Lord of the field looks (comp. Luk 13:6-9; Joh 15:1, etc.).B.
1Co 3:10-15
The Foundation and the superstructure.
Under the figure of a building, the apostle continues to speak of the work of Christ’s ministers, and specially of his own labours at Corinth. As the first to preach the gospel there, he had laid the foundation, upon which the teachers that succeeded him were to build. The reference is primarily to doctrine, but the principles apply to work and life as well.
I. THE FOUNDATION. This is Jesus Christ the Mediator (Isa 28:16; 1Pe 2:6). He is the Foundation of truth: the system of Christian theology is built upon him. All Christian teaching and preaching must have him for their basis. The entire structure of knowledge rests upon him who is the Source of all wisdom, He is also the Foundation of life. The Church is built upon him, believers being “living stones” in the great spiritual temple. In both these respects Jesus Christ is:
1. A Divine Foundation. “Behold I lay.” The Church requires a basis laid by God himself.
2. A sure Foundation. No work of God can fail. Jesus Christ is a Foundation, not of sand, but of solid rock (Mat 7:24-27). It will bear any strain, even the weight of a world.
3. The only Foundation. This is the point emphasized here. Men build on other foundations when they rest their systems of belief on human opinion, or base their hope of heaven upon their own worlds, the merits of others, the general mercy of God, etc. But “other foundation can () no man lay;” there is but one.
II. THE SUPERSTRUCTURE. Having found the true Foundation, we must “take heed how we build thereon.” The work of ministers or of believers in general is here viewed as the superstructure. Two kinds of materials may be employed: “gold, silver, costly stones”the beautiful and lasting materials, suited for a temple; or “wood, hay, stubble”the baser and more perishable materials, fit only for a temporary house. Apply this to:
1. Doctrine. The “gold,” etc., represents pure, scriptural teaching. Take Paul’s Epistles, e.g., as a noble structure of truth built on Jesus Christ. Such doctrine is precious and abiding, like its Foundation. The “wood,” etc., represents human opinions and speculations put in the place of God’s truth. In Paul’s time, Jewish tradition, Gnosticism, etc.; in ours, Popery, Ritualism, etc. Such doctrines are not truly edifying.
2. Life. The “gold,” etc., is a Christian life of the noblest kind, built out of faith, hope, love. Pure, unselfish, Christ like character. Variety may be indicated in the three materials. Gold may denote the most brilliant service rendered by consecrated genius, heroic faith, patient suffering. Silver may indicate a work less brilliant, but usefulthe honest doing of the Lord’s will. Costly stonesmarble or granite, e.g.a life of solidity and strength, on which others may lean. Each of these classes has its own place and value. All are genuine. The “wood,” etc., is a Christian life of the poorest kind, Dull as wood, with little spiritual insight. Swayed by public opinion, as the grass by every breeze. Barren as stubble, bringing forth little to the glory of God. What differences in the lives of Christians! Gold or stubble: which?
III. THE FIERY TRIAL. The true nature of our life and work is not always seen here. We judge wrongly of others and of ourselves. Men praise the wood as if it were gold; depreciate the gold as if it were wood. But “the day shall declare it”Dies irae, dies illathe day of fire, when Christ comes to judge (Mal 3:2, Mal 3:3; Mal 4:1; 2Th 1:8). Time tests but partially; the thorough test is the judgment fire. Shall our work stand that?
1. The edifice of “gold,” etc., shall stand. Truth will come through the fire; so will a genuine, unselfish, Christly life. Work for time perishes; work for eternity endures. The fiery ordeal will only bring out more clearly its true quality. The builder shall receive a reward in seeing his work abide (Php 2:16), in being recognized as a good workman (Mat 25:21), and in wearing the crown of life (Jas 1:12). Observe, the reward is not for being on the Foundation, but for what is built thereon. Salvation is of free grace; the reward is “according as his work” (Rev 22:12).
2. The structure of” wood,” etc., shall be burned up. Error, falsehood, unreality; a life animated by a worldly, selfish spirit;these shall be consumed. The builder is glad to get away with his life, as one escapes from a house in flames, saved “so as through fire.” Picture the consternation of the poor builder as he sees the fire doing its awful work, and hears the crash of his life structure! He himself is saved for Christ’s sake, but his labour is lost.
Lessons.
1. See to the nature of your life and work as Christians. Apply specially to Christian workers.
2. Be not satisfied with bare salvation at last. Build with materials that will endure. Have an eye to the “full reward” (2Jn 1:8).
3. If many on the true Foundation shall be saved only “so as through fire,” how shall they escape that are building on a false foundation? (1Pe 4:17, 1Pe 4:18).B.
1Co 3:16, 1Co 3:17
The temple of God.
Paul again takes up the idea of a building and gives it a new direction. The noblest of all edifices is a temple in which architecture finds its highest and worthiest employment. Under this figure the apostle sets forth sometimes the collective Church of Christ, sometimes the individual believer (1Co 6:19; Eph 2:21). Man was created to be a sanctuary of God, but this sanctuary was overturned by sin. It lay in ruins till the Lord Jesus came as the Restorer, whose work it is to rebuild the ruined walls; and now the temple is seen rising in its fair proportions in the hearts of the regenerated, and in the spiritual house built of these living stones (1Pe 2:5).
I. BELIEVERS ARE GOD‘S TEMPLE.
1. God dwells in them. The temple at Jerusalem was Jehovah’s dwelling place. There he had his Shechinah in the cloud above the mercy seat and between the cherubim, and there he was worshipped. Even so “the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.” The Father and the Son make their abode with the man who loves and obeys the Son (Joh 14:23), and this is effected by the Spirit. This indwelling is the culmination of the work of grace within us. The heart must first be quickened, renewed, purified, ere the Holy Spirit can dwell in it. How wonderful a truth is this! God in me] It is not the dream of the pantheist, who calls me a spark from the eternal fireGod dwelling in me because I am only a mode of the one universal existence. It is not the raving of the mystic, whose imagination has betrayed him into a hazy confusion of ideas regarding his relation to God. It is the utterance of sober truth. In me the creaturethe new creatureGod the Creator makes his abode; not, indeed, in the infinity of his being, as if our tiny vessels could contain the ocean, yet really. The little flower cup has the sun dwelling in it all the day, though he dwells in thousands besides; and his presence is made known by the colour and fragrance and growth of the flower. The same Spirit of God who abides in the Church abides in every true member of it; and this abiding is revealed in the love shed abroad in the heart, in the odour that breathes through the life, and in the gracious bending of the nature to all that is righteous.
2. They are holy. As the place where Jehovah dwelt, the Jewish temple was holyconsecrated to him, and to him alone. None but an Israelite could tread the outer court; none but the priests could serve in the holy place; none but the high priest could enter the holy of holies. Believers are holy, set apart for God and his service. They are not a public street or common, which the world may use as it likes; they are a sacred enclosure, marked off and devoted to holy uses. They are God’s templebody, soul, and spirit corresponding to the three divisions of the ancient tabernacle. This applies also to the Church, which is holy because dwelt in by God.
II. GOD‘S TEMPLE MUST NOT BE MARRIED. This follows from what has been said. If God dwells in believers, an injury done to them is done to his sanctuary. Consider:
1. How the temple may be marred. Sin in every form pollutes and injures the soul. It is an outrage on God’s temple. The Holy Spirit cannot dwell with unholiness. More particularly:
(1) By setting up idols. To place any person or thing beside God is to be guilty of idolatry. He will not dwell in the temple where other gods are worshipped; it is polluted (Isa 42:8; 1Jn 5:21).
(2) By throwing it open to all. The temple was holy ground, which none but consecrated feet might tread. The heart of the believer is not to be flung open to the world or to unholy thoughts and desires; the Church is not to act on worldly principles, or employ carnal means, or seek secular ends. All such intruders defile God’s temple (Joh 2:14-17).
2. The penalty threatened against those that mar God’s temple. He who defiled God’s sanctuary was punished by death (Lev 15:31; comp. Num 19:20). He who destroys God’s spiritual temple shall himself be destroyed. The grieved Spirit will depart and spiritual death will ensue. A warning to Christians against espousing error, or practising sin, or cherishing party spirit. A warning to teachers lest, by preaching false doctrine or fomenting strife, they incur this awful punishment. How watchful should we be over our own hearts! How careful should we be in our treatment of fellow Christians!B.
1Co 3:18-20
The way to wisdom.
“Wisdom” is one of the key words of these early chapters of the Epistle. Here again the contrast between true and false wisdom appears in the form of a warning against self conceit. “Let no man deceive himself.”
I. TO BE WISE WE MUST FIRST BECOME FOOLS. The wisdom of this world has its uses within its own sphere, but it is no help to the understanding of the things of God. It is a hindrance which must be removed ere we cart learn the Divine wisdom. We must divest ourselves of our fancied wisdom and. become fools in our own eyes, in order to be spiritually wise. This is a general law. Pride or self conceit in regard to any branch of knowledge or art is an effectual bar to progress. We must confess our ignorance in order to knowledge, our weakness in order to strength, our folly in order to wisdom. “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” This truth holds:
1. As to the beginning of the Christian life. How often are anxious souls kept back from entering into peace because they will not renounce their own ideas of the way of salvation! Only when they submit entirely to God’s way as little children do they enter the kingdom.
2. As to progress in the Christian life. Even after conversion we must be careful “to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2Co 10:5). We can grow in spiritual insight, in holiness, in patience, in power for service, in faith and hope and love, only by esteeming ourselves foolish and being content to sit as learners at the Lord’s feet.
II. THE WISDOM OF THIS WOULD IS FOOLISHNESS. This explains why our own wisdom must be renounced. In the judgment of the All wise it is folly. The speculations of men regarding God and our relation to him, however much of truth they contain, are yet on the whole vain, inasmuch as they fail to reach an adequate knowledge of him. Those who have worked the longest at the great problems of life are the readiest to confess this. One after another of the world’s wise men have wrestled with them and passed them down to their successors unsolved. Or look at the schemes of men for the regeneration of the world. Education, aesthetic culture, the teaching of morality, social communism, religion made easy,all have been tried and found wanting. None of them can redeem mankind from sin and restore them to their lost dignity. And in nothing do men seem so foolish as just in those things in which they think themselves wise. They are caught in their own net. Their schemes of salvation work their ruin.B.
1Co 3:21-23
The Christian’s heritage.
Since the wisdom of men is foolishness, and even the ministers of Divine wisdom are but servants, all glorying in men is to be avoided. Boast not in this one or that, however eminent; for all such boasting is a degradation to one who is possessed of so rich an inheritance.
I. IT IS UNIVERSAL. “All things are yours.” Man’s original lordship over creation (Psa 8:6) has been lost by sin, but is now restored in Christ. All things exist for the Christian; all things cooperate for his good (Rom 8:28).
“For us the winds do blow;
The earth doth rest, heaven move, and fountains flow.
No thing we see but means our good,
As our delight, or as our treasure:
The whole is, either our cupboard of food,
Or cabinet of pleasure.
“Oh, mighty love! Man is one world, and hath
Another to attend him.”
(George Herbert.)
1. All teachers belong to the Christian. The Church was not made for Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas; but these have been given to the Church for its planting and watering and culture. The ministers of Christ are workmen employed in erecting God’s temple. One lays the foundation, another hews the stones, another carves the ornaments, another does the carpenter work, etc. All are working for the same end, each in his own department. Why should we set the one against the other, as if the mason were everything and the carpenter nothing? You have your favourite apostle: do not neglect the practical James, because you delight in the fervid, argumentative Paul; or the dogmatic Peter, because you love the calm, intuitive John. Learn from Christian men of various schools and denominations, whom God sends with a message to their generation. All are yours.
2. The world. This denotes the material universe and all its providential arrangements. However evil men may usurp possession meanwhile, it is the saints that inherit the earth (Mat 5:5). It is maintained for their use, ordered with a view to their welfare, and in the end they shall be its sole possessors. The world, with all its forces and all its treasures, lies at their feet. All has been given to make life happier and better, and to help us to glorify our Father in heaven.
3. Life and death. The term of our sojourn on the earth, with all that it brings, is ours. Life is a mighty gifta great field in which to sow eternal seed. It is ours for two great purposesfor being and doing. The culture of the new life within us, and the promotion of our neighbour’s well being,in these two directions life is our opportunity. “To me to live is Christ.” There are ways of promoting God’s glory which are peculiar to this life, and which can never come to us again. Death also is ours as well as life. That grim, horrid thing, whose face strikes terror to the stoutest heart, and whose icy grasp freezes the fountains of life,that, too, becomes our servant. As the sailor conquers the winds by making them propel his vessel, so death ministers to our advancement. “To die is gain.” It releases from the pains, and toils, and conflicts, and limitations of this mortal state, and ushers us into the enjoyment of our inheritance.
4. Things present and things to come. The present and the future in the most comprehensive sense. Our actual lot is ours, whether it be easy or hard, pleasant or distressing. It is ours to serve us, if we will only let it do its work and turn it to the best account. The future is still hid from us, but it can bring us nothing which shall not work for our good. Whatever form the things to come may take, we are assured that they are ours.
II. THE TITLE IS GOOD. “Ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” All things are ours only because we belong to Christ. He has recovered for man his lost sovereignty, and in him we receive what he has won for us. The crown is again placed on our heads; we become joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17), who is Heir of all things (Heb 1:2). Apart from him we have no title. And belonging to Christ, we belong to God; for “Christ is God’s.” As the Son of God manifest in flesh for the redemption of his people, he is the Father’s Servant, delighting to do his will; whilst at the same time he is the Father’s equal (1Co 11:3; 1Co 15:28).:Mark the successive steps of this great ladder of being. All things are subject to the saints; the saints are subject to Christ their Head; Christ as Mediator is subject to the Father,
LESSONS. Be not subject to men; Christ is your Head.
2. How valid is the believer’s title to his glorious heritage!
3. Reckon up your possessions in Christ; claim them as your own; and all earthly wealth and dignity will fail to dazzle you.B.
HOMILIES BY J. WAITE
1Co 3:9
“God’s husbandry.”
The leading truth in the context would seem to be thisthat the most honoured and most successful worker in the kingdom of Christ is but as a helpless instrument through which the living power is pleased to operate, and that power is in God alone. The name of God, therefore, occupies the emphatic place in each clause of this verse. “Of God ye are the husbandry.” This is spoken of the Corinthians, not so much as individual believers, but as an organized Christian society. Observe the view it gives us of
I. THE NATURE OF A CHRISTIAN CHURCH. It is God’s “tilled land.” Not so much the process of husbandry, but the field in which the process is wrought out, is here intended. Every organized Christian society is the sphere of a spiritual culture analogous to that which goes on in the realm of nature, in the gardens, the vineyards, and the corn-fields. Two or three distinct elements of thought are suggested.
1. There is the idea of a germ of Divine life implanted is the hearts of men. The course of nature’s husbandry proceeds on the law that when the seed corn, in which the mysterious principle of vegetable life is hidden, is brought into contact with certain quickening and nourishing elements of the soil, it will germinate and be productive. The step of primary importance is the planting of the seed in the ground, because that establishes the necessary connection between the latent forces that combine to work out the desired result. So in the higher sphere of man’s moral life. The “truth as it is in Jesus” is the productive germ, in which, beneath the husk of the literal verbal form, is hidden the very spirit and life of God. And the condition of its unfolding is that it should be brought into real, direct, living contact with the soul (Mat 13:23; Jas 1:21; 1Pe 1:23). There is no uncertainty in the result when the needful conditions are supplied. The Church is God’s “tilled land.” “The field is the world;” but then the world has its “wayside” and its “stony and thorny places;” the “good ground” is composed of those who, “in an honest and good heart,” are prepared to receive the imperishable seed of the kingdom.
2. The development of this germ by external culture. The husbandry of the earth is man’s effort to supply the most favourable conditions for the working out of nature’s great productive law. Churches exist to promote, as far as possible, the operation of the spiritual law. Social life generally, with all its relations and activities, is no doubt intended by God to be helpful to this. We rise to the true, broad idea of religious culture only when we look On them all as auxiliaries to the great work of spiritual enlargement and enrichment. But the Church relationship, by all its conditions Of fellowship, worship, and work, is specially fitted to accomplish this end. Spiritual culture is the primary purpose of its existence. The ideal may not always be reached. As the earth has its frigid and temperate and torrid zones, so Christian societies differ as to the kindliness of their soil and atmosphere for the development of the germs of spiritual life. But this is their Divine intentthat they should be nurseries of all truth and goodness, where everything that is best and noblest and loveliest in men may be fostered and brought to perfection.
3. The production of the appropriate fruits. All labour is for the sake of the “profit” that can be got out of it. Seed sowing, “planting and watering,” point on to the harvest. One harvest lays the foundation for another and a greater. The “increase” is the end of all. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit” (Joh 15:8). “These things [good works] are good and profitable to men” (Tit 3:8). Churches exist for the production of the fruits of Divine goodness, with all the added force and fulness that social unity can give. They answer their end only so far as spiritual power goes forth from them, and they are felt to be centres and sources of blessing to the world, producing something that shall make it richer and happier than it would otherwise have been, something that shall never die.
II. THE RELATION BETWEEN DIVINE AND HUMAN AGENCY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH. “God’s husbandry.” Divine proprietorship is an important truth involved here, but Divine activity is no doubt the more prominent. The field not only belongs to God, so that none dare claim any kind of “lordship” over it; but it is one in which God is the great Worker. The process wrought out in it is the result of his productive power, and, as far as the vital part of it is concerned, of his alone. Man is nothing; God is “all in all” (1Co 3:7). But the instrument has its needful and proper place. God works out his beneficent ends through the intervention of man’s own willing cooperation, and in this lies for man himself an infinite benediction. He might have made the earth to yield its fruits without any culture of ours; but would that have been a merciful arrangement? In those parts of the earth where there is the nearest approach to such a condition of things, human life is always found to be in a state the most degraded. Labour is the law of man’s being. And though that labour, through the curse of sin, presents too often the aspect of irksome toil, yet still it is a “sublime necessity,” the indispensable condition of physical health and happiness. In the spiritual sphere, too, God would have us to be “fellow workers” with himself. He will not accomplish his beneficent purposes without us. He employs us as the channels and vehicles of his power. His working in us is the motive and the inspiration of our working for him. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for,” etc. (Php 2:12, Php 2:13). We can expect to see the blessed issue only when we place ourselves as ready and prepared instruments in his hands. But never may we forget that the power is his and not ours.
“Should e’er his wonder working grace
Triumph through our weak arm,
Let not our sinful fancy trace
Aught human in the charm.”
1Co 3:11
The one Foundation.
It is of the personal, not the doctrinal, Christ that the apostle here speaksof Christ, not so much as the basis of a system of religious teaching, but as himself the living Foundation of living souls. Look at this Foundation in two or three different lights.
I. AS THE GROUND OF THE SINNER‘S HOPE OF SALVATION. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other Name,” etc. (Act 4:12). The apostles never diverged in the slightest degree from this testimony. To have done this would have been to preach no gospel to men at all, but only to flatter them with a false, delusive hope. The reason of Paul’s unyielding fidelity to the simplicity of his gospel message at Corinth and everywhere else, lay in his deep sense of the fact that, in whatever land or age or grade of social life a man may be found, whatever the level of his civilization or intellectual culture, “Christ crucified” can alone meet his spiritual necessities. And he would pay just as little respect to our dreams of self sufficiency as he did to those of the men of his own times; for they have just as little solid ground to rest upon. Our nature is the same as theirs. Our spiritual needs are the same. There is the same insatiable craving within us, the same guilt on our consciences, the same seeds of corruption latent in our hearts, the same moral dangers besetting the pathway of our life. The same eternal spirit world surrounds us, and we must confront the same “righteous judgment of God.” What can we do but cast our souls, with all the wealth of their affections and the weight of their immortal interests, on Christ? What other “refuge” have we but the “hope set before us in the gospel “?
II. THE BASIS OF ALL TRUE SPIRITUAL ONENESS AND FELLOWSHIP AMONG MEN. The Church at Corinth had become a distracted and divided communion. It failed to maintain the “unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.” St. Paul knew well where the secret of this lay. As a “wise master builder,” he saw at once that the breach, the disruption in the house was caused by some fault in its relation to the Foundation on which it was supposed to rest. In spite of all his care, the superstructure had not been based with sufficient firmness upon that. He calls them back to the principle and ground of their unity. They were divided because they had in some way wandered from it, had slipped off from it, lost their hold on it. The uniting principle had become less to them than the forces that rend asunder. There is no real, living, lasting union among men, except on the basis of a common life in Christ. There are appearances, shadows of it, approximations to it more or less near, but not the Divine reality. Think of those associations into which men enter for purposes of commerce, personal enrichment, science, pleasure, politics, philanthropy; the oneness of a nation m its devotion to the throne and constitution; of an army in the enthusiasm of its service; of a popular assembly under the spell of some commanding influence; the oneness even of a family, with its identity of interest and interchange of natural affection;what are all these forms of unity compared with that of souls that are bound together in the fellowship of the eternal life of Christ, members of his body, and therefore “members one of another”? The true brotherhood, which men seek elsewhere in vain, they find in the Church ransomed by the blood of Christ and built on him as its eternal Foundation.
III. THE ROOT OF AN ENDURING PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. In what the apostle afterwards says of the different ways in which men “build,” he probably has religious teachers and the quality of their teaching specially in view. But we may also apply it to the quality of a man’s personal character and life. The picture is presented of one who, as regards the groundwork of his being, may be “in Christ,” but whose practice is not altogether worthy of the sacred relationshipa loose fabric of “wood, hay, stubble.” In the day “when every man’s work shall be made manifest of what sort it is,” how mournfully will the defective doings of the unfaithful servant, the careless slothful builder, be swept away before the consuming fire! “He shall suffer loss: saved; yet so as by fire.” And this suggests an opposite picture. There are those whose virtue has no living root in Christ, draws none of its inspiration from the faith of which he is the “Author and Finisher.” It is a fabric symmetrical and. fair to look upon, but it rests not on the true Foundation. It is not for us to judge any man. “To his own Master he standeth or falleth.” But this we knowthat the criterion by which Christ will judge us all “at that day” is the relation in which we stand towards himself, and “other foundation” of personal righteousness “can no man lay.”W.
1Co 3:13
Proof by fire.
There can be no doubt as to what day it is that is here intended. It is that “great and dreadful day” of the Lord’s coming to judgment, to which all Scripture bears more or less distinct prophetic witnessthe day when the final issues of time shall be gathered up, and time itself shall melt into the measureless eternity. One special characteristic of the day is that then all human works will be put to the supreme and decisive test. Consider
I. THE INSTRUMENT OF THE TEST. “The fire shall prove each man’s work.”
1. Literal elemental fire. It is the plain teaching of Scripture that the visible, material world around us shall undergo some wondrous transformation by fire, that out of the ashes of the old there may arise “the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (see Mal 4:1; 2Th 1:8; 2Pe 3:7, 2Pe 3:10). And science confirms the possibility, if not actual probability, of such an issue.
2. The fire of Divine holiness. The elemental fire is but the outward symbol of moral judgment. It was for such judgment that Christ came into the world at first (Isa 10:17; Mal 3:2, Mal 3:3; Mat 3:11, Mat 3:12). He will finally and completely fulfil in the last day this judicial function. The holy love of God, in its fiery antagonism to all evil, is incarnated in “that Man whom he hath ordained to be the Judge of quick and dead.”
II. THE PURPOSE OF THE TEST. To make manifest “every man’s work of what sort it is.” To make manifest:
1. The basis on which it rests. Christ is the Source of all true saintliness of character and righteousness of life in men. Only as our souls are “rooted and grounded” in him can we build up a fabric of personal virtue that will stand the searching test of that day. “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (Joh 6:29).
2. The spirit that inspires it. The mere form of the work, the place and space it has visibly occupied on the stage of the world’s history, is of comparatively small moment. The spirit that has animated it, this is its living substance, its essential quality. It is this that makes it of “the sort it is.”
3. The practical results of it. Not all the works even of the best of men will bear the revealing light and the consuming fire of that day. When the good die, “their works do follow them,” as grateful memories, as enduring fruits of goodness and of blessing to the world. And yet not all. There may have been works among them that were too much “of the earth, earthy.” They perish with meaner things, not worthy of immortality. While in the case of some men it is as if all were lost; they leave no lasting memorials behind them, over which the living may rejoice; but like one flying from his burning house, escaping with bare life, they are “saved; yet so as by fire.” Prove yourself and yore work now by the Divine standard, “that when He shall appear you may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”W.
HOMILIES BY D. FRASER
1Co 3:16, 1Co 3:17
The New Testament temple.
Under the Old Testament, the temple of God was a house made with hands, a worldly sanctuary. The New Testament or dispensation reckons the people of God to be his temple, “the habitation of God in the Spirit.” At Corinth there were many temples to the gods, but one temple of God. And the former were of dead stones, however beautiful to the eye. It is a common saying, “As dead as a stone.” But St. Paul, with a fine audacity of thought, conceived of the latterthe temple of Godas formed of living stones, from the Foundation upwards.
I. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE. The foundation of the whole Church God himself laid in raising up Christ from the dead. Whom men despised, he accepted; whom men slew, he quickened. And this living One is made “the Headstone of the corner.” A “tried stone,” too, thoroughly tested and proved to be sufficient. The foundation of the local Church at Corinth, Paul as a wise master builder had laid, i.e. he had made known Jesus Christ as crucified and risen from the dead, and taught the Corinthian converts to rest on him. Eloquent Apollos followed; and, though a party formed itself under his name, saying “I am of Apollos,” St. Paul never blamed the eloquent preacher for this or showed the least jealousy of his influence. On the contrary, at the end of the Epistle he promised to the Corinthians another visit from “our brother Apollos, when he shall have convenient time.” Any builder was welcome to continue the work and enter into St. Paul’s labours, provided that he did not disturb the Foundation which had been laid and could not be improved, and that he took good heed how he built thereon. The duty of builders is first to gather men, even though they be dead stones, to Jesus Christ, that they may live; and then to build them together, or edify them in faith and love. For this the proper means are found in the exposition and application of the Word with tenderness, pointedness, comprehensiveness, fearlessness, and fidelity. The power is altogether of God. Paul planted, Apollos watered; but the Church at Corinth was not their husbandry, but God’s. Paul laid the foundation, Apollos built on it; but the Church was God’s building, not theirs. It is so always and everywhere. “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.”
II. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TEMPLE.
1. Holiness. “Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, forever.” The temple built by Solomon was holy, or separated to sacred use; but when its holiness was outraged by the idolatrous images and altars afterwards placed within its courts, it still retained beauty, because it was material. But now that the temple is spiritual only, its holiness is its attraction. Corrupt the character, degrade the purity of the Church, and you destroy its beauty too. The holiness of the Church is produced and maintained by the Holy Ghost abiding therein. We have not “influences of the Spirit” as from a distance, but his personal presence. When the Lord Jesus stood in the house of God at Jerusalem, he said, “In this place is One greater than the temple.” For once, the less contained the Greater. Now in every meeting of the saints is One greater than the Church, for the Holy Spirit is there. And it concerns his Divine honour to purify the place of his habitation. It is his high prerogative to consecrate; and the New Testament temple is throughout consecrated, not by man, but by the Spirit of God. And as it is in calling and consecration, so ought it to be in fact and in serviceholy to the Lord.
2. Unity. We read not of temples, but of one temple. However men may arrange themselves ecclesiastically, God sees but one temple or Church in each city, as of old at Corinth or at Ephesus. Indeed, there is but one temple, one Body of Christ, in all the world. And the unity is not brought about by negotiation or legislation; it is wrought by God. “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body.” We have nothing to do with making the unity; but we are to know, feel, and evince it, worshipping together with joy, helping and exhorting each other, working together for the glory of God and good of man, and partaking together of the same bread and the same cup, not as partisans, but as Christians, members of one Body, guided by one Spirit, and cheered by one hope of our calling.
3. Variety. There are various courts, wings, towers, and porticoes in this great building. To our minds there may seem to be confusion and incongruity; but the supreme Architect knows how to adjust and reconcile all in a building “fitly framed together.” Variety is not desultoriness. The mere heaping of stones together gives no temple, far less the making of little groups or heaps here and there over a wide field. They must be built and knit together in love. And then, too, there is variety in the places assigned to individual Christians. Some “seem to be pillars.” They are like those vertical columns which supported a horizontal entablature in those classical temples with which the Corinthians were familiar. Others must be content to fill a niche or fit into a corner. It is an honour to be anywhere in the spiritual house.
III. A WARNING AGAINST INJURING THIS TEMPLE, One may mar the temple by not taking heed to what he builds. It may be called very liberal and tolerant to make no distinctions, and bestow Christian privileges on all; but St. Paul would call it the building of “wood, hay, and stubble,” which cannot abide the fiery trial that comes on every man’s work. One may also mar the temple by introducing the temper of the market place, and of the tables of the money changers into its courts. Such things call again and again for censure and a whip of small cords. One may destroy the temple, i.e. aim blows at its very life, by striking at its holiness, its unity, or its variety. Not that any one can actually demolish it; for it is an ever living Church: “The gates of hades shall not prevail against it.” It is a capital crime against Christ and the Church, either
(1) to bring unholy teachings and practices into the temple (“deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate,” Rev 2:6); or
(2) to disunite the living stones, striking the pick axes of dissension and a “separating humour” into the temple wall; or
(3) to forbid in a bigoted spirit all variety in Christian organization, and say, “The temple of the Lord are we,” instead of looking with an eye of charity on all who love the Saviour and breathe his Spirit, saying, “The temple of the Lord are these.”F.
1Co 3:21-23
A Christian’s possessions.
It is a folly under the sun to live above one’s means. It is the folly of very many Christians that they live spiritually far below their means of grace and godliness. They are like poor people who have come into a large estate, and cannot for some time adapt themselves to their altered position or comport themselves as befits their fortune. They still betray the narrow ideas and awkward manners of their former condition. So Christians are assured that they have unsearchable riches in Christ, but cannot elevate their ideas and modes of life to the high level of their spiritual privilege. They still betray the narrow estimates and unworthy habits of their time of unregeneracy and unbelief. To correct this tendency and raise the standard of Christian sentiment and conduct, let us look into this inventory of a believer’s possessions, and the right or charter by which they are his.
I. THE PROPERTY. “All things are yours.” It is at once real and movable estate. It has the most permanent character; and yet it may be taken by the Christian whithersoever he goes, and enjoyed anywhere. A man rich in this world’s goods has necessary limits to his possessions. His real estate is irremovable and his personality or movable wealth is perishable. But he whose riches are intellectual and spiritual has property everywhere. Cast him naked and shipwrecked on an unknown coast; yet he is rich. Spoil him of all earthly goods; reduce him to the very almshouse; and yet he is rich. When he has nothing, he still possesses all things.
1. The Christian ministry, represented by Paul, Apollos, and Cephas. The Church is not for the ministry, but the ministry for the Church. The Corinthian Christians did not belong to the great preachers here named, but the great preachers belonged to them. Often the isolation of particular flocks under their own pastors is carried to an extent which virtually brings the doctrine to nought, and gives them no enjoyment of other gifts bestowed by the Head of the Church for the perfecting of his saints. But some are best for planting, others for watering. Let ministers and teachers of the Word, variously qualified, be welcomed and cherished. All of them are yours.
2. The world. It is a bad master, but a useful servant. All things in it that are not sinful may be made serviceable to the happiness and progress of the Christian, and to the glory of God. “Use this world as not abusing it.”
3. Life, with all its vicissitudes and possibilities, sorrow and joy, trial and success. It is quite different to the Christian from what it is to the non Christian. He is never helpless, and need never be in despair; for he may be sure that the circumstances of his life are ordered by his heavenly Friend, the lines of his life are drawn according to the plan of his loving Saviour.
4. Death; which comes, not as a grisly terror, but to do a kindly office. Death, like life, just because it is not in the Christian’s power, serves his best interests. “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” We may addThe death of friends is yours, softening your heart. The death of enemies is yours, delivering you out of their hand. And as for yourself, Boston has said, “Death comes to the godly man as Haman to Mordecai, with royal apparel and the horse, and commission to do him honour, though with a sullen voice and unkind countenance.”
5. Things present. The Christian has a promise that he will lack no good thing, and things that seem evil, wounds, losses, disappointments, all tend by the Divine blessing to exercise his faith and patience, and so to strengthen his soul.
6. Things to come. Of these we cannot speak. The sights we may see, the feelings we may experience, the changes we may witness, within a year or two, who can tell? How much less can we descant on things beyond? But enough to know that the future is ours. There will be no power among things to come which can separate us from the love of God.
II. THE SECURITY FOR ALL THIS PROPERTY. The Christian holds all through his relation to Christ, “the Heir of all things.” “Ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” Believers belong to Christ, as given to him by the Father, redeemed by him on the cross, effectually called and mystically united to him by the Holy Spirit. And Christ is God’s, as the well beloved of the Father, to whom all things are made subject both in heaven and earth. Now believers inherit through Christ, are co-heirs with him. It is because he is Heir and Lord of all, that all things are theirs. To quote an old divine: “The saints have nothing but through Christ; and whatsoever is his, is theirs. His God is their God; his Father, their Father; his blood, his merits, his Spirit, his victories, all the spoil he hath gotten, all the revenue and income of his life and death,all is theirs.” If men only believed that these things are so, that Christians have such treasures, and hold them by such a tenure, surely a motive of enlightened self interest would urge them to the feet of Christ. Alas! all men have not faith. The current ideas of wealth and substance are quite unconnected with religion, which seems to many a good thing to die with, but rather a hindrance than otherwise in life. St. Paul’s teaching tells a different tale. It is the Christless who, being without God in the world, are poor and indigent. It is those who are Christ’s who, however poor in this world, are rich towards God.F.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK
1Co 3:1
The carnal mind.
In view of St. Paul’s description of the immoralities and sensualities of the pagan peoples, given in Rom 1:1-32., and in special lists of prevailing iniquities, such as are given in Gal 5:19-21, his sense of the hindrance the carnal mind presents to the reception of spiritual teachings can be fully apprehended. Probably the severest thing St. Paul said about the carnal mind is that it is “enmity against God: for it is net subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be. They that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom 8:7, Rom 8:8). Possibly a distinction between the “natural” man and the “carnal” man may be intended. The natural man is one “whose hopes and desires are bounded by the limits of the physical principle of life;” the carnal man is regarded as more or less under the influence of the sensual passions. But St. Paul seems to recognize that the Corinthian tendency to disputes and religious strife was a sign that the carnal principles were yet strongly working in them; and “an appetite for religious strife prevents us from discerning the deeper truths of the Christian faith.” It is broadly true that the reception of spiritual truth mainly depends on the openness and preparedness and culture of those to whom such teaching is given. The teacher may indeed be unskilful, but more often the hindrance is that the hearer is unspiritual. The preparation of the teacher is considered to be essential, the preparation of the taught is left to the accident of personal earnestness.
I. THE SIGNS OF THE CARNAL MIND. With the hints given above two signs may be fully dealt with and illustrated.
1. Inability to receive advanced spiritual instruction. Self indulgence in meat or drink, inordinate pursuit of pleasure, the captivity of mind and heart to business schemes, the deteriorating influence of worldly ambitions,all destroy interest in Divine things, and take from us the very possibility of apprehending the higher mysteries of the kingdom.
2. A spirit of strife and division. It is never the best people in a Christian community who are the cause of strife. Contention and controversy are only interesting to those who are not really growing in likeness to and nearness to Christ. Schism and strife are sure signs of carnality. Men who get soul visions of the truth never can want to contend over words. It would seem that St. Paul recognized signs of remaining carnality in the regenerate members of the Church, and found this to be a principal hindrance to the advance of his teaching. Such signs of the “carnal mind” are still observed by Christian pastors, and are the occasions of their deepest depressions and constant grief.
II. THE FOOD FOR THE CARNAL MIND. St. Paul does not neglect it or refuse to consider it. And it is remarkable that he does not deal with it by warnings or threatenings, but by food, and that of a kind carefully appropriated and adapted. So the physician deals with some classes of disease; he gives no medicine, but nourishes the general health, with a full expectancy that the renewed vitality will throw off, out of the system, the specific disease. St. Paul evidently thinks the real cause of carnality to be low spiritual vitality, want of capacity to digest and assimilate good strong food of truth. These religious men were, m regard to religious truths and principles, really only babes, and religious food suited to babes, to beginners, must be provided for them. They must have the “milk” of gospel simplicities until they are strong enough to take the “meat” of gospel mysteries. Only the milk was to be given with the purpose of nourishing the powers for better food. First principles duly apprehended would prepare the way for higher teachings.
Impress that in Christian congregations there is always a call for the gospel simplicities, but that call should not be continually made, as it so often and so sadly is, by the same persons. Milk prepares the way for meat. It may be earnestly urged that, after all these centuries of Christian teaching in the home and in the Church, there ought to be an earnest and a mighty cry for advanced and spiritual preaching of the great revealed mysteries of God in Christ. We ought to be “men.”R.T.
1Co 3:5-7
Man’s work and God’s.
Explain the agricultural figure used in 1Co 3:6. In the production of the year’s harvest many different agencies are employed. Each man has work and his time for work, and upon man’s labour the harvest in large measure depends. Yet sun, and wind, and rain, and atmosphere, and soil, are things quite as essential as man’s work, but absolutely out of man’s control. Year by year man ploughs, man plants, man tends, but God gives the increase. So in spiritual things, there is an important sphere for man’s agency, but efficiency and result depend on the cooperating grace and blessing of God.
I. MAN NEVER CAN GET BEYOND MINISTRY. That is his duty, and that is his dignity. Even Paul and Apollos can be but “ministers by whom we believe.” Man cannot control the plan into which his work may fit, or the issues which his work should reach. Man never can be independent, so as to take up anything and do it completely. He never has entrusted to him more than a piece or part, which, if well done, fits into other pieces and parts, entrusted to other men, and goes to complete the whole purpose that was in God’s thought. And so no honour of results can ever attach to man the agent. Servants only ask praise for faithfulness, the honour of the work belongs wholly to the master whose thought and plan are thus wrought out. This feeling should ensure the sincere humility of all Christian teachers.
II. BEHIND MINISTRY IS ALWAYS MASTERSHIP. We serve somebody. “We serve the Lord Christ.” But in the case of spiritual work, we may say that in God is more than mastership, there is presidency over and use of more important agencies than man’s, though agencies related to man’s, and working in with his. Spiritual agencies are as much out of our control as sun, or wind, or rain; yet God uses them, with ours, to win the increase. Man can never, by himself, accomplish any moral or spiritual service. Paul and Apollos could do much for the Church at Corinth, but they stand aside, and let men see how gloriously and effectively God works.R.T.
1Co 3:9-12
Foundations and buildings.
A curious and interesting blending of metaphors is found in 1Co 3:9. “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” The sudden changing of metaphors is a characteristic of St. Paul’s style; for instances, see 1Co 9:7; 2Co 10:4-8; Eph 3:17; Col 2:6-7. The apostle now dwells fully on the architectural metaphor, and gives some thoughts of singular depth and importance on the true foundation for a noble life work, and the kind of buildings which may hopefully be reared upon it. The apostle speaks of himself as a foundation layer; reminds the Corinthians that it had been his work to commence or found Christian Churches; that this he had successfully done again and again during his missionary travels; and that the Corinthian Church had its first announcement of the gospel from him, and the first stones of its spiritual Church laid by him. He naturally felt jealous concerning the character of the members of that Church, and would have them such as would stand the testing of the great day.
I. ST. PAUL AS A LAYER OF FOUNDATIONS. Only the layer, not the maker. The Foundation was provided (Col 2:11); with it not even an apostle could interfere. St. Paul was fitted for the work of laying it, or of commencing a Christian Church in new districts,
(1) by his special gifts as a missionary;
(2) by his having received a personal revelation from Jesus Christ, which gave intensity to his convictions; and
(3) by his clear apprehension of the gospel message, and sympathetic power as a teacher.
His personal and persuasive influence on his fellow men needs to be taken into account. But St. Paul did not look upon the beginning of a Church or the conversion of a soul as any end of his work. Laying foundations involves a design for a building that is to be raised upon it, and the apostle kept up his relations with the Churches he was honoured to found, so that he might ensure that the building was being raised in a manner worthy of the Foundation, and in harmony with it. He had no greater joy than to know that “his children walked in the truth.”
II. OTHER TEACHERS AS BUILDERS ON THE FOUNDATION. St. Paul’s call to the missionary work involved the necessity of removing from place to place, and prevented his personally watching over the uprising or growth of any one Church. This disability he often seriously felt, and it made him very anxious concerning the wisdom, skill, and character of those teachers who continued his work. That anxiety comes out in our text, and it made him appeal even to the individual Church member, urging him to see that, whatever might be the character of his teachers, his own personal character was being nobly and safely reared. The following points may be dwelt on:
1. The builders of any one Church may be many. There may be a long succession of pastors and teachers, with very various gifts and endowments; but each may, in his time and way, add to the symmetrical and harmonious growth of the building. Each must have done so up to the measure of his loyalty to Christ and openness to his Divine lead. Still the same variety and succession are maintained, and under the many builders’ hands the great Church of the redeemed advances to its perfection.
2. The materials used in the construction may differ. Even of right materials there is diversity, represented by “gold, silver, precious stones.” Some teachers are strong in Biblical exposition, others in enforcement of practical duties, and others in appeal to pious feeling; but all bear upon the harmonious uprising of the building.
3. The architectural features may in parts differ. The general design cannot be altered, but multitudes of details are left open. A Christian character and a Christian Church can have but one general form; but there may be decoration and tracery according to men’s thought of the morally beautiful in the age in which they build, and the whole Church appears at last as a composite structure, combining all architectural thought and form. But man’s work, in character or Church, must be subject to a final and fierce testing, and only the really substantial and good may hope to bear that test.R.T.
1Co 3:13-15
Final testings of our life work.
In treating this passage it should be noted that the first and chief reference of it is to Christian teachers and their work, and that it can only in a second sense be applied to the ordinary Christian, and the kind of influence for good which he strives to exert. Still, a great principle is enunciated in St. Paul’s counsel to the teachers, and we may give that principle a wide and general application. The apostle is, in this part of the Epistle, dealing with the tendency of the teachers at Corinth to overpress their individual apprehensions of the truth, and so to make parties under their lead, instead of carefully preserving the unity of the Church in the common truth “as it is in Christ Jesus.” “The image, in these verses, is taken from what would meet the eye of a traveller in Ephesus, where St. Paul now was, or in:Corinth, where his letter was to be first read. It is such a contrast as may be seen (though not in precisely the same striking form of difference) in London in our own day. The stately palaces of marble and of granite, with roof and column glittering with gold and silver decorations, and, close by these, the wretched hovels of the poor and outcast, the walls made of laths of wood, with the interstices stuffed with straw, and a thatched roof above. Then arose before the apostle’s vision the thought of a city being visited by a mighty conflagration, such as desolated Corinth itself in the time of Mummius. The mean structures of perishable wood and straw would be utterly consumed, while, as was actually the case at Corinth, the mighty palaces and temples would stand after the fire had exhausted itself” (T. T. Shore). The point of the apostle is that, sooner or later, all earthly works come under severe and searching testings, which prove whether there is anything in them of permanent value, and destroy what had but a temporary use or was really worthless. There is a good and important sense in which the testing day is a continuous day. We need not put the thought of the proving of our life work off to some indefinite future. Every day tests and tries. Every night we may think that God weighs the day and its works in his perfectly adjusted balances. But the early Christian mind was very fully occupied with the idea of a particular day, on which Christ would appear and the judgment of mankind be completed; see 2Co 5:10.
I. THE FIRE TEST FOR ALL LIFE WORK. Fire is conceived as:
1. The most destructive agent.
2. The most searching agent. Recent fires have shown how it can destroy eves buildings of brick and stone. Illustrate from the great Chicago fire.
3. The most purifying agent. Illustrate its power to cleanse the dross from metals. Compare the two other cleansing agents noticed in Scripturewater and blood. Both these cleanse by a mechanical process; fire cleanses by a chemical process, Nowadays, in great cities and in regard to great buildings, the most anxious question is, “Will the walls etc., stand fire?” We try to build places that shall be fire proof. Fire fitly represents the searching power of God: “As fire does, so does God in the end thoroughly search out and destroy all that is vile or refuse, all that is not thoroughly genuine and durable.” For passages associating fire symbols with God, see Deu 4:24; Deu 9:3; Psa 1:3; Psa 97:3; Isa 66:15, Isa 66:16; Mal 3:2, Mal 3:3; 2Th 1:8; Heb 12:29. It may be shown that
(1) time,
(2) difficult circumstances,
(3) afflictions, test our life work, and act as the fire of God.
Sooner or later, even in this life, men find out of what sort their work has been, but all mistake and delusion about the quality of our work will be swept away in the great revealing day of God.
II. THE REWARD FOR ALL WHOSE LIFE WORK ABIDES THE TEST. The reward is really found in the abiding, the permanent character of the work. “Those who have built well shall have their reward in their work having survived the trial: of the fire.” F. W. Robertson points out the doctrine of the rewardableness of work, as taught in this passage. “All were one, on the one Foundation; yet St. Paul modifies this: they were not one in such a sense that all their work was equally valuable, for ‘every man shall receive his own reward according to his labour.’ It is incredible that the mere theologian, defending the outworks, writing a book on the evidences of Christianity, or elaborating a theological system, shall be as blessed as he who has hungered and thirsted with Christ, and like Christ suffered. Nevertheless, each in his own way shall gain the exact recompense of what he has done.” On the doctrine of rewards, consider
(1) the sense in which they are present;
(2) the sense in which they are future;
(3) how far we may think of them as material, and how far as moral;
(4) their precise adaptation to the worker, and relation to the work he had done; and
(5) their coming as a gift of grace, never ks a claim of merit.
III. THE LOSS OF THOSE WHOSE LIFE WORK WILL NOT ABIDE THE TEST. Their work will perish. It is proved to be “of the earth, earthy.” It had no abiding spiritual character. Reference, no doubt, is to all so called Christian teaching that has mind in it, energy in it, individuality in it, but not Christ in it, and Christ wholly. All work that only glorifies the worker must perish. Only work that glorifies Christ can stand the fire test. Show with what care we should test our own work in God’s sight, to be sure that no self seeking has crept into it and spoiled it. “If we would judge ourselves we shall not be judged.” But St. Paul, while writing such severe and searching things, makes most careful qualifications, so that none should be unduly discouraged. This is said for the comfort of sincere souls whose life work has proved a failure. “He himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” “He shall be saved, while all his work shall be destroyed, just as, to use St. Paul’s metaphor, a builder escapes from his house which has been burnt over his head, and stands trembling yet safe, looking on his work in ruins.” “Surely the ‘smell of fire’ may be said to pass on him who sees all those works which he so honestly believed to be for God vanishing as worthless stubble in the searching trial which will ‘purge away all the dross’ of our human doings, and leave only what is of real value in God’s sight.” Impress how entirely our human will should be lost in the Divine will, so that our Christian work should be in no sense at all our work, but entirely God’s appointment for us, and wholly done under his guidance and in his strength. Work that has the self seeking stamp on it will be sure to burn up. Precious stonework, gold and silver work, is work done wholly for Christ, in which the self does not appear. Let each man, then, test his ministry, his teaching, his influence, now, while he may correct his errors, and begin to do better things in a better spirit.R.T.
1Co 3:16, 1Co 3:17
The Church a temple.
It is usual to regard these verses as referring to the individual Christian, but the Epistle is addressed “unto the Church of God which is at Corinth,” and we may profitably dwell on some thoughts suggested by the comparison; premising that the peculiarities of ancient temples are well understood. The central building of a structure called a temple was not a place of meeting or of worship, it was the sacred shrine or dwelling place of the deity. Round this central building were grouped the courts in which worship was conducted. Eastern people are extremely jealous about the sanctity of their temples. The Christian system transfers the sanctity from the buildings to the body of believers, and even to the individual believer. All the sacredness which Jews felt to surround their temple at Jerusalem Christians ought to feel surrounds them and the Church; consequently each Christian should anxiously guard the Church, lest it should be injured by false teachings or defiled by the evil living of any of its members, No doubt St. Paul had chiefly in mind to warn all those teachers who were likely so to teach as to split the Church into divisions; for, in his thought, the Church is one great whole, and strife and party feeling are the very things that most seriously defile it.
I. THE CHURCH A TEMPLE, WITH AN INDWELLING DEITY. Compare the descent of God, in his symbol of fiery cloud, to take up his abode in Solomon’s temple, with the descent of God the Holy Ghostmanifest through symbols of wind, fire, and tonguesto take up his abode in his Church, on the day of Pentecost. Observe how clearly St. Paul apprehended the truth of God’s real and permanent presence with his Church, and how strongly he urges the consequent sanctity of the Church. It may be true that God is not seen, but he was not seen in the earlier shrines of tabernacle and temple. He is not therefore unknown or unfelt. Spiritual worshippers realized his presence in the older days; and spiritually quickened men and women feel his nearness now. How should we think of ourselves; how of each other; and how of the Church, if it be true that “God dwelleth with us, and is in us”?
II. THE INDWELLING DEITY UNIFIES AND SANCTIFIES THE WHOLE TEMPLE PRECINCTS. If he makes that innermost chamber the “holy of holies,” because his cloud symbol, his Shechinah glory, rests there; his presence makes the outer chamber holy, and the courts all holy, and the altar and layers and utensils all holy. And if Christ “dwells in our hearts,” and makes them like the holy of holies, we must realize that he sanctifies all our being and all our relations; sanctifies mind, affection, will, body, so that the prophetic figure should be fulfilled, and in the Christian life and Christian Church holiness should be inscribed on the very “bells of the horses.”. The one anxious endeavour of a Christian life is to get all the “courts” of our body temple wholly sanctified.
III. THE OLD LAWS OF JUDGMENT ON THE DEFILEMENT OF GOD‘S TEMPLE APPLY TO THE CHRISTIAN TEMPLE. Compare Exo 28:43; Lev 16:2. The word used here, “defile the temple of God,” is better read “destroy,” as the opposite of “building up,” which is the Christian teacher’s duty. Ways in which a man may defile, or destroy, the temple of God, which he is himself, or which the Church is, may be detailed and illustrated. We may be sure that God will punish does punishall dishonour done to his spiritual temples.
Impress how the cherished thought of our temple like sanctity would influence our daily life and conversation. As ever present with us, God seems to say to us continually, “Be ye holy; for I am holy.”R.T.
1Co 3:13-23
The cure for the party spirit.
Having still in mind the difficulty occasioned by those who claimed to be superior teachers; and gathered parties round them, the apostle proceeds to show that merely human wisdom is in itself worthless for spiritual purposes, and, therefore, that the possession of it alone is no reason for the exaltation of the teacher who is endowed with it.” A man over confident in his superior knowledge is always a dangerous man. The most learned are always the most humble. “A child like willingness to learn is the first step towards the true wisdom.” To find the cure for the party spirit, we must search for the real root of its evil; just as the physician who would remove disease and restore health must discover precisely where the disease is seated and what are its essential features.
I. THE ROOT OF THE PARTY SPIRIT. It is precisely self satisfaction, but it may take form as
(1) pride of wisdom;
(2) pride of place;
(3) pride of birth;
(4) pride of power.
A man wants to be separate from his brethren and to be counted superior to them. The party spirit is not, however, only shown in the leaders; there are persons who are weakly willing to take sides and follow leaders, and he who follows may be quite as wrong and as mischievous as he who leads. The root of the evil, the self seeking spirit, may be equally found in them both. Illustrate the evil of the party spirit by the silent, spreading, fatal influences of a cancer; and give cases of sectarian evil from Church history. In every age the Church has suffered from those who broke away from her unity, following this leader and that.
II. THE CURE OF THE PARTY SPIRIT. It is found in a full and worthy estimate of our rights, privileges, and possessions in Christ. If we enter into and maintain right relations with Christ, we shall certainly be delivered from any undue allegiance to men. Christ is Lord, and he is supreme; all teachers are but ministers, Divine agents, by whom we believe, and who are graciously used to help our spiritual joy. Christ alone is ours to follow and obey, ministers and teachers are ours to use and to honour for their works’ sake. All are God’s; all are in commission to Christ; all are in use, by him, for the instruction and edification of his Church; and therefore we ought to follow after no one of them, but only after Christ. “Let party spirit cease. Do not degrade yourselves by calling yourselves after the names of any man, foreverything is yoursthese teachers only exist for you. The enthusiasm of the apostle, as he speaks of the privileges of Christians, leads him on beyond the bare assertion necessary to the logical conclusion of his argument, and, enlarging the idea, he dwells, in a few brief and impressive utterances, on the limitless possessionsin life and in death, in the present life and that which is futurewhich belong to those who are united with Christ.” F. W. Robertson finely dwells on the freedom from party following which those have who are supremely loyal to Christ: “Then it is that he is emancipated from circumstances then, all things are histhis marvellous life, so full of endless meanings, so pregnant with infinite opportunities. Still more death, which seems to come to him like a tyrant commanding him when it willdeath is his in Christ, his minister to lead him to higher life. Paul is his, to teach him freedom. Apollos his, to animate him with his eloquence. Cephas his, to fire him with his courage. Every author his, to impart to him his treasures. But remark, that St. Paul refers all this to the universal law of sacrifice: all things are ours on this conditionthat we are Christ’s. The law which made Christ God’s has made us Christ’s. All things are yours, that is, serve you; but they only discharge the mission and obey the law involuntarily that yon are called on to discharge and obey voluntarilythe law to which Christ was subject, for Christ ‘was God’s.’ So that, when the law of the cross is the law of our beingwhen we have learnt to surrender ourselvesthen, and then only, we are free from all things: they are ours, not we theirs; we use them, instead of being crushed by them.”
Conclude by showing the peril of nourishing the party spirit in these days, when particular aspects of doctrine are so hotly contested. There may be party feeling doing copious mischief within Christian communities, though it may not reach the length of separation or schism. We need anxiously to watch against the beginnings of this evil in ourselves and in others.R.T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
1Co 3:1. And I, brethren, &c. The next matter of boasting, which the faction made use of to give the pre-eminence and preference to their leader above St. Paul, seems to have been this, That their new teacher had led them farther, and given them a deeper insight into the mysteries of the Gospel than St. Paul had done. To take away their glorying on this account, St. Paul tells them, that they were carnal, and not capable of those more advanced truths, or any thing beyond the first principles of Christianity which he had taught them; and though another had come and watered what he had planted, yet neither planter nor waterer could assume to himself any glory thence, because it was God alone that gave the increase. But whatever new doctrines theymight pretend to receive from their magnified new Apostle, yet no man could lay any other foundation in a Christian church, but what he (St. Paul) had said; viz. that Jesus is the Christ; and therefore there was no reason to glory in their teachers, becauseuponthis foundation they possibly might build false or unsound doctrines, for which they should receive no thanks from God, though, continuing in the faith, they might be saved. Some of the hay and stubble which this leader brought into the church at Corinth, he seems particularly to point at, ch. 1Co 3:16-17 viz. their defiling the church by retaining, and as it may be supposed patronizing, the fornicator, who should have been turned out; ch. 1Co 5:7-13. He further adds, that these extolled heads of their parties were at best but men, and none of the church ought to glory in men; for even Paul, and Apollos, and Peter, and all the other preachers of the Gospel, were for the use, and benefit, and glory of the church, as the church was for the glory of Christ. Moreover, he shews them, that they ought not to be puffed up on account of these their new teachers, to the undervaluing of him, though it should be true, that they had learned more from them, than from himself,for these reasons: 1. Because all the preachers of the Gospel are but stewards of the mysteries of God; and therefore they ought not to be some of them magnified and extolled, and others depressed and blamed by their hearers here, till Christ their Lord come; and then he, knowing how they have behaved themselves in their ministry, will give them their reward. Besides, these stewards have nothing but what they have received, and therefore no glory belongs to them for it. 2. Because if these leaders were (as was pretended) Apostles, honour and outward affluence here would not have been their portion, the Apostles being appointed to want, contempt, and persecution. 3. They ought not to be honoured, followed, and gloried in, as Apostles, because they had not the power of miracles, which he intended shortly to come and shew they had not, ch. 1Co 3:1.-iv. 20. See Locke.
As unto spiritual According to some great commentators, spiritual is here opposed to carnal, as in ch. 1Co 2:14 it is to natural or animal; so that, according to them, we have here three sorts of men: 1. Carnal; that is to say, such as are swayed by fleshly passions and interests: 2. Animal; i.e. such as seek wisdom, or a way to happiness, only by the strength and guidance of their own natural parts, without any supernatural light coming from the Spirit of God;by reason, without revelation;by philosophy, without Scripture: 3. Spiritual; i.e. such as seek their direction to happiness, not in the dictates of natural reason and philosophy, but in the revelations of the Spirit of God in the Holy Scriptures. By babes in Christ, are meant such as had not their understandings yet fully opened to the true grounds of the Christian religion, but retained a great many childish thoughts about it, as appeared by their divisions,one being for the doctrine of his master Paul; another for that of his master Apollos; which, if they had been spiritual, that is, had looked upon the doctrine of the Gospel to have come solely from the Spirit of God, and to be had only from revelation, they could not have done: for then all human mixtures of any thing derived either from Paul or Apollos, or any other man, would have been wholly excluded. But they, in these divisions, professed to hold their religion, one from one man, and another from another; and were thereupon divided into parties. This, he tells them, was to be carnal, and to walk as men,to be led by principles purely human; i.e. to found their religion upon men’s natural parts and discoveries; whereas the Gospel was wholly built upon divine revelation, and the application of it by the Spirit of God, and nothing else; and thence alone those who were spiritual took it. See Locke.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Co 3:1 . ] I also . This also of comparison has its inner ground in the reproach alluded to, that he ought to have taught in a higher strain, and so ought to have delivered to the Corinthians that spoken of in 1Co 3:6 f. Even as no other could have done this, so I also could not . There is no reason, therefore, for holding, with de Wette (comp Billroth), that would have been a more stringent way of putting it.
] namely, had I to speak to you . See Khner, II. p. 604. Krger on Thuc. i. 142. 4, and on Xen. Anab. vii. 2. 28. This brevity of expression is zeugmatic. (see the critical remarks) is: fleshy (2Co 3:3 ), not equivalent to , fleshly . See on Rom 7:14 . Winer, p. 93 [E. T. 122], and Fritzsche, a [450] Rom. II. p. 46. Here, as in Rom. l.c [451] and Heb 7:16 (see Delitzsch in loc [452] ), the expression is specially chosen in order to denote more strongly the unspiritual nature: as to fleshy persons , as to those who have as yet experienced so little of the influence of the Holy Spirit, that the i.e. the nature of the natural man, which is opposed since the fall to the Spirit of God, and which, as the seat of the sin-principle and of lust, gives rise to the incapacity to recognise the sway of the Divine Spirit (comp 1Co 2:14 ), and to follow the drawing of the towards the divine will (Rom 7:18 ; Rom 7:25 ), by virtue of the Divine Spirit (see on Rom 4:1 ; Rom 6:19 ; Rom 7:14 ; Rom 8:5 ff.) seemed to make up their whole being. They were still in too great a measure only “flesh born of the flesh” (Joh 3:6 ), and still lay too much, especially in an intellectual relation, under the (Rom 6:19 ), although they might also be in part (Col 2:18 ), so that Paul, in order strongly to express their condition at that time, could call them fleshy . By , therefore, he indicates the unspiritual nature of the Corinthians, i.e. a nature ruled by the limitations and impulses of the , not yet changed by the Holy Spirit, the nature which they still had when at the stage of their first noviciate in the Christian life . At a later date (see 1Co 3:3 ) they appear as still at least (guiding themselves according to the , and disobedient to the ); for although, in connection with continued Christian instruction, they had become more effectually partakers also of the influence of the Divine Spirit, nevertheless, as their sectarian tendencies (see 1Co 3:3 ) gave proof, they had not so followed this divine principle as to prevent the sensuous nature opposed to it (the ) from getting the upper hand with them in a moral and intellectual respect, so that they were consequently still and (Rom 8:5 ; Rom 8:8 ), (Rom 8:5 ), (2Co 11:18 ), (2Co 1:12 ), etc. It is therefore with true and delicate acumen that Paul uses in 1Co 3:1 and 1Co 3:3 these two different expressions each in its proper place, upbraiding his readers, not indeed by the former, but certainly by the latter, with their unspiritual condition. [454] The ethical notions conveyed by the two terms are not the same , but of the same kind ; hence in 1Co 3:3 is logically correct (against the objection of de Wette and Reiche).
[450] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[451] .c. loco citato or laudato .
[452] n loc. refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[454] According to Hofmann, who, for the rest, defines the two notions with substantial correctness, the distinction between and answers to that between and , Rom 8:5 ; Rom 8:8 . But the latter two phrases differ from each other, not in their real meaning, but only in the form of representation. Holsten, too, z. Ev. d. Paul. u. Petr. p. 397 f., has in substance hit the true distinction between and .
The difference between (also ) and is simply this: is one who has not the Holy Spirit, and stands wholly outside of the sphere of His influence; whether it be that he has never yet received Him and is therefore still in the natural state without Christ ( homo naturalis , as in 1Co 2:14 ), or that he has been forsaken again by the Spirit (as in Jud 1:19 ). , on the other hand, may not merely be predicated of the , who is indeed necessarily , but also (comp Hofmann) of one who has, it is true, received the Holy Spirit and experiences His influence, but is not led by His enlightening and sanctifying efficacy in such a measure as to have overcome the power of sin (Gal 5:17 ) which dwells in the and sets itself against the Spirit; but, on the contrary, instead of being and, in consequence, living and being disposed , he is still , and still thinks, judges, is minded and acts . [456] The is accordingly as such also , but every is not as such still or once more a , not yet having the Spirit, or having lost Him again. The expositors commonly do not enter upon any distinction between and , either (so the majority) reading in 1Co 3:1 also, or (Rckert, Pott) arbitrarily giving out that the two words are alike in meaning. The distinction between them and also is passed over in utter silence by many (such as Rosenmller, Flatt, Billroth), while others , in an arbitrary way, make and . sometimes to be milder than (Bengel, Rckert, holding that in . there is more of the weakness, in . more of the opposition to what is higher), sometimes to be stronger (Osiander; while Theophylact holds the former to be , the latter , and the pneumatic ), or sometimes , lastly, refer the latter to the lower intelligence , and the former to the lower moral condition as given up to the desires (Locke, Wolf, and others).
] statement justifying the foregoing . by setting forth the character of their Christian condition as it had been at that time to which . . [457] looks back. The phrase denotes those who, in their relation to Christ (in Christianity), are still children under age, i.e. mere beginners . The opposite is ., Col 1:28 . See, regarding the analogous use in Rabbinical writers of ( sugentes ), Schoettgen in loc [458] ; Wetstein on 1Pe 2:2 ; Lightfoot, Hor. p. 162; and for that of , Wetstein on Mat 10:42 . Before baptism a man is yet without connection with Christ, but through baptism he enters into this fellowship, and is now, in the first instance, a , i.e. an infans as yet in relation to Christianity, who as such receives the elementary instruction suitable for him (the of 1Co 3:2 ). The , on the other hand, which leads on to baptism, is preparatory , giving rise to faith, and forming the medium through which their calling takes place; and accordingly it has not yet to do with . The inference is a mistaken one, therefore (on the part of Rckert), that Paul has in mind here a second residence in Corinth not recorded in the Acts. His readers could not understand this passage, any more than 1Co 2:1 , otherwise than of the apostle’s first arrival, of the time, consequently, in which he founded the Corinthian church, when he instructed those who gave ear to his in the elements of Christianity.
By is expressed the specific field to which the notion of is confined; viewed apart from Christ, he, who as a new convert is yet a , may be an adult, or an old man, Comp on Col 1:28 .
[456] Ewald says truly, that the strict distinction between spiritual and fleshly came in first with Christianity itself. But so, too, the sharply-defined notion of the could only be brought out by the contrast of Christianity, because it is the opposite of the , and cannot therefore occupy a middle place between two former notions.
[457] . . . .
[458] n loc. refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
1Co 3:1-4 . Application of the foregoing section (1Co 2:6-16 ) to the Apostle’s relation to the Corinthians .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
1Co 1:10 to 1Co 4:21 . First section of the Epistle: respecting the parties, with a defence of the apostle’s way of teaching .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
IV. THE UNFITNESS OF THE CORINTHIANS TO RECEIVE TRUE WISDOM
1Co 3:1-4
1And I, [I also1] brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, [fleshy2] even as unto babes in Christ. 2I have fed you with milk, and [om. and3] not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither [nay, not even4] yet now are ye able. 3For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, [om. divisions5] are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal [men6]?
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1Co 3:1. As in 1Co 2:1, so here Paul turns from his more general exposition to the consideration of his own ministry at Corinth. The points of connection are furnished in 1Co 2:6; 1 Corinthians 14. The communication of wisdom on the part of the Apostles belonged only to the sphere of the perfect, of the spiritual; it could not be extended to those who were natural psychical (Seelische) and unreceptive of that which was of the Spirit. As every other person must have done therefore, I also was obliged to treat you as persons of the latter class.was not able to speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto (merely) fleshy (persons), as unto babes in Christ.Instead of , natural, lit. psychical, Ger. seelisch, he now uses and , fleshy and fleshly or carnal, the ordinary antithesis to , spiritual. The sense, however, is not changed by this, for the natural or psychical man is also at the same time a fleshy and carnal man (comp. 1Co 2:14), and we can neither say, with Bengel, that these latter expressions are milder, nor with Rckert, that they denote simple weakness, while the former implies hostile opposition; nor with Theophy. that they are stronger epithets than psychical, nor that the latter refers to the intelligence, while the former apply to the moral side of human nature, such as the desire and passions. Meyer 2d ed., denotes the category to which and belong. 3d ed., : one who stands outside of the influence of the Spirit, who either has not received Him at all, or has been again deserted by Him. Such a person is also . But not every as such is still a , because a may be also one who experienced the influences of the Spirit, but is not sufficiently actuated by his enlightening and sanctifying power to overcome the hostile power of the flesh; he still thinks, feels, judges, acts , (according to the flesh). He is here not speaking of Christians as distinguished from the world, but of one class of Christians as distinguished from another. Hodge.Again it is a question how , fleshy, and , fleshly, stand related to each other. The former elsewhere is used to denote made of the flesh, carneous. [Barytones in denote the material of which a, of stone, of wood, etc.]. The LXX. employs it to signify partly the earthliness and weakness of man in contrast with God (2Ch 32:8), and partly what is tender and easily impressed in contrast with what is hard and stony (Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26. In like manner it occurs in 2Co 3:3). But is used in the New Testament, and afterwards by the church fathers, to designate the disposition and character as contrasted with . [Denominatives in express that which pertains to the noun from which they are derived, and are like our adjectives ending in ly]. Bleek in Heb 7:16 is of the opinion that in the first introduction of these terms they were used alike, and that it was hot until later that the ordinary ethical signification was limited to the form which occurs but rarely in the classics. Meyer on the contrary sharply distinguishes. According to him designates the unspiritual state of nature which the Corinthians still had in their early Christian minority, inasmuch as the Holy Spirit had as yet changed their character so slightly that they appeared as if consisting of men flesh still. But expresses a later ascendancy of the hostile material nature over the divine principle of which they had been made partakers by progressive instruction. And it is the latter which, as he thinks, the Apostle makes the ground of his rebuke. In so far, however, as both epithets are of kindred signification, he could, notwithstanding the distinction between them, affirm, for ye are yet carnal. So Meyer. The distinction between an intellectual weakness and narrow-mindedness in the first beginnings of Christianity (to which also the parallel expression , babes, refers), and a moral impurity and perverseness manifesting itself in the progress of Christian development, and involving also an intellectual incapacity for a true heavenly wisdom, is a distinction fully justifiable and consonant with the use of the terms and by the Apostle elsewhere. But that the term is to be here understood relatively, and as not denoting an entire lack of the is clearly indicated by the phrase as unto babes in Christ. The time here referred to is that when they had just begun to receive Christian instruction, and were but recently admitted into fellowship with Christ by faith and baptism, and so become the children of God. They were of course then wholly immature and spiritually dependent, so that their conduct did not indicate the full impress of the Spirit. Their conscious will, the I, was still fettered by carnal and selfish habits, and their ability to comprehend the deeper grounds and relations of Christian truth was yet undeveloped. In short the allusion is to that crudeness which is seen in children. [And does not the word fleshy, seeing that the Apostle had in mind the image of babyhood, also clearly refer to the appearance of the babe alsoa little lump seemingly of mere flesh, as yet evincing but little signs of mind or conscience, although containing these elements in the germ? One can hardly avoid discovering here one reason of the use of the word fleshy instead of fleshly, which is an opprobious epithet, applicable only to later years. That mere animalness, which is one of the beauties of the babe, becomes deformity and a disgrace in an adult. Hence the change of terms when the Apostle comes to speak of their after condition. They were at first, but not developing their spirituality they become ]. That fondness for showy eloquence which was natural at the first passed over into the vanity and corruption of an egotistical partisanship, and so instead of attaining progressively a confirmed Christian character, they become carnal. In like manner the Rabbins also speak of little ones and sucklings. Schoettgen in loco. Wetstein 1Pe 2:2; Mat 10:42. On . comp. 1Co 14:20; Heb 5:13; otherwise Mat 11:25.
1Co 3:2. The figure introduced in the previous verse is still further carried out.I gave you milk to drink.That is, he gave them nourishment suited to their age. To the beginners in the Divine life, He imparted such instruction as was easy to be understood, the rudiments of Christian knowledge (Heb 6:1), not strong meat such as adults only could digest, not the deeper truths of wisdom, which only those who had advanced in religious experience could properly receive, 1Co 2:6 ff.not meat.This is connected to the foregoing in the way of a zeugma. [Winer, 66.100.]. Instead of , have given to drink, which can only be asserted of the milk, and not of the meat, some other verb, such as , have given, is to be supplied. The distinction between milk and meat can lie only in the formal treatment of the same fundamental truth. Neander. To refer the distinction here to the subject-matter of the preaching, is required neither by the figure used, nor by the connection. Burger. [The same truth in one form is milk, in another form, strong meat. Hodge. Christ is milk for babes, and strong meat for men. Calvin]. The reason of the above precedence was,for ye were not as yet able to bear it.The time here referred to was the commencement of his ministry, and that of their first conversion, and the verb , able is to be taken in an absolute sense, as it is used also in the classics, ye were not strong or capable enough. Meyer.nay, nor yet now are ye able.The . [which we render nay], is climacteric: not only were ye unable, but indeed ye are so still. It might appear inconsistent with this declaration that Paul proceeded in the 15 to expound to them the doctrine of the resurrection which certainly is strong meat rather than milk; but there was a special demand for such an exposition, which saved him from the charge of contradicting himself.
1Co 3:3. [Assigns the reason of the inability.For ye are yet carnalhere we have not , as the word of censure applicable only to their advanced stage, and showing that though they had been Christians for a long time, they had yet the fleshiness of children upon them, now become fleshliness. The proof of this]for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions [?], are ye not carnal, and walk according to man?Here he refers back to what was said in 1Co 1:10, ff. In Gal 5:20 he also counts these same things as among the works of the flesh, comp. likewise Rom 13:13. , envying; in classic as well as in Hellenic usage, this word occurs in a good sense, zeal, emulation, and in a bad one, jealousy, envy. Here it signifies partisan rivalry. Out of this arose strife, i.e. verbal disputation. If , divisions (see Crit. notes) were genuine, we should have in this a climax, indicating the schisms before referred to. , whereas, occurs in the classics, also in a causal sense, because, in so far as, since. Passow. According to de Wette, it is like , a conditional designation of the reason, if there be, etc. According to Meyer it implies a local conception of the conditional relation: where there is (comp. Heb 9:16; Heb 10:18). (also Rom 3:5)=. It is the opposite to walking in the Spirit, Gal 5:25. What he means to say is, your conduct conforms to the ways of men as they ordinarily are in their apostate and irreligious condition.
1Co 3:4. A further confirmation.For when one says, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos.The allusion to the parties is not as full as in 1Co 1:12, inasmuch as he has in this paragraph only to do with that of Apollos, or rather with the opposition existing between this and that called after himself. Meyer. These were at the same time the most important parties at Corinth. Osiander. Here likewise the distinction is not stated according to grammatical rules. The , however, brings out the contrast with emphasis: I, on my part; or, I, at all events. (Comp. Passow , A. I., II. 7; vol. II. 1. p. 175 and 177),are ye not men.The same usage as in 1Co 3:3 : after mans fashion. It was natural for the Jews to see in man (), the earthly, an implication of what was defective, imperfect, indeed the exact antithesis to God, and whatever was godlike. Hence the expression in the Old Testament: the children of men, and especially the daughters of men (Genesis 5), in opposition to the sons of God. (This is, according to the only interpretation suited to the connection and the spirit of the Old Testament, which sets the sanctified portion of the race over against those who represent men, human nature severed from God). The expression as here used, is certainly unique, but entirely in accordance with the analogy of Scripture. It means people who have not been lifted above human infirmity, and in whom the Divine element is utterly wanting. Meyer.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
Comp. on 1Co 1:12 ff.; 1Co 2:6 ff.; 1Co 2:1 ff.
1. [Christian truth is of different grades, and suited to different capacities. It has rudiments for the simplest child, and profundities which the angels desire to look into, and can never fully penetrate. It begins with the plainest facts of history, furnishing in these the foundation of a saving faith, but every one of these facts conduct us down into the deep things of God. Thus the Gospel is adapted to all classes of mankind. Its storehouse is furnished with all kinds of provisions, from the milk for babes to the strong meat for adults. In this we have one token of its Divine wisdom, and of its celestial origin and eternal destiny. Infinitude lies back of all its lowliest approaches to man in his fallen state, and in all it presents to faith, it furnishes that on which mind and heart shall feed for evermore].
2. The vanity of man apart from God. Human nature, originally so exalted in its likeness to God, so glorious in knowledge and voluntary power, has sunk so low by reason of sin, that Gods word, uttering ever the language of truth, associates with man (when regarded apart from the person of Jesus, and from what may be realized through Him) the conception of something small, weak, incapable, transient, vain, false; in short, of such imperfection and depravity as results from a rupture of our communion with God. Hence the inquiry, who art thou, O man? (Rom 9:20; comp. 1Co 2:1; 1Co 2:3); and, what is man? Psa 8:4; Psa 144:3, ff.; and the saying, all men are liars. Rom 3:4. Indeed, as used in common parlance, the term is often one of contempt. Luk 22:60 : Man, I know not what thou sayest. Mat 26:72 : I do not know the man. On the contrary, in Christ everything wins a different aspect. While in the Old Testament the term, children of men, is a disparaging epithet, Christ on the other hand, as the son of man, wears the honors of One, who, though He entered into all the weakness of human nature, and incurred its worst ills, yet rose again, and on this very account became the Mediator of a perfect communion with God, and the vehicle of all its consequent blessedness to the human race. By His righteousness He counterbalanced the sin of the old Adamic nature, and averts all its bitter results. He becomes also the sole Mediator between God and man, and appears as the One who from the lowest depths of humiliation, has been raised to utmost height of majesty. Comp. Mat 20:18; Mat 24:27, Mat 25:31; Mat 26:64, etc. All this was foreshadowed in the vision of Daniel, where the Son of man is seen to come in the clouds of heaven, and to whom is given eternal power and a kingdom without end (1Co 7:13), and where human nature thus honored by God, is contrasted with the brute nature, the beast, which develops itself in the kingdoms of this world. The oft-repeated title conferred on Ezekiel, : thou Son of man, may also be regarded as typical of this One who is preminently the Son of man. It was bestowed on the prophet as the receiver of the Divine communications, and was as honorable as it was humiliating (comp. Gerlach on Eze 2:1). Of the same sort was the epithet, Man of God, which was conferred on the prophets and other messengers of God, and passed out from the Old Testament into the New Testament. In fine, it may be affirmed generally that wherever, and to the degree in which communion with God is in any way predicable, the designation man at once obtains a higher signification, and becomes one of honor, and is prophetic of exaltation. Elsewhere it carries the opposite import.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Heubner:1. The wisdom of the Christian teacher is shown in knowing how to adapt himself to different ages, and to regard the necessities of his congregation; and to build up beginners unto perfection (1Co 3:1). 2. To the carnal nature belong self-love, vanity, ambition; these traits are exhibited in strife and partizanship. There is a zeal which is nothing more than an eagerness to maintain our own opinion, cause, or party, simply because it is ours, and we expect to stand or fall with it, and not because conscience bids. From this comes strife, contention about points of difference. The issue is division. Since neither will yield, they separate. This accords with mans fashion. Just as if Christianity were an affair of schools and sects, or as if one could act in the Church just as he does in the political world where factions and jealousies abound (1Co 3:2).
Rieger:1. Gods method of instruction requires that we do not overload. Novices are to be treated as children. We are to be considerate of their weaknesses, and not to crowd upon them those deeper doctrines which can be properly judged of only by such as are spiritual and strong. 2. In regard to milk and strong meat let us not err. Milk is a designation not of cheapness and meanness, but of what is most truthful and most nourishing to the spiritual life.Strong meat signifies not every thing which our intellectual curiosity may lust after, but the deeper disclosures of the fundamental verities of Gods kingdom, the knowledge of which promotes growth in grace. 3. The carnal mind, suspicious, opinionated, and thus divisive, not only begets oppositions in doctrine, but also diversities in practice, which end in schism.
Starke:1. Cr: to become a believer is not the result of a fit of enthusiasm, as if the wind were to blow upon a person and he straightway became perfect; but we must hear, learn, pray, read, inquire until we are transformed from one degree of conviction unto another. 2. Hed: Gods children often have gross and unacknowledged faults which linger in them until they have waxed in faith and grown strong to overcome. 3. To discourse to young converts of the deeper mysteries of Christian doctrine were as irrational as to give strong meat to babes. And since with the majority growth is slow and difficult, we must often continue longer to deal out to them the sincere milk of the Word.
Gossner:Every one thinks his party has the kernel and others only the shell. Whereas they all are apt to let the kernel alone and dispute about the shell, as if that were the kernel (1Co 3:4). So is it with those who, having begun in spirit, go back to the flesh. Mistaking incidentals for essentials, they grow weak in the inward man and are soon puffed up (1Co 3:1; 1Co 3:21).
W. F. Besser:The mind of Christ tolerates no party-spirit, and no love of divisions. The conscience of many in this day is not sufficiently tender on this point. Indeed there are numbers who consider their Christianity so much the purer in proportion as they disregard the visible exhibition of Church unity, and are reckless in breaking the bond of peace which outwardly unites companions in one faith.
[R. W. Robertson:Strong meat does not mean high doctrine such as Election, Regeneration, Justification by faith, but Perfection, strong demands on Self, a severe and noble Life. The danger of extreme demands made on hearts unprepared for such is seen in the case of Ananias.]
[N. Emmons. 1Co 3:2. Doctrines of the Gospel food for Christians. I. What doctrines the Apostle did preach to the Corinthians: a. Depravity; b. Regeneration; c. Love; d. Faith; e. Sanctification; f. Final Perseverance; g. Divine Sovereignty; h. Election. II. Why these are called milk:7 a. Because they are easy to be understood; b. Because they are highly pleasing to the pious heart; c. Because they are nourishing. III. Why the Apostle preached these rather than others to the Corinthians: a. Their internal state required such preaching; b. Their external state required it. Improvement. 1. If these doctrines are milk, what is meat? a. The rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic Law; b. The types and predictions of the Old Testament; c. The predictions of the New Testament. 2. The doctrines which Paul preached to the Corinthians, as shown above, have been misrepresented. 3. We have a criterion to determine who are the plainest preachers. 4. No people are incapable of hearing the doctrines Paul preached to the Corinthians].
Footnotes:
[1]1Co 3:1.The Rec. has , but with the far better and preponderant authorities A. B. C. D. E. F. G. Cod. Sin. Lach. and Tisch. read [which, as Words says, gives less prominence to the I, and accords more with the Apostles humility].
[2]1Co 3:1.The Rec. has according to 1Co 3:3, where a preponderance of authorities declares for , and only a few, governed by the original reading in 1Co 3:1, have , Here as in Rom 7:14; Heb 7:16 we must read according to best authorities . [So A. B. C. D. Cod. Sin.followed by Gries., Lach., Tisch., Words.. Alf., etc.].
[3]1Co 3:2.The , according to the best manuscripts [A. B. C. Cod. Sin.], is rejected by the great majority of translators and by the old church fathers.
[4]1Co 3:2.The Rec. instead of is feebly supported and verbally incorrect.
[5]1Co 3:3. is wanting in good authorities, A. B. [C. Cod. Sin.] and in the majority of versions and church fathers. Its omission is not to be explained. Probably inserted as a gloss from Gal 5:20. [Wordsworth retains it].
[6]1Co 3:4.Rec. . [Instead read . So A. B. C. Cod. Sin. Alf.. Stanley, Lach., Tisch., etc.] is better attested than and still better. The Rec. reading is probably taken from 1Co 3:3.
[7]One would suppose the aforementioned doctrines to be the strongest kind of meat. The sermon is interesting as a specimen.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The Apostle is prosecuting the Subject of his Ministry in this Chapter. Under several sweet Similitude’s, he describes the Manner he had used among them, for Instruction.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(1) And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. (2) I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
I beg the Reader, at his entrance on this Chapter to observe, the faithfulness of Paul, as a minister of Christ. He had marked out in the preceding Chapter, the character of such as were taught of the Spirit: and had drawn the line of distinction, between the natural man, which receiveth not the things of God, and the spiritually taught believer. Here, therefore, he makes application, of what he had said on that subject, with an eye to them. Though they were regenerated, or he could not have considered them as brought into Church communion; yet they were but so weak in understanding, that he could not call them anything more than mere babes in Christ. And babes in Christ can only receive the first things of nutriment, and such as tender capacities find easy of digestion; as babes in nature, can relish scarce anything more than to be fed at the breast. Reader! do not overlook the very sweet instruction, which is given here, both to ministers and people. A minister, like Paul, taught of God the Holy Ghost, and sent forth by God the Holy Ghost, may here learn, how necessary a part in the exercise of the holy function it must be, to study the state, and circumstances, of the Lord’s household. The different ages, and conditions, and characters of the Lord’s people, are carefully to be considered. Paul, describing to Timothy, the outlines of a faithful servant of Jesus Christ, saith; that he should study to shew himself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, 2Ti 2:15 . And such a workman must learn from his Master, how to turn his hand to every branch of his employment, in that part of it more especially which concerns feeding and instructing the Lord’s people. The babes in Christ must have the sincere milk of the Word, that they may grow thereby. The more advanced in grace, and knowledge, may be brought acquainted, as their spiritual capacities are enlarged, in the stronger food of the soul. All are to have suited portions; and none of them to be overlooked, or forgotten. Hence the Lord Jesus himself describes the faithful servant, in his household, who thus administers in his name, to his family, and calls him blessed, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing, Luk 12:42-43 . And the people, under such a charge, may learn, from what is here said, how necessary it is for them to receive the ministry of the Lord’s servants, with the utmost affection and good will. Babes in Christ, and young men, and Father s, as John calls them, all come in for their separate, and distinct portions. And well are faithful ministers entitled to the love of their people, while they need their prayers, that in so arduous a work, one might be neglected; but, both minister and people together, be blessed of the Lord. It were well if the former had everlastingly in view the model of Christ’s first sermon in the synagogue. when Jesus opened his commission in that place, and declared the prophecy Isaiah, to be that very day in his divine Person fulfilled; he immediately added, that his office was, to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that were bruised, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, Luk 4:18-19 with Isa 61:1-2 . And it were well if the latter, I mean the people ministered unto, were to remember this feature in the character of Jesus, and to form their judgment of the servants, who stand up to minister in the Lord’s name, by this plan of their Master. If a minister in following the steps of Christ in preaching, hath the Gospel to preach to the poor, and the blind, and the broken-hearted, the captive soul and the bruised, to speak to in the same sermon; various means must he adopt, so as to suit the various wants if such diversified characters. And how can a minister labor faithfully, amidst so many claims; or a people have their full and distinct portions, except the Lord directs both? The consciousness of this made Paul often cry out to the Church; Brethren, pray for us, 1Th 5:25 ; 2Th 3:1 ; Heb 13:18 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Co 3:1-2
A man always is to be himself the judge how much of his mind he will show to other men; even to those he would have work along with him.
Carlyle, Heroes, VI
1Co 3:2
It is a fact, forced upon one by the whole experience of life, that almost all men are children, more or less, in their tastes and admirations.
De Quincey, Autobiographic Sketches , XIII.
References. III. 1-8. J. Bowstead, Practical Sermons, vol. i. p. 281. III. 2. G. W. Brameld, Practical Sermons, p.l.
1Co 3:3
Speaking of the spirit of jealousy, in his essay on Modern Dissent, Matthew Arnold observes that ‘this temper is as much a spiritual hindrance nay, in the view of Christianity it is even a more direct spiritual hindrance than drunkenness or looseliving. Christianity is, first and above all, a temper, a disposition; and a disposition just the opposite to “a spirit of watchful jealousy”. Once admit a spirit of watchful jealousy, and Christianity has lost its virtue; it is impotent. All the other vices it was meant to keep out may rush in. Where there is jealousy and strife among you, asks St. Paul, are ye not carnal? are ye not still in bondage to your mere lower selves? But from this bondage Christianity was meant to free us; therefore, says he, get rid of what causes divisions, and strife, and “a spirit of watchful jealousy”. Compare the preface to Mazzini’s essays on Faith and the Future, in which he asks, ‘Why has reaction triumphed? The cause lies in ourselves; in our want of organisation, in the dismemberment of our ranks by systems, some absurd and dangerous, all imperfect and immature, and yet defended in a spirit of fierce and exclusive intolerance; in our ceaseless distrust, in our miserable little vanities, in our absolute want of that spirit of discipline and order which alone can achieve great results; in the scattering and dispersing of our forces in a multitude of small centres and sects, powerful to dissolve, impotent to found.’
References. III. 3. W. M. Sinclair, Difficulties of Our Day, p. 109. T. Binney, King’s Weigh-House Chapel Sermons (2nd Series), p. 341. III. 4-15. Expositor (6th Series), vol. viii. p. 73.
1Co 3:5
Compare Martineau’s remark, in his review of Dr. Arnold’s life: ‘Above all, he wholly lost sight of himself, and never gave occasion for even the perversest spirit to suspect that his battle with school evils was a contest for personal dignity or power; in his dominance over wrong, he was himself but serving the right ‘.
References. III. 5. Joseph Parker, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 201. C. D. Bell, The Name Above Every Name, p. 51.
1Co 3:6
‘We can look but a very little way into the connections and consequences of things: our duty is to spread the incorruptible seed as widely as we can, and leave it to God to give the increase,’ says Butler in one of his sermons. ‘Yet thus much we may be almost assured of, that the Gospel, wherever it is planted, will have its genuine effect upon some few, upon more perhaps than are taken notice of in the hurry of the world.’
References. III. 6. S. Cox, Expositions, p. 377. III. 6-9. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii. No. 1602.
The Guild of God
1Co 3:9
It is a special feature of the Christian revelation that throughout it exhibits God as a Worker. Other systems represent Him as being eternally at rest; He is pictured as an infinite Dreamer; to impute to Him anything like personal action is considered derogatory to His glory. In a true sense the orbs of heaven, the forces of the earth, creeping things and flying fowl, are messengers and instruments of the Divine Will; but whilst they act involuntarily and unconsciously, we may co-operate with God intelligently, willingly, lovingly. In a sense altogether special it is our privilege to become His ‘fellow-workers’.
I. Consider the great design and obligation of life. To what end does God work? To establish in the human heart and in human society the kingdom of justice and righteousness. If we are co-workers with God, let us often remind ourselves of His ideal, consult His plan and programme, and strive toward His purpose, which is altogether spiritual, holy, and beautiful. Men toil in a thousand different departments, at ten thousand differing tasks, and the result seems only a mass of isolated strivings; yet let us be sure that the unification of action is a fact also, that all kinds of social ministries are vitally related, and that one Divine coordinating Mind directs our divided and confused activities to a definite and an inexpressibly glorious end. (1) The workers must not despise or disparage one another, nor must any one thus treat himself or his task. (2) Let each in his place faithfully and industriously realise the splendid conception of the Master-Builder. ‘I sing for God,’ cried Jenny Lind, who did not always sing in cathedrals; ‘I pray with my fingers,’ said a celebrated organist; and the million toilers of the city working in the fear of God and the love of their neighbour make shrines of workshops and transform rough tools into sacred vessels of worship and blessing.
II. Remember the condition of success in the work of life. If ‘God’s fellow-workers,’ we must do our part. Our infidelity, disloyalty, or sloth arrests the great Worker and His miracles of blessing. On the other hand, we must not forget our dependence. Do we not often pathetically fail because we forget the paramount Partner?
III. Here we find the grand encouragement in all our generous aspirations and effects. ‘God’s fellow-workers.’ Then He will bring the work through. What an efficient coadjutor!
W. L. Watkinson, Inspiration in Common Life, p. 40.
Workers with God
1Co 3:9
It is a bold claim to make, but facts correspond to it and justify it. There is a sense in which every man is a fellow-worker with God. St. Paul, of course, meant very much more than this when he described himself and his companions in service as ‘fellow-workers with God.’ His words speak of conscious and voluntary cooperation, a willing and intelligent oneness of purpose and effort with the will and work of God.
I. In creating the world we are called to be God’s fellow-workers. Creation is not finished, but is always proceeding. In this continuous and never-ceasing work of creation man can help or hinder, develop or retard the creative purpose and process. The world into which he is born has all the material prepared to his hands; he is here to work it into more and better things. An eminent geologist has written a book that bears this title, The Earth as Modified by Human Action, and one has only to read it to see the wide range of human power, to see how closely man is in partnership with God in the work of creation, how much God needs man and man needs God.
II. And, in his own training and saving, in the work of developing, personal faculty and character, man is called to be God’s fellow-worker. What he can do for the earth, and the creatures and things that live upon it, he can do for himself, fulfil and finish the Creator’s purpose and plan. The statement in the Hebrew poem of creation, that man was made in the image of God, is prophecy, not history. It is the end seen from the beginning. Faith in what man can do and achieve does not mean any less faith in God. It includes God as the ground of all power, the inspiring Helper of all endeavour, the eternal life of all life. Real advance is only made when voluntary, purposeful efforts aid the unconscious strivings of Nature. It is an old saying that bids us pray as if God did everything, and work as if God did nothing. The will and work of God are identical not only with the moral regeneration of individuals, with the salvation and cultivation of the individual human soul, but with all work we respect and honour and rejoice in, with art, science, literature, politics, trade, with whatsoever activity works for the good of the community and the civilisation of nations.
III. In reconciling the world to Himself we are called to be fellow-workers with God. The work of atonement is in a peculiar sense the work of God. The Divine mission of Jesus Christ is not so much an interpolation in human history as the reflection and revelation in space and time of the universal and eternal labour and passion and sacrifice of God. It is the Father’s work into which the Son enters. And if we have got the Spirit of Christ, if we are within the circle of His fellowship, then we cannot help sharing in that work of reconciliation which is most clearly set forth by Jesus Christ to be the work of God in our human world. Worse than the most hopeless pessimism is the optimism of the men who are content to repeat the creed, ‘Truth and right are mighty, and must prevail’. But truth and right have never yet prevailed in this world without the help of true and righteous men. The only real failure in life, believe me, is to do less than our best.
John Hunter, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lx. p. 257.
References. III. 9. H. H. Snell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. p. 70. J. S. Boone, Sermons, p. 136. C. G. Finney, Penny Pulpit, No. 1570, p. 193. E. Armitage, Christian World Pulpit, vol. li. p. 364. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Corinthians, p. 30. III. 10. Expositor (7th Series), vol. vi. p. 372. III. 11. David Brook, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. iv. p. 173. C. M. Betts, Eight Sermons, p. 3. H. Varley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. p. 68. H. P. Liddon, Sermons Preached on Special Occasions, p. 220. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. v. p. 237. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv. No. 1494. Expositor (6th Series), vol. iv. p. 293.
The Trial By Fire
1Co 3:11-15
I. Let us ask, What is it we each build? The reply is, Character. What is character? It is the slow accretion of habits, acts, and impulses, of morality and emotion, tending toward a final mould, a fixed form. It is the accretion of habit, for we are so constituted that to do a thing once is to desire to do it again, and every act is the preface and preparation for a similar act. It is the work of impulse, for impulse is the glowing forge in which action is shaped. It is morality and emotion, for not more surely is the slenderest coloured thread gathered into the loom, or the lightest whisper chronicled on the wax tablet of the phonograph, than is each thrill of hope, each fear or prayer, recorded in the structure of character. Does it not follow, then, that character is everything to us: the one real possession which is imperishable? The whole worth of Christianity to the world is that it is the science of character, that it teaches men to build their lives up into a mould of moral beauty, and attain the stature of Christ. James Smetham said: ‘It is of much more importance to preserve a fresh and tender love to God and man, than to turn the corner of an art career’.
II. But the Apostle strikes a subtler chord when he speaks of the mixed elements that exist in the best work, of things perfect and imperfect the gold and the stubble that jostle one another in human character. Who has not remarked the imperfections of religious men? Who has not seen, as St. Paul saw, that the same man has both gold and stubble in him, that his vision of truth is often limited and vitiated by some error of nature, that his flaws of temper exist side by side with a great apostolic passion for souls, or that his narrowness of sympathy spoils all the admirable grasp of truth which is his? The whole history of the Church has been a record of these imperfections. The duty of charity towards others, which our own errors teach us, must not blind us to the main point of the passage, which is the testing of character which awaits us. Paul sees the fire that kindles for his trial, the purifying and avenging flame that is to test his work, and he would fain build only with such elements as the flames cannot consume.
III. What, then, is this flame? What does it mean for us? (1) Surely time is one of the flames by which all our work is to be tested. (2) Temptation also is the flame through which all character must pass. (3) But beyond time and temptation there lies the third trial, and it is of that St. Paul chiefly thinks: the last day that day the great assize. There is one final word of consolation. Nothing that is really good in us can ever perish, or need fear that flame.
W. J. Dawson, The Comrade Christ, p. 261.
Reference. III. 11-15. C. D. Bell, The Name Above Every Name, p. 165.
1Co 3:12-13
‘The more I think of the matter, and the more I read of the Scriptures themselves, and of the history of the Church,’ Dr. Arnold wrote in 1827, ‘the more intense is my wonder at the language of admiration with which some men speak of the Church of England, which certainly retains the foundation sure as all other Christian societies do, except the Unitarians, but has overlaid it with a very sufficient quantity of hay and stubble, which I devoutly hope to see burnt one day in the fire.’
This passage was often in Mrs. Oliphant’s mind, not only on her deathbed, but earlier in her career as a novelist. ‘What is the reputation of a circulating library to me?’ she wrote in her autobiography. ‘Nothing, and less than nothing a thing the thought of which now makes me angry, that any one should for a moment imagine I cared for that, or that it made up for any loss. I am perhaps angry, less reasonably, when well-intentioned people tell me I have done good, or pious ones console me for being left behind by thoughts of the good I must yet be intended to do. God help us all! What is the good done by any such work as mine, or even better than mine? “If any man build upon this foundation… wood, hay, stubble;… if the work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” An infinitude of pains and labour, and all to disappear like the stubble and the hay.’
Reference. III. 12, 13. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Corinthians, p. 39.
1Co 3:15
To Dominic, in allusion to his supposed share in the Albigensian crusade, and the foundation of the Inquisition, he used to apply St. Paul’s words, 1Co 3:15 .
Stanley’s Life of Arnold (ch. VIII.).
References. III. 13. W. Redfern, The Gospel of Redemption, p. 135. R. W. Church, Village Sermons (3rd Series), p. 9. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of St. Paul, p. 51. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ii. p. 66. III. 15. C. D. Bell, The Name Above Every Name, p. 178. T. Binney, King’s Weigh-House Chapel Sermons, p. 138.
The Coming of the Holy Ghost ( for Whit-sunday )
1Co 3:16
I. The first visible fruit of the coming of the Holy Ghost was in the gift of tongues. Part of that gift of tongues seems undoubtedly to have been that certain of the number, where they were, could speak languages they were not able to speak before. They were able to sing the praises of God in a way that all kinds of different nations who had come to Jerusalem from all parts were able to understand. That was part of the gift, and a wonderful gift, and yet it was the least valued of the gifts of God. It was the extraordinary, and not the ordinary, gift of the Holy Ghost, and we make a great mistake when we think that the extraordinary must of necessity be of more value, of greater worth, than the ordinary. That is a mistake which people make in many other directions: for instance, despising the wild flowers of the wayside, because, as we say, they are common, and valuing more highly the flowers which are uncommon. So with the gifts of the Holy Spirit there are those which are extraordinary, and which appear from time to time in the New Testament. They have passed; do not envy them. The ordinary gift of the Holy Ghost that remains with us, and that is of much higher value than the extraordinary.
II. What is the ordinary gift? It is the gift of Spiritual power. ‘Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.’ That is the Master’s promise, and they were to wait for it. Of this other gift of languages He said nothing only of the more precious gift, the gift of the power from on high. It is the power of the Holy Spirit which enters into our own soul, into our own spiritual nature, and deals with it and strengthens it in every department. It takes hold of our understanding. The Holy Spirit entering into our soul, making the body and the soul His temple and dwelling within us, comes as an added strength to our understanding, raising our understanding, so that it can not only deal with the things that it sees, but rise to the height of faith, giving a new power of faith and opening our eyes to see the true bearing and meaning of the words of the Lord, and of the acts of the Lord. All that He has done and said for our own soul needs a key. There the words lie on the page, and they are like a locked room. It is the Holy Spirit Who can come and open those words for our understanding, according to the promise of the Lord: ‘When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth’. Remember, the words of the Lord are only to be understood by the help and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
III. The Holy Spirit comes and brings power, or brings strength to our own heart and to our own affections, and teaches a man, and helps a man to hate what is hateful and to love what is good and what is true. The Holy Spirit dwells within our hearts and puts in them that double faculty of the appreciation of what is good, the love of what is good, and the renunciation and hatred of what is evil.
And yet again, the Holy Spirit, entering into our hearts, finds His way into our will our will which has been weakened by self-indulgence and self-pleasing and puts new strength into that will, and gives to us what He gave to the Apostles at that time new heart and new courage to face the difficulties before them. The coming of the Holy Ghost made of these men, who were cowards, heroes and martyrs. One after another, these men who had denied their Master, after the coming of the Holy Ghost, laid down their lives. The strength of the martyrs is the witness of the power of the Holy Ghost, just as all the most beautiful things which have been written and thought are the gifts of the Holy Ghost. And all true love of God and man is an outcome of that Holy Spirit Who has made the soul His temple and resting-place.
This gift of power to our understanding and our heart and our will that represents the ordinary gift of the Holy Spirit; and that is at our disposal, and according to our goodwill and our earnestness and the use we make of God’s gifts will be given to us of the fulness of the power of the Spirit.
Christ and His Human Temples
1Co 3:16
This Epistle was written from the city of Ephesus where was that famous temple of Diana which was reputed to be the world’s greatest work of art. It was addressed to Corinth, which city also was renowned for its splendid temples. Now we can imagine St Paul writing in view of the Ephesian temple, or with his mind full of pictures which the sacred buildings of Corinth had impressed. He knew, at least, that these temples were always before the eyes and often in the thoughts of the Corinthian believers; and herein lies the point of such words as these: ‘Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?’ You poor, despised, scorned ones, cast out from society, are more and greater than these lofty fanes. I. In these words there was the new Christ-given thought of the dignity of man. Man was more than stones and marble, and statuary and material splendour. Manhood with a bit of faith and goodness in it was more than wisdom and genius and wealth, and all that these things could produce. When Christ took upon Himself a human body, He made humanity Divine. The Incarnation was the real starting-point of human progress and elevation. Thrones and palaces and temples are not the glory of the world, but men and women who reflect in their faces and conduct some of the majesty of the great King.
II. Think of the nearness and familiarity of the Divine presence. You have not to go in search of Him; you carry Him with you. Stones cannot be consecrated, but souls can: priests cannot introduce you to Him He is nearer than the priest who whispers in your ears. He is part of you; your souls are the altar, your prayers are the incense, your aspirations are the painted windows and spires, your devout thoughts are the priests.
III. Now what a solemn thought of dedication and of holiness is suggested by these words. Temple something detached, cut off, separated, taken out of the common, secular, corrupt world and marked out for other and higher uses; not to be employed again for any service that is low, vulgar, profane, for any service but what is pure and Divine; to be kept holy, undefiled, and perfumed with the incense of sweet thoughts and prayers. Keep the temple holy which He has made His own.
IV. And, finally, remember that the temple is a witness for God. And we are to be as living temples among the crowd of men, bearing witness of the Spirit of God that dwells within us, forcing upon their unbelieving minds thoughts of the Christ whom we love, showing in speech, temper, and conduct, the image or the Invisible, proving to the world that God is near and that Christ is living by the Divinity and Christlikeness of our faces.
J. G. Geeenhough, The Cross in Modern Life, p. 192.
The Divine Indwelling (A Motive to Holiness)
1Co 3:16
I. Let us consider the fact to which the Apostle appeals: ‘Ye are the temple of God the Spirit of God dwelleth in you’.
(1) This is not, first of all, merely a recognition of the presence of God in Nature. Doubtless, the sense of God’s encompassing, all-pervading life must be one of the main factors in the thought of every thinking man who believes in the existence and spirituality of God. He conceives of God as the Being from Whom it is literally impossible to escape. ‘Whither shall I go then from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I go then from Thy presence? if I climb up into heaven, Thou art there: if I go down to hell, Thou art there also. If I take the wings of the morning, and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also shall Thy hand lead me; and Thy right hand shall hold me.’
God, the everywhere present, enwrapping, upholding, penetrating through and through each creature of His hand, yet in His Uncreated Essence distinct from all, is before the Psalmist’s soul. Man, if he would, cannot be where God is not, cannot place himself outside this all-pervading ubiquity of God. Thus the universe is the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in it.
(2) Yet the Apostle does not mean that the Corinthian Christians were only God’s temple as being a part of His universe. For, first of all, man, as man, is differently related to the Divine Omnipresence from anything else in Nature. Man alone can feel it, can acknowledge it, can respond to it. God is just as present with a plant or an animal as with man; but neither animal nor plant is conscious of the Divine contact; both animal and plant offer only the homage of an unconscious obedience to God’s law. Man, however, can know and adore his God, by the homage of his intelligence and of his moral freedom; and thus the human soul is a temple of God, in a distinct sense from any of the lower forms of life. It is a living temple, whereof each wall, each pillar, each cornice, nay the arches and the very floor, are instinct with the life whether of thought or feeling, so designed and proportioned as even by their silent symmetry to show forth their Maker’s praise. To those among Adam’s children who are alive in Jesus Christ, God manifests His presence by His Spirit; and this manifestation makes them His temples in an altogether intenser sense than is possible for unregenerate man.
(3) For the presence referred to by the Apostle is not only the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church. Primarily, indeed, the words imply that truth, ‘Ye are the temple of God,’ ‘the Spirit of God dwelleth in’ or ‘among you’. It is indeed in the Church as a whole, and not in the individual, that the full majesty of the Spirit’s presence is to be witnessed. The ‘whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified ‘by the Spirit, in a deeper sense than any individual can be.
(4) The presence upon which he insists is ultimately a presence in the individual. It differs from the presence of the Spirit with saints and prophets under the Jewish Covenant, and still more from the occasional visits which He may have vouchsafed to heathens, in that, so far as the will of the Giver is concerned, it is normal and continuous. ‘The Spirit of God dwelleth in you.’ No passing visit is here, no sudden but transient illumination, no power, fitfully given and suddenly withdrawn. ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Such was to be the law of the Messianic kingdom: each of its subjects was to be gifted with an inward presence of the Holy One.
II. If we have difficulty in habitually realising such a truth, it is, I believe, because we fail to do justice in our ordinary thoughts to that higher side of our composite being, which is the seat of the Spirit’s Presence within us. Man is not merely a perishing animal gifted with life, a : he is an immortal spirit, a .
III. Let us observe, in the substance of the Apostle’s appeal, all the conditions of a really powerful religious motive.
(1) Of these the first is, that the truth or fact appealed to should not be an open question in the mind of the person to whom the appeal is made.
(2) A second condition of a strong religious motive is, that it shall rest upon a positive and not upon a merely negative conviction.
(3) A third condition of a strong working religious motive is, that it shall rest upon what is felt to be a present truth.
(4) A fourth condition of a strong religious motive is, that it shall appeal to the better side, to the more generous natural impulses of human nature.
IV. Lastly, be it observed that this conviction furnishes the true basis both for the moral training of children, and for real self-improvement in later life.
H. P. Liddon.
References. III. 16. C. Perren, Outline Sermons, p. 228. M. G. Glazebrook, Prospice, p. 182. Bishop Winning-ton-Ingram, A Mission of the Spirit, p. 123. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Corinthians, p. 47. III. 17. Expositor (4th Series), vol. i. p. 202. III. 18. Phillips Brooks, The Mystery of Iniquity, p. 153. Expositor (6th Series), vol. i. p. 93; ibid. vol. xii. p. 30.
Two Estimates of Foolishness
1Co 3:18-19
St. Paul touched a sensitive place when he talked in this way. If there was one thing which a Corinthian could not bear to have pricked it was his conceit in the matter of wisdom. To call that in question was the unpardonable insult. He was not particularly vain of his personal appearance, of his clothes, or his property; but he was always more than a little puffed up with intellectual pride. Of the two he would have much preferred an empty purse to a thinly furnished head, and he would almost rather be known as a criminal than be regarded as a fool. These words of St. Paul must have been like needles to him, unless he laughed them away as sheer stupidity. ‘If any man among you seemeth to be wise, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.’ The first point on which the Apostle insists here is
I. That there are two estimates of folly God’s estimate and the world’s estimate; and these two are often as contrary as light and darkness. ‘The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.’ And if a man seems to be particularly wise in the eyes of the world, the best thing he can do is to become a fool in men’s eyes in order to be called wise by God. That is St. Paul’s extreme way of putting it, and it sounds extravagant. And yet it covers a profound and unquestionable truth.
‘The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.’ And, on the contrary, what seems to the world folly is often, in God’s sight, the highest and divinest wisdom. An honest life will not be always called wise; a life of purity will occasionally win cheap sneers. If you pursue great ideals, if you kneel often in prayer, if you spend your energies in self-denying labours, if you give freely to help your fellowmen if you often lift your eyes from the dust toward the heavenly crown, if you seek God’s ‘Well done!’ rather than the praises of men, you are sure to be called by the baser sort, as all good men have been called fools. Take it with a smile. Pin the name upon your breast, as a mark of honour. For it is an honour to have that name given by those who have no greatness of soul. You are in the way of God’s wisdom, and it is of infinitely more consequence, both now and hereafter, that you should not be deemed a fool by Him, whatever you are in the eyes of men. For what He thinks folly now all lips will call folly some time, and the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. The second thought which St. Paul gives us here is
II. That a man is never wise until he feels himself a fool, and just trusts in that higher wisdom which is not his own. ‘If any man seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.’ Some of us have had this grace given, to know that the human will is weak and the heart often prejudiced and darkened, that the most cultured mind cannot?ee a step before it, and the wisest mind stumbles unless God illumine, direct, and show the way. And we feel that we dare not take any important step in life until we have laid it before God in prayer. It is then that we become wise then when we say
An infant crying in the night,
An infant crying for the light;
‘Show me Thy way, O Lord’; ‘Take Thou my hand and lead me’. Then do we understand what St. Paul meant when he said, ‘If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise’.
J. G. Greenhough, The Mind of Christ in St. Paul, p. 139.
References. III. 19. E. A. Bray, Sermons, vol. i. p. 361, and vol. ii. p. 1. Expositor (4th Series), vol. xiii. p. 119; ibid. (5th Series), vol. viii. p. 308. III. 21. Brooke Herford, Courage and Cheer, p. 235. T. Phillips, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. p. 307. Expositor (6th Series), vol. i. p. 94. III. 21, 22. B. J. Snell, The All-Enfolding Love, p. 145. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Corinthians, p. 56.
1Co 3:21 ; 1Co 3:23
‘Who,’ asks R. H. Hutton in his review of Renan’s Paul, ‘who that has studied St. Paul at all has not noticed that bold, soaring, and I might almost say by an audacious anachronism, if it did not give so false a conception of its intellectual motive Hegelian dialectic, with which he rises from the forms of our finite and earthly thought to the infinite and the spiritual life embodied in them?… “Therefore let no man glory 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 ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” What ease and swiftness, and power of wing in this indignant upward flight from the petty conflicts of the Corinthian Church; an upward flight which does not cease till the poor subjects of contention, though he himself was one of them, seem lost like grains of sand beneath the bending sky!’
References. III. 21-23. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xliv. No. 2589. J. Caird, Sermons, p. 247. F. L. Goodspeed, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. p. 121. T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. iv. p. 47. W. L. Alexander, Sermons, p. 122. J. W. Boulding, Sermons, p. 21. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Corinthians, p. 65. III. 22. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 211. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv. Nos. 870 and 875. Expositor (6th Series), vol. vi. p. 309. III. 23. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 335.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
1Co 3:1-9
1. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4. For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
5. Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6. I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
8. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
9. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
God’s Fellow-Workmen
How wonderfully the tone of this wonderful man changes as he addresses the Church at Corinth. It is a dramatic study even, if it be nothing else; as a piece of literature it might arrest the attention of inquisitive and literary men. Paul addresses the Corinthians in the first instance as if they were everything that could be wished; and then he takes them to pieces bone by bone, and plucks off every feather, and asks them to look at themselves, and be ashamed of themselves; and in the very midst of all this pastoral desolation he tells them that they are the temple of the Holy Ghost. The whole method is Pauline, irregular, abrupt, sometimes violent, and then counterbalancing its violence by such tenderness as was never seen in woman. There is no mistaking this man’s style; to read it is to walk over acres of rocks, miles of great boulder stones, coming every now and then upon large green places through which silver rills are running, and over which birds are singing, as if detained by unusual beauty.
He first speaks of himself in humbling terms. Before he comes to this tug he will lie down at the feet of the people whom he is going to rebuke. Perhaps, said he, that is the best way; I want to speak to these people as I never spoke to any other people in all my ministry; if I stand up, my attitude may be taken as expressive of self-consciousness, haughtiness, defiance; I will therefore lie down on the ground at their feet, and speak with that peculiar timidity which is the best consciousness of real might and power. “I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom…. I was with you in weakness, and in tear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom.” That was the condition of the preacher. In the third chapter he turns right round upon them and says, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual.” He had gained his standing-ground, he had conciliated his audience, he had prepared a highway for the Lord. He was a hundred men. We speak sometimes of imitating the style of this man or of that, and we are obliged to inquire which style, because the men spoken about have a hundred styles, they have all styles, they have the keys of the kingdom a great key that only a strong hand can turn, and a little key that a child could carry, but that opens, as if in oil, locks that preserve countless, inestimable treasures. Paul is in his mixed style. One sentence is a Bible, having Genesis in it and Revelation; then in another sentence he stands as a suppliant might stand, and asks to be allowed to speak: through all this humiliation he will make his way, and at the last we shall see him with the old port, his voice rich with all its tones, and his attitude vindicated as the pastor-soldier, the mother-judge, the pitying critic: contradictions to the ear, but reconciliations musical to the heart.
“And I, brethren”: why these apologetic terms, why these conciliatory words? Why make quite sure about the brotherhood when he is going to tear it to pieces? He will insist upon brotherhood. In all this argument he insists upon the unity of the Church. That indeed is his foundation principle; he will sacrifice all accidental circumstances to that grand doctrine, namely, the Church is one: one architect, one builder, one Lord, one owner: under that great doctrinal wheel objections are ground to powder. The Apostle could not speak unto the Corinthians “as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal.” The word “carnal” has no reference whatever to the flesh; it is the antithetic word to “spiritual”: the paraphrase therefore would be: I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, as unto master minds in the kingdom, as unto those who have seen the secret of God; but as unto materialists, men who are still in the letter, men who are only groping around the door, men who have found a few elementary and alphabetic principles but have not yet entered into the mystery, the music, the liberty of the divinest literature; I have not been able to speak to you, brethren, as unto insiders, as unto those who have touched the altar and by that touch made it almost live; but as unto outsiders, men who are not a long way from the temple, men who have great interest in God’s temple, but who have not yet entered in and claimed the heritage and liberty of children. Paul, therefore, exercises discrimination; he is a critic every inch: sometimes we think he is a poet; so he is, but he penetrates, distinguishes, separates, winnows, so as to keep the wheat and the chaff apart.
The Apostle spoke unto the Corinthians “as unto babes in Christ.” How does that correspond with the introduction? “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift.” Do these two parts coincide? Is this consistency? Only those who live in the letter should ask so frivolous a question. There is an ideal Church, and there is an actual society; there is a public conception, a public totality, and there is a mechanism that takes to pieces. There is a public health. It may be said consistently that the health of a nation is superb at the very moment when thousands of men are dying within the limits of that very nation. It may be said the public credit of the country never stood so high, and whilst the patriot is making that declaration concerning his country the key may be turned by the jailor upon such thieves as never disgraced the history of the country before. The Apostle speaking unto babes in Christ is a picture full of pathos. Under this declaration there lies that heroic egotism which never deserted the Apostle Paul. We might infer that the man who spoke thus meant that he could have addressed the Corinthians as men, he could speak to an audience of giants, he could summon the Titans of the ages and hold them in easy play by that infinite skill with which God had made him rich. Yet, as an economic householder, a wise tender-hearted pastor, he said, Today the food must be milk, not meat, “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat.” Why? For a tender reason, for a pastor’s reason “For hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” This great preacher considered his audience. The one thing that is forgotten by most preachers is the congregation. Paul knew that every congregation was a congregation of infants. He is the mighty preacher who goes along the line of infancy, simplicity, trustfulness; who explains things winningly, intelligibly, who breaks the bread into little pieces, who gives the milk in spoonsful. Only Paul had the courage to say that he was doing it. Others do it as if they were not doing it, but this man did it with avowed reasons. Then may it be true that even an apostle may not be preaching all he knows? Certainly. May even a Paul be talking alphabetically when he could talk in the very highest literature of the Church? There can be only one reply. How is this? Because Paul never preached to himself; he preached to others; he preached to those who were behind him in every spiritual acquisition; he preached that he might gather up into his arms all who needed to be loved. This entitled him to be called what he will presently designate himself, “a wise masterbuilder.”
Now for faithful talk, such as could not be endured in modern times, now for a speech that would dispossess a pope of his chair. “For ye are yet carnal;” ye are yet outsiders, ye are yet objective, dealing only in personalities, and frivolities, and fashions; ye are not subjective, spiritual, introspective, gifted with the vision that sees the book and reads it before it is opened. What will Paul do with such people? Dismiss them? That would not be good pastoral oversight. He will accommodate himself to them; he will say, You cannot take what I could prepare for you, but I will prepare something that you can take; you shall have milk, you shall be treated as little children. There is no reproach in childhood, it so be ye be growing children: but an infant thirty years old is a monstrosity.
Why were the Corinthians “carnal,” outsiders, superficialists? “For whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” Is not this what they do on the streets, in the clubs, in the ordinary social relations of Corinth? I do not hear any music in your voices, I hear only clamour, turbulence, self-assertion, party cries; you are a clique. Yet Paul would not crush them as a strong hand might crush an insect; he will reason with them, he will put interrogatively what he might have put didactically and judicially. There is a great oratorical secret in this interrogation. It was thus that Demosthenes maddened his hearers; he made them parties to his orations, there was a silent antiphony as he approached the conclusion of his appeal; he rained interrogations upon the listening Greeks until they sprang to their feet and said, “Let us fight.” Paul will ask a question “Are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” “Are ye not carnal? who then is Paul, and who is Apollos?” What does it amount to? what is the man who plants? what is the man who waters? Bethink ye, O ye childish Corinthians; you are exciting yourselves about the wrong objects; your enthusiasm is fine, your anger is not without a touch of sublimity, your contention is sharpened sometimes into a suggestive agony: but you are exciting yourselves upon the wrong topics. What shall we say to a man who, instead of knocking at the door, has all the while been bruising his bones against the wall? Enthusiasm is nothing in itself; it acquires all its quality and all its worth from the object on which it is expended, or the inspiration to which it owes its flame and sacrifice. So to-day the Church may be very busy with all manner of councils, meetings, congresses, conferences, intercommunications; but it may all be along the wrong line and about the wrong topic, and will end in vapour.
How were the Corinthians conducting themselves? “One saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos.” That was the difficulty in Corinth, the difficulty of party feeling. Partisanship is always an evil, unless restrained by very high motives and considerations. In the Church there should be no party name: in politics there may be, and to a certain extent properly, because politics are nothing; they may be represented by a feud of words, a clamour of opinions, a contention of more or less selfish interests, as politics are at present conducted: but in the Church there is a name and by that name all things are regulated, adjusted, and settled. Compare one candle with another, but when the sun rises put out both the candles; if there were no sun it would be interesting to compare one artificial light with another, and to say, I prefer this to that, but when the sun has risen and claims the whole firmament for his dominion, then all our little sparks must vanish. It is because there is a Christ in the Church that there must be no Paul in it, no Apollos, except in a secondary and subservient and collateral sense, helping assisting, contributing to the general smooth ongoing of the household, but nothing more. “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos?” This is the very question that ought to make the Church ashamed of herself to-day. Paul would be lost in anger if he knew the use that is being made of his name in the Church at this moment. There is now a Paulianity. There are men who follow Paul, as they falsely suppose, who do not follow Paul’s Lord. Paul simply wants to be known amongst us as a “minister,” a servant, one who runs errands, and carries messages, and explains what his Lord wishes us to understand; he does not want to be received as Christ but for Christ’s sake. Let us take care lest we make an idol of Paul and an idol of Apollos, and lest we be quoting the Epistles instead of living upon the Gospels. Are they not one? Certainly they are, but they may be perverted in their unity, they may be misunderstood in their relation: it is because they are one that we go to the fountain, it is because they are one that we cannot be content with the stream.
Paul will not have his work ignored. He says, I have planted; my eloquent friend Apollos, to whom speaking is breathing, and whose breathing is the fragrance of the garden of the Lord, has watered; we have done the little that lay in our power, but God gave the increase. Paul uses the word “God” with effective expressiveness. He lifts the discussion to its right level. The Corinthians were setting Paul against Apollos, reasoning against eloquence, eloquence against reasoning, rhetoric against logic, logic against rhetoric, and so were frittering away their time and their energy; the Apostle comes and says, you need both the logician and the rhetorician, but you must put them into their right places, they are servants, helpers, contributors; “but God gave the increase.” If there is any light, any hope, any love, any joy, any truth, it is of God, and not of Paul or Apollos. “So then, neither is he that planteth anything” anything to be spoken about or made much of “neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” When did Paul so frequently use the word God? He repeats it, he returns to it, he seals every sentence with it. The Corinthians were debaters, not worshippers; partisans, not sons of the living God in the highest sense of the term.
“Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one;” Paul is as good as Apollos, and Apollos is as good as Paul, and neither of them is worthy of being mentioned, because they are only deacons, ministers, servants, errand-bearers, slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ; when you think of the Church and praise the Church, think of God, and let every doxology fly heavenward, not a syllable lost upon the earth. To this sublimity of conception would Paul call us. “And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” Thus Paul recognises what he himself has done, and what Apollos has done, and each of them shall receive his own wages. Paul has been planting ten years or fifty, the Lord will not forget him; Apollos has been charming the Churches with that unrivalled eloquence, and with that unsurpassed knowledge of the Scriptures, in which he is so mighty; at eventide God will give him his crown. But there the matter will rest; Paul has no authority, Apollos has no authority. Paul never wants to have his name quoted; he would seem to cry in spiritual agony, “Brethren, let me alone! do not quote me, quote the Lord; I am an echo, not a voice; do not seal your letters with my authority, seal them with the superscription of Calvary.”
“For we are labourers together with God.” That is the highest tribute that can be paid to us. The whole administration is one, and if we are in that administration we are in it simply as helpers, called to co-operate with God; not that God needs co-operation, but that by co-operation he educates and strengthens the world. “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” What other man dared have said so? No modern speaker dare have flashed out his words thus elliptically. “Ye are God’s husbandry” is one figure, and with only a comma the Apostle continues, “Ye are God’s building.” We are afraid of mixed metaphors, because we are small thinkers and petty speakers, who have a reputation to take care of. Paul was a great, urgent thinker, a man who said, “The king’s business requireth haste,” and a man who left a good deal to be filled up. So he said, Ye are God’s field, ye are God’s building. We should be more expressive and instructive if less conscious of literary proprieties. “Ye are God’s husbandry.” Literally, ye are God’s George, ye are God’s field. This accounts for the popularity of the name of George in the early ages of the Church. The literal meaning is field ye are God’s George, ye are God’s acre. Virgil wrote the Georgics, the field pieces, the field lays and criticisms and experiences. Brethren, your name is George; ye are a field under the Lord; you want tilling, ploughing, watering, planting, all agricultural processes: but ye are God’s field. Paul may have done a little ploughing, but he never made the field; Apollos may have done a little watering, but he never made the field; Paul and Apollos may have sowed a great deal of seed, but they never made the seed, they got that out of God’s garner. It is God’s seed, God’s truth, God’s wisdom, God’s purpose “Ye are God’s husbandry.” He will not let go of that word “God,” he who was so free in the use of the term, “our Lord Jesus Christ,” yet in all this introduction keeps up the word God as probably he never kept it up before, that he may make the least of the human, the mechanical, and the ecclesiastical, and lift it into its broader altitude and light and colour, the Divine conception and the Divine sovereignty of humanity. “Ye are God’s building, God’s house.” He is speaking now, not of each individual, but of the Church. Of that Church he has said, “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge… so that ye come behind in no gift.”
Then dealing with individuals in that Church he says, ye are carnal; ye are milk-drinkers, ye are milk-fed babes; you could not eat strong meat if I gave it to you, it would be too much for your feeble digestion. Now, returning to the corporate idea of the Church, he says, ye are God’s field, God’s house. Who takes that view of the Church to-day? Only one man here and there. Now, we have in the Church what is called discipline, so that little, mouldy, pharisaical respectabilities gather themselves together into what they call Church Meetings, and expel from their company anybody that has been doing what they call wrong. That was not Paul’s idea of the Church. He would keep every man in the Church, and rebuke the defaulter night and day, but he would never let him go out if he could help it Looking at the Church in its totality he said, “I thank my God always on your behalf”; looking at the Church individually he says, “I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ”; for ye are clamouring amongst one another in a spirit of debate as to whether Paul is greater than Apollos, or Apollos is greater than Paul; I am ashamed of you! Then once more the great total idea glows like a discovered planet, and Paul says, Ye are God’s field, and he wants every blade of grass; ye are God’s house, a poor little hut indeed, but when he dwells in it his occupancy shall give it its only glory.
Thus we come upon great conceptions of the Church, and great conceptions of the nation. There are those who say that a nation is no better than the individuals composing it. That is fallacious; because, by the very association of individual with individual, each acquires something he could not otherwise possess. A nation is not a gathering of individuals who retain their individuality in some isolated and selfish sense; it is the friction of individuality, that clash and collision, out of which come light, motion, progress. There are those who say a church is only what its individuals are. That is wrong, or only in a very narrow sense can it be defended as right; because when the Church comes together we lose a great deal of individuality and we merge into one another; and herein is that saying true, “We are labourers together with God.” The ministry is one, the Church is one; if you are rich, you hold your riches for the man who is poor; if you are gifted with wisdom, that wisdom is not to be spent on your own little fortune and destiny, it is to be shared by those on whom the spirit of genius has not alighted; and those who are most honoured and most exalted will feel an additional elevation, arising from the fact that they are the brothers of the humblest, and the trustees of him who has no helper. Ye are God’s George, God’s field; ye are God’s house, God’s building; and when God has once undertaken the ownership of the field he will see that the wheat is all garnered; when God has once owned the house he will watch every door and fill every window with noontide light. Ye are God’s field; ye are God’s building.
Prayer
Almighty God, we would speak to thee as the healer of sorrow, the deliverer of bondsmen, the Saviour of souls. Thy Son lived for us, died for us, and for us rose again, and for us he intercedes; we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. May we feel that we are involved in Christ, inwrought into his very thought and purpose and prayer; therein may we find our steadfastness, the assurance of our heaven, and our immortality. Dry the tears no human hand can touch; take hold of the hand of the blind, and lead them by a way they cannot see, but may their hearts glow with love as they think of the sacred end. Make the bed of the sick: watch by those who are suffering from solitariness: save the minds that tremble on the brink of madness: turn back the purposes of all wicked hearts: break the arm of tyranny, and humble in the dust the pride that is not founded upon righteousness: and thus bring us all, by a way short or long, difficult or easy, to the home, the resting-place, the sanctuary, of thy throne. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XV
THE PREACHER AND FACTIONS
1Co 2:1-4:7
We shall proceed to repeat part of the ground of the last chapter. We were discussing the third division of the outline, ecclesiastical disorders. The first is factions. There were divisions. Paul, in replying to the evil of divisions in churches about persons, made an argument that the world has never equaled, and which will be important for all time upon the subject of factions.
His first argument against factions is that Christ Is not divided. Second, the preacher was not crucified for them. They were making divisions about preachers, yet nobody was crucified but Christ. Third, nobody was baptized in the name of a preacher. Fourth, one of the grounds of division was that some preachers were more oratorical than others in their speaking, and used eloquence and philosophies of the schools. In replying to that he stated the wise or oratorical preacher does not save men. They are saved by the cross. Therefore, it is perfectly foolish to have a division about persons on the ground that one is more oratorical than another. Fifth, that worldly wisdom never did discover God, and never could have devised a plan of salvation. God gave the wisdom of the world all the opportunity that it wanted from the beginning of time to the coming of Christ. There had been many wise men, particularly among the Greeks and Romans, but what did their wisdom amount to? It had never discovered the nature of God, devised a system of morals or a plan of salvation. History presents the awful anomaly that the wisest cities in the world, such as Athens, Ephesus, and Corinth, were morally rotten, spiritually putrid. Their wisdom did not save them from obscenity or debauchery. The sixth argument is that as a matter of fact few of the wise and the great men were saved. Somehow their wisdom and their greatness prevented their stooping down and becoming little children in receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ. He proves this by appealing to their own case. “You know, brethren, from your own experience that not many wise, great, or noble are called.” The seventh argument against division, where it was predicated on superior worldly wisdom on the part of any of the persona about whom the division was centered, is that Christ himself is the wisdom of the Christian, the righteousness, sanctification, and redemption of the Christian. How beautifully he works in the thought of the Trinity, “Who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” While Christ is the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption of his people, the application is different. He is not our sanctification in the sense that he is our righteousness. Our righteousness is imputed to us, and we receive it by a single act of faith. Our sanctification is applied to us differently by the Holy Spirit, and becomes at last a personal righteousness.
His eighth argument is that the gospel which saves men is not discerned according to carnal wisdom, but is spiritually discerned. Whether a man be wise or ignorant does not enter into the question. We might take a Negro that could not read a letter in a book, and put seven wise men of Greece against him, and the Negro might spiritually discern the gospel of eternal life preached to him as a poor, ignorant, lost soul quicker than the seven wise men of Greece.
I have often used as an illustration of that, the case of Gen. Speight, whose children live in Waco now. He was a great man in many respects. He was the best organizer and trainer of a regiment I ever knew, and his intellect was quick as lightning, and yet he could not see how to be converted until his old Negro servant took him off in the gin house and showed him how to come to Christ.
That applies in Paul’s argument. One of the grounds of division, was that they were instituting comparisons between Paul and Apollos. Apollos was a wise man, expert in Alexandrian philosophy. Paul wants to know what that counts in a case of this kind. The natural man receives not the things of God. They are foolishness to him.
His ninth argument is that factions hinder spiritual progress. They were yet babes in Christ when they ought to have been teachers. I don’t know anything that can more quickly destroy the spiritual progress of the church than divisions. Let a church be divided into two parties, one following Deacon A and the other Deacon B; one clamoring for this preacher and the other for that; let the line be drawn sharply, then all spirituality dies. There cannot be power ‘in the church while that continues.
The tenth argument consists of some questions: “What then is Apollos? and what is Paul?” At a last analysis they are only the instruments or ministers by whom they believed; God himself gave the increase.
He advances in the eleventh argument: “You are divided about preachers. You are not the preacher’s field or his building. You are God’s field; you are God’s building. Then if you are God’s building you don’t belong to this preacher or to that preacher.”
The twelfth argument is that the only foundation in this building is Jesus Christ: “Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” The thirteenth argument is that all the incongruous material the preacher puts on that foundation will be destroyed in the great judgment day tried by fire. He refers to the material received for church membership. Paul laid a divine foundation for the church at Corinth. Other men proposed to build on that foundation. Suppose a man puts into the temple of God “wood, hay, stubble.” Some people thatch the roof of the house with hay or stubble. Every addition to that church, when the Master comes to examine his building, that has not been made of living stone, lasting spiritual material, will be cut out and will go up in fire and smoke. So we will say that one reason for the division was that a preacher held a meeting and received a thousand members and 975 came in without conviction or repentance a dry-eyed, easy, little faith, little sinner, little savior and it did not amount to anything. The preacher, if a Christian, will be saved, but every bit of the unworthy material he put in the church will be lost, and because the work is lost he will suffer loss of reward for his labors.
His fourteenth argument is that factions destroy the church, which is the temple of God, which temple they were: “Him that destroyeth the temple of God will God destroy.” I never knew it to fail where a man through his fault destroyed a church of Christ that that man was destroyed world without end. Even if he was a Christian he was destroyed. Not as to eternal life, but certainly as to his usefulness in this world. His fifteenth argument is what a text! I heard Dr. Hatcher, of Richmond, preach a sermon on it. The church does not belong to the preachers; the preachers belong to the church: “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 ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”
The sixteenth argument is that these preachers about which they were dividing this church must be counted simply as stewards of the grace of God, the deposit of the gospel which has been given to them. They were not to be looked on as the builders, the authors, and the savior of the church. What they were to do in their case was to ask the one question, “Has this steward been faithful?” The seventeenth argument is that they were dividing this church on their human judgment of men, and their human judgment didn’t count at all. The King James version of 1Co 4:3 is, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment; yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself.” How many sermons I have heard on that when the thought is not that at all! This is the meaning of the true text of the Greek: “For though I know nothing against myself, yet I am not hereby justified,” i.e., human judgment doesn’t count. In other words, I may seem to myself perfect, but I may have a thousand faults. The judge is God, and when God lets the light shine, he brings out some spot I don’t see in the dim light of my wisdom. You remember David’s prayer, “Cleanse thou me from secret faults,” i.e., not faults that I am keeping hid from my wife and my friends, but faults secret to me. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?”
The eighteenth and last argument is this: Preachers deserve no credit for difference in gifts, and yet they were making their different gifts the ground of their division: “For who maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?” One of the greatest blessings in this world today is the difference of gifts that God gives to the church and his preachers. Two of the most important chapters in the Bible are devoted to a discussion of that question (Rom 12 ; 1Co 12 ). God has never yet called a man to preach who cannot do some things better than anybody else in the world. He never gives two men exactly the same gifts. I am conscious that I can do some things better than other people. I am sure that God has given me the gift of interpretation of his Word. But others can do some things better than I can. I would hate it very much if I were the best sample in the kingdom all along the line. It would be a very sad thing for the world if some of God’s preachers could not beat me in some things. They had made this difference in gifts the ground of their factions. Now, call each man up and say, “Paul, where did you get your gifts?” He answers, “God gave them to me.” “Did you earn them?” “No, they are free grace.” “Apollos, where did you get your gifts?” “God gave them to me.” “You did not purchase them from God?” “No, they came through free grace.”
One of the greatest preachers I ever heard stood up in the pulpit and pointed to a homely old Baptist preacher in the crowd and said, “Brethren, I would give all I am worth in the world to be able to preach like that man.” The most of the crowd would have said, “You beat him.” He could beat him, but not in all things. That man could preach a sermon by the way he got up in the pulpit and opened the Bible. The humility and tenderness of soul with which he looked into the faces of the sinners was marvelous. That fact alone ought to keep down the jealousy of one preacher against another preacher. There is such s, thing as improving one’s gifts, and for that a man does deserve credit. A man may have a gift, and by disuse of that gift it will go into bankruptcy; one may be lazy and won’t study, and for that he is to be blamed. I care not how dull a man is naturally, if God has called that man, he had a reason for calling him. He has some work for him to do that Michael and Gabriel could not do. That man is responsible for just what gifts he has, and he ought to try to improve those gifts, and not try to imitate somebody whose gifts are different from his.
I am glad our Lord did not, in this matter, imitate a candiemaker who brings a great tub full of tallow and pours it into one mould. All candles come out of candle-moulds exactly alike. I am glad the Lord’s preacher-material is not like a tub of tallow, and that it is not all run into one mould. We want diversity of gifts and division of labor. Some have the gift of exhortation; others, exposition, pastoral power, tactfulness in visiting the sick and the strangers. Some have the evangelistic gift, and some one thing and some another. Thus we have the eighteen arguments which Paul gives against the first of these ecclesiastical disorders factions.
The second ecclesiastical disorder was a revolt against apostolic authority (1Co 1:8-21 ; 1Co 9:1-27 ). In order to unify this discussion, I have taken everything in the letter that bears upon the revolt against apostolic authority. But who questioned Paul’s apostolic authority? Visiting Jewish professors of religion, coming from Jerusalem and having that Judaizing spirit, which would make the Christian religion nothing but a sect of Judaism, came up to Corinth. In the second letter we have this same topic for discussion. These visiting brethren brought letters of recommendation from people in Judea, as we learn in the second letter, and they questioned Paul’s apostolic authority. On what grounds did they question his apostolic authority?
1. Because he was not one of the original twelve apostles, and had not seen the Lord in his lifetime.
2. He did not exercise the apostolic powers when his authority was questioned. Ananias and Sapphira tried to fool Peter and they were struck dead by exertion of apostolic power. But Paul did not use the power of an apostle to strike men dead in Corinth that differed with him.
3. He had not claimed apostolic support for himself, therefore it was evident that he did not count himself as deserving it. The twelve apostles, particularly Cephas and the brothers of our Lord, being married men, as apostles, for devoting themselves to the apostolic office, demanded support for themselves and their families.
4. His suffering proclaimed that he was not an apostle. If he were God’s apostle, he would not get into so much trouble, for the Lord would take care of him.
5. His was not the true gospel. The true gospel was given to those who accompanied the Lord Jesus Christ, beginning with the baptism of John down to the time he was taken to heaven. Paul was not even a Christian when that took place.
6. His folly. He did a great many foolish things in the way of expediency.
7. His bodily infirmities and weaknesses. He was a little sore-eyed Jew, bald-headed, with no grace of oratory and no rhetorical form of speech.
8. He was against Moses and the Mosaic law.
9. He was a preacher to the Gentiles. These are the nine distinct grounds upon which these living, visiting brethren, who had done nothing for that church, came over there to work up a case. Whenever I read about it I always feel indignant against that scaly crowd. This is a part of Paul’s great controversy to which Stalker devotes a chapter in his Life of Paul. The letters which are alive with the items of this controversy are 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, and Romans. Later it comes up in another form in Philippians, Colossians, and Ephesians, and the same matter in yet a different form later in Hebrews. We will see how Paul replies to this question of his apostleship in the next chapter.
QUESTIONS
1. Restate the first six arguments against factions.
2. What is the seventh argument against division predicated on superior worldly wisdom, and how does Paul here bring in the thought of the Trinity?
3. How is Christ our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption?
4. What is the eighth argument, relating to the gospel, and what illustrations given?
5. What is the ninth argument, relating to spiritual progress?
6. What is the tenth argument, relating to the instruments of their faith?
7. What is the eleventh argument, relating to God’s field, or building?
8. What is the twelfth argument, relating to the foundation?
9. What is the thirteenth argument, relating to incongruous material?
10. What is the fourteenth argument, relating to the temple of God?
11. What is the fifteenth argument, relating to church ownership, and what sermon noted on this as a text?
12. What is the sixteenth argument, referring to the deposit of the gospel?
13. What is the seventeenth argument, referring to human, judgment, and how is this text often misapplied?
14. What is the eighteenth argument, referring to gifts, and what special blessing in the diversity of gifts?
15. What is the second ecclesiastical disorder at Corinth, and who caused it?
16. On what grounds did they question Paul’s apostolic authority?
17. In what letters of Paul do we have this great controversy?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
Ver. 1. Could not speak unto you ] Unless I would beat the air, and lose my sweet words: q.d. You quarrel me for a shallow trivial teacher, when yourselves are in fault, as not yet capable of more mysterious matter. Our Saviour preached (not as he could have preached, but) “as the people were able to hear,” Mar 4:33 . So the author to the Hebrews, 1Co 5:11 . Some impute not their profiting to the minister, as he in Seneca, that having a thorn in his foot complained of the roughness of the way as the cause of his limping. Or as she in the same author, that being struck with a sudden blindness, bade open the windows, when as it was not lack of light, but lack of sight that troubled her.
As unto carnal, even as unto babes ] Or, at least as unto babes, not yet past the spoon, and that must have their meats masticated for them by their nurses.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1 4. ] He could not speak to them in the perfect spiritual manner above described, seeing that they were carnal, and still remained so, as was shewn by their divisions .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1. ] , I also ; i.e. as well as the , was compelled to stand on this lower ground, he, because he cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God: I, because you could not receive them . Or perhaps better, with Stanley, ‘ , as in 1Co 2:1 , “What I have just been saying, was exemplified in our practice.” ’
is certainly the true reading, being, besides its manuscript authority, required by the sense. He was compelled to speak to them (this affirmative clause is to be supplied from the former negative one) as to men of flesh : not , for that they really were , and he asserts them yet to be, 1Co 3:3 . I quite agree with Meyer (against De Wette) that the distinction between and is designed by the Apostle, and further regard it as implied in the very form of the sentences. Here, he says that he was compelled to speak to them as if they were only of flesh, as if they were babes , using in both cases the material comparison, and the particle of comparison . But in 1Co 3:3 he drops comparison, and asserts matter of fact ‘Are ye not still (= ), fleshly, carnal, living after the flesh, resisting the Spirit?’ q. d. ‘I was obliged to regard you as mere men of flesh , without the Spirit: and it is not far different even now: ye are yet fleshly ye retain the same character.’
Both the , the mere men of the flesh, and the , the carnally disposed, are included under the more general , which therefore, as Meyer observes, is not here used, because this distinction was to be made.
. .] The opposite term, ., is found Col 1:28 , and in connexion with this, Heb 5:13-14 . Schttgen (on 1Pe 2:2 ) and Lightfoot adduce the similar Rabbinical term , sugentes , used of novices in their schools. A recent proselyte also was regarded by them as a newborn infant.
He speaks of his first visit to Corinth, when they were recently admitted into the faith of Christ, and excuses his merely elementary teaching by the fact that they then required it. Not this , but their still requiring it , is adduced as matter of blame to them.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
10 4:21. ] REPROOF OF THE PARTY-DIVISIONS AMONG THEM: BY OCCASION OF WHICH, THE APOSTLE EXPLAINS AND DEFENDS HIS OWN METHOD OF PREACHING ONLY CHRIST TO THEM.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 3:1-5 . 12. CHRIST’S SERVANTS ANSWERABLE TO HIMSELF. The Ap. has shown his readers their own true position so high and yet so lowly ( 11); Paul, Apollos, Cephas are but part of a universe of ministry that waits upon them. But more is to be said about the Christian leaders , whose names are sc much abused at Cor [629] If the Church is to understand its proper character, it must reverence theirs. They are its servants; it is not their master. They are its property, because they are Christ’s property; and His instruments first of all. P. thus resumes the train of thought opened in 10, where the work of Church-builders was discriminated in relation to the building ; now it is viewed in its relation to God the Householder . Here lies another and the final ground of accusation against the Cor [630] parties: those who maintained them, in applauding this chief and censuring that, were putting themselves into Christ’s judgment-seat, from which the Apostle thrusts them down.
[629] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
[630] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1Co 3:1 . , : The Ap. returns to the strain of 1Co 2:1-5 , speaking now not in general terms of , , etc.; but definitely of the Cor [455] and himself. They demonstrate, unhappily, the incapacity of the unspiritual for spiritual things. The carries us back to 1Co 2:14 : “A natural man does not receive the things of God , and I (accordingly) could not utter (them) to you as to spiritual (men), but as to men of flesh”. Yet the Cor [456] were not (see note, 1Co 2:14 ). For , see 1Co 2:6 ; and on the receptivity of the , 1Co 2:13 ff. Cf. Rom 8:5-9 : . ( ), : “on the contrary, (I was obliged to speak to you) as to men of flesh” grammatical zeugma, as well as breviloquence: the affirmative “I was able,” carried over from the negative clause , passes into the kindred “I was obliged,” that is necessarily understood ( cf. Eph 4:29 ); 1Co 3:7 , 1Co 7:19 , 1Co 10:24 , are similarly expressed, without the zeugma. (see parls.) differs from (1Co 3:3 , 1Co 9:11 , etc.) as carneus from carnalis, fleischern from fleischlich (as leathern from leathery ) – implying nature and constitution ( ), – tendency or character ( ). So is associated with , with : see Trench, Syn [457] , lxx. The distinction is one of standpoint, not of degree: in the the original “flesh” remains (a sort of excuse , as in Rom 7:14 ); the manifests its disposition. Both words may, or may not (1Co 9:11 , 2Co 3:3 ), connote the sinful , according to the in question.
[455] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
[456] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
[457] synonym, synonymous.
The apposed softens, almost tenderly, the censure: the Cor [458] are “ in Christ”; they possess, in a measure, His Spirit; but they are “ babes in Christ,” not fairly grown out of “the flesh” ( cf. Gal 5:13-18 ); the new nature in them is still confronted with the old. The are the opp [459] of the (1Co 2:6 ; see other parls.). “I could not” suggests that Paul had attempted to carry his Cor [460] converts further, but had failed.
[458] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
[459] opposite, opposition.
[460] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1Co 2:10 to 1Co 3:2 . 8. THE REVEALING SPIRIT. The world’s rulers committed the frightful crime of “crucifying the Lord of glory,” because in fact they have only “the spirit of the world,” whereas “the Spirit of God ” informs His messengers (1Co 2:10-12 ), who communicate the things of His grace in language taught them by His Spirit and intelligible to the spiritual (1Co 2:13-16 ). For the like reason the Cor [377] are at fault in their Christian views, being as yet but half-spiritual men (1Co 3:1-3 ).
[377] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1 Corinthians Chapter 3
Such then is the ample complete and perfect provision of God for the blessing of His children by the truth to His own glory. His Spirit is everywhere the agent and power, as Christ is the object presented, and His work the efficacious ground and means, which His own sovereign counsels are the spring of all. Expressly is it the Holy Ghost who, as He reveals, and communicates in suited words, so enables the believer to receive, the things of God. And this led to a contrast between him that is spiritual, who discerns all things, and the natural man who does not receive and cannot know the things of the Spirit.
It is not however that the Corinthian saints were “natural” men, for this would imply that they were not born of God. This the apostle does not say or mean, but that they were “carnal,” or “fleshly:” that is, flesh had still attractions for them. It was not judged, detected in principle, or hated in all forms and degrees. They still valued what was of man, wisdom, ability, or eloquence, as such. They had no adequate sense of nature’s worthlessness in divine things. “Carnal,” or “fleshly” describes not those dead in their sins, but those who, though quickened of the Spirit, are either not yet set free (as in Rom 7 ) or still swayed by the influence of men, and nature unjudged – I do not say in its immorality, but in its estimate of itself. This last is before the apostle’s mind here. The Corinthians might be babes in Christ, but they were not spiritual.
“And I, brethren, was not able to speak to you as spiritual, but as fleshly,* as babes in Christ. With milk I gave you drink, not meat; for ye were not set able, nor indeed are ye now able, for ye are yet carnal. For whereas emulation and strife** [are] among you, are ye not carnal and walk according to man? For when one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I of Apollos, are ye not men?” (Ver. 1-4.)
* The most ancient authorities ( A B Cp.m. Dp.m. 17. 67s.m. 71. and some Greek fathers, who however vary elsewhere) here give , in verse 8 all but Dp.m. F G on the first occurrence, all on the second. The difference is that means physically of flesh (2Co 3:8 , Heb 7:16 ); whereas supposes a fleshly will (1Pe 2:11 ; 1Co 3:3 ; 2Co 1:12 ; 2Co 10:4 ;), where it is not used generally as in Rom 15:27 and 1Co 9 . In Rom 7:14 the best authorities (p.m. A B C D E F G and many cursives, etc.) give contrary to the reading of the common text. Here the importance dogmatically is great. The main question is which of the two should stand in 1Co 3:1 . Tischendorf says on Heb 7:16 , that in the apostolic age either form was undoubtedly applied in the same sense, and refers in proof to Rom 7:14 and 1Co 3:1 ; but these prove really that there is the difference in scripture which flows from the differing structure of each word.
* The common text (T. R.) adds on the authority of many MSS uncial and cursive, but contrary to the best copies ( A B C P 23. 46. 67. 71. 74. etc., Vulg. Cop. Arm. Aeth. and many Greek and Latin fathers).
Instead of the vulgar reading at the end of verse 4, the weight of authority is decidedly in favour of ( A B C D E F G, etc., most ancient versions and fathers).
Thus the reason now given by the apostle for having urged on the Corinthians the elementary truths of Christ is their own state. They were not spiritual but fleshly. What a blow to their self-complacency! If they were but babes in Christ, what else would be suited food? That hankering after, or admiration of, the world’s wisdom was its sure evidence: for flesh delights in what is of man, as the Spirit gives to enjoy what is of God.
It is quite an error however to suppose that all Christians are “spiritual” in the sense in which that term is used in chapter 2, which differs not at all from its use in chapter 3. In both it means those not merely quickened but walking, feeling, judging in the Spirit. To say in 1Co 2 that one discerns all things but is oneself discerned by none conveys quite as much as the contrast with fleshliness in 1Co 3 . The mistake is in supposing that the apostle looks only at but two classes, whereas in truth he speaks of three: the natural man, the carnal, and the spiritual, the last two being Christians, but the state different. For “babes in Christ” does not refer to the recency of their conversion, but to their lack of growth. As the Hebrews were kept back by their religious prejudices (Heb 5 ), so were these Greeks by their philosophising. In either way souls may be arrested, or misled, and stunted in growth. In one of the cases indeed it was from no want of time; for on this score they ought to have been teachers when they had need to be taught the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God, as the apostle put it to their great humiliation. So here: he gave them milk to drink. Meat was of no use in their actual state, nay, it might help on the mischief.
But there are other mistakes to guard against. Some in opposing the absurdity of reserve, Arcani Disciplina, etc., have laboured to prove that the same doctrine is in one aspect milk, in another meat. It is true that the Christ in whom the babes rested is more and more enjoyed of the fathers, but it remains certain that there is a whole range of truth as to Him which a carnal or even immature state. in the believer would render unseasonable. The mystery of Christ and the church in Ephesians and Colossians is more than the priesthood of Christ in Hebrews. It was not that the apostle could not have communicated the depths of God; but could they then profit by such teaching? Would it be of God to give meat beyond them or injurious to them? “Ye were not yet able, nor indeed are ye yet able.” Nor was it from lack of natural ability, but on the contrary because they valued and trusted it to the hindrance of the Holy Spirit: “for ye are yet carnal.” And this he proves from their state by incontestable evidence. “For whereas emulation and strife [are] among you, are ye not carnal and walk according to man? For when one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I of Apollos, are ye not men?” Emulation and strife were works of the flesh, not fruits of the Spirit. Their existence in their midst showed how little they walked in self-judgment. It was the party work they were used to in the schools of men. Certainly party zeal for Paul or Apollos was no better than for Plato or Aristotle; it had all the same root. Nor is there any difficulty in conciliating such a reproof of not a few of the Corinthian saints with his thanksgiving for the church in the introduction of the epistle? For as already seen, this was for the privileges bestowed on them by the goodness of God, not for their actual state. Whatever their gifts, they were in fact grievously lacking in practical grace, and this, as it exposes to fresh or revived forms in which human nature works, so it would effectually hinder growth through the truth. The Holy Spirit in such circumstances must take of their things to show them their faults, not of Christ’s things to glorify Him and comfort their hearts.
It is important, moreover, to see that it is a question not of morality according to the law, but of what suits, pleases, and magnifies Christ – the very object of the presence and action of the Spirit here below. Hence the apostle reproves them for walking, not as bad men merely, but “according to man.” They ranged themselves under their new favourites in forgetfulness of Christ, and in abuse of their own mercies through His servants. “Are ye not men?” says he, indignantly protesting against such a state of things. They were saints and ought to walk as such.
Glorying in men, be they ever so blessed, is carnal, no less than self-assertion; they are indeed off-shoots of the same tree. How could those who are thus erected into heads of schools tolerate so false a position for themselves or their followers if indeed they have the eye single to Christ: if not, can they be trusted? Far different is our apostle who asks, “What* then is Apollos? and what is Paul? “Ministers by whom ye believed, and as the Lord gave to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So that neither he that planteth is anything nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. And he that planteth and he that watereth are one thing; but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” (Ver. 5-8.)
* is twice read by p.m. A B. 17. 46. 71. 121. Vulg. Aeth., etc.; (“who”) is found in the great majority of MSS and Vv.
The order of P and A is thus given in A B C Dp.m. E F G P 17. 37. 46. 71. 116., etc. The best of these uncials ( A B C P) and the same cursive add which is left out of the vulgar text.
The common text inserts , and so read Ds.m. L P, and most cursives, contrary to A B C Dp.m. E F G, a few cursives, several of the oldest versions, etc. It is hard to think what Calvin means, save that he is mistaken, in saying that in some copies is wanting, for this is not so. The Cod. Rescr. Ephr. of Paris leaves out , but I am aware of no support for this but a Latin copy. No Greek MS omits . He may confound with it, as to which we have already seen the evidence for and against. Calvin’s critical remarks here, as often, are not to he trusted. His division of the verse is every way wrong, especially in making the last clause a further query.
Thus does God’s wisdom correct the workings of unjudged nature, and this by a simple statement of the truth. For what are any? Servants at best in the proclamation of the gospel and the truth in general – servants by whom the Corinthian saints believed. Was there then no difference between Paul and Apollos? As the Lord gave to each. What room for boasting of men? Why not of the Lord who gave to each? Of this they had thought little. Grace unites. Flesh divides and scatters – flesh pre-occupied with this man or that, sometimes as here unable to find anything save in its favourites, sometimes heaping to itself teachers as at a later day. In either way there may be ever learning, but really no coming to the knowledge of the truth. The fact is that the Lord gives variously, nothing that is not good for the use of edifying, nothing in vain. It is not His way to form a class of labourers all alike, but to work differently by each. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” As it is in the work of the field where labour is expended in one form or another, but God alone can cause to grow, so it is in spiritual things. “So that neither is he that planteth anything, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase.” How insignificant is any instrument! God it is who works efficiently. “And he that planteth and he that watereth is one thing.” Here he sets ministry, or ministers, together as “one thing.” The consequence is that God alone is seen to be of moment. But this very consideration, that they are “one thing,” rebukes the party work of their flatterers; as his own reward for his own work to be received by-and-by is a serious suggestion for ministers who like or allow the unwise zeal of those who cry them up and depreciate others. Their differences vanish into nothingness before God who graciously deigns to use each for blessing; even as “each shall receive his own reward according to his own labour:” not according to his personal qualities, however cried up by his partisans, nor even according to the particular gift bestowed of the Lord, nor yet according to present results before the eyes of men often deceived and in no case able to discern as He does and will manifest by-and-by, but “according to his own labour.”
How cheering to the despised but faithful and self-denying and gracious labourers; how humbling to Corinthian vanity which never took into account the one principle the Spirit here gives for the divine and enduring recompense! “For we are God’s fellow-workmen; ye are God’s husbandry, God’s building.” (Ver. 9.) This is the transition which justifies the foregoing, and prepares for the expansion of the last figure into the applications that follow. Whoever the servants may be, they are God’s in direct responsibility, not in this sense the church’s, still less of a party. Not that for this reason they do not serve the saints, for the more they preach not themselves but Jesus Christ, the more are they bondmen of the saints for His sake. But they are God’s fellow-labourers, given of Him, doing His work, responsible in everything to Him, and finally to give Him an account. The phrase in no way means “workers together with God.” This is not the gist of the argument in the context; it is a thought and language foreign to scripture; and also, in my judgment, unbecoming and presumptuous. The emphasis rests on “God’s.” They were “God’s fellow-workmen, workers together,” not rivals (as flesh in others or themselves might make them) but companions in work under God who employed them as such.
Nor is this all. The saints are God’s husbandry, God’s building, as emphatically. Were they producing what was suitable for Him who had the field tilled? Was the building as God’s should be? I am surprised that any should think the meaning to be “with a view to your being God’s husbandry and God’s building;” for the apostle in saying “ye are” goes much farther. And duty is ever grounded on and shaped and measured by relationship.
We now come to language and application still more precise and solemn. “According to the grace of God that was given to me as a wise architect I laid the foundation and another buildeth on [it]. But let each see how he buildeth on [it]. For other foundation can none lay than what is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one build on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, straw, the work of each shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare [it], because it is revealed in fire, and the fire shall try the work of each of what sort it is. If the work of any shall abide which he hath built on [it], he shall receive reward; if the work of any one shall be burnt up, he shall suffer loss, but himself shall be saved but so as through fire.” Ver. 10-15.)
Even the apostle loved to connect his work and office with the grace of God rather than with abstract authority. It is this feeling which has so evaporated from Christendom, so that ministry has humanized and assumed even a worldly character, to the unspeakable loss of the church and the most serious dishonour to the Lord. Here he is careful to speak plainly; “according to the grace of God that was given me as a wise master-builder [or architect] I have laid a foundation, and another buildeth upon [it], but let each see how he buildeth on [it].” Here we have the responsibility of him who ministers. Apostolic place is maintained, but responsible service is affirmed, and it is a serious thing. “For other foundation can none lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if any one buildeth upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, straw, the work of each shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed by fire; and the work of each, of what sort it is, the fire itself shall prove.”
Here all is in due proportion, and the revelation of God in Christ is laid as the foundation of all; but we see how man’s responsibility remains. On that foundation very different material might be built up – not only what is precious, like the great and costly stones, etc., of the temple, but also what is worthless and vile. And here man’s judgment is at fault; for doubtless many a Corinthian saint had prized the hay and straw of man’s wisdom, and slighted the gold and silver of apostolic truth. Hence the need of another day and of the Lord’s discernment. Therefore are they told that much may only be disclosed in the day that is coming. None but this day is to be revealed in fire. Then will the consuming judgment of God deal with each one’s work. Even now there may be manifestations; but they are necessarily partial. The fire itself of that day will prove of what sort is the work of each. It is good to weigh this now. All that lets in the light of God’s future on present occupation is wholesome not only for His servant, but for all concerned. There will be no mistake then: all must be in the light of God. “If any one’s work which he hath built up shall abide, he shall receive reward.” For reward there is to cheer in the midst of present sorrow with the hope of the Lord’s recompense in that day. Present reward is a danger for every soul, especially in divine things. There is however comfort of love, and the more real it is the more we rest on Christ rather than on Christians. He then takes care that we shall have it in good measure, even if the sphere seem small. And so it must be in a day of general departure from faith. It is His love which constrains the servant, and confidence in His grace too which serves as a constant spring of action.
When so labouring, the hope of future reward from the Lord acts both safely and powerfully: otherwise there is danger. But it is dangerous also to despise the future as naturally do those who are too much occupied with present results. Will their work stand? “If the work of any one shall be burnt up, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.” It is a powerful figure, and not hard to understand where the truth in general is held firm.
It is well known that Rome has founded on this passage one of its chief proofs of purgatory; but this is itself a sample of the refuse against which the apostle warns. For it is evident that not the faithful in general or their ways are in question, but ministers and their doctrine and again that a day of sifting judgment is meant and not some intermediate state now after death. Fire is the figurative expression of His judicial action which consumes all dross, not punishment for the separate spirit or soul, nor even a process of purifying it. “Saved, yet so as through fire,” is to mark the difficulty of it; yet will God take care that so it shall be. So, as has been said, a builder might see his building ruined by fire, yet himself escape. Besides each one’s work is to be thus tested – the apostle’s work as certainly as that of his detractors, and gold, silver, and precious stones are subjected to the fire no less than the consumable material. Does all this apply to Romanist ideas of purgatory? The real point is the danger of introducing rubbish even where the true foundation is owned, not fundamental error or Antichristianism, but airy notions, lax maxims as to practice, etc., which the day of trial would detect and destroy. It was not so with his work whom some at Corinth had despised.
The figure of a building with its foundation, already used, furnishes the apostle with a yet fuller illustration. We have seen workmen wise or negligent, materials costly and durable or perishable and worthless, with a reward as the result on the one hand, or the workman suffering the loss of his work and his person only saved with difficulty. Now he develops on both sides, and contrasts the holiness of God’s temple in the saints with the enemy’s instruments in corrupting and destroying.
“Know ye not that ye are God’s temple, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any one destroy the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which ye are. Let none deceive himself: if any one thinketh himself to be wise among you in this age, let him become foolish that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God; for it is written, He that taketh the wise in their craftiness; and again, [The] Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise that they are vain. Wherefore let none boast in men, for all things are yours: whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, and ye Christ’s, and Christ God’s.” (Ver. 16-23.)
Thus God has His temple on earth now as surely as of old in Israel. But this is often not seen by those who confess that the old Levitical order is judged and gone, and that the effort to imitate it since redemption is to fall away from the grace and truth of God now come in Christ, and proclaimed in the gospel, and to be displayed in the Christian and the church. It was the presence of God always which constituted God’s temple. Not the costliness of stones, nor the splendour of gold or silver, but the cloud wherein Jehovah was pleased to come down was its true glory, when Israel could boast of a habitation in their midst for the mighty One of Jacob. So now it is not merely that there are Christians, but God has His house or temple. It is the assembly, not the individuals considered as such, but those builded together for the purpose in virtue of the Spirit. See Eph 2:22 . The Spirit dwells in each believer doubtless; but this is another truth and equally certain from God’s word. “Know ye not that ye are God’s temple, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you!” How solemn the fact that a divine person, the Holy Ghost, dwells where Christians are; and this, it may be added, because of redemption! For it was never so till the work of Christ was wrought, and He going on high sent the Holy Spirit down to be in the saints and abide with them for ever. It is God’s testimony to the efficacy of His sacrifice. Whatever the mercies and blessings and privileges before, this could not be till the blood that makes atonement for ever was shed. Now the Spirit of God comes where that blood-shedding is confessed; and there He dwells, making those who confess Christ and His work God’s temple.
But it is much to be weighed that the apostle is here showing the danger not only of unreality but of defilement. There are those who build wisely and well; there are those who, confessing His name, build on the one and only foundation unfit materials. But there is worse still. There is the enemy at work using men that bear the Lord’s name to corrupt or destroy (the same word, and one may say, the same thing). For God speaks of evil doctrine according to its own nature if it work unimpeded; and this is the only result of heterodoxy so left. He who teaches it corrupts and destroys; and him who destroys (or corrupts) the temple of God shall God destroy. Awful end! but is there not a cause? is it not sufficient? Could the holy God feel or do otherwise? It is in vain to plead love; for in truth the blow of love in caring for the objects beloved is beyond all to be feared. And how does not God resent that evil which defiles the holy temple where His Spirit dwells in virtue and honour of the work of Christ on the cross? He will surely destroy those whom Satan thus employs, under whatever disguise, to pollute the very streams of life and blessing for souls, yea, to dishonour the temple wherein He Himself dwells.
It is to deceive oneself where any reason is allowed in palliation of evil. Men who so weaken – I will not say christian feeling only, but – common conscience may be found among those who bear the Lord’s name; but, specious as they may seem and fine-spoken, it is not the wisdom of God in Christ, but of this age that comes to nought. How incomparably better and safer to become foolish that one may be wise! Such was the path the apostle took, obedient to the heavenly vision Did he not seem foolish in the eyes of all with whom he broke? Was he not wise, whatever a Festus might say? What and where is Festus now? and Agrippa and Bernice? and the high priest and the accusing chiefs of the Jews? They thought themselves wise; and so did others who in the Corinthian assembly brought in the wisdom of the schools to evade the cross and stand well with the men of the time.
But everywhere, without yet more than within, “the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God;” yet nowhere is its character so exposed, nowhere its indulgence so perilous, as in the temple of God – the church. So it is written in Job 4:13 , and Psa 94:11 . Whether one look back on past experience or forward to the kingdom, it makes no difference: feast of all can human craft or sage reasonings suit God’s temple, or those who traffic in them there escape His judgment. And why should those boast who have with Christ all things? For so indeed it is in the grace of God. “All things are yours: whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, and ye Christ’s, and Christ God’s.” We have all and abound, not only all those whom flesh would set up as rivals, but all circumstances present and future, ours now through the grace of Christ, and ourselves His as He is God’s, for ever and to His glory. flow blessed and infinite the associations which flesh overlooks and the world in its self-sufficient nothingness treats as nothing!
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Co 3:1-4
1And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? 4For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men?
1Co 3:1 “brethren” See fuller note at 1Co 2:6.
“could not speak to you” This is an aorist indicative and an aorist infinitive, which refers to Paul’s initial preaching at Corinth (cf. Act 18:1-18).
NASB”as to spiritual men”
NKJV, NRSV”as to spiritual people”
TEV”to people who have the Spirit”
NJB”as spiritual people”
To whom is Paul addressing these verses: (1) all the believers or (2) the spiritually immature (i.e., the factions cf. 1Co 3:4)? The answer to this question involves how one interprets 1Co 2:6. Were there some Spirit-led, mature believers in the Corinthian church or were all of them immature?
“but” This is the strong adversative alla. There is a contrast between the “mature” of 1Co 2:6 (i.e., spiritual men) and the “men of flesh” in 1Co 3:1-4. Both groups have the Spirit (i.e., are Christians), but the first is characterized by the Spirit, while the second group is characterized by worldliness.
NASB”men of flesh”
NKJV”as to carnal”
NRSV”as people of the flesh”
TEV”as though you belonged to this world”
NJB”as people still living by your natural inclinations”
This is “sarkinos” in Greek. The inos ending means “made of” or “derived from” (e.g., “hearts of flesh,” cf. 2Co 3:3) so this would mean “made of flesh.” Paul uses the word “flesh” in several different ways (see Special Topic at 1Co 1:26). This context (i.e., “as to infants in Christ”) seems to use it of believers who have the Spirit, but walk after the ways of the world. This is not Paul’s flesh vs. Spirit (cf. Rom 8:1-11), but a category of believers. If this is true this context is one of the few places in the NT that this distinction is made. Here is the tragedy of salvation without sanctification. Claiming Christ as Savior, but not living as if Christ is Lord. If this appalling spiritual condition is characterized by jealousy, strife, and a factious spirit, what of the modern church? Oh, the tragedy of “baby Christians” to the Kingdom of God and the heart of the King!
“as to infants in Christ” Every believer starts as a baby Christian. There is no shame in this. This is the origin of the familial metaphor derived from the concept of being “born again” (cf. Joh 3:3; 2Co 5:17; 1Pe 1:3; 1Pe 1:23), but we must not stay infants!
1Co 3:2 “I gave you milk to drink” This is a continuing metaphor of the new Christian as being a brand new creature characterized as a child (cf. Heb 5:12-14; 1Pe 2:2). Tertullian and Hippolytus tell us that the early church gave a glass of milk to the new converts at their first communion as a symbol of this very truth.
“for you were not yet able to receive it” By the time Paul wrote this letter, many months had passed. Although it is appropriate to be a baby Christian at the beginning of the Christian life, it is a tragedy to still be a baby Christian after many years.
These opening verses of chapter 3 must have hurt the intellectual pride of the leaders of the factions. There is a startling play on the imperfect tense (i.e., “for you were not yet able”) and the present tense (i.e., “even now you are not able”). The word “able” is the Greek term dunamai, which means the power to act, to accomplish, to function toward a desired result. Believers are saved to serve; they are called to Christlikeness now, not only to heaven later. These “believers” had no Kingdom power, just flesh power, which is, in reality, powerlessness!
1Co 3:3
NASB”you are still fleshly”
NKJV”you are still carnal”
NRSV”you are still of the flesh”
TEV”you still live as people of this world live”
NJB”you are still living by your natural inclinations”
This is sarkikos in Greek. The ending ikos means “characterized by” (cf. 1Co 2:14-15). Paul is making a play on the word sarks (flesh) in 1Co 3:1; 1Co 3:3 to describe many of the Christians at Corinth as being saved, but very immature. They were selfish, not selfless! For “fleshly” see Special Topic at 1Co 1:26.
“jealousy and strife” These are two of the works of the flesh listed in Gal 5:19-21. They were evidence that some Corinthian Christians were still carnal.
In some early Greek manuscripts (i.e., P46, D, and the Syriac translations) there is an additional descriptive term, “divisions,” which is also found in Gal 5:20. It surely does describe the problem at Corinth. However, the term is missing in MSS P11, , A, B, C, and P and the Vulgate, Coptic, and Armenian translations. It appears to be a scribal addition (i.e., UBS4 rates its omission as B (almost certain).
“are you not walking like mere men” The grammatical form of this question expects a “yes” answer. This is the essence of carnality. Maturity is seen by its fruits, both in attitude and actions (cf. Rom 8:1-11; Mat 7:1 ff).
1Co 3:4 This reflects the divisions of 1Co 1:10-17.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
could not = was not able to.
speak. App-121.
unto = to.
spiritual. Greek. pneumatikos. See 1Co 12:1.
carnal. Greek. sarkikos, as in Rom 7:14, but the texts read sarkines. See 2Co 3:3.
in. App-104.
Christ. App-98.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1-4.] He could not speak to them in the perfect spiritual manner above described, seeing that they were carnal, and still remained so, as was shewn by their divisions.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Let’s turn now to I Corinthians, chapter 3.
Beginning with the fourteenth verse of chapter 2, Paul here separates men into three classifications. Starting in chapter 2 with the natural man, the unregenerate man, the man who knows not Jesus Christ. And concerning him, he said, “He cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned.” So the natural man in darkness, not able to see, not able to know the things of God.
In realizing this, in praying for those who are not saved, it is important to realize that Satan, as Paul said, the god of this world has blinded their eyes that they cannot see the truth. So they cannot receive, neither can they know, because Satan has blinded them to the truth of God. And as Paul said to Timothy, “That we might take them from the captivity of the enemy who is holding them captive against their wills” ( 2Ti 2:26 ).
So the direction of our prayers for the natural man would be that God would open their eyes to the truth, that God would deliver them from that power of Satan by which they are held, that blindness that Satan has brought over their minds concerning God, and that Satan’s work be bound in order that they might be freed and become a free moral agent capable, then, of receiving Jesus Christ.
It is a misnomer to declare that the natural man is a free moral agent. He is furthest from free moral agency. He is bound and he is blinded by the power of darkness. And so the thrust of the prayers are to deliver him from this power of darkness to make him a free moral agent, in order that he might believe.
Now in contrast to the natural man, you have the spiritual man. And Paul says, “But he that is spiritual understands or discerns all things though he is not understood by men. For who hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him, but we have the mind of Christ” ( 1Co 2:15-16 ).
So the spiritual man is a man whose mind is now controlled by the Spirit. Man, a threefold being: body, soul, spirit. If the body is uppermost, then your mind is controlled by the body needs and is occupied by your body needs and you have what Paul calls in Rom 8:1-39 , “the mind of the flesh” or “the carnal mind which is enmity against God, neither can it know Him.”
When a person is born again by the Spirit of God he becomes spirit, soul and body. And when the spirit is uppermost, then you have the mind of the Spirit, the mind that is under the control of the Spirit, as Paul said here, “We have the mind of Christ.” Now as we get into chapter 3, Paul introduces us to a third classification.
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual ( 1Co 3:1 ),
Now he’s talking to those in Corinth, those in the church in Corinth, those who are presumably born again. And yet, they are not spiritual, for he says, “I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual,
but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ ( 1Co 3:1 ).
Now the issue arises, and people often question, is it possible to be a carnal Christian? A carnal Christian is one who has received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, but does not yet have victory over the flesh and thus, still walks, many times, under the control of the flesh. He does believe, he has received Jesus as his Savior, but not as his Lord, for the flesh is still ruling over him. And he needs deliverance from that power of the flesh that has a hold on his life. So Paul describes this as the conditions of those in Corinth.
He cannot talk to them as spiritual, for they are still carnal, but he does call them babes in Christ. And so he acknowledges that they are in Christ, but unfortunately, they are babes. There is a natural development and growth physically even as there is and should be a natural development and growth spiritually. There is a time when being a babe in Christ is a beautiful, glorious thing. I love to see natural babes in Christ.
To me it’s beautiful when a person has just come to the realization that Jesus is Lord and their sins are washed away. And that enthusiasm, that love, that excitement that they have for the things of the Spirit, it’s just something that’s glorious to behold. And they’re just fun to be around because the things of the Lord are just so exciting to them at that point, babes in Christ. But there is also a necessity of growing up into a fully matured relationship.
There are many marks of the babe in Christ, and Paul gives to us some of the marks. First of all, they need to be fed with milk because they are not able to endure the meat of the Word of God. So their first relationship is extremely experience-oriented. And thus, as they relate their experiences, they are usually relating them to the feelings that they have of excitement, of joy, of thrill as they come into the spiritual dimension, and for the first time begin to really discern or understand the things of the Spirit.
But as we grow and as we develop spiritually, it is God’s desire that we come into a full maturity, as Paul the apostle declared to the Ephesians that they might come into that perfect man. And the word perfect is fully matured, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of the image of Christ. And so it is God’s will that we grow up spiritually into the image of Jesus Christ as we become fully matured.
Now, when a baby is a baby and is supposed to be a baby, it is a beautiful, lovely sight. I don’t know of anything that can tug at the heart of a person more than a baby. And the first words of a baby are always so exciting. The first time that your little children say, “da da,” and they know what they are saying is a thrilling experience. I’ll never forget. We were living in Tucson behind the church. And it was a Sunday evening. And we just had one big room that we partitioned off with curtains and Jan’s crib was in the room there with us. And I think Kay was already out in church and I was going into the closet to grab my coat and Jan was over in her crib, and she said, “da da.” And I yelled, I turned, I screamed, and I said “What did you say? What was that?” But of course she wouldn’t repeat it. But she had the cutest, most knowing smile on her face like, “I said it,” and from that time on she started calling me Da Da. But I could hardly wait to get a hold of Kay and tell her that our baby said, “da da,” just as plain as could be. And it was always such a thrill in the morning to wake up and to look over to the crib. And when she’d wake up she’d say, “da da,” and I loved it.
But now if I should go over to her house and I find her lying there in bed and giving me that beautiful smile and saying, “da da,” it wouldn’t thrill at this point. It would pain. Because you see, naturally she should have developed and matured, which, of course, she has. And it is thrilling to sit down with her and just to share with her, because she has such keen insights on so many things. But our communication now is on a much higher plane. And it should be, because in the process of time there should be the maturation, the development.
Now, when a person first is born again by the Spirit of God and they are spiritual babes, babes in Christ, it’s just always beautiful to behold, that fresh work of the Spirit of God in their lives. But, if after fifteen years, twenty years, they’re still in the crib state, they haven’t matured, they haven’t developed in their spiritual growth or maturity, then it is painful and it is tragic to behold. It is important that we grow up.
Now Paul said they were carnal, and because of that they weren’t able to take the meat of the Word of God. They were interested only still in milk.
Another mark of their carnality,
was the envying, and the strife, and the divisions ( 1Co 3:3 ),
That existed among them. Envy, strife, divisions, marks of carnality, and Paul said as long as these exist,
are ye not carnal and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are you not carnal? ( 1Co 3:3-4 )
This party spirit or denominational spirit is a mark of carnality, to refuse to recognize the whole body of Christ. To break down the denominational barriers and be able to love another man even though he is a Baptist, or even though he is a Nazarene, or even though he is a Presbyterian. To be able to accept him as a brother in Jesus Christ is so important. That I not see these differences. And it is tragic to me that so many people, rather than identifying themselves with Jesus Christ, identify themselves with a particular church that they attend. “Are you a Christian?” “Oh, I’m a Baptist.” “Are you a Christian?” “Well, I’m a Presbyterian.” “Are you a Christian?” “Oh, I’m a Catholic.” I think that’s tragic. Rather than being able to identify with Jesus Christ. “Are you a Christian?” “You bet your life.” “What church do you belong to?” “His church.” “When did you join?” “I was born into it by the Spirit of God.” To see the whole body of Christ.
The fierce dividing of the body into these quadrants is a mark of carnality. “Some say, ‘I’m of Paul,’ some say, ‘I’m of Apollos.'” Paul said,
Who is Paul? who is Apollos? they are only servants by whom ye believe, even as the Lord gave to every man ( 1Co 3:5 ).
They are only the instruments that God used to bring you to a faith.
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but it is God who gives the increase ( 1Co 3:6-7 ).
So Paul said, “Who am I? Who is Apollos? We are only instruments that God used. You shouldn’t identify with us. You should identify with the Lord. It is God who gave life. All I did was plant seed, all Apollos did was water seed. All we were is instruments that God used to bring to you salvation. But it is God who gave to you your life and thus, you should identify with Him.”
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one ( 1Co 3:8 ):
Apollos and I are one. Why are you trying to create a division? We are one.
and every man will receive his own reward according to that labor ( 1Co 3:8 ).
So Paul will receive his reward for planting. Apollos will receive his reward for watering. And that is the beautiful thing about serving the Lord, He does reward us for that work that we do, not for the results of the work, because the results belong to Him.
So I’m on a salary, I’m not commissioned at all. I’m not paid with a commission. I’m only salaried by the Lord to teach His Word; whatever comes of it is His and it’s for His glory.
I cannot produce fruit in your life. All I can do is teach you the Word of God, water really. And maybe someone else has planted the seed, but here we are watering, cultivating, in some cases planting, great. But it’s the work of God that counts. It’s God who brings life and gives life to the Word, and thus, I just receive the reward for that which I have done, and I receive the reward whether or not anything comes of it, because I’ve been faithful to do what God called me to do.
And that’s the thing that we need to really realize: that God rewards us for the work that He’s called us to do, not for the results of that work. Sometimes we feel so discouraged, because, “I’ve witnessed to so many people, then none ever believe, you know. I haven’t been able to lead one person to Jesus Christ and I’ve talked to so many.” Hey, it doesn’t matter. As far as your reward is concerned, God only asked you to talk to them.
God didn’t commission us to argue people into a faith in Jesus Christ, to get into disputes with people over the inerrancy of the Bible or whatever. I find it rather pathetic that we so often are placed in the position of defending the Word of God. God didn’t call you to defend His Word. God called you to use His Word.
If you were in a duel and you pulled your sword out of the sheath, you wouldn’t say, “Now, you be careful, this sword is the sharpest sword in the world, you know. It can cut the hair on my arm, you know, and it’s the singing sword,” or whatever. “And it’s the finest steel,” and everything else. You’re not going to defend your sword, you’re going to use it. Don’t defend the Word of God, just use it. The Lord will do the work.
Paul, speaking of Apollos and himself, said,
We are laborers together with God ( 1Co 3:9 ):
“You see, I planted, Apollos watered, but we are, both of us, working together with God.” And that, to me, is always a glorious concept, to realize that I am a worker with God, co-laboring with God in His harvest field. You are God’s husbandry, plantings, the vines. Jesus said, “I am the true vine, my Father is the husbandman, every branch in Me that bringeth forth fruit . . . “
So really,
you are God’s husbandry ( 1Co 3:9 ),
He is cultivating your life in order that you might bring forth fruit for His glory. And then he goes on to say,
you are God’s building ( 1Co 3:9 ).
You are the work of God. You’re not the work of Chuck Smith or of Pastor Romaine or of any other pastor here. You are the work of God. It is God that has worked in your life through His Word. And so he who plants is nothing, he who waters is nothing, but it is God who gives life and brings increase. And so,
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereon ( 1Co 3:10 ).
“I planted; you are God’s building.” So he takes it from the farm to construction, from the field to a building now. “I planted. Apollos watered. I laid the foundation. Apollos came and build upon that foundation. For you are the building of God.” But he warns, “Let every man take heed how he builds thereon.”
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ ( 1Co 3:11 ).
Now the church is the building of God that has been built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. And no other foundation can any man lay than that which is laid.
It is a sad error of the Catholic Church to declare that Peter is the foundation upon which the church was built. Taking Matthew’s gospel, chapter 16, where at Caesarea Philippi Jesus said, “Who do men say that I am?” And they began to say the current concepts that people had about Jesus.
Finally, Jesus said, “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Or, “You’re the Messiah. You’re the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said, “Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto you, that you are Petros [you’re a little stone], and upon this petra [the rock] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” ( Mat 16:16-18 ).
So the rock upon which the church was built, the Catholics say, was Peter. He is the foundation. Not so. Jesus said, “You are Petros [a little stone], upon this petra I will build my church.” What is the petra, the rock upon which the church was built? The confession of Peter that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. That’s the foundation upon which the church was built, as Paul here declares, “No other foundation can any man lay than that which has already been laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
He is the foundation of the church. He is the one upon whom the church is built. But, we must be careful even how we build on that foundation.
Now if any man build upon this foundation of gold, and silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and stubble; every man’s work shall be manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire ( 1Co 3:12-15 ).
Christ, the foundation upon which the church is being built. Paul acknowledges that there are some who are building with wood, hay, and stubble. Others are building with gold, silver, and precious stones. But there is a day that is coming in which the building is to be tested. It’s to be tested by fire, and when that day of testing comes, then it will be manifested, the materials that were used in the building.
Now, I do believe that many of the great religious systems today have been built with wood, hay, and stubble. I believe that we are living in an age when somehow we have lost true faith in God and in the ability of Jesus Christ to do what He said He was going to do. For He said to Peter, “Upon this rock I will build my church.” But somehow we’ve come to the idea that He cannot build His church without our help and our genius.
And so we’re going to help the Lord build His church. And we’re going to have fundraising campaigns, and we’re going to develop tremendous programs whereby we’re going to help the Lord build His church, because surely He wants to build His church, but He can’t do it without our genius and our helping Him.
And so we go to Madison Avenue and we study their techniques. We study how to write a psychologically enticing letter that will encourage the person to immediately sit down and respond to our appeal. “And I’ll trace my hand upon a napkin, and when you get it you put it on your forehead and pray. And if you send me one hundred dollars, you can get whatever you need.” That oughta be good for a hundred bucks from these poor simple little people who can’t think for themselves. Gimmicks.
Oh, how I long for the day of purity within the church again. That kind of purity when Ananias and Sapphira came in with a pretense and they got snuffed by the power of the Spirit of God. That kind of purity that when the tabernacle was set up and they began the worship, when the two sons of Aaron took false fire and went in to offer it before the Lord, the fire from the altar consumed them.
There’s a lot of false fire today being offered before the Lord: wood, hay, stubble. One day it is all to be tested by the fire, and much of the work that has been done in the name of Jesus Christ is going to be consumed and perish. Be careful how you build on the foundation. Make sure that you are using gold, silver, precious stones. We’re the building of God. The church is the building of God. Christ the foundation, but be careful how you build. The day will come when it will be tested, our works, what sort they are.
You remember Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 6, “Take heed to yourself that you do not your righteousness before men to be seen of man.” In other words, take heed that you’re not doing things in such a way as to receive the recognition and the reward from man. For He said unto you, “You have your reward.” So when you pray, don’t make a big public demonstration of it. Don’t be always telling others about it so that they know what a prayer warrior you are. For Jesus said, “You have your reward.” When you give, don’t do it in such a public demonstration that everybody knows what you gave, for you have your reward. When you fast, don’t put on the appearance of sackcloth and ashes and long mournful faces so that everybody knows how spiritual you are because you fast.
But do these things rather to your Father, before your Father, in secret before Him, and you’ll receive your reward from Him. But Jesus is saying that in the acknowledgment that you receive from man in doing things in a public display, that will be the only reward that you’ll get from them, that which comes from man. So our works will be judged, what sort they are as the motives of our hearts will be judged when we stand before God.
Now, a lot of beautiful, marvelous things that are done, we will be shocked when we realize the motive behind those things. You know, I’ve done some things that just really, totally failed. I mean, it was just a total flop. But yet, the motive of my heart was right. So it isn’t really so much what I’ve done, but what was the motive behind what I did.
Now Paul goes from the building to the individual,
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God ( 1Co 3:16 ),
Two Greek words for temple, the word hieron referred to the entire temple complex. It included the buildings, the courts, the porches, even the temple mount. Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple, the hieron.
The other Greek word for temple is naos, which is the inner sanctuary, the holy place. It is the word that Jesus used when the Pharisees asked for a sign and He said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will build it again.” He used the word naos, this inner sanctuary, this holy place.
“You,” Paul said, “are the naos of God.” The inner sanctuary was the place of divine activity. That’s where God revealed Himself to man. That’s where man came into a relationship with God, for the Shekinah dwelt in the naos, in that inner sanctuary. “You,” Paul said, “are the naos of God.” Therefore, your life becomes the center of divine activity. Your life is the instrument through which God reveals Himself to man today. Your life is the dwelling place of God, your body.
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God,”
and that the Spirit of God is dwelling in you? ( 1Co 3:16 )
Every believer in Jesus Christ has the Spirit of God dwelling in him. The moment you ask Jesus Christ to come into your life, the Spirit of God begins to indwell you. Paul said, “Don’t you know you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God is dwelling in you?” And then he goes on to declare,
If any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy ( 1Co 3:17 );
Now in the sixth chapter he tells us some of the ways by which the temple of God can be defiled, as he tells us there your body is the naos of God. And if I commit fornication, Paul said I am then sinning against my body, my body, the temple of God, member of Jesus Christ, joined unto Him.
And if I then join it unto a harlot, I am actually bringing Christ into participation in that relationship, sinning against the body, defiling the temple of God. And the warning here is, “He who defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy.” I believe that we need to honor and respect our bodies as the temple of God. I believe that we should take care of our bodies. I believe that we should seek to eat nutritious food. I think that we should stay away from junk food as much as possible, because I believe that we can defile the temple of God with harmful food products and other harmful things.
But basically, though it isn’t primarily physical, but spiritual defiling of the temple of God, it is important that we keep ourselves pure and holy. “For if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy;”
for the temple of God [the naos of God] is holy, which temple ye are ( 1Co 3:17 ).
So it is a call to a holy, righteous life.
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he might be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God: for it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness ( 1Co 3:18-19 ).
There is a growing realization that science is a hoax and that men of science are guilty of, many times, perpetrating hoaxes as they are supposedly dealing with absolutes. And science is supposed to be the accumulation of absolutes and facts.
But one of the greatest to arise, Einstein, said, “There is nothing that is absolute; it’s all relative.” And so there is quite an interesting movement now among the intellectuals, as again, we’re beginning to discover that not all science is science and that there’s a lot of hoax in scientific circles.
Now, to me the biggest hoax that men, supposedly of science, are trying to perpetrate upon people is that of the theory of evolution. Supposedly a scientific theory, very credible, and every science accepts it as fact according to those who espouse it so heartily. Even though there are many scientists who are arising now and say, “Wait a minute. There are too many gaps, unexplainable things here.” And evolution is not a satisfactory explanation of the existence of life.
But there are men who claim to be scientists who are trying to perpetrate the hoax of evolution upon society. And, admittedly, they have been quite successful in the perpetration of this hoax. But it’s not science at all. It doesn’t really possess the necessary empirical evidence to prove it as a science.
They have not yet demonstrated how that in a closed system you can have a spontaneous generation of life. In fact, we have billions of evidences that show that you cannot have spontaneous generation of life within a closed system. Now, think for a moment, if life could be spawned in a closed system, every time you went to the store and bought a can of sardines, or tuna, or peaches, or whatever, you would never know what might come out of that closed system of the spontaneous generation of life within it.
There you have a closed system, there you have billions and billions and billions of cans of goods that have been sold, and we have confidence in the inability of a closed system to spontaneously generate life, and so we do can our foods, and we seal them up in order that they might be preserved in that state, in order that life forms may not form within it.
Now, unfortunately, there are times when they were not correctly sealed, or they were not correctly sterilized and life forms can develop in them. And when we were working in the market, quite often in the dog food we would find there was a spontaneous generation of life. And whenever the cans would be puffed and pushing out at the end, we’d always toss them back for the salesman when he came, to give them back to him, because somehow it wasn’t sterilized completely when they canned it, and there was this formation going on inside that was pushing out the ends of the can. And every once in a while you’d get one that would pop in the box and you’d have to send the whole box back because it would just explode and get all over the rest of the cans.
Yet, it’s being offered to us as scientific fact. It’s a hoax in the name of science. And, “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. He takes the wise in their own craftiness.”
And again, The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are empty. Therefore let no man glory in men ( 1Co 3:20-21 ):
Now Paul is saying, “Don’t glory in Paul, don’t glory in Apollos, don’t glory in man. Man at his best is an empty show. The thoughts of the wise are empty. Don’t glory in men.”
for all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Peter, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s ( 1Co 3:21-23 ).
So I can learn and I can gain from Paul, or Apollos, or Peter, or whoever else. Everyone has something to offer. Of course, with some you’ve got to sift through so much before you find something that’s worthwhile, that it’s easier just not to listen.
But all things are yours, and so learn to gain from the whole world around you.
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
1. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
The church at Corinth consisted of persons of large education and great abilities. It was one of those churches that had given up the one-man system, where everybody talked as he liked a very knowing church, and a church of Christians, too; but for all that. Christian babies. And though they thought themselves to be so great, yet the apostle says that he never spoke to them as to spiritual: he kept to the simple elements regarding the carnal part as being too much in them as yet, to be able to drink down spiritual things.
1Co 3:2. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
How grateful we ought to be that there is milk, and that this milk does feed the soul that the simplest truths of Christianity contain in them all that the soul wants, just as milk is a diet upon which the body could be sustained, without anything else. Yet how we ought to desire to grow that we may not always be upon milk diet but that we may be able to digest the strong meat the high doctrine of the deep things of God. These are for men, not for babes. Let the babes be thankful for the milk, but let us aspire to be strong men that we may feed on meat.
1Co 3:3. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
A united church, you may conclude, is a growing church perhaps a grown church; but a disunited church, split up into factions where every man is seeking position and trying to be noted such a church is a church of babes. They are carnal, and walk as men.
1Co 3:4. For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollo; are ye not carnal?
Instead of that, they should all have striven together for the defense of the common faith of Jesus Christ. There is no greater symptom of mere infancy in true religion than the setting up of the names of leaders or the preference for this or that peculiar form of doctrine, instead of endeavoring to grasp the whole of truth wherever one can find it.
1Co 3:5-6. Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Let God, then, have all the glory. Be grateful for the planter, and grateful for the waterer, ay, and grateful to them as well; but, still, let the stress of your gratitude be given to him without whom watering and planting would be in vain.
1Co 3:7-8. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one:
They are pursuing the same design; and Apollos and Paul were one in heart. They were true servants of one master.
1Co 3:8-9. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are Gods husbandry, ye are Gods building.
The church is built up. God is he who builds it up the master of the work, but he employs his ministers under him to be builders.
1Co 3:10-13. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every mans work shall be made manifest: For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is.
Very easy to build up a church quickly. Very easy to make a great excitement in religion, and become very famous as a soul-winner. Very easy. But time tries everything. If there were no other fire than the mere fire of time, it would suffice to test a mans work. And when a church crumbles away almost as soon as it is got together when a church declines from the doctrines which it professed to hold, when the teaching of the eminent teacher is proved, after all, to have been fallacious and to have been erroneous in practical results, then what he has built comes to nothing! Oh! dear friends, what little we do we ought to aspire to do for eternity. If you shall never lay the brush to the canvas but once, make an indelible stroke with it. If only one work of sort, shall come from the statuarys workshop, let it be something that will live all down the ages.
But we are in such a mighty hurry: we make a lot of things that die with us ephemeral results. We are not careful enough as to what we build with. May God grant that this truth may sink into our minds. Let us remember that, if it is hard building with gold and silver, and harder still building with precious stones, yet what is built will stand the fire. It is easy building with wood, and easier still with hay and stubble, but then there will be only a handful of ashes left of a whole lifework, if we build with these.
1Co 3:14-15. If any mans work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any mans work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
If he meant right if he did endeavor to serve God as a worker, though he may have uttered many errors and have been mistaken (and which of us has not been?) he shall be saved, though his work must be burnt.
1Co 3:16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Do you know it? He says, Know ye not? but I might leave out the not and say, Know ye that ye are the temple of God? What a wonderful fact it is! Within the body of the saint, God dwells, as in a temple. How do some men injure their bodies or utterly despise them, though they would not so do if they understood that they are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in them.
This exposition consisted of readings from Mat 6:1-24. 1Co 3:1-16.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
1Co 3:1. , and I) He spoke, 1Co 2:1, of his first coming among them: he now speaks of his progress.- , as to carnal) This is a more gentle expression, than natural, especially with the additional mitigation, as babes in Christ, in regard to the degree of attainment, which immediately followed.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 3:1
1Co 3:1
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal,-Paul had told them that they were dependent on the inspired apostles for the knowledge of the truth by which they might become spiritual beings. He could not speak unto them as though they were taught by the Spirit, but as though they were fleshly, or led by the impulse of the flesh.
as unto babes in Christ.-Not grown, were undeveloped under the instruction of the Spirit. As the spiritual element in them is developed under the instruction of the Spirit the flesh loses its rule, but they had learned slowly, had not grown in spirituality as they should have done, so he chides them that they are yet carnal when they ought to be spiritual. He uses the term here in a modified sense. [The term is sometimes used in a good sense. (1Pe 2:2). Here, however, it is taken in a bad sense, as referring to the understanding. For we must be children in malice, but not in understanding. (1Co 14:20; Eph 4:14).]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The reason for the schisms was that these people were carnal. “Jealousy and strife” are evidences of carnality. Proceeding, Paul declared the true value of the Christian ministry. “For we are God’s fellow-workers.” The sublimity of their work is evidenced by the fact that they are co-operating with God. The foundation of the building is Jesus Christ. On that great foundation other men are building. Some of the work is precious and permanent, of the nature of gold, silver, costly stones. It may be some of it is unworthy-wood, hay, stubble. The nature of the work is to be revealed in the great fire baptism, which is to be the final process before the completion of God’s great building. Thus it is evident that the matter of supreme importance is the building.
The purpose of the building is revealed in the statement, “Ye are a sanctuary of God.” The word “sanctuary” here is of especial value as indicating not merely a temple, but a temple appropriated to its true use, a dwelling.
In the light of this statement concerning the Church the apostle wrote the solemn warning, “If any man spoil the temple of God, him shall God spoil.” The apostle sums up and endorses his argument that the “wisdom of the age” is foolishness with God.
If a man turn from this foolishness to the wisdom of God he possesses all things. The teachers themselves- Paul, Apollos, Cephas; all the facts that touch personality and affect it- “the world,” “life,” “death,” “things present,” “things to come”-all these are possessed by the man who has learned his own folly and glories alone in the Lord. Such a man not only possesses, he is possessed. He is Christ’s1 And, yet again, the final safety is God Himself, for “Christ is God’s.”
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
3:1-4. In following to its application his contrast between the spiritual and the animal character, the Apostle is led back to his main subject, the . These dissensions show which type of character predominates among his readers. The passage corresponds to 2:13 (see note there), and forms its negative counterpart, prepared for by the contrast (2:13-16) between the spiritual and the animal man.
, . See on 1:10 and 2:1.
. Ideally, all Christians are (12:3, 13; Gal 4:3-7): but by no means all the Corinthians were such in fact.* Along with the heathen, they are in the category of or , but they are not on a level with the heathen. They are babes in character, but babes in Christ; and, apart from the special matters for blame, there are many healthy features in their condition (1:4-9, 11:2).
. The word is chosen deliberately, and it expresses a shade of meaning different from , placing the state of the Corinthians under a distinct aspect. The termination – denotes a material relation, while – denotes an ethical or dynamic relation, to the idea involved in the root. In 2Co 3:3 the tables are made of stone, the hearts are made of flesh (see note on , 4:3). Accordingly, means of flesh and blood,, what a man cannot help being, but a state to be subordinated to the higher law of the Spirit, and enriched and elevated by it. We are all ( , Gal 2:20), but we are not to live (15:50; Rom 8:12; 2Co 10:2, 2Co 10:3). The state of the is not culpable in itself, but it becomes culpable if unduly prolonged (13:11, 14:20).
There are two other views respecting which may be mentioned, but seem to be alien to the sense. Meyer holds that the word means wholly of flesh, without any influence of the spirit (Joh 3:6). In the , although the flesh still has the upper hand, yet there is some counteracting influence of the spirit. This view makes the state of the an advance upon that of the , and is really an inversion of the true sense. Evans regards as a term free from any reproach. It is the first moral state after conversion, in a figure borrowed from an infant, which to outward view is little more than a living lump of dimpled flesh, with few signs of intelligence. This is an exaggeration of the true sense. Cf. Arist. Eth. Nic. III. ix. 2.
( A B C* D* 17) is the original reading, of which (D3 E F G L P) is obviously a correction.
2. , . Cf. Heb 5:12, where takes the place of . The verb governs both substantives by a very natural zeugma: it takes a double accusative, and the passive has the accusative of the thing (12:13). The is described 2:2, the , 2:6-13, and the distinction corresponds to the method necessarily adopted by every skilful teacher. The wise teacher proves himself to be such by his ability to impart, in the most elementary grade, what is really fundamental and educative-what is simple, and yet gives insight into the full instruction that is to follow. The milk, or (Heb 4:1), would be more practical than doctrinal (as 2:2), and would tell of temperance and righteousness and judgment to come before communicating the foundation-truths as to the person and work of Christ. Christ Himself begins in this way; Thou knowest the commandments; Repent ye, for the kingdom of God is at hand. The metaphor was current among the Rabbis, and occurs in Philo (see Lightfoots note). The aorist refers to a definite period, evidently that which began with the of 2:1, viz. the eighteen months of Act 18:11.
. For ye had not yet the power. The verb is used absolutely, as in 10:13.*. This use is not rare in LXX, and is found in Plato, Xenophon, etc. The tense indicates a process. This process was one of growth, but the growth was too slow.
D E F G L, Arm. Aeth. AV. insert before . A B C P, Vulg. Copt. RV. omit.
3. . The new verse (but hardly a new paragraph) should begin here (WH.). B omits , but the omission may be accidental. It adds force to the rebuke, but for that reason might have been inserted. The external evidence justifies its retention. The has its strongest ascensive force; Nay, but not yet even now have ye the power (6:8; 2Co 1:9; Gal 2:3). The impression made by this passage, especially when combined with vv. 6, 10, 2:1, and in 5:1, is that St Paul had as yet paid only one visit to Corinth. The in 16:7 does not necessarily suggest a hasty visit already paid. The second visit of a painful character, which seems to be implied in 2 Cor. 13., may have been paid after this letter was written. Those who think it was paid before this letter, explain the silence about it throughout this letter by supposing that it was not only painful, but very short.
. The adverb of place acquires the force of a conditional particle in classical authors as here: cf. Clem. Rom. Cor. 43. In Tudor English, where is sometimes used for whereas. But here the notion of place, corresponding to , is not quite lost; seeing that envy and strife find place among you. Cf. in Gal 3:28.
. Strife is the outward result of envious feeling: Gal 5:20; Clem. Rom. Cor. 3. There is place in Christian ethics for honourable emulation (Gal 4:18), but without qualification, though ranked high by Aristotle* (Rhet. ii. 11), is placed by the Apostle among works of the flesh. Lightfoot gives other instances of differences in estimation between heathen and Christian ethics.
; See above on , and cf. 9:11; Rom 15:27. Here, as in 2Co 1:12, means conformable to and governed by the flesh, actuated by low motives, above which they ought by this time to have risen.
. Walk on a merely human level (15:32; Gal 1:11, Gal 1:3:15; Rom 3:5): contrast (2Co 7:9-11; Rom 8:27). This level cannot be distinguished from that of the (2:14). , of manner of life, is frequent in Paul and 2 and 3 John, while other writers more often have and : cf. (Gal 2:14), (Luk 1:6, Luk 8:14) and see 7:17. Cf. Joh 12:35.
D* F G have for . D E F G L, Syrr. AV. add after . A B C P, Vulg. Copt. Arm. Aeth. RV. omit. See Iren. IV. xxxviii. 2.
4. . For whenever one saith: each such utterance is one more verification () of the indictment. Cf. the construction in 15:27.
. The and the correspond logically, although not grammatically. St Paul mentions only himself and Apollos by name (cf. 4:6), because he can less invidiously use these names as the point of departure for the coming analysis of the conception of the Christian Pastorate (3:5-4:5).
; Are ye not mere human creatures? They did not rise above a purely human level. The expression is the negative equivalent of in the parallel clause,-negative, because implying the lack, not only of spirituality, but even of manliness. The lack of spirituality is implied in the whole context, the lack of manliness in the word itself, which classical writers contrast with . In 16:13 this contrast is implied in . See Psa 69:2 and Isa 2:9 for a similar contrast in Hebrew. The Corinthians were in failing to rise to the higher range of motives; and they were in allowing themselves to be swayed by the lower range, a range which they ought ( ) to have left behind as a relic of heathenism (6:11, 12:2).
In all periods of great social activity, when society becomes observant of its own progress, there is a tendency to exalt the persons and means by which it progresses. Hence, in turn, kings, statesmen, parliaments, and then education, science, machinery and the press, have had their hero-worship. Here, at Corinth, was a new phase, minister-worship. No marvel, in an age when the mere political progress of the Race was felt to be inferior to the spiritual salvation of the Individual, and to the purification of the Society, that ministers, the particular organs by which this was carried on, should assume to mens eyes peculiar importance, and the special gifts of Paul or Apollos be extravagantly honoured. No marvel either, that round the more prominent of these, partizans should gather (F. W. Robertson). Origen says that, if the partizans of Paul or Apollos are mere , then, if you are a partizan of some vastly inferior person, , . You may perhaps be addressed as , if you have such base preferences. Bachmann remarks that, although the present generation has centuries of Christian experience behind it, it can often be as capricious, one-sided, wrong-headed, and petty as any Corinthians in its judgments on its spiritual teachers and their utterances.
We should read (* A B C 17) rather than the more emphatic, and in this Epistle specially common (D E F G L P), which is genuine in v. 3, 1:20, 5:12, 6:7, etc. And we should read (* A B C D E F G 17, Vulg. Copt. Aeth. RV.) rather than (3 LP, Syrr. AV.). (4:3, 10:13) is pure conjecture.
We now reach another main section of this sub-division (1:10-4:21) of the First Part (1:10-4:20) of the Epistle. St Paul has hitherto (1:17-3:4) been dealing with the false and the true conception of , in relation to Christian Teaching. He now passes to the Teacher.
3:5-4:21. THE TRUE CONCEPTION OF THE
CHRISTIAN PASTORATE
(i.) General Definition (3:5-9).
(ii.) The Builders (3:10-15).
(iii.) The Temple (3:16, 17).
(iv.) Warning against a mere human estimate of the Pastoral Office (3:18-4:5).
Personal Application of the foregoing, and Conclusion of the subject of the Dissensions (4:6-21).
3:5-9. General Definition of the Christian Pastorate
Teachers are mere instruments in the hands of God, who alone produces the good results.
5 What is there really in either Apollos or me? We are not heads of parties, and we are not the authors or the objects of your faith. We are just servants, through whose instrumentality you received the faith, according to the grace which the Lord gave to each of you. 6 It was my work to plant the faith in you, Apollos nourished it; but it was God who, all the time, was causing it to grow. 7 So then, neither the planter counts for anything at all, nor the nourisher, but only He who caused it to grow, viz. God. 8 Now the planter and the nourisher are in one class, equals in aim and spirit; and yet each will receive his own special wage according to his own special responsibility and toil. 9 God is the other class; for it is God who allows us a share in His work; it is Gods field (as we have seen) that ye are; it is Gods building (as we shall now see) that ye are.
The Apostle has shown that the dissensions are rooted, firstly, in a misconception of the Gospel message, akin, in most cases, to that of the Greeks, who seek wisdom in the low sense of cleverness, and akin, in other cases, to that of the Jews, who are ever seeking for a sign. He goes on to trace the dissensions to a second cause, viz. a perverted view of the office and function of the Christian ministry. First, however, he lays down the true character of that ministry.
5. ; A question, Socratic in form, leading up naturally to a definition, and thus checking shallow conceit (v. 18, 4:6) by probing the idea underlying its glib use of words. What is Apollos? i.e. What is his essential office and function? How is he to be accounted of? (4:1). The two names are mentioned three times, and each time the order is changed, perhaps intentionally, to lead up to (v. 8). The follows naturally upon the mention of Apollos in v. 4, but marks also a transition to a question raised by the whole matter under discussion,-a new question, and a question of the first rank.
. The word is used here in its primary and general sense of servant.* It connotes active service (see note on in 4:1) and is probably from a root akin to (cf. pursuivant). See Hort, Christian Ecclesia, pp. 202 f.
. Per quos, non in quos (Beng.). The aorist points back to the time of their conversion (cf. 15:2; Rom 13:11), but it sums up their whole career as Christians.
. As in 7:17; Rom 12:3. The construction is condensed for . . It may be understood either of the measure of faith given by the Lord to each believer, or of the measure of success granted by Him to each . Rom 12:3 favours the former, but perhaps favours the latter. We have five times in vv. 5-13. God deals separately with each individual soul: cf. 4:5, 7:17, 20, 24, 12:7, 11. And whatever success there is to receive a reward (v. 8) is really His; Deus coronat dona sua, non merita nostra (Augustine). It is clear from the frequent mention of in what follows that means God, and it seems to be in marked antithesis to .
We should read in both places (* A B 17, Vulg. d e f g Aeth. RV.), rather than (C D E F G L P, Syrr. Copt. Arm. AV.). D2 L, Syrr. Arm. Aeth. place first and second, an obvious correction, to agree with vv. 4 and 6. D E F G L, Vulg. Arm. Copt. Omit after .. D2; L P, Syrr. AV. insert before . A B C D* E F G, Vulg. Copt. Arm. RV. omit.
6. … St Paul expands the previous statement. Faith, whether initial or progressive, is the work of God alone, although He uses men as His instruments. Note the significant change from aorists to imperfect. The aorists sum up, as wholes, the initial work of Paul (Act 18:1-18) and the fostering ministry of Apollos (Act 18:24-1): the imperfect indicates what was going on throughout; God was all along causing the increase (Act 14:27, Act 16:14). Sine hoc incremento granum a primo sationis momento esset instar lapilli: ex incremento statim fides germinat (Beng.). See Chadwick, Pastoral Teaching, p. 183.
7. . Is something, est aliquid, Vulg. (cf. Act 5:36; Gal 2:6, Gal 6:3); so Evans; quiddam, atque adeo, quia solus, omnia (Berng.). Or, , is anything (AV., RV.).
Nos mercenarii sumus, alienis ferramentis operamur, nihil debetur nobis, nisi merces laboris nostri, quia de accepto talento operamur (Primasius).
. The strongly adversative implies the opposite of what has just been stated; but God who giveth the increase is everything. See on 7:19, and cf. Gal 6:15. To refer and to Baptism, as some of the Fathers do, is to exhibit a strange misappreciation of the context. See Lightfoots note. is placed last with emphasis; but the giver of the increase-God.
. Are in one category, as fellow-workers; consequently it is monstrous to set them against one another as rivals. As contrasted with God, they are all of one value, just nothing. But that does not mean that each, when compared with the other, is exactly equal in His sight. The other side of the truth is introduced with .
. Yet each has his own responsibility and work, and each shall receive his proper reward. The repeated marks the separate responsibility, correcting a possible misapprehension of the meaning of : congruens iteratio, antitheton ad unum (Beng.). The latter point is drawn out more fully in vv. 10 f.
9. . The refers to the first half, not the second, of v. 8. The workers are in one category, because they are . The verse contains the dominant thought of the whole passage, gathering up the gist of vv. 5-7. Hence the emphatic threefold . The Gospel is the power of God (1:18), and those who are entrusted with it are to be thought of, not as rival members of a rhetorical profession, but as bearers of a divine message charged with divine power.
. This remarkable expression occurs nowhere else: the nearest to it 2Co 6:1; the true text of 1Th 3:2 is probably , not .* It is not quite clear what it means. Either, fellow-workers with one another in Gods service; or, fellow-workers with God. Evans decides for the former, because the logic of the sentence loudly demands it. So also Heinrici and others. But although God does all, yet human instrumentality in a sense co-operates ( , Act 14:27), and St Paul admits this aspect of the matter in , 15:10, and in , 2Co 6:1. This seems to turn the scale in favour of the more simple and natural translation, fellow-workers with God. Compare (Rom 16:3), which appears to show how St Paul would have expressed the former meaning, had he meant it.
, . The one metaphor has been employed in vv. 6-8, the other is to be developed in vv. 10 f. St Paul uses three metaphors to express the respective relations of himself and of other teachers to the Corinthian Church. He is planter (6), founder (10), and father (4:15). Apollos and the rest are waterers, after-builders, and tutors. The metaphor of building is a favourite one with the Apostle. On the different meanings of , which correspond fairly closely to the different meanings of building, see J.A. Robinson, Ephesians, pp. 70, 164: it occurs often in the Pauline Epistles, especially in the sense of edification, a sense which Lightfoot traces to the Apostles metaphor of the building of the Church. Here it is fairly certain that does not mean the tilled land (RV. marg.), but the husbandry (AV., RV.) or tillage (AV. marg.) that results in tilled land, and that therefore does not mean the edifice, but the building-process which results in an edifice. The word is rather frequent in Proverbs; elsewhere in LXX it is rare, and it is found nowhere else in N.T. In the Greek addition to what is said about the ant (Pro 6:7) we are told that it is without its knowing anything of tillage ( ) that it provides its food in summer. Again, in the Greek addition to the aphorisms on a foolish man (Pro 9:12), we are told that he wanders from the tracks of his own husbandry ( ) In Ecclus. 27:6 it is said that the cultivation of a tree ( ) is shown by its fruit. The meaning here, therefore, is that the Corinthians exhibit Gods operations in spiritual husbandry and spiritual architecture; Dei agricultura estis, Dei aedificatio estis (Vulg.).* It is chiefly in 1 and 2 Cor., Rom., and Eph. that the metaphor of building is found. See also Act 9:31, Act 9:20:32; Jud 1:20; 1Pe 2:5, with Horts note on the last passage. In Jer 18:9, Jer 24:6, and Eze 34:9, Eze 34:10 we have the metaphors of building and planting combined.
3:10-15. The Builders
I have laid the only possible foundation. Let those who build on it remember that their work will be severely tested at the Last Day.
10 As to the grace which God gave me to found Churches, I have, with the aims of an expert master-builder, laid a foundation for the edifice; it is for some one else to build upon it. But, whoever he may be, let him be careful as to the materials with which he builds thereon. 11 For, as regards the foundation, there is no room for question: no one can lay any other beside the one which is already laid, which of course is Jesus Christ. 12 But those who build upon this foundation may use either good or bad material; they may use gold, silver, and sumptuous stones, or they may use wood, hay, and straw. But each builders good or bad work is certain to be made manifest in the end. For the Day of Judgment will disclose it, because that Day is revealed in fire; and the fire is the thing that will assuredly test each builders work and will show of what character it Isa_14 If any mans work-the superstructure which he has erected-shall stand the ordeal, he will receive a reward. 15 If any mans work shall be burnt to the ground, he will lose it, though he himself shall be saved from destruction, but like one who has passed through fire.
St Paul follows up the building-metaphor, first (v. 10) distinguishing his part from that of others, and then (11-15) dwelling on the responsibility of those who build after him.
10. … The necessary prelude to a reference to his own distinctive work (cf. 7:25). The grace is not that of Apostleship in general, but that specially granted to St Paul, which led him to the particular work of founding new Churches, and not building on another mans foundation (Rom 15:19, Rom 15:20).
. The same expression is found in LXX of Isa 3:3, and is frequent of the skilled workmen who erected and adorned the Tabernacle (Exo 35:10, Exo 35:25, 36:1, Exo 35:4, Exo 35:8). It means peritus. Aristotle (Eth. Nic. VI. vii. 1) says that the first notion of is, that, when applied to each particular art, it is skill; Phidias is a skilled sculptor.* See Lightfoot ad loc. occurs nowhere else in N.T.
. The aorist, like (v. 6), refers to the time of his visit (, ii. 1): is an adjective (sc. ), but becomes a neuter substantive in late Greek. In the plural we may have either gender; (Heb 11:10, Rev 21:14, Rev 21:19), or (Act 16:26 and often in LXX). No architect can build without some foundation, and no expert will build without a sure foundation. Cf. Eph 2:20.
. The reference is not specially to Apollos: The superstructure I leave to others. But they all must build, according to the rule that follows, thoughtfully, not according to individual caprice.
. Refers specially, although not exclusively, to the choice of materials (vv. 12, 13). The edifice, throughout, is the Church, not the fabric of doctrine; but refers to the teaching-both form and substance-which forms the Church, or rather forms the character of its members (Gal 4:19).
(* A B C* 17) is to be preferred to (3 C3 D E) or (L P). D omits the second . There is no need to conjecture for the second (all MSS). In 7:32 the balance of evidence is strongly in favour of .
11. . A cautionary premiss to v. 12, which continues the thought of the previous clause: Let each man look to it how he builds upon this foundation, because, although (I grant, nay, I insist) none can lay any foundation , yet the superstructure is a matter of separate and grave responsibility. stands first for emphasis. There can be but one fundamental Gospel (Gal 1:6, Gal 1:7), the foundation lies there, and the site is already occupied. By whom is the foundation laid? Obviously (v. 10), by St Paul, when he preached Christ at Corinth (2:2). This is the historical reference of the words; but behind the laying of the stone at Corinth, or wherever else the Church may be founded, there is the eternal laying of the foundation-stone by God, the only wise architect of the Church. See Evans.
Compare the use of of the city that is already there, and of the lamp which has to be placed (Mat 5:14, Mat 5:15).
. Both name and title are in place, and neither of them alone would have seemed quite satisfying: see on 2:2. He is the foundation of all Christian life, faith, and hope.* In Eph 2:20 He is the chief corner-stone, , the basis of unity: cf. Act 4:11. It is only by admitting some inconsistency of language that the truth can be at all adequately expressed. There is inconsistency even if we leave Eph 2:20 out of account. He has just said that he laid the foundation in a skilful way. Now he says that it was lying there ready for him, and that no other foundation is possible. Each statement, in its own proper sense, is true; and we need both in order to get near to the truth. As in Gal 1:8, means besides, not contrary to, at variance with.
( A B L P Sah. Copt. Arm. Aeth.) rather than (C3 D E, Vulg.). Several cursives have .
12. … The various kinds of superstructure represent various degrees of inferiority in the ministry of the after-builders, i.e. according as they make, or fail to make, a lasting contribution to the structure. With regard to the whole passage, three things are to be noted.
(1) The metaphor is not to be pressed too rigidly by seeking to identify each term with some detail in the building. This Grotius does in the following way: proponit ergo nobis domum cujus parietes sunt ex marmore, columnae partim ex auro partim ex argento, trabes ex ligno, fastigium vero ex stramine et culmo; all which is very frigid.* The materials are enumerated with a rapid and vivid asyndeton, which drives each point sharply and firmly home.
(2) The wood, hay, stubble do not represent teaching that is intentionally disloyal or false ( ), but such as is merely inferior.
(3) The imagery alternates between the suggestion of teaching as moulding persons, and the suggestion of persons as moulded by teaching (Evans), so that it is irrelevant to ask whether the materials enumerated are to be understood of the fruits of doctrine, such as different moral qualities (Theodoret), or of worthy and unworthy Christians. The two meanings run into one another, for the qualities must be exhibited in the lives of persons. We have a similar combination of two lines of thought in the interpretation of the parable of the Sower. There the seed is said to be sown, and the soil is said to be sown, and in the interpretation these two meanings are mingled. Yet the interpretation is clear enough.
, . As distinct from and , which indicate the metals in any condition, these diminutives are commonly used of gold and silver made into something, such as money or utensils; as when by gold we mean gold coins, or by silver mean silver coins or plate (Act 3:6, Act 20:33). But this is not a fixed rule. See Mat 23:16 and Gen 2:11.
. Either costly stones, such as marble or granite, suitable for building, or precious stones, suitable for ornamentation. Isa 54:11, Isa 54:12 and Rev 21:18, Rev 21:19, combined with the immediate context (gold and silver), point to the latter meaning. It is internal decoration that is indicated.
, . Either of these might mean straw or dried grass for mixing with clay, as in Exo 5:12, , stubble instead of straw; and either might mean material for thatching. Romu leoque recens horrebat regia culmo (Virg. Aen. viii. 654). Luthers contemptuous expression respecting the Epistle of St James as a strawy epistle was made in allusion to this passage. Nowhere else in N.T. does occur.
After . , 3 C 3 D E L P,; Vulg. AV. add . * A B C* Sah. Aeth. RV. omit. We ought probably to read ( B) and ( B C) rather than and (A D E L P). B, Aeth. insert after .
13. . These words sum up the alternatives, standing in apposition to the substantival clause, . Individual responsibility is again insisted upon: we have four times in vv. 8-13.
. The Day (as in 1Th 5:4; Rom 13:12; Heb 10:25), without the addition of (1Th 5:2) or of (Mat 12:36) or of (2Th 1:10; 2Ti 1:12, 2Ti 1:18, 2Ti 1:4:8), means the Day of Judgment. This is clear from 4:3, 5, ubi ex intervallo, ut solet, clarius loquitur (Beng.). The expression Day of the Lord comes from the O.T. (Isa 2:12; Jer 46:10; Eze 7:10, etc.), and erhaps its original meaning was simply a definite period of time. But with this was often associated the idea of day as opposed to night: the Day would be a time of light, when what had hitherto been hidden or unknown would be revealed. So here. And here the fire which illuminates is also a fire which burns, and thus tests the solidity of that which it touches. What is sound survives, what is worthless is consumed.
. The nominative is neither nor , but . The Day is (to be) revealed in fire (2Th 1:7, 2Th 1:8, 2Th 1:2:8; Dan 7:9f.; Mal 4:1). This is a common use of the present tense, to indicate that a coming event is so certain that it may be spoken of as already here. The predicted revelation is sure to take place. See on in Luk 17:30, Lightfoot on 1Th 5:2, and Hort on 1Pe 1:7, 1Pe 1:13.
St Paul is not intending to describe the details of Christs Second Coming, but is figuratively stating, what he states without figure in 4:5, that at that crisis the real worth of each mans work will be searchingly tested. This test he figures as the fire of the Second Advent, wrapping the whole building round, and reducing all its worthless material to ashes. The fire, therefore, is regarded more as a testing than as an illuminating agent, as tentatio tribulationis (August. Enchir. 68), which by its destructive power makes manifest the enduring power of all that it touches. There is no thought in the passage of a penal, or disciplinary, or purgative purpose; nor again is there the remotest reference to the state of the soul between death and judgment. Hic locus ignem purgatorium non modo non fovet sed plane extinguit, nam in novissimo demum die ignis probabit. Ergo ignis purgatorius non praecedit (Beng.). The suggests that fire is the element in which the revelation takes place. At the Parousia Christ is to appear (2Th 1:8) or (Isa 66:15). In the Apocalypse of Baruch (48:39) we have, A fire will consume their thoughts, and in flame will the meditations of their reins be tried; for the Judge will come and will not tarry. But elsewhere in that book (44:15, 59:2, etc.) the fire is to consume the wicked, a thought of which there is no trace here. There are no wicked, but only unskilful builders; all build, although some build unwisely, upon Christ.
. Still under the . It is better to regard as the acc. governed by , with as pleonastic, than as the nom. to . A pleonastic pronoun is found with good authority in Mat 9:27; Luk 17:7; and elsewhere; but the readings are sometimes uncertain. To take with , the fire itself, has not much point. In all three verses (13, 14, 15), refers, not to a mans personal character, good or bad, but simply to his work as a builder (12).
D E L, Vulg. Sah. Copt. Arm. Aeth. omit , but we ought probably to read it with A B C P 17 and other cursives.
14. . It is doubtful, and not very important, whether we should accent this word as a future, to agree with and other verbs which are future, or , as a present, which harmonizes better with the idea of permanence: cf. in 13:13.
. Compare v. 8 and Mat 20:8: in 9:17, 18 the reference is quite different. The nature of the reward is not stated, but it is certainly not eternal salvation, which may be won by those whose work perishes (v. 15). Something corresponding to the ten cities and five cities in the parable may be meant; opportunities of higher service.
15. . This later form is found as a v.l. (AL) in 2Pe 3:10, where it is probably a correction of the puzzling ( B K P). In Rev 18:8 the more classical is found. The burning of Corinth by Mummius may have suggested this metaphor.
. It does not much matter whether we regard this as indefinite, He shall suffer loss (AV., RV.), detrimentum patietur (Vulg.), damnum faciet (Beza), or understand from v. 14, He shall be mulcted of the expected reward. In Exo 21:22 we have . The is in favour of the latter.
. The is in contrast to the : the reward will be lost, but the worker himself will be saved. If is regarded as indefinite, then may be in contrast to the : the mans bad work will perish, but that does not involve his perdition. The can hardly refer to anything else than eternal salvation, which he has not forfeited by his bad workmanship: he has built on the true foundation. Salvation is not the , and so it may be gained when all is lost. But it may also be lost as well as the . The Apostle does not mean that every teacher who takes Christ as the basis of his teaching will necessarily be saved: his meaning is that a very faulty teacher may be saved, and will be saved, if at all, so as through fire. See Augustine, De Civ. Dei, xxi. 21, 26.
. But only as one passing through fire is saved: a quasi-proverbial expression, indicative of a narrow escape from a great peril, as a firebrand pluckt out of the fire (Amo 4:11; Zec 3:2). It is used here with special reference to the fire which tests the whole work (v. 13). The is local rather than instrumental. The fire is so rapid in its effects that the workman has to rush through it to reach safety: cf. (1Pe 3:20), and (Psa 66:12). To explain as meaning shall be kept alive in the midst of hell-fire is untenable translation and monstrous exegesis. Such a sense is quite inadmissible for and incompatible with . Moreover, the fire in v. 13 is the fire alluded to, and that fire cannot be Gehenna. Atto of Vercelli thinks that this passage is one of the things hard to be understood alluded to in 2Pe 3:16. Augustine (Enchir. 68) says that the Christian who cares for the things of the Lord (7:32) is the man who builds with gold, silver, and precious stones, while he who cares for the things of the world, how he may please his wife (7:33), builds with wood, hay, stubble.
3:16-17. The Temple
St Paul now passes away from the builders to the Temple. The section is linked with vv. 10-15 both by the opening words, which imply some connexion, and by the word , which is doubtless suggested by the building of vv. 9 f. (cf. Eph 2:20-22). On the other hand, it is quite certain that there is a change of subject: (v. 15) and are contradictory propositions, and they cannot be made to apply to the same person, for cannot be attenuated to an equivalent for (v. 15).
The subject of the still occupies the Apostles mind, and he seems to be thinking of their ultimate tendency. By giving rein to the flesh (v. 3) they tend to banish the Holy Spirit, and so to destroy the Temple constituted by His presence.
16. ; Frequent in this Epistle, and twice in Romans; also Jam 4:4. As in 5:6, 6:16, 19, the question implies a rebuke. The Corinthians are so carnal that they have never grasped, or have failed to retain, so fundamental a doctrine as that of the indwelling of the Spirit.*
. Not a temple of God, but Gods Temple. There is but one Temple, embodied equally truly in the whole Church, in the local Church, and in the individual Christian; the local Church is meant here. As a metaphor for the Divine indwelling, the , which contained the Holy of Holies, is more suitable than , which included the whole of the sacred enclosure (6:19; 2Co 6:16; Eph 2:21). To converts from heathenism the might suggest the cella in which the image of the god was placed. It is one of the paradoxes of the Christian Church that there is only one and yet each Christian is a : simul omnes unum templum et singula templa sumus, quia non est Deus in omnibus quam in singulis major (Herv.). is from , to dwell.
. The is epexegetic. Both Gentile and Jew might speak of their , but, while the pagan temple was inhabited by an image of a god, and the Jewish by a symbol of the Divine Presence (Shekinah), the Christian temple is inhabited by the Spirit of God Himself.
. In you hath His dwelling-place. In Luk 11:51 we have , where, in the parallel passage in Mat 23:35, we have . , (Orig.).
It is not easy to decide between (B P 17) and ( A C D E F G L, Vulg.). The former is more forcible, placing the permanent dwelling last, with emphasis.
17. . The AV. greatly mars the effect by translating the verb first defile and then destroy. The same verb is purposely used to show the just working of the lex talionis in this case: one destruction is requited by another destruction. The destroyers of the Temple are those who banish the Spirit, an issue to which the dissensions were at least tending. Here the reference is to unchristian faction, which destroyed, by dividing, the unity of the Church: a building shattered into separate parts is a ruin. In 6:19 the thought is of uncleanness in the strict sense. But all sin is a defiling of the Temple and is destructive of its consecrated state.* We have a similar play on words to express a similar resemblance between sin and its punishment in Rom 1:28; , . And there is a still closer parallel in Rev 11:18; . Neither nor are commonly used of Gods judgments, for which the more usual verb is or : but both here and in Rev 11:18 or is preferred, because of its double meaning, corrupt and destroy. The sinner destroys by corrupting what is holy and good, and for this God destroys him. We have in the sense of corrupt, 15:33; 2Co 11:3; Rev 19:2.
. The Vulgate, like the AV., ignores the telling repetition of the same verb: si quis autem templum Dei violaverit, disperdet illum Deus. Tertullian (Adv. Marc. v. 6) preserves it: si templum Dei quis vitiaverit, vitiabitur, utique a Deo templi; and more literally (De Pudic. 16, 18) vitiabit illum Deus. But neither here, nor in 1Th 5:3, nor in 2Th 1:9, must be pressed to mean annihilation (see on v. 5). Nor, on the other hand, must it be watered down to mean mere physical punishment (cf. 11:30). The exact meaning is nowhere revealed in Scripture; but terrible ruin and eternal loss of some kind seems to be meant. See Beets careful examination of these and kindred words, The Last Things, pp. 122 f.
. It is holy, and therefore not to be tampered with without grave danger. Both the Tabernacle and the Temple are frequently called , and in the instinct of archaic religion in the O.T. the idea of danger was included in that of holiness. See Gray on Num 4:5, Num 4:15, Num 4:19, Num 4:20, and Kirkpatrick on 1Sa 6:20 and 2Sa 6:7; and cf. Lev 10:6, Lev 10:16:2, Lev 10:13.
. It has been doubted whether or is the antecedent of , but the former is probably right: which temple ye are (AV., RV.).* The relative is attracted into the plural of . Edwards quotes, , (Plato, Crat. 405). The meaning seems to be, The temple of God is holy; ye are the temple of God; therefore ye must guard against what violates your consecration. As distinct from the simple relative, commonly carries with it the idea of category, of belonging to a class; and this is what ye are, and such are ye: cf. Gal 5:19, where the construction is parallel.
( A B C, d e f g Vulg.) rather than (D E F G L P,; Am.) where the difference between Greek and Latin in bilingual MSS. is remarkable: see on v.2. ( B C L P) rather than (A D E F G).
3:18-4:5. Warning Against a More Human Estimate
Of the Pastoral Office
Let no one profane Gods Temple by taking on himself to set up party teachers in it. Regard us teachers as simply Christs stewards.
18 I am not raising baseless alarms; the danger of a false estimate of oneself is grave. It may easily happen that a man imagines that he is wise in his intercourse with you, with the wisdom of the non-Christian world. Let him become simple enough to accept Christ crucified, which is the way to become really wise. 19 For this worlds wisdom is foolishness in Gods sight, as it stands written in Scripture, Who taketh the wise in their own craftiness; 20 and in another passage, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain. 21 If this is so, it is quite wrong for any one to plume himself on the men whom he sets up as leaders. For yours is no party-heritage; it is universal. 22 Paul, Apollos, Kephas, the world, life, death, whatever is, and whatever is to be, all of it belongs to you; 25 but you-you belong to no human leader; you belong to Christ, and Christ to God. Between you and God there is no human leader.
4. 1 The right way of regarding Apollos, myself, and other teachers, is that we are officers under Christ, commissioned to dispense the truths which His Father has revealed to us in Him, just as stewards dispense their masters goods. 2 Here, furthermore, you must notice that all stewards are required to prove their fidelity. 3 But, as regards myself, it is a matter of small moment that my fidelity should be scrutinized and judged by you or by any human court. Yet that does not mean that I constitute myself as my own Jdg_4 My judgments on myself would be inconclusive. For it may be the case that I have no consciousness of wrong-doing, and yet that this does not prove that I am guiltless. My conscience may be at fault. The only competent judge of my fidelity is the Lord Christ. 5 That being so, cease to anticipate His decision with your own premature judgments. Wait for the Coming of the Judge. It is He who will both illumine the facts that are now hidden in darkness, and also make manifest the real motives of human conduct: and then whatever praise is due will come to each faithful steward direct from God. That will be absolutely final.
The Apostle sums up his case against the , combining the results of his exposure of the false wisdom, with its correlative conceit, and of his exposition of the Pastoral Office (18-23). He concludes by a warning against their readiness to form judgments, from a mundane standpoint, upon those whose function makes them amenable only to the judgment of the Day of the Lord.
18. . A solemn rebuke, similar to that of in 6:9, 15:33, and Gal 6:7, and even more emphatic than that which is implied in (v. 16). He intimates that the danger of sacrilege and of its heavy penalty (vv. 16, 17) is not so remote as some of the Corinthians may think. Shallow conceit may lead to disloyal tampering with the people of Christ. That there is a sacrilegious tendency in faction is illustrated by Gal 5:7-12, Gal 5:6:12, Gal 5:13; 2Co 11:3, 2Co 11:4, 2Co 11:13-15, 2Co 11:20; and the situation alluded to in Galatians may have been in the Apostles mind when he wrote the words that are before us-words which have a double connexion, viz. with vv. 16, 17, and with the following section. St Paul is fond of compounds with : 5:7, 13, 6:14, 15:34.
. Not, seemeth to be wise (AV.), videtur sapiens esse (Vulg.); but, thinketh that he is wise (RV.), sibi videtur esse sapiens (Beza). He considers himself an acute man of the world, quite able to decide for himself whether Paul, or Apollos, or Kephas is the right person to follow in matters of religion. We have the same use of in 8:2, 10:12, 15:37. Excepting Jam 1:26, is peculiar to Paul; and there the AV. makes the same mistake as here, in translating seem instead of think. Here , and there , may be regarded as decisive. It is the mans self-deceit that is criticized in both cases: his estimate is all wrong. See J. B. Mayor on Jam 1:26. It is perhaps not accidental that the Apostle says , and not . The warning suggests that the self-styled is among them, but not that he is one of themselves: the wrong-headed teacher has come from elsewhere.
. We might put a comma after , for the two expressions are in contrast; in your circle, which has the heavenly wisdom and ought to be quite different from what is in this world and has only mundane wisdom. The latter is out of place in a Christian society (1:20, 22, 2:6, 8). Epictetus (Enchir. 18) warns us against thinking ourselves wise when others think us to such; , .
Cyprian (Test. iii. 69, De bono patient, 2) takes with : mundo huic stultus fiat. So also does Origen (Cels.: i. 13; Philoc. 18); and also Luther: der werde ein Narr in dieser Welt. This makes good sense; If any man thinks himself wise in relation to you Christians, let him become a fool in relation to this world: but it is not the right sence. It is , not , that is qualified by .: If any man thinks himself wise in your circle-I mean, of course, with this worlds wisdom. From , in a Christian Church, it might have been supposed that he meant the true wisdom, and he adds . . . to avoid misunderstanding.
. Let him drop his false wisdom, the conceit that he has about himself: 1:18-20, 23, 2:14.
. So as to be brought unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, unto full knowledge of the mystery of God, even Christ (Col 2:3).*
19. He explains the paradox of the last verse by stating the principle already established, 1:21, 2:6.
. Before God as judge; Rom 2:13, Rom 2:12:16; Act 26:8. Although is common in N.T. and LXX, occurs, in N.T., only in these three chapters; and, in LXX, only in Ecclus. 20:31, 41:15.
… From Job 5:13; a quotation independent of the LXX, and perhaps somewhat nearer to the original Hebrew. Job is quoted rarely in N.T., and chiefly by St Paul; and both here and in Rom 11:35, and in no other quotation, he varies considerably from the LXX. Like in Heb 1:7, here is left without any verb. It expresses the strong grasp or grip which God has upon the slippery cleverness of the wicked: cf. Ecclus. 26:7, where it is said of an evil wife, : and Ecclus. 34(31):2), the man who has his mind upon dreams is . The words in Psa 2:12 which are mistranslated Kiss the Son are rendered in the LXX, , Lay hold on instruction. The verb occurs nowhere else in N.T., and in the LXX of Job 5:13 we have .
. Versatile cleverness, readiness for anything in order to gain ones own ends. Craftiness, like astutia (Vulg.), emphasizes the cunning which often implies. The LXX has , a word which commonly has a good meaning, while almost always has a bad one, although not always in the LXX, e.g. Pro 1:4, Pro 8:5. The adjective is more often used in a better sense, and in the LXX is used with to translate the same Hebrew word. Perhaps cleverness would be better here than craftiness (AV., RV.). See notes on Luk 20:23; Eph 4:14.
20. . From Psa 94:11, and another instance (1:20) of St Pauls freedom in quoting: the LXX, following the Hebrew, has , where he (to make the citation more in point) has . But the Psalm contrasts the designs of men with the designs of God, and therefore the idea of is in the context.
. In the LXX the word is used of the thoughts of God (Psa 40:6, Psa 92:5). When used of men, the word often, but not always, has a bad sense, as here, especially of questioning or opposing the ways of God (Psa 56:5; Luk 5:22, Luk 5:6:8; Rom 1:21; Jam 2:4).
21. . Conclusion from vv. 18-20. The connexion presupposes an affinity between conceit in ones own wisdom and a readiness to make over much of a human leader. The latter implies much confidence in ones own estimate of the leader. Consequently, the spirit of party has in it a subtle element of shallow arrogance. We have , so then, with an imperative, 4:5, 10:12, 11:33, 14:39, 15:58. Outside this argumentative and practical Epistle the combination is not very common; very rare, except in Paul. It seems to involve an abrupt change from the oratio obliqua into the oratio recta. It marks the transition from explanation to exhortation.
. To glory in men is the opposite of glorying in the Lord (1:31). The Apostle is referring to their wrong-headed estimation of himself, Apollos, and others (as in 4:6), not to party-leaders boasting of their large following. Leaders might glory in the patience and faith of their disciples (2Th 1:4), but not in that as any credit to the leaders themselves. All partizan laudation is wrong.
. You say, I belong to Paul, or, I belong to Apollos. So far from that being true, it is Paul and Apollos who belong to you, for all things belong to you. Instead of contenting himself with saying We are yours, he asserts that and a very great deal more; not merely , all servants of God, but , all Gods creatures, belong to them. Yet his aim is, not merely to proclaim how wide their heritage is, but to show them that they have got the facts by the wrong end. They want to make him a chieftain; he is really their servant. The Church is not the property of Apostles; Apostles are ministers of the Church. Quia omnia vestra sunt, nolite in singulis gloriari; nolite speciales vobis magistros defendere, quoniam omnibus utimini (Atto). Omnia propter sanctos creata sunt, tanquam nihil habentes et omnia possidentes (Primasius).
The thought is profound and far-reaching. The believer in God through Christ is a member of Christ and shares in His universal lordship, all things being subservient to the Kingdom of God, and therefore to his eternal welfare (7:31; Rom 8:28; Joh 16:33; 1Jn 5:4, 1Jn 5:5), as means to an end. The Christian loses this birthright by treating the world or its interests as ends in themselves, i.e. by becoming enslaved to persons (7:23; 2Co 11:20) or things (6:12; Php 3:19). Without God, we should be the sport of circumstances, and the world would crush us, if not in life, at least in death. As it is, all these things alike are ours. We meet them as members of Christ, rooted in Gods love (Rom 8:37). The Corinthians, by boasting in men, were forgetting, and thereby imperilling, their prerogative in Christ. There is perhaps a touch of Stoic language in these verses; see on 4:8. Origen points out that the Greeks had a saying, , but St Paul was the first to say, .
22. . The enumeration, rising in a climax, is characteristic of St Paul (Rom 8:38): the is first expanded and then repeated. We might have expected a third triplet, past, present, and future; but the past is not ours in the sense in which the present and future are. We had no part in shaping it, and cannot change it. In the first triplet, he places himself, first, i.e. at the bottom of the climax.
. The transition from Kephas to the is, as Bengel remarks, rather repentinus saltus, and made, he thinks, with a touch of impatience, lest the enumeration should become too extended. But perhaps alliteration has something to do with it. This Bengel spoils, by substituting Peter for Kephas. The world is here used in a neutral sense, without ethical significance, the world we live in, the physical universe.
. If is the physical universe, it is probable that and mean physical life and death. They sum up all that man instinctively clings to or instinctively dreads. From life and death in this general sense we pass easily to . It is by life in the world that eternal life can be won, and death is the portal to eternal life. In Rom 8:38 death is mentioned before life, and and do not close the series.
. These also ought probably to be confined in meaning to the things of this life. They include the whole of existing circumstances and all that lies before us to the moment of death. All these things are yours, i.e. work together for your good. It is possible that includes the life beyond the grave; but the series, as a whole, reads more consistently, if each member of it is regarded as referring to human experience in this world.
For , , B and one or two cursives read , . After , D2 E L, f g Vulg. Syrr. Copt. Arm. add .
23. . These words complete the rebuke of those who said that they belonged to Paul, etc. They belonged to no one but Christ, and they all alike belonged to Him. While all things were theirs, they were not their own (6:20, 7:23), and none of them had any greater share in Christ than the rest (1:13). Christians, with all their immense privileges, are not the ultimate owners of anything. There is only one real Owner, God. On the analogy between here and = belonging to the Emperor in papyri see Deissmann, Light from the Anc. East, p. 382. Cf. 15:23; Gal 3:29, Gal 5:24.
. Not quite the same in meaning as Luk 9:20, Luk 9:23:35; Act 3:18; Rev 12:10. In all those passages we have or . Here is more of a proper name. The thought of the Christians lordship over the world has all its meaning in that of his being a son of God through Christ (Rom 8:16, Rom 8:17). This passage is one of the few in which St Paul expresses his conception of the relation of Christ to God (see on 2:16). Christ, although (Php 2:6, where see Lightfoot and Vincent), is so derivatively (Col 1:15, where see Lightfoot and Abbott): His glory in His risen and exalted state is given by God (Php 2:9; cf. Rom 6:10), and in the end is to be merged in God (see on 15:28). Theodoret says here, , . There is no need to suppose, with some of the Fathers and later writers, that St Paul is here speaking of our Lords human nature exclusively; there is no thought of separating the two natures; he is speaking of Christ, the Divine Mediator in His relation to His Father and to His many brethren. See many admirable remarks in Sanday, Ancient and Modern Christologies, on the doctrine of Two Natures in Christ, pp. 37, 50, 52, 90, 165, and especially p. 173; see also Edwards and Stanleys notes ad loc.
* Cf. , (Ep. of Barn. iv. 11), a possible reminiscence of this and v. 16.
(Fourth century.) The Sinaitic MS., now at St Petersburg, the only MS. containing the whole N.T.
A A (Fifth century.) The Codex Alexandrinus; now at the British Museum.
B B (Fourth century.) The Vatican MS.
C C (Fifth century). The Codex Ephraem, a Palimpsest; now at Paris. Lacks 7:18 -9:6 : 13:8 -14:40 .
D D (Sixth century.) Codex Clarmontanus; now at Paris. A Graeco-Latin MS. 14:13 -22 is supplied by a later but ancient hand. Many subsequent hands (sixth to ninth centuries) have corrected the MS. (See Gregory, Prolegomena , pp. 418-422).
E E (Ninth century). At Petrograd. A copy of D, and unimportant
F F (Late ninth century). Codex Augiensis (from Reichenau); now at Trin. Coll. Cambr. Probably a copy of G in any case, secondary to G, from which it very rarely varies (see Gregory, p. 429).
G G (Late ninth century). Codex Boernerianus; at Dresden. Interlined with the Latin (in minluscules). Lacks 1Co 3:8-16, 1Co 6:7-14 (F).
L L (Ninth century). Codex Angelicus; At Rome.
P P (Ninth century). Porfirianus Chiovensis. A palimpsest acquired in the East by Porphyrius Bishop of Kiew. Lacks 7:15 -17 : 12:23 -13:5 -: 14:23 . A good type of text in St Pauls Epistles.
* Irenaeus (IV. xxxviii. 2) has (from Joh 16:12), and his translator has nondum enim poteratis escam percipere.
* He contrasts it with envy, which is always bad and springs from a mean character; whereas the man who is moved by emulation is conscious of being capable of higher things. Wetstein distinguishes thus; cogitatione, uerbis, opere.
Abbott renders, In the very moment of saying; by uttering a partycry he stamps himself as carnal; so also in 14:26 (Johan. Gr. 2534). There is here nothing inconsistent with 1:5-7. There he thanks God for the gifts with which He had enriched the Corinthians. Here he blames them for the poor results.
17 17. (Ev. 33, Act_13. Ninth century.) At Paris (Nat. Gr. 14). See Westcott and Hort., Introd. 211, 212.
* There is no evidence that at this time or had an exclusively official sense (Westcott on Eph 4:12); cf. Heb 6:10.
d d The Latin text of D
e e The Latin text of E
f f The Latin text of F
g g The Latin text of G
Latin and English Versions ignore the change of tense; and the difference between human activities, which come and go, and divine action, which goes on for ever, is lost.
* In LXX is very rare; 2 Mac. 8:7, 14:5, of favourable opportunities.
Dei enim sumus adjutores (Vulg.); Etenim Dei sumus administri (Beza); Denn wir sind Gottes Mitarbeiter (Luth.). In such constructions, , , , the -commonly refers to the person in the genitive : but see 9:23
* Augustine (De cat. rud. 21) rightly omits the first estis.
* This use of is more common in poets than in prose writers. When became usual of philosophical wisdom, took its place in the sense of skilful. Herodotus (v. xxiii. 3) uses both words of the clever and shrewd Histiaeus. Plato (Politicus 259) defines the , as distinct from an , as one who contributes knowledge, but out manual labour. Tertullian (Adv. Marc. v. 6) interprets it here as depalator disciplinae divinae, one who stakes out the boundaries.
* See Lock, St Paul, the Master-Builder, pp. 69 f.
* It is perhaps worse than frigid. Obviously, it would be unskilful to use both sets of material in the same building; Origen regards as worse than , and than , which can hardly be right. See Chase, Chrysostom, pp. 186, 187.
K K (Ninth century). Codex S. Synod. xcviii. Lacks 1:1-6:13 : 8:7 -8:11 .
*
On the very insufficient ground that Kephas is not mentioned in vv. 5 and 6, but is mentioned in v. 22, Zahn regards vv. 16-20 as directed against the Kephas party. He says that St Paul knows more than he writes about this faction, and fears more than he knows Introd. to N.T. i. pp. 288 f.).
See on v. 1 for the resemblance to Ep. of Barn. iv. 11. Ignatius (Eph. 15) has , , .
* This is a third case, quite different from the two cases in vv. 14, 15. A good superstructure wins a reward for the builder. A bad superstrueture perishes but the builder is rescued. But he who, instead of adding to the edifice, ruins what has been built, will himself meet with ruin.
* We find the same thought, on a lower level, even in such a writer as Ovid (Epp. ex Ponto, 11. i. 34); quae templum pectore semper habet.
* Cf. : Barnabas 4:11 quotes these words as .
Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament
Prosperity Comes from God
1Co 3:1-9
In all our relations with our fellow-men, Christs followers must realize their obligations as members of one great family, with one God. A man may be in Christ, truly regenerate and forgiven for his past sins, and yet be carnal; that is, according to Rom 7:18, he may be ruled by me, I, self. The marks of this inward disposition are set out here. He is a babe who needs to be fed with milk, little and often, because unable to digest solid food. He is a sectarian, throwing contempt on those who do not belong to his own school of thought. He allows himself to be infected with jealousy and strife. Let us test our Christian life by these symptoms. Where are we? And if we are conscious that self has become enthroned as the governing motive of life, let us not rest till Christ takes its place.
It is not easy to learn that the planter or the waterer is just nothing at all, and that God is all. Let us think of ourselves only as Gods instruments, and in a humble way as Gods fellow-workers. It is a most helpful thought. Constantly when engaged in tilling the soil as evangelists or in building character as preachers and teachers, let us count on success, because of the all-power of our great Partner. He must give the policy and direction; it is our part to conform wholly to His will and guidance.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
It is only as the Spirit of God lays hold of him and gives him to see his lost condition that the gospel appeals to this man. Believing it he ceases to be a natural man, he is no longer to be placed in that category. He may be a babe in Christ but he is a Christian. However, when you turn to consider Christians, you find two classes suggested in these words of the apostle Paul. He uses these words in verse 15, He that is spiritual, and then in the first verse of chapter 3 he says, Icould not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal. Let us look at the word carnal. Literally it means fleshly; it is an adjective formed from the Greek word for flesh. The term flesh as used doctrinally in Scripture does not refer to human flesh, but rather to the nature which we have received from Adam, That which is born of the flesh is flesh. Now a carnal man, strange as it may seem, is a fleshly believer. There are many such persons. The carnal man has been regenerated, he has received a new nature, his spirit has been quickened into newness of life, and that spirit that fell into the basement is being elevated into its proper place by divine power, but the man finds he is still under the power of that old carnal fleshly nature in a large measure. Many a Christians life is made up of mingled victories and defeats. As he walks with God, as he takes the place of lowliness and humiliation before God, as he feeds upon the Word, as he breathes the atmosphere of prayer, his spiritual life is developed and he grows in grace and in the knowledge of God. But if this believer is slothful in availing himself of the means of grace, he may find that even after being saved for some years he is still far from being the kind of a Christian that it is the desire of the Lord that he should be.
What is a carnal believer, a fleshly believer? It is best to find out from Scripture. In verse 3 we read: For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions [or factions], are ye not carnal, and walk as men? Here is a Christian, one who has really trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, but as you get intimately acquainted with him, you find he is a very selfish person. He is delightful to get along with as long as he can have his own way. As long as he can run everything to suit himself he is perfectly happy and agreeable, but cross him in the least degree, bring something before him that is contrary to his own desires, and at once there is a stirring of the flesh within him and he is manifested as a carnal man because there is strife. Think of the Lord Jesus Christ. They could treat Him as they would, but He was always the meek and lowly One; they could not rouse His temper by ill-treatment and yet He had a temper. A spiritual Christian is not one who has no temper. Just as that knife of yours would amount to very little if not properly tempered so the Christian amounts to nothing if he is not properly tempered. We read of our Lord Jesus Christ being angry. He was in a synagogue on a Sabbath Day and there was a poor woman there bowed with disease, and His enemies were watching Him to see whether He would heal her on the Sabbath. He asked the question, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days? (Mar 3:4) but they would not answer Him, and we read, Helooked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts (v. 5). What made Him angry? It was their hypocrisy. Hypocrisy always stirred the indignation of the Lord Jesus Christ. They could heap every indignity upon Him they desired, that never stirred Him to anger, but let them heap indignities upon one of the least of His children and that stirred Him to the very depth of His being. When Saul of Tarsus was persecuting the Christians, Christ Jesus spoke to him and said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? (Act 9:4). He never talked in that way to people when they ill-treated Him on earth, but when they ill-treat His own while He is in glory, He feels it keenly. When you find a Christian quick to resent what you do to him but not at all quick to resent what is done to others, you may be sure he is still carnal.
Then there is envying. A person who envies another manifests the marks of carnality. We are members of one body. If that is really so, if I am a member of one body with every other Christian, I ought to be just as delighted when my brethren are honored as though it were I, and I ought to be as deeply concerned when my brethren are distressed and in trouble as if I were in their place. Scripture says, [If] one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it (1Co 12:26). And we are exhorted to rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep (Rom 12:15). How different it often is! I can do something reasonably well, but when somebody else is preferred before me, I cannot appreciate what they do. I think I can preach a little bit, but somebody else is enjoyed more than I am, and instead of saying, Thank God for the way He is using His servant, I sit in a corner and think, What is it that makes the people so interested? I dont see anything in that kind of preaching. When I do this, I am carnal. You can apply that to everything else. If you cannot enjoy having somebody else preferred before you, you are carnal.
Then there are the faction-makers, the division-makers, those who try to bring in strife among the people of God. Here at Corinth they were divided into little cliques and were saying, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos, and every one had his favorite. Paul says, That is just carnality. When you go on like that, you are acting like little babes. I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. If Christians could realize that when they compare one with another, say unkind things about some and laud others to the skies, it is just baby talk, they would be ashamed of it. Paul is telling us that it only shows carnality. It is not anything to be proud of, it is something that may well cause one to bow the head in shame. Paul says, Here you are in Corinth, you have such wonderful attainments and are so proud because you come behind in no gift, and yet you are just babies, so that I cannot unfold to you the things that I would like to. I have had to feed you with milk, and even now you are not able to be fed with meat. You are still big babies. Paul was very faithful. The Corinthians gloried in men and they gloried in great swelling words, and some, I suppose, listened to Paul and said, We dont see anything in his preaching; we learned that years ago. Why doesnt he go into the deeper things?
A brother was a candidate for the pastorate of a church and he preached for the congregation on the text, Thou shalt not steal. The congregation thought it was great, and the pulpit committee met after the service to decide whether to give him a call. Finally one of the brethren spoke up and said, I dont believe in calling any man on one sermon. That was a fine sermon he preached, but I think we should ask this brother to come back again before we call him. So they decided to ask him to come back the next Sunday. He did and he used the same text, Thou shalt not steal, and preached the same identical sermon. At the close the committee met again and said, He must have forgotten that he preached that sermon last Sunday, we had better ask him back again. So the next Sunday he got up in the pulpit and said, You will find my sermon in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, Thou shalt not steal. Before he could go on, a member of the pulpit committee got up and said, You are forgetting that you preached that sermon here twice already; we want to hear you in something else. The preacher replied, I am going to preach on that text every time I come to this church until you learn to keep away from Widow Joness hen-coop of a night.
So Paul says, I cannot unfold the great things to you, you are still little babes, you are not developed yet, you are just carnal. But now he says, The spiritual are a different class. Who are the spiritual? Those who walk in a spiritual way, those who are guided by the Spirit of God. The highest part of the man is now in ascendency. Self does not predominate in this man, he lives to glorify Christ and walks on a higher plane than the carnal man.
He that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. What does he mean by this? The word translated judgeth is the same as in the fourteenth verse, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (emphasis added). He that is spiritual [discerneth] all things, yet he himself is [discerned] of no man. He is able to see the difference between what is of God and what is of man, what is of the flesh and what is of the Spirit, what is of the new and what is of the old nature. The spiritual man discerns all things but he himself is discerned of no man. Other men cannot understand him, if they are not spiritual. They say, He is a queer kind of a man; he does not seem to be actuated by the motives of other men, he is not dominated by the principles that dominate other men. Sometimes they even say as in Isaiahs day, The spiritual man is mad, he is not normal. Of course not, according to the present order, because he is controlled by a higher power. One of those old New England philosophers wrote, If I do not seem to keep step with others, it is because I am listening to a different drumbeat. And if a man of God does not seem to keep step with the carnal and the worldly and the Christless, it is because his ear is attuned to heaven and he is getting his instructions from above. I remember reading, about forty years ago, a little poem that seems to me to bring out very preciously what should characterize the spiritual man:
There is no glory halo around his devoted head,
No luster marks the sacred path in which his footsteps tread;
But holiness is graven upon his thoughtful brow,
And all his steps are ordered in the light of heaven een now.
He often is peculiar and oft misunderstood,
And yet his power is felt by both the evil and the good,
And he doth live in touch with heaven a life of faith and prayer,
His hope, his confidence, his joy, his all are centered there.
Would you like to be a spiritual man, a spiritual woman? If you would, there is a price to pay. You must surrender your own will, you must yield yourself unreservedly to the control of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. And that means the end of all human ambitions, that means that it makes no difference henceforth what men may think or say, you have only One to please, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a great deal of talk about surrender, about spirituality, on the part of Christians who manifest by their very demeanor the carnality that controls them. God give us to be controlled by Him!
Let us then as believers not be occupied with man but with Christ. Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? And what are ministers? They are servants, and so Gods ministers are servants of the people of God. Just imagine a family with a number of servants. Here is Chloe and Nellie and Tom and Bill, and the whole family is upset because some are saying, I am of Chloe, I am of Nellie, I am of Tom, and I am of Bill. What, the whole family divided over the servants? What absurdity! Gods ministers are the servants of the people of God; let them accept the service thankfully, but never let them put the servant in the place of the Master. I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. The servant has no power to cause the Word to produce fruit.
So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. The servant is nothing, but God is everything. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one. And what is that? They are both just nothing; they are two ciphers. But put Christ in front of the ciphers and then you have something worthwhile. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
1Co 3:11
Consider how Christ is the True foundation.
I. The nature of Christ. It was Godhead divested of its circumstance. His great power, the secret of His wonderful, unparalleled career, was not His Godhead, but the immeasurableness of the Holy Spirit which was in Him, which, never being grieved by the slightest approach of sin, wrought in Him infinitely. But He was a man generally subject to the same physical and spiritual laws as any other divinely commissioned and supernaturally furnished messenger of God. And this entire manhood of Christ is one of our foundations.
II. The work of Christ. It was complete. Sealed with the anointings of the Father for this very end, He worked out sacrificially as a Priest what now He gives and applies royally as a King. When that representative Man died, it was the same as if the whole race of mankind, which He was representing, died at that moment, in His death. So the debt is more than paid, the ransom is more than equivalent, the justice of God is more than satisfied. This is the work of Christ, and this again is the element of our Christianity.
III. And, thirdly, the claim of Christ. What return has not such a work a right to ask? As God, He demands His own twice-created work, your body, soul, and spirit-all you have and all you are to be His and only His, to love Him, to serve Him, to glorify Him for ever and ever. If the foundation is once set, our life will have in it that triple power, without which it is not worth living. (1) There will be a mind at rest. (2) The composure of a soul at ease will sustain a confidence which always commands success. (3) From that foundation by secret processes, there will be continually emanating over the whole man a hidden influence, strengthening, uniting, filling him, as for every duty here, so to be able to bear the weight of the glory in heaven.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 5th series, p. 83.
References: 1Co 3:11.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv., No. 1494; B. J. Snell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 56; J. Vaughan, Sermons, 8th series, p. 116.
1Co 3:11-13
Life as a Structure.
I. There is a foundation laid. The idea couched in this figure is the radical idea, which runs through the whole of Scripture, that something must be done out of and apart from the man, to enable him even to begin his proper life before God. Jesus Christ is the foundation. We cannot take these words too literally. The foundation of all this world’s hopes, in the plan of God and of every man’s salvation, is Jesus Christ Himself, the personal historical Christ, who was born in Bethlehem and lived in Nazareth and died on Calvary. This is the stone which was rejected of the builders, but which God has made the head of the corner. In contending for the literal meaning we do not exclude the doctrinal. All true doctrinal meanings are included. The deity, the humanity, the vicariousness, the righteousness, the love, the sorrow, tears and blood, and death and resurrection and victorious ascent “through all heavens to fill all things.” All these things, with many besides, are included in the simple historical yet grand and joyful language, “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
II. There is a building to be raised. A foundation without a building is a solecism, a name. One place of the world is just as much a foundation as another, unless you see a rising structure. The structure in this case is to be raised by the man. He may build a house; he ought to build a temple. The Apostle seems to refer to ordinary houses when he speaks of “wood, hay, stubble.” These are the materials used for common houses. Each man’s life and soul ought to be a temple of God-nothing less. Surely a noble calling that each of us believing in Christ, is required and expected and will be helped of God in building up his whole existence into a living temple for the habitation of God through the Spirit!
III. There is a time given to finish the work. And when the limit of that time shall come, not one stone more can be laid by the builder, not one touch more given to the edifice in any of its parts before the trial. The Master will never tell us when our work is to end and its recompense is to come. But He tells us this, that we are building day by day. Let us see that we live for Christ, that we grow into His image, and that we work and work in the moral construction of our life which angels will crown and God will bless.
IV. “The fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” Let us remember that nothing in us, pertaining to the heart or life or character, which is truly Christian, can fall in those flames at last. All Christian principles and all Christian works are indestructible. He whom you serve will gather up all the fragments, so that nothing shall be lost. He is gathering them day by day, and building them compactly together against the day of trial. And when that day shall come, when its fires shall be lighted, when what is inflammable in our lives shall catch and kindle at the first touch of the flame, we shall rejoice with an awful joy as we behold emerging from those fires that fair structure which will be incorruptible, undefiled, and which will never fade away.
A. Raleigh, Quiet Resting Places, p. 272.
References: 1Co 3:12.-Homilist, vol. ii., p. 355; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 80. 1Co 3:11-15.-R. Davey, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 262; vol. xxv., p. 84.
1Co 3:12-15
This is an awful passage; one whose import no man to whom has been committed the care of souls can realise without trembling. But it has a lesson for all-laity as well as clergy-on whom God has laid responsibility of any kind. St. Paul was much troubled by an account which had reached him of the state of things at Corinth. He had laid the foundation of a flourishing church there, and God had greatly prospered His work; but dissensions had arisen. The Apostle’s authority was decried. Rival teachers were set up; rival parties formed. There was already exhibited on a small scale the spirit of disunion and division by which the Church in these latter days has unhappily been distracted. St. Paul remonstrates with them on this state of things. It is an evidence, he tells them, of the imperfection of their Christian attainments.
I. We have here, first, the builders. These are primarily religious teachers, preachers of the Word, ministers. Such only seem to have been before the Apostle’s mind. But in a secondary sense the passage has a lesson for private Christians also; forasmuch as every Christian has a building to build for God in his own soul, on the foundation first laid at his baptism. It may be in the souls of others also; and woe worth him, if through his negligence, either building be consumed in the day of trial.
II. Next we have the foundation. This the Apostle describes in one word-Jesus Christ. On the cardinal truth of Christ’s crucifixion the hopes of the Church, the hopes of every individual Christian, rest. Let us look to ourselves that we do not lose hold of it.
III. The superstructure which St. Paul supposes to be built on this foundation. This, speaking generally, is the complex result of each man’s ministry-of his doctrine and of his labour-its result, as manifested in the lives and conversations of the converts whom he has won, or of the people who have been committed to his charge. The Apostle sets before us two distinct superstructures, the foundation being the same in both. Some builders he represents as raising a solid and substantial fabric, gold, silver, costly stones. Their doctrine and the result of it were in keeping with the great truth which himself had laid as the foundation; the doctrine uncorrupt-the result, holiness of life and conversation on the part of those who received it, and what he may be thought to have had specially in view-a spirit of charity and brotherly love, as opposed to the spirit of contention and division, which was so unhappily prevalent at Corinth, and which no doubt was in part what he meant by that “wood, hay, stubble,” which others were building. I say, in part, not the whole; for, as appears from the Epistle, there were other evils, both doctrinal and practical, of which he had to complain, or rather over which he had to mourn; some of them, indeed, as incongruous with the original foundation as a heathen temple or a Mahometan mosque built upon the site of a Christian Church.
IV. Notice next the day of which the Apostle speaks-the day which will declare, will make manifest, before men and angels, the character of each man’s work. In many cases, no doubt, that character is only too apparent on the instant. The unsoundness and worthlessness of the building are open beforehand, going before to judgment. But in others they follow. After a specious show, conformity with the popular taste and the like gain them a wide acceptance, while true and honest work is depreciated and condemned. The day in which the Lord will come will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.
V. What is meant by the fire, of which it is said, “The day shall be revealed, and by which every man’s work will be proved”? This some have understood of persecution, and no doubt persecution has many times served as a test, sifting the Church and separating the wheat from the chaff. But it is a test which has only partially been applied. Many workmen have never had their work subjected to it, and even where it has been applied, it has not always proved an infallible test; there have been confessors and martyrs to heresy as well as to the truth. But St. Paul is speaking of a trial to which every man’s work shall be subjected, and of a test whose searching scrutiny no unsoundness or dishonesty in the work will escape. The fire of which the Apostle speaks is doubtless that searching scrutiny, repeatedly referred to elsewhere in Scripture, to which at the great and dreadful day of judgment every man’s work will be subjected, when the great white throne shall be set, and the dead, small and great, shall stand before God, and the books shall be opened, and the dead shall be judged out of those things that are written in the books according to their works; and among these works, the work of each man’s ministry, in the case of God’s ministers, will hold, we may be sure, the very foremost place.
VI. The Apostle, when he speaks of the unskilful builder being saved, must of course be understood to do so on the presumption that the man himself has personally retained his hold on Christ, and that for Christ’s sake the failure of his work-whether owing to ignorance, infirmity, or any less pardonable cause-is mercifully forgiven. Such a one, the Apostle says, shall lose his reward. He will appear before the Lord empty-handed, with no offering to present of souls won from Satan’s kingdom or strengthened and confirmed in faith and holiness. He will be happy only in this, that while he takes with shame the lowest place and marvels, while he takes it, that such grace should be extended to him, that place is still within his Father’s house.
C. Heurtley, Oxford and Cambridge Journal, Nov. 4th, 1880.
1Co 3:14-15
Two Builders on One Foundation.
I. Consider, first, the two builders and their work. The original application of these words is distinctly to Christian teachers. The wood, hay, and stubble are clearly not heresies, for the builder who uses them is on the foundation; and if Paul had been thinking of actual heresies, he would have found sharper words of condemnation with which to stigmatise them than those which merely designate them as flimsy and unsubstantial. But what is meant is the unprofitable teaching which good men may present, when “the hungry sheep look up and are not fed”; while, on the other hand, the gold and silver and precious stones are the solid and permanent and soul-satisfying truths which are revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
II. Think of the twofold effects of the one work. The flame plays round both the buildings. What fire is it? The text answers the question for us-“the day shall declare it.” The Apostle does not think that he needs to say what day. They know well enough what day he means. The day is the day when Christ shall come. And the fire is but the symbol that always attends the Divine appearance in the Old and in the New Testament. That fire reveals, and it tests. What abides the test is glorified thereby; what does not is burned up and annihilated. The builders have been working, if I may say so, as you see builders sometimes nowadays, under special circumstances and in great buildings-working night-work, with some more or less sufficient illumination. The day dawns, and the building at which they have been toiling in the dim light stands out disclosed in all its beauty or deformity. Its true proportions are manifest at last.
III. Look at the twofold effect on the builders. The one gets a reward; the other suffers the loss of all his toil; gets no wages for work that did not last, is dragged through the fire and the smoke, and just saved from being burned up. He stands there, amazed and impoverished, amidst the ruins of his home. These two are like two vessels, one of which comes into harbour with a rich freight and flying colours, and is welcomed with tumult of acclaim; the other strikes on the bar. “Some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship, all come safe to land”; but ship and cargo and profit of the venture are all lost. “He shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved.”
A. Maclaren, Christ in the Heart, p. 157.
Reference: 1Co 3:15.-T. Binney, Tower Church Sermons, p. 173.
1Co 3:16
Consider the Offices of the Holy Ghost.
I. It is the office of the Holy Ghost to effect such a change that the sinner may be described as born again and made a new man in Christ Jesus. The decayed frame of the soul is rebuilded, its lost powers restored, blind prejudice is removed from the understanding, and the bias of the will turned from the tendency to evil, and thus he who has been brought up a child of wrath with unruly passions and inclinations, and loving nothing but what God disapproves, is transformed into a child of God, with a capacity to apprehend spiritual things, a disposition to entertain them and strength to pursue them. And as it is through the work of the Holy Ghost that man is first created anew to God in righteousness and true holiness, so it is owing to this Divine Agent that he is afterward enabled to pursue steadfastly the Christian course. It were even nothing that Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree, if there were no supernatural agency to apply to ourselves the expiatory virtue of Christ’s sacrifice. It is the office of the Spirit to translate us from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God’s dear Son.
II. Having wrought this wondrous change, the Holy Spirit does not leave its subject to himself, for he needs unremitting assistance, and never, while on earth, attains a point at which his own strength suffices for his safety. He must continually pray, and he knows not what to pray for as he ought; he must labour after holiness, and he finds another law in his members warring against the law of his mind; he must count all things but loss that he may win Christ, but the objects of sight have a vast advantage over the objects of faith, and it is intensely difficult to give to what is future the required predominance. But in all these duties and difficulties it is the office of the Spirit to communicate strength sufficient for the occasion, and the Spirit carries on to a gracious consummation the work which He has begun in the man’s heart. It rebuilds the fallen and desecrated fabric; it ministers continually at its altars, and makes its walls flash with the hope of immortality.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2067.
1Co 3:16
I. Every Christian is a dwelling-place of God. This is not a metaphor. It was the outward temple that was the metaphor. The reality is that which you and I, if we are God’s children in Jesus Christ, experience. That God should dwell in my heart is possible only from the fact that He dwelt in all His fulness in Christ, through whom I touch Him. That Temple consecrates all heart-shrines; and all worshippers that keep near to Him partake with Him of the Father that dwelt in Him.
II. As temples all Christians are to be manifesters of God. The meaning of the Temple of all temples is that there the indwelling Deity shall reveal Himself, and if it be true that we Christian men and women are, in deep and blessed reality, the abiding-places and habitations of God, then it follows that we shall stand in the world as the great means by which God is manifested and made known, and that in a twofold way-to ourselves and to other people.
III. As temples all Christian lives should be places of sacrifice. The difference between all other and lesser nobilities of life and the supreme beauty of a true Christian life is that the sacrifice of the Christian is properly a sacrifice-that is, an offering to God, done for the sake of the great Love wherewith He hath loved us. As Christ is the one true Temple and we become so by partaking of Him, so He is the one Sacrifice for sins for ever, and we become sacrificers only through Him.
IV. This great truth of the text enforces the solemn lesson of the necessary sanctity of the Christian life. The first plain idea of the temple is a place set apart and consecrated to God. Christianity is intolerant. There is to be one image in the shrine. One of the old Roman Stoic emperors had a pantheon in his palace, with Jesus Christ upon one pedestal and Plato on the one beside Him; and some of us are trying the same kind of thing-Christ there, and somebody else here. Remember, Christ must be everything or nothing. Stars may be sown by millions, but for the earth there is but one sun. And you and I are to shrine one dear Guest, and one only, in the inmost recesses of our hearts.
A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth, May 6th, 1886.
Christians the Temple of God.
I. A temple is a place in which Deity is supposed specially to dwell, and in which He may be approached in worship. It supposes the existence of God and His willingness to hold intercourse with His creatures, and these are truths which have been universally admitted. The true dwelling-place of spirit is spirit; the true temple of Jehovah is the human soul. Christ appears not to abolish sacredness, but to extend it; not to defile holy ground, but to make all the earth holy; not to demolish temples, but to multiply them by making human souls more truly God’s habitation than ever had been the sanctuary upon the sacred hill. And thus our Apostle-Jew though he was-drew attention from the outward and visible, saying, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
II. Glance at the past history of this temple. It is in ruins. The lamps have gone out, and the altar is overturned. No incense rises from the censer, no anthem swells from the choir. Majestic, it is still lovely even in decay; but the wind is wailing amid the colonnades, the filth defacing the chiselled relics, the screech owl nestling in the ivy, and the viper hissing among the rank weeds that grow round a few shattered columns that are still erect. Ah! how eloquently these things declare, “Know ye not that man was once the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God did dwell in him? If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy.”
III. Consider the reconstruction of the temple. This was Christ’s great work. He himself was a temple. This world has been consecrated by Jesus Christ, the High Priest of the universe. Not only so; He makes us individually temples. We were polluted-polluted by sin; but He cleanses the temple from its pollution. We are led under the influence of the Spirit of God to deplore the desolation, to long for the reconstruction of the temple, and when this change in our heart is produced the temple is rebuilt. Christ is the builder of it; He is the chief corner stone. Because sin polluted, God forsook it; but because Christ has purified it, God has returned to it, dwells in it, makes it glorious with His presence; but lest we should again pollute it, and a worse thing happen, the solemn voice comes forth to us from the most holy place, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy.”
Newman Hall, Penny Pulpit, No. 3890.
References: 1Co 3:16.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. viii., p. 124; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 327; G. E. L. Cotton, Sermons and Addresses in Marlborough College, p. 38; Hutchings, The Person and Work of the Holy Ghost, p. 118.
1Co 3:16-17
I. When the fall of man broke down the altar within him and scattered the fire, and his vision of God became dim, it did not follow that the Holy Spirit withdrew from the world because the aberration of man’s will was allowed to banish Him from the human heart. Whatever belonged to Him as the Giver of Life went on still. “The whole creation,” says one father, “is surrounded by the Spirit of God.” “The grain of wheat that falls into the ground,” says another, “and comes to dissolution, springs up manifold through the Spirit of God that sustaineth all things.” And whenever the veering compass of man’s will, utterly perturbed by sin, pointed again to the pole of heaven and guided him truly, though but here and there for a season, again was the light seen; the love warmed again, and it was felt that God was still near.
II. We are thus able to infer from the benefits conferred on all Christians by the Holy Ghost what was the blessedness of our original inheritance lost by the fall. He guides into all truth, teaches all things, and brings all things to remembrance, whatsoever Christ has said. Love and joy, peace and longsuffering, all holy and gentle thoughts, does He work in us. So, then, He pervades the intellect and the spirit of man; all that is distinctive of man as above the other creatures is under His control. Farther even than that does His sway reach; man’s higher powers are grafted upon the lower, the motions of his spirit blend with, whilst they rise above, the laws of his physical life. And He that governs the higher elements controls the lower also.
III. It is at the very root of all worship to believe not only that God is near us, but that He has made a temple within us. Every faculty we have is but the reflection of His light in us; our wisdom and our love, that seem so truly ours, are really His, as children believe that windows are in flame when their elders know that it is but the beam of the declining sun reflected back from them. All that is good in us-body or mind-is the present work of the Creator; nothing is ours but sin. What love must not this awaken in me towards Him who is my Father indeed! What an atmosphere of glory and sanctity invests every other soul that is or might be the possessor of the same excellent privilege!
Archbishop Thomson, Lincoln’s Inn Sermons, p. 278.
Reference: 1Co 3:16, 1Co 3:17.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 49.
1Co 3:17
I. The human soul God’s truest temple. This truth expresses one of the great changes introduced by Christianity. The question to be answered, in order to illustrate its meaning, is this: Why has Christianity abolished the one local house, broken down the holy place, and consecrated man himself as the dwelling-place of the Most High? To show why this must be-why only man can be the true temple-we must trace it from two of the great principles of Christianity; for unless we see how this truth arises from the foundation facts of Christianity, we shall not see clearly into its meaning and power. (1) The first principle is-God equally present everywhere. I call that a great Christian fact: though recognised in Judaism and uttered by the prophets, it never broke forth into its wonderful glory until Christ appeared. And as you look at the whole tendency of Christ’s teaching and life, you will find that Christianity is emphatically the revelation of the near and all-surrounding God. Christ showed that nature was no dead machine, but the living work of an ever-present Father. (2) God is most clearly manifested in humanity. This is obviously embodied in the incarnation of Christ. There in Christ was the holy of holies. There was the altar which made every other altar fire grow pale and expire. The Man, the Divine Man, sorrowful and sacrificed, became the temple of Jehovah. Bring, now, these two principles together: God equally present everywhere-the old Temple vanished; God most highly manifested in humanity-the Christian soul the temple of God-therefore temples of God ye are!
II. The manner of realising it. Of course it can be attained only through the indwelling of the Divine Spirit in man. In man there is a trinity of power-thought, emotion, action. In order to become a temple, all these must be consecrated. (1) Intellect to realise God’s presence. (2) Emotion-the fire of impassioned devotion. (3) Action. Thought and feeling are both vain without this.
III. The results of the realisation. (1) God manifested to the world. (2) Elevation of life above the sinful, trifling, earthly. Realise the Divine within you, and you will not defile the temple of God. Let immortal hope glorify your work. His is no vain life who has, through the Spirit, become a temple of Jehovah.
E. L. Hull, Sermons, 1st series, p. 286.
References: 1Co 3:17.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 258; E. L. Hull, Sermons, 1st series, p. 246. 1Co 3:18.-H. Hird, Church of England Pulpit, vol. x., p. 426; A. D. Davidson, Lectures and Sermons, p. 415.
1Co 3:18-19
The Self-wise Inquirer.
Let us inquire what is the vain wisdom of the world, and then we shall the better see how it leads men astray.
I. Now, when it is said that to trust our own notions is a wrong thing and a vain wisdom, of course this is not meant of all our notions whatever; for we must trust our own notions in one shape or other, and some notions which we form are right and true. The notions which we may trust without blame are such as come to us by way of our conscience, for such come from God. Such are the opinions and feelings of which a man is not proud. What are those of which he is likely to be proud? Those which he obtains, not by nature, but by his own industry, ability, and research; those which he possesses, and others not. Every one is in danger of valuing himself for what he does, and hence truths (or fancied truths) which a man has obtained for himself after much thought and labour, such he is apt to make much of and rely upon, and this is the source of that vain wisdom of which the Apostle speaks in the text.
II. How shall a sinner, who has formed his character upon unbelief, trusting sight and reason rather than conscience and Scripture, how shall he begin to repent? What must he do? Is it possible he can overcome himself, and new make his heart in the end of his days? It is possible-not with man, but with God, who gives grace to all who ask for it; but only in one way, in the way of His commandments, by a slow, tedious, toilsome self-discipline; slow, tedious, and toilsome, that is, to one who has been long hardening himself in a dislike of it, and indulging himself in the rapid flights and easy victories of his reason. There is but one way to heaven, the narrow way; and he who sets about to seek God, even in old age, must enter it at the same door as others. He must retrace his way and begin again with the very beginning as if he were a boy. And so proceeding-labouring, watching, and praying-he seems likely after all to make but little progress during the brief remnant of his life.
J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. i., p. 215.
References: 1Co 3:21.-J. Pulsford, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 312. 1Co 3:21, 1Co 3:22.-Homilist, new series, vol. i., p. 422.
1Co 3:21-23
Consider:-
I. How Christ’s servants are men’s lords. “All things are yours: Paul, Apollos, Cephas.” These three teachers were all lights kindled at the central light, and therefore shining. Each was but a part of the mighty whole, a little segment of the circle. In the measure in which men adhere to Christ, and have taken Him for theirs, in that measure they are delivered from all undue dependence on, still more, all slavish submission to, any single individual teacher or aspect of truth. The true democracy of Christianity, which abjures swearing by the words of any teacher, is simply the result of loyal adherence to the teaching of Jesus Christ.
II. Christ’s servants are the lords of the world. The phrase is used here, no doubt, as meaning the external material universe. These creatures around us, they belong to us, if we belong to Jesus Christ. That man owns the world who despises it. He owns the world who uses it as the arena, or wrestling-ground, on which, by labour, he may gain strength, and in which he may do service. Antagonism helps to develop muscle, and the best use of the outward frame of things is that we shall take it as the field upon which we can serve God.
III. Christian men who belong to Jesus Christ are the lords and masters of “life and death.” Both of these words are here used, as it seems to me, in their simple physical sense, natural life and natural death. (1) In a fashion we all possess life, seeing that we are all alive. But that mysterious gift of personality, that awful gift of conscious existence, only belongs, in the deepest sense, to the men who belong to Jesus Christ. The true ownership of life depends upon self-control, and self-control depends upon letting Jesus Christ govern us wholly. (2) Even death, in which we seem to be so abjectly passive, and in which so many of us are dragged away reluctantly from everything that we care to possess, may become a matter of consent, and therefore a moral act. If we feel our dependence on Christ, and yield up our wills to Him, then we may be quite sure that death, too, will be our servant, and that our wills will be concerned even in passing out of life.
IV. Christ’s servants are the lords of time and eternity, “things present or things to come.” All things present, the light and the dark, the gains and the losses, all will be recognised if we have the wisdom that comes from submission to Jesus Christ’s will as being ours, and ministering to our highest blessing. And then “all things to come”; the dim vague future shall be for each of us like some sunlit ocean stretching shoreless to the horizon; every little ripple flashing with its own bright sunshine, and all bearing us onwards to the Throne that stands on the sea of glass mingled with fire.
A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth, Dec. 2nd, 1886.
I. “Christ is God’s.” This is the greatest outgoing of infinite love. Unspeakable, inconceivable is the satisfaction of the Father in Christ as the substitute and advocate of men. The Father’s delight in the Son incarnate is the uppermost link of the chain whereon all our hope for eternity hangs.
II. “Ye are Christ’s”-His property and possession. Think of this in two aspects. (1) How He obtains His property, and (2) how He will use it. He obtains it (a) by the sovereign gift of God, (b) by the price of His own blood, (c) by the renewing of the Holy Spirit. He will use His own (a) as objects to exercise kindness on, (a) as servants to do His work, (c) as living epistles in which the world may read the riches of His grace, (d) as company at His coming.
III. “All things are yours.” Here is a right royal promise. The shout of a King is in the camp of Christians. All the fulness of the Godhead bodily has been treasured up in Christ, expressly that it may be within the reach of His people. (1) The ministry. Not the greatest of Christ’s gifts, in their own intrinsic value, but appearing the largest at the moment, as occupying the foreground of the view, foremost in the list of possessions belonging to the King’s children, come Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas, ministers through whom they had believed. (2) “The world.” The world is a birthplace for the new creature, and an exercise-ground for invigorating the spiritual life. (3) “Life.” Life in the body possesses an unspeakable worth to the man who, being in Christ, lives anew and lives for ever. (4) “Death.” When death is near the Christian meets it calmly, if not joyfully, as the dark, narrow door in the partition wall between time and eternity through which the children are led from the place of exile into the mansions of the Father’s house. (5) “Things present or things to come.” All things are yours, Christians, whether they lie within the horizon of time or beyond it in the unseen eternity. Whatsoever the Father owns becomes the portion of His children.
W. Arnot, Roots and Fruits, p. 119.
The Christian’s Possession.
I. Look first at the main lesson of the text. It is one which the Churches of Christendom have not mastered yet. Must we not plead guilty to something which closely corresponds to the fierce and intolerant partisanship of the Corinthian Church? It is God’s will that the unity of every Church should be made up of diversity, but one aspect after another of Divine truth should be periodically accentuated by a master-mind, and commended afresh to the consciences of men. It is by His appointment that now a St. Paul stands forth as the champion of faith and now a St. James as the champion of works. But the disastrous mistake so often repeated is to regard the teachers of these different types as antagonistic instead of being what God intends them to be, supplementary to each other.
II. Look at the items of the boundless wealth of which the Apostle has taken inventory: (1) The world, he says, is yours. There is, then, a sense in which we may gain the whole world and not lose our souls. Nay, St. Paul would say it is only through care of the soul that the world, in any true sense, can be gained at all. But observe, he is here speaking of the whole framework of creation, the whole handiwork of God, and he declares that this belongs to the Christian. Not only are the invisible forces and its mystic order overruled for us, but all its appliances, all its resources, are ours if we are Christ’s. Centre your affections on these things, work for them, live in them apart from Christ, and they truly cease to be yours; they do not belong to you, but you to them. It is only a surrender to Christ that can teach any man the lofty use of this world. (2) “Life is yours.” All it means, all it involves, all the stores of joy which it is treasuring daily, all that must grow out of it throughout eternity-all is yours. And why? Because every burden, every difficulty has been borne, every danger faced, the whole pressure of life’s strain measured, by One who loved you with an infinite tenderness. (3) Death is yours-death, the last enemy that shall be destroyed, the most merciless and arbitrary of tyrants, whose awful sway it is so vain to dispute. Death is yours, despoiled of his terrors, handed over to you, your slave and not your master; for you belong to Him who has the keys of death and hell, and you share the fruits of His victory over the grave. “All things are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”
R. Duckworth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 145.
References: 1Co 3:21-23.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 408; J. Caird, Sermons, p. 247; J. Duncan, Pulpit and Communion Table, p. 221; T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. iv., p. 49. 1Co 3:22.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv., Nos. 870, 875. 1Co 3:22-23.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 291. 1Co 3:23.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 12. 1Co 3:23.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vi., p. 189.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 3
1. The Carnal state of the Corinthians. (1Co 3:1-9).
2. The Workmen and their Work. (1Co 3:10-15).
3. The Church the Temple of God. (1Co 3:16-17).
4. Warning against Deception and Glorying in Men. (1Co 3:18-23).
Their condition is next uncovered. They did not depend on the Spirit of God and did not enjoy the hidden wisdom and walk in it. They were carnal, mere babes in Christ, in the sense that their growth, their spiritual development had been arrested. Carnal (fleshly) is not equivalent to natural. The believer is no longer a natural man, for he is born again. Carnal describes a condition in which the believer walks when he is not subject to the Spirit of God, but is led and governed by natural instincts and motions. Such was their condition. What was merely of man; wisdom, learning, intellect, eloquence and other things, were highly esteemed by them. They were wise in their own conceits and gloried in men. They delighted in and longed for that which is of man, and admired it, therefore the real spiritual truths communicated by the Spirit were unknown to them.
The evidence that they walked not according to the Spirit and the wisdom of God, was the strife and factions which existed among them. They were carnal and walked according to man. This party spirit among them had its source not in the Spirit Of God, but in the flesh. In it, not the Lord was glorified, but man was exalted. They were more occupied with Paul and Apollos, their persons and talents, than with the Lord Jesus Christ. In this way sectarianism began, as the fruit of the flesh. And the remedy for it is seeing no man but Jesus only. If the Lord Jesus Christ is owned in His glory, and union with Him is enjoyed, then the carnal condition ends and the believer walks in the Spirit and glories no longer in man. Paul and Apollos were but servants by whom they had believed. It is true Paul planted; Apollos coming after him, watered, but God gave the increase. God is all. And any man, whether he planteth or watereth, shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. They were Gods fellow-workmen and the Saints are Gods husbandry (tillage), Gods building. And so all true servants of the Lord, though differing in gifts, are one in this that they are instruments in Gods hand.
Next ((1Co 3:10-15), Gods fellow-workmen and their work is considered in view of the time when each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. Paul here calls himself a wise master-builder (an architect). It was not of himself. He did not plan the great building, the church, but it was according to the grace bestowed upon him. The Lord had chosen him for that. The mystery concerning the church which was hidden in former ages, had been made known to him by revelation. Laboring in Corinth, by preaching the Gospel, he was used by the will and the grace of God to establish the church there. The foundation was laid by him in sound doctrine, according to the revelation given to him. But neither Paul nor Peter nor any other man is the foundation upon which the building rests ; there is but one foundation, Jesus Christ, the Son Of God. The church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord (Eph 2:20-21). The foundation is laid, but the question is what fellow-workmen are going to build upon this one foundation.
Those who are not at all building upon the one foundation, Jesus Christ the Son of God, are of course, not considered. (The different anti-Christian cults, like Christian Science, Spiritism, New Thought, theosophy, etc., all lay claim to the name of Christ, but they reject Him and belong therefore to that class who destroy the Temple of God.) Those who own the one foundation may build upon it either gold, silver, precious stones; or wood, hay, stubble. The first three things mentioned are precious and durable; the other three things are worthless and perishable. Gold, silver and precious stones are the fit adornment of the church as the temple of God, but wood, hay and stubble are worthless material fit not for a temple, but for a mud hovel. Gold, silver and precious stones typify the service of the workman which is of faith, done in obedience to the Word and manifesting the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, while wood, hay and stubble represent what is not of faith, the work and service done in self-will, exalting man instead of the Lord, and therefore disfiguring the temple of God.
The workman whose aim is to please God and not man, whose one ambition is to exalt Christ in all his service, who labors for the perfecting of the Saints, the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph 4:12), builds that which is durable and which can never perish. The workman who pleases men, seeks the applause of man, uses the means and schemes of the world to carry on what is called Christian work and in it all is not obedient to the Word of God, builds that which is worthless and his work will perish.
A day is coming in which each mans work shall be made manifest. The day is the day of Christ when all believers shall appear before the judgment seat of Christ. He is a consuming fire; and before Him whatever is of man and not of Himself will be burned up. That fire shall try every mans (who is a believer saved by grace) work of what sort it is. Then those who toiled in an unostentatious way, who built upon the one foundation that which glorifies Him, whose work was done in faith, shall find that their work abides and they will receive their own reward. The others will see all their work go up in smoke. They shall suffer loss. There is no reward for them. They shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Like Lot who escaped out of Sodom; but all that he had wrought in Sodom, his righteous soul being vexed, was burned up. But the salvation the believer has is independent of his service and work. Every believer will be saved and live, though what he wrought may be found in that day only fit for the fire.
And the building of which the Apostle speaks is the church, the temple of God, the habitation of God through the Spirit. Gods Holy Spirit is dwelling in every member of the body. The temple of God is holy and such are ye. Then the solemn warning if any man destroy (not defile) the temple of God, him shall God destroy. Gods temple in which He dwells, the church, is founded on His truth. The destruction of that temple means therefore the denial of the truth of God or the introduction of false doctrines; critics of the Word, who deny the fundamentals of the faith have well been called destructive. They are the enemies of the cross, whose end is perdition. They are not saved as by fire, but God is going to deal with them in an awful judgment.
In the professing church today are uncountable numbers, who have crept in unawares: they were never born again and therefore they work corruption and will perish. Therefore let no man deceive himself. The Corinthians were setting aside the wisdom of the Spirit and were being seduced by the wisdom of the world, which is foolishness with God. They marred the temple of God by their carnal spirit, trusting in men and glorying in men. In Gods gracious purpose as revealed by the Spirit of God all things were theirs. Paul, Apollos and Cephas were the chosen instruments of God for blessing them. As believers they had all things and belong to none but Christ and through Christ to God Himself.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
carnel
(See Scofield “Rom 7:14”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
as unto spiritual: 1Co 2:6, 1Co 2:15, Gal 6:1
as unto carnal: 1Co 3:3, 1Co 3:4, 1Co 2:14, Mat 16:23, Rom 7:14
babes: 1Co 14:20, Eph 4:13, Eph 4:14, 1Jo 2:12
Reciprocal: Isa 40:11 – he shall gather Jer 3:15 – which shall Mat 9:16 – for Mat 24:45 – to give Mar 4:13 – Know Mar 4:33 – as Joh 3:12 – earthly Joh 16:12 – ye Joh 21:15 – lambs Rom 2:20 – a teacher Rom 14:1 – weak 1Co 4:8 – ye are full 1Co 13:11 – I spake 1Ti 3:6 – novice 2Ti 2:15 – rightly 2Ti 3:7 – learning Heb 5:12 – as have 1Pe 2:2 – newborn
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
IN THE OPENING verses of chapter 3, the Apostle brings the Corinthians face to face with their true condition in very plain words. Enriched as they were in all utterance, and in all knowledge, they may have imagined themselves to be worthy of high commendation. In point of fact they came under definite censure. They were not spiritual but carnal.
They were not natural, for the natural man is man in his unconverted condition. Nor were they spiritual, for the spiritual man is man enlightened and controlled by the Spirit of God. They were carnal, for the carnal man, as spoken of in this passage, is man, who though possessing the Spirit, is controlled not by the Spirit but by the flesh. Being carnal, Paul had hitherto fed them with milk not meat; that is, he had only instructed them in the elementary things of the faith, and had not said much to them of that hidden wisdom of God, to which he alluded in chapter 2.
The Corinthians however might resent Pauls charge against them and wish to rebut it. So Paul proves his point by again referring to their divisions under party leaders, which generated envyings and strifes. In all this they were walking according to man and not according to the Spirit of God.
If the Apostle Paul wrote to us today, what would he say? What could he say, but the same thing with greatly added emphasis? The division of true saints into, or among, the many parties or sects could hardly go further than it has gone. We too might wish to rebut the charge. We might say-But are we not earnest? Have we not much light? Do we not expound Scripture correctly? The reply would come to us-While some say, I am of A-, and a few, I am of B-, while many say, I am of X-, and a multitude say, I am of Z-, are ye not carnal?
In so saying we are not unmindful of the fact that there are to be found some who are spiritually minded. There were some amongst the Corinthians, as a later chapter reveals. But this we do say, that they who really are spiritual will be the last people on earth who desire to stand out as exceptions, prominent and distinguished. They know that this would be the very way to help on the evil here denounced, for they would promptly find themselves made into leaders of parties! NO. Their spirituality will rather express itself in humility of mind, and that confession which makes the sin of all the people of God their own. They will pray in the spirit of
Ezr 9:1-15. Ezra said, OUR iniquities are increased over our head, and OUR trespass is grown up into the heavens, though personally he had had very little share in all the wickedness, but rather was marked by a very exceptional piety.
The same humble spirit marks Paul here. He promptly disclaims for himself any place of importance, and for Apollos also. Evidently he had full confidence in Apollos, that in this matter he was wholly like-minded with himself, and therefore he could freely use his name. Whilst his omission here of the name of Cephas (Peter), is a witness to his own delicacy of feeling; since there had once been a serious issue between himself and Peter, as Gal 2:1-21 bears witness.
Neither Paul nor Apollos were anything more than servants by whom God had been pleased to work. God was the great Workman. In this passage (verses 1Co 3:5-11) the Corinthians are viewed in a twofold way, as Gods husbandry, and as Gods building. Paul and Apollos were but Gods fellow-workmen. That is the force of the first clause of verse 1Co 3:9. They were not competing workmen, much less were they antagonistic workmen. They were fellow-workmen, and both belonged to God.
Each however had his own distinctive work. In the husbandry, Paul planted and Apollos followed to water the young plants: in the building, Paul was the wise architect who laid the foundation, and Apollos built upon it. Their labours were diverse, but their object was one. This is emphasized in verses 1Co 3:7-8. Paul and Apollos in themselves were nothing, yet they worked each in his appointed sphere. And both were one as to their object and aim, though each should finally be rewarded according to their own labour. Thus among His servants does God maintain both unity and diversity, and there is to be no pitting of one against another.
So much for Paul and Apollos. But they were not the only labourers who had taken part in the work at Corinth. So at the end of verse 1Co 3:10 the application of the figure is widened out to embrace every man, that is, every man who had put his hand to the work at Corinth. It applies of course equally to any man who puts his hand to any work of God, anywhere, and at any time. It applies therefore to us today.
The foundation had been well and irrevocably laid by Paul when he first visited Corinth and stayed for a year and a half. It had been the right foundation-Jesus Christ. The question now was as to his successors. Not so much how they built as what they built in. Was it substance precious in nature, and capable of standing the fire? Or was it common in substance, and easily consumed? The day is coming when the fire test will be applied. Everything will be made manifest. The true character of all our work will be revealed. Not merely how much we have done, but of what sort it is. How searching is the thought that, THE DAY shall declare it.
When that day sheds its light upon us and applies its test, it may leave our work standing. If so, we shall receive reward. God grant it may be so for each of us!
On the other hand, our work may be consumed and fall in ruins, yet we ourselves be saved, so as through fire. When the three Hebrews passed through the fire, as recorded in Dan 3:1-30, they and their clothes were wholly untouched: only their bonds were consumed. What loss for us if we come through the fire naked, stripped of all that with which we had clothed ourselves as the fruit of our labours here.
But further, there was evidently a doubt in the Apostles mind whether all those who had wrought at Corinth were truly converted men. Hence the solemn warning of verses 1Co 3:16-17. Work may be done which is positively destructive in its effect upon the building. This raises a further important question. What is the nature of this building, which is Gods?
The Apostle asks the Corinthians if they did not know that as Gods building they had the character of His temple? In them as His temple God dwelt by His Spirit. This gave to them collectively a very sacred character. To do work which would defile, or corrupt, or destroy, Gods temple was terribly serious. If in the coming day any mans work is found to be of that destructive character, God will destroy him.
Apparently some who were going about in those days and doing, as Paul feared, this destructive work, were men who had a good deal of the wisdom of this world, and posed therefore amongst the saints, as very superior persons. This would account for the pungent words that fill verses 1Co 3:18-20. The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. So let no man deceive himself on this point. And if the destructive workers still go about, deceived themselves, and deceiving others, let us not be deceived by them.
What woe and destruction must await the destructive critics, the semi-infidel modernistic teachers, of Christendom! Inflated by the wisdom of this world, they take it upon themselves to deny and contradict the wisdom of God. They may imagine that they only have to expect the opposition of unlearned and old-fashioned Christians. They forget the day that shall declare Gods judgment-THE DAY!
Let us not glory in men. Some of those in whom the Corinthians had been glorying may have been men of quite undesirable type. But let us not glory in the best of men. On the one hand, no man is worth it, as 1Co 1:1-31 showed us. On the other hand, as emphasized here, grace has given us a place which should put us far above glorying in a mere man. All things are ours. All things? That is rather a staggering statement. Is it really all things? Well, look at the wide sweep of verse 22. The best of saints on the one hand, and the world on the other. Life on the one hand and death on the other. Things present on the one hand and things to come on the other. All are ours.
How are they ours? Verse 1Co 3:23 answers that. They are ours because we are Christs, and Christ is Gods. All things are Gods. No one can dispute that, and there we begin. But then God has His Christ, who is the Heir of all things. And, most wonderful to say, the Christ proposes to practically possess Himself of His mighty possessions by putting His saints into possession. Even in Dan 7:1-28 this is hinted at. The Ancient of Days takes the supreme throne. When He does, One like the Son of Man appears, and to Him there was given dominion and glory and a kingdom. But that is not the end of the story, for we further read, the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Read that chapter before proceeding further.
So all things are ours, and we must never forget it. The remembrance of it will lift us above the world with its false attractions, above the wisdom of this world, above glorying in man, in even the best of saints.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
The Carnal and Spiritual Christian
1Co 3:1-23
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
In our last study, we were discussing two kinds of people. One, the unregenerate who had not the Spirit, and the other, the regenerate to whom God had given the Spirit.
In this study we will discuss two kinds of Christians. One is the carnal Christian. The other is the spiritual. One is a babe in Christ; the other is full-grown in Christ. By way of introduction, there are some salient things to consider.
1. The limitations of a carnal Christian. Paul said, “I * * could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal.”
The carnal Christian is shut up to the deeper things of God. He follows after the natural man, which knoweth not the things of God. He has the possibilities within himself because the Holy Spirit is there. However, he sets aside the Spirit, refuses to recognize Him, to yield to Him, to walk after Him, choosing rather to follow in the wake of his own conceptions, and carnal promptings We remember these words from the lips of our Lord. To His disciples He said, “I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”
The young people love the Lord; they have received Him, and in a pinch, would no doubt die for Him. However, many among them are unwilling to enter into the deeper things of Christ. They do not and they will not give up and yield the transient, passing pleasures of this life for the deeper, richer, fuller pleasures of His face.
Beloved, remember that we can circumscribe God; that is, we can turn off the power so that the Heavenly light cannot shine. We can close the faucet so the bountiful rivers of mercy cannot run.
Jesus Christ on one occasion stood before the city of Jerusalem uttering these plaintive words, “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, * * how often would I * * and ye would not.”
Christ seemed to say, “I wanted to; you wouldn’t; I couldn’t.” And this is true. It is true because He made it true.
Paul plainly and positively said, “I * * could not speak unto you as unto spiritual.”
2. The self-negations of a carnal Christian. Because God is kept back from what He wants to do in the believer’s behalf, the carnal Christian is kept back from feasting on the Heavenly Manna,-from entering into Canaan experiences. Spiritual impoverishment is not due to the fact of God’s unwillingness to bless; it is due to the fact of our unwillingness to enter in.
Saints perhaps seldom stop to think that it is they themselves who limit themselves, and hinder themselves. They speak as though God was refusing to do for them what He was doing for others. They speak as though God was partial, with favorites to whom He gave His best bounties. This is not the case.
God hath blessed everyone of us with spiritual blessings in Heavenly places. In entering upon these blessings, however, there is always a part which each believer has to play. The life of love, of joy, of peace, is for everyone of us. If we do not possess such a life, it does not hinder the fact that it is ours.
We may be saved by the Blood of the Cross, and yet we may keep ourselves from entering in to the good things which God has prepared for those who love Him. We may deny ourselves the enjoyment of God’s fellowship and of His spiritual blessings here and now. We may make it impossible for ourselves to enter in to the positions of honor, of trust, and of rewards in the Kingdom Reign.
I. BABY CHRISTIANS (1Co 3:1-2)
Paul wrote unto the Corinthians that they were “babes.”
1. The glory of babyhood. Does a greater joy ever come to a home than the advent of a babe? Everybody loves babies but nobody wants a baby to be always a baby. Here were Christians who had been saved in the past, but they were still babes in Christ.
We met a little baby once, fourteen years old. He had the mind, the motions of a baby. Physically, he had grown; intellectually, he was still a babe. All the joy of babyhood passes when there is no growth. The greatest delight of the parent is to watch, step by step, the development of their little ones.
2. A mark of babyhood. “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat.” This is the explanation of Paul’s statement in the first part of chapter 2. He said, “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
Then later he said, “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect.”
Every pastor has in his flock an abundance of babes. If for a moment he dares to give them the strong meat of the Word, they have spiritual dyspepsia. In the Book of Hebrews we read, “Every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.”
The strong meat of the Word belongs unto them who are of full age. Beloved, how many there are who, considering the time since they were saved, ought to be teachers, and yet they must be taught again and again the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
God grant that the young people who are reading this may not remain babes. May they leave the first principles, and go on unto perfection. May they make up their minds at this moment that they are going to follow on to know the Lord. May they grow up in Him in all things into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and be, from henceforth, no longer children or babes.
II. ENVYING CHRISTIANS (1Co 3:3-4)
We have a second mark of carnality. First, it was babyhood. Now it is envying, strife and divisions.
1. The real mark of spiritual life. It is strange how some people make the test of spirituality some distinct gift of the spirit which is given only to a limited few.
If we want to know whether one is filled with the Spirit, let us see if they bear the fruit of the Spirit, for “by their fruits ye shall know them.” “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” Therefore, the spiritual Christian will possess these things.
2. A second mark of carnal life. Paul says, “Whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”
Do we know where envyings and strife and divisions are born? Certainly not in the bosom of the Holy Spirit. They are devilish. They do not come down from above, but they come up from below. They are not of the Spirit, but are of the flesh. Yet, how many there are who are always growling, or groaning, or grunting about something; faultfinding, full of strife, of envyings, and of jealousies. One is saying, “I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos”; Another perhaps is saying, “I of Cephas.” Surely, such people are carnal.
3. A third mark of the carnal Christian. Can Christians walk as men? We answer unreservedly, “They may,” for 1Co 3:3 says, “Are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”
Can Christians walk after the flesh? They certainly can, for the Spirit admonishes us that we walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in us. There are many calls in the Bible to saints to walk in the Spirit, to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, to yield themselves to God.
Beloved young people, let us decide today whether we will walk as men, that is, as carnal, or whether we will walk after the Spirit, minding spiritual things. If we decide to follow the former course and walk as men, we will be a cause for dissension, for division, for strife, and for confusion in the Church of God as long as we live.
III. A VITAL CONTRAST (1Co 3:5-7)
The members in the church at Corinth have been saying, “I am of Paul; * * I am of Apollos.” Others had said, “I of Christ.” It is easy to discern that some were following men and others were following the Lord. The Apostle Paul in agitation cried, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos?”
1. The greatest of men is incomparable to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was great. We referred to him in a former study, as the greatest of preachers since Pentecost. Apollos was great, great as an orator, great as a lover of Truth. Peter was great. John, the beloved disciple, was great. There are many men today who are great so far as their service for Christ is concerned, great in word and in deed; but what are they, any one of them, all of them, compared with the Lord Jesus Christ?
On the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses and Elias appeared in glory with Christ; Peter, not knowing what he said, suggested that three tabernacles be built, one for Moses, one for Elias, and one for Christ. Immediately from the blue sky came the Divine rebuke, “This is My beloved Son.”
In the Church of Jesus Christ, we can give headship to no man; for One is Head of the Church, even Christ, and all we be brethren.
Paul and Apollos and all other preachers are no more than ministering servants, through whom we believed. They are a finger pointing to Christ. They may plant the seed or they may water it, but it is God and God alone who giveth the increase.
2. Jesus Christ is All in all. 1Co 3:7 plainly says, “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”
In other words, Paul is not anything. Apollos is not anything. Christ is everything. God is All in all.
When the people, rushing from the synagogue on the occasion of the healing of the lame man, would have done obeisance unto Peter and John, they cried, “Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?”
Then immediately they turned the eyes and attention of the wondering crowd to Christ whom God had glorified.
Humbly at His feet we bow; crown Him God, our All in all.
IV. A QUESTION OF REWARDS (1Co 3:8)
1. God recognizes our service for Him. Our verse reads, “Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”
The Husbandman calleth for laborers saying, “Go to work to day in My vineyard.” He also promises that every man shall receive according to his work.
In the 6th chapter of Hebrews, we read, “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward His Name.”
Has not the Lord said, “I come quickly, and My reward is with Me?”
We work because we love Him. He rewards us because He loves us and because we have proved worthy of His trust.
2. God rewards us according to our service. One will receive a definite and a distinct reward from another. Some, alas, will receive nothing by way of rewards for they have done nothing. The Gospels begin the story of rewards, speaking of a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple. Here is the statement, “He shall not lose his reward.”
If we expect a reward, therefore, we must do things through which rewards are secured. If rewards were altogether of grace, then all would receive alike. But since rewards are of service, therefore, everyone receives according that he hath done.
3. The report of our service cannot be evaded. The Bible tells us we must appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive according to the things we have done in the body. Some, who have done bad, may not desire to attend but they must appear. The day of reckoning is coming and that day we must face.
V. THE TRUE FOUNDATION AND THE BUILDERS THEREUPON (1Co 3:10-12)
1. No man can lay the foundation. 1Co 3:11 makes this positive.
“Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
The most important thing about a skyscraper or any great and heavy building is its foundation. Every believer, therefore, may well rejoice that the foundation upon which he is building has been already laid and that it is a solid, impregnable, age-enduring foundation.
Our superstructure, if it is founded on the rock Christ Jesus, will stand. The winds may blow, the floods may come, the rains may fall, but it will stand unshaken through them all.
2. The builders upon the foundation. God laid the foundation. We are told to build upon it.
“We are building every day
A temple the world may not see:
We are building, building, building,
Building for eternity.”
There is a great warning at the close of 1Co 3:10.
“Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”
3. The two kinds of building material. 1Co 3:12 tells us, “If any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble.”
We have two classes of building materials, and in each class three things. The wood, the hay and the stubble stand for the works wrought in carnality. Of course, you know as well as we that wood, hay and stubble, when tried in the fire, will go up in smoke. The gold, the silver and the precious stones refer to the spiritual service. These will pass through the fire and will abide.
We wonder, when the day of rewards comes, about how many of us will have our works burned. We have sufficient warning in the Word of God along this line. If we sow to the flesh, God has told us we will reap corruption. If, however, we sow to the Spirit, we shall reap life everlasting.
VI. TRIED BY FIRE (1Co 3:13-15)
1. The day which declares our work. 1Co 3:13 opens with the statement, “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it.”
That day is none other than the day following the rapture of the Church when the saints stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We may not now receive for our work, but we shall then receive according to that we have done. Did not the Holy Spirit write through Peter this plea to ministering shepherds? “Feed the flock of God” over which the Holy Ghost hath made you an overseer, “not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.”
Finally the Spirit said, “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”
Thus, our rewards are at the Coming of the Lord. Did not Paul in the Spirit write to Timothy saying, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
Then he added, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.”
“That day” just quoted is the same as “that day” in the Scripture we are now considering.
2. The fire shall reveal every man’s work. The Book of Hebrews does not hesitate to say, “Our God is a consuming fire.”
The most striking part of it is that it uses this expression in conjunction with another expression. “And again, the Lord shall judge His people.”
It certainly is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. Fire will not hurt gold and silver and precious stones, but it certainly will do all kinds of damage to wood, hay and stubble.
3. The carnal believer himself shall be saved so as by fire. Perhaps it refers to the works only. Nevertheless, the fire that burns a believer’s works will not feel at all comfortable to his heart nor to his conscience. Here is the way 1Co 3:15 runs: “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
Salvation is of grace, and a believer cannot be lost. However, he may suffer the loss of those days which were allotted to him for service for his Lord. Paul gave this under another figure: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”
It will be a grief indeed if at the judgment seat of Christ we should stand disapproved-a castaway.
VII. THE FINAL CONCLUSION (1Co 3:18-23)
We have more than we can compass in one study. However, we will give a few statements which present God’s great and final conclusion. These conclusions we will give under three statements.
1. Let no man deceive himself. It is so easy for us to follow error and to deceive ourselves. We may deceive ourselves about our own wisdom. We may think because we are wise in this world, that, therefore, we are wise in the things of God. God says in 1Co 3:18, “Let no man receive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.”
He says this because the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,
2. Let no man glory in men. In I Corinthians we read, “Let no man glory in the flesh.”
Here we read in 1Co 3:21 of our Scripture, “Let no man glory in men,”
In the 1st chapter we read, “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
This is our second great climactic statement. Why should we glory in man or in the flesh, when we are told that whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we should do it all to the glory of God? Why glory in men when they, along with all other things, are the gift of God?
Whether it be Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come, all are ours. Such enrichment should not cause us to glory in our riches, but to glory in the God who gave them unto us. In the 8th chapter of Deuteronomy God said unto the Children of Israel, “Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God.”
For it was God who gave unto Israel a good land, a land of brooks, of waters, of fountains It was God who gave them their goodly houses and herds, and flocks, and silver, and gold. It was God who brought them out of the land of bondage, therefore, God told them to beware lest they should say in their own hearts, “My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.”
So, beloved, we must not glory in the gifts of God, whether they be gifts of men or of goods. We must glory not in the gifts but in the Giver.
3. Ye are Christ’s. The third and perhaps the greatest admonition of the three is the one that occurs in the last verse of the chapter. “And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”
Thus it is that all that we are, and all we have, comes from Christ, and is freely given unto us, all except one thing and that is ourselves. We belong to Him. He hath bought us with a price and we are not our own. One of the Old Testament conquerors said unto the one that conquered him, “I am thine, and all that I have.”
Shall we not voice these same words to Christ our conqueror?
“I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith,
And be closer drawn to Thee.”
AN ILLUSTRATION
I have a friend who recently returned from a stay of a number of months in Japan. I was very much impressed by what he told about some most remarkable trees he saw there. Some of these trees were hundreds of years old and yet not a hundred inches high. He said that the most remarkable collection he saw was in Count Okuma’s garden, near Tokyo. Here were pine trees that started to grow in the seventeenth century and at the dawn of the twentieth century they were not too large to be carried in one hand, pot and all. Others, whose seed was planted about the time Columbus sailed for America, were already outstripped by saplings planted inside of two years’ time. In another place he saw a grove of Lilliputian plum trees, gnarled and knotted and twisted by centuries of wind and weather, that were none of them too large to grace a dinner table, as they often did when in full bloom. “More marvelous still,” said my friend, speaking of the diminutive size of the trees, “there were other little trees planted before most of us were born that were still thriving-it is too much to say growing-in a teacup, while still others had not outgrown a lady’s thimble.”
Dwarf trees. And how were they made dwarfs? Our friends tells us how: “They nip off the tree’s roots, and pinch its limbs, and starve it with little soil, and let it go thirsty and dry, but at the same time keep the breath of life in it until it becomes the very travesty of a tree, a manikin vegetable with the wrinkled face of an old man on the legs of a little boy.”
Dwarfed Christians! Is there not a needed lesson we can learn from this little curiosity tree of our Japanese neighbors? We wish dwarfed Christians were as rare and as much of a curiosity as the Japanese dwarfed trees are.
-H.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
Verse 1, 2. Carnal is from SARKIKOS, and its literal and primary definition is, “fleshly, carnal.” Without any qualifying context, therefore, it refers to the material part of man and not his mental or spiritual part. But when it is used in a bad sense, Thayer says it means to be “under the control of the animal appetites; governed by mere human nature, not by the Spirit of God.” Paul accuses the Corinthians of being carnal because they were showing a desire for that which was prompted by mere human nature. He also compares them to babes, which is logical because an infant knows only such pleasures as its fleshly body demands and can appreciate.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 3:1. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christthose in whom the spiritual principles, like the higher faculties in a babe, lie all undeveloped. Spiritual, indeed, they were, for they were in Christ; but it was only as babes, unfit to digest the strong meat of that hidden wisdom which the apostle longed to impart to them as soon as they should reach the stage of the perfect (1Co 2:6).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Section 4. (1Co 3:1-23; 1Co 4:1-7.)
Corinthian failure, and the testing of human work.
Thus we have seen the full provision made for the Church in the midst of a hostile world. The wisdom and power of God are ministered to them in Christ, all that would bring a cloud over the face of God for them being removed. And the Spirit of God is in them to give the power of the revelation in their souls, and to lead them into the deep things of God.
Yet, spite of all that has been done for them, the history of the Church, as we find almost from the beginning here, has been one of saddest failure. The spirit of the world was infecting them at Corinth, and the first brightness was departing from them. They were divided into parties, headed by teachers who were building with bad material into the house of God. The apostle warns them of the testing that all their work would receive, and of the vanity of the world-wisdom with which they were adulterating the truth of God. The recompense would not fail to follow.
1. In view of their condition the apostle first of all would lift their eyes to Him who was the Giver of all gift, the only effectual Worker of all good in any. He was pleased in wisdom as in grace to work through instruments, which the carnal, with eyes only for the visible, might put into His place, and clothe with a halo of glory which was His alone. So, alas, with the Corinthians: with all the wisdom upon which they prided themselves, they could not be addressed, as spiritual, but as carnal merely, showing the inability of the flesh to receive the things of God. They were, no doubt, Christians, but so hindered in true spiritual development as to be still mere babes in Christ; Not that a real babe in Christ is carnal; but the lack with them of freshness and simplicity showed plainly what the condition was, -that it was not really the sweet child-state, but disease. Yet, let us remember, they “came behind in no gift.” Gifts they had, and the Gift! there was no lack of ability in any way, had not the whole spring of true energy been kept back by the incoming of that with which it could not mingle and had no affinity. This is the one secret of all lack of growth, and the state of the Corinthians has thus a most real, if the saddest importance for us. Wherever you hear the cry, “Too deep! too deep!” as to the things of God, be sure it is not the voice of Him who in the Christian “searcheth the deep things of God.” Not that there are not for all, in every stage of growth, things that may he yet too deep; but the question has to be made: does this depth yet attract and draw us on to “search” it? does it charm us with a vision of glories yet unknown, and wake us to new earnestness of purpose? or is it but the cry of spiritual sluggishness that thinks all labor in such fields mere hard-handed servitude, or perhaps, but fancy-gardening, with not enough recompense in it to invite toil like this? And these are God’s things, the very Paradise of God made ours, of which our hearts may yet venture to say things like these!
It is such material as this which nevertheless furnishes apt scholars in the schools of men, as we may see again by these Corinthians. It is those with no deep earnestness in the things of God who naturally yield themselves to the guidance of others, and may even learn to debate over the respective merit of their chosen teachers. The flock is not kept together, but disperses under leaders, not hearing, or but indistinctly as afar off, the one commanding Voice of the true Shepherd. To Him, in fact, they are not near enough; and that is the meaning of all sects whatever.
Paul had to adapt himself to such indeed. He had to feed them with milk, and not with meat, though doubtless they would have desired this; but they could not assimilate it. He would fain have them grow, but they could only grow by what they could digest. He must therefore take them back to the first elements, and teach them to distinguish between the wisdom of the world and what was God’s wisdom for them, between the power of the Spirit and the incapacity of the flesh, between the human instrument and the divine Accomplisher. Their moral condition showed indeed how little they could be trusted to receive any higher truth. In strife and emulation they exhibited clearly the manner of men; while their engrossing topic was Paul and Apollos, and not Christ. Who then were these? Servants, by whom God indeed had been pleased to bring them to faith -faith in them? Were not the very differences of which they made so much, differences of God’s appointment, who ordered as He pleased? Paul had planted; Apollos had watered: what could have come of it, had not God given the increase? What then were these human instruments? Merely a mode of working on God’s part: God was really all. And despite all differences, those who wrought thus were only fellow-workmen God’s workmen, who among themselves were fellows; the husbandry was God’s; the building God’s. What a degradation for them to forget this, and to make themselves the work of men! Yet God would not overlook or forget to recompense these laborers of His, for whom they seemed so needlessly concerned.
2. The apostle now pursues the subject of these differences, and in view of the coming recompense. But here he takes pains to show what the most real and noteworthy differences were as before God. He could well speak, whom God had given in His grace the place of master-builder, and necessarily, therefore, the gifts for the place. This was the character of the apostolic office; which was in fact to lay the foundation upon which the whole Church was to be built. There could be but one foundation, and no one could lay another; they could only build upon that which was already laid. Here there could be therefore no strife, no variance, but entire unity of purpose, so long as the after-comer were a builder at all and not a destroyer -an open enemy. Now in building on this foundation it was not really a question of the various qualifications of the builders, so much as of the carrying on, with suitable material and workmanship, the plan and purpose of the building. It is of the Church as the temple of God that Paul is speaking here, as he says almost immediately, ordained because of the defectibility of human workmanship, to pass the test of fire -of the holiness that belongs to God necessarily -in the day of revelation, when the final results shall be revealed of all that has been wrought for Him upon the earth. What cannot stand the fire is thus unsuited to such a building, as is plain; and the difference of material from this point of view only divides it into two classes. The “gold, silver, precious stones,” would abide the fire; the “wood, hay, stubble,” would not. it seems evident that we have not before us in these, however, the “living stones,” of which, as Peter speaks, the “spiritual house” is composed, but what we might consider more the decoration of the building. Nor is this of inferior importance when we consider that this is what, according to the figure, meets the eye of the occupant, and when we consider who this occupant is and is to be. Gold, which is the symbol of divine glory, was that which covered the whole temple that Solomon built: as “in His temple,” says David, “all of it speaketh of glory” (Psa 29:9). The gold speaks therefore of a character of things, the result of them for God, and which is fullest blessing for all His creatures; as silver speaks of redemption, the meeting of man’s deepest need. The precious stones, as in the high-priest’s jewelled breast-plate, or the foundations of the eternal city (Rev 21:19), are the Urim and Thummim, the “lights and perfections” of Him, who is the “Father of lights,” the various display of the divine attributes. It is plain how all this must be borne witness to in the work of every true workman, whose handiwork is to endure in the final temple to God’s endless praise. The “wood, hay, and stubble” are more difficult to interpret, but seem to speak of what is in contrast with these: of what is simply human, though with what is to man noble and venerable, as the tree is (xulon is both “wood” and “tree”). Much below this is the “hay,” more perishable, and the food of the beast and not of man; while the stubble is simply worthless, and fit fuel for the flame. We cannot perhaps characterize what is here more closely,* and indeed the broadest generality may be most effective for the warning which is given, -a warning deeply needed always, and now certainly as much as ever. What a reversal of much of our human judgments will be the judgment of the great day that comes!
{*There are two suggestive papers on this topic in Help and Food for 1894, pp. 18, 48, from which it will be seen I have derived help. Would that more would communicate what they have learnt individually from the precious Word.}
For the work is revealed (only then perfectly) in fire, a fire to whose power all man’s work must be yielded up. How needful to anticipate that judgment, ever seeking to be and work before God now, so that the light of His Presence now may manifest us to ourselves as we are manifest to Him. Apparent success, the applause of man, the inspiration of benevolent, philanthropic motives, yet Christless or antichristian, as is so much today, -how little will such things avail to save much specious service from the condemnation that is at hand! The sanction of antiquity, of fathers, and church-fathers, of even the conscience unenlightened by the word of God, how little will all this avail to set aside the decree of absolute righteousness and holiness of truth! One might ask with consternation, what will survive the unswerving sentence of infinite perfection upon that which is so thoroughly imperfect at the best, so positively defiled often with impure intermixture! Yet the judge is He who has taught us to take forth the precious from the vile, that we may be as His mouth! How encouraging is this! for this character is what will be evidenced then in these judgments of His mouth. And how tender and reassuring the apostle’s words in this connection, but a little further on, “Then shall each have his praise from God” (1Co 4:5). That is what His love continually seeks; and what the blood-washed robes of the saints will attest in the day that they come forth with their Lord to take their destined place of rule with Him (Rev 19:8; Rev 19:14; comp. Rev 7:14; Rev 22:14, R.V.). And so here, there are those whose work shall abide, and who shall receive a reward; and even where the work is burned, yet if the soul has built upon the foundation, though he suffer loss, yet “he himself shall be saved, though so as through the fire.” As a man escaping out of a burning house may be untouched by the flame, though the fire consume all that he has. We have no reason to believe either that this last will be true of any true saint -that is, that he will lose all reward. Nay, “each shall have his praise from God.”
3. The apostle appeals to the Corinthians now, briefly but energetically, with regard to the character of this building, of which he has been speaking. It is not a new truth that he is announcing to them, but something very well known; which nevertheless they had, not in just appreciation. What a marvel of divine grace that they should be indwelt by the Spirit of God! We are familiar with it -as a doctrine, surely as much as they; has the wonder of it diminished with us? and do we need to be exhorted as to our responsibility in view of this relationship to the Supreme?
It is only here and in Ephesians that we have the Church spoken of as the temple of God; but in Ephesians this is not a present but a future thing: it “groweth unto a holy temple.” The character of the epistle being predominatingly heavenly and so eternal, it is the eternal condition that is emphasized, while there is a present building that goes on to this. The epistles to Timothy give us more the present “house of God;” with Hebrews and Peter also in different aspects. But Corinthians (both epistles): alone speak of a present “temple.” It is remarkable too, that only for the purpose of admonition is it referred to: in the second epistle to emphasize the refusal of idolatry (2Co 6:16); here to warn against sacrilege. The destroyer is of course not a builder, but the opposite; yet: ostensibly he might be that: different even from those who built, with wood, hay, stubble,” for these might be after all at bottom Christians, and thus building upon the foundation, whatever the incongruity of the material used. Here the very existence of, the Church is threatened; the man is an: enemy, although he may own -nay, all the more supposing that be does own -some monstrous fiction as the Christ of his allegiance. Yet even Christians may require warning against the profanation of terms and names, which is as common, today as at any time, and with the same witchery about it for too credulously confiding souls. The end is destruction none the less surely for the deception, which may have carried away the deceiver also: for “if any man destroy the temple of God, him will God destroy.”
“For the temple of God is holy, and such (holy ones) are ye.” It is plain that it is not of practical holiness that the apostle is speaking, but of that resulting from the Spirit dwelling in them, -which is indeed the power of practical holiness. The apostle presses the responsibility of those who act in presumptuous defiance of Him who has taken in grace this place of relationship to the redeemed people of God. And in this there is indeed a call for reverent and responsive recognition on their part of a grace so great.
4. But in fact the state of the Corinthians little answered to what this implied. Instead of the wisdom taught of the Spirit, the wisdom of the world had seduced them. No doubt they had little realized it, and taken according to human estimate what in God’s account was foolishness instead of Wisdom. To be really wise they must be content to strip themselves of it all, so as to be fools in men’s eyes, whose subtle cleverness was merely a craft which, according to the righteous principles of divine government, entrapped those inspired by it. Its reasonings were vain, as all must be that does not begin and end with God. How entirely beneath time divine thought for them was this glorying in men in which they were indulging! In God’s intent Paul and Cephas alike were theirs, God’s instruments alike for blessing to them; and why then pit them one against another as if antagonistic in their aims or interests? Nay, even the world, they did not belong to it, belonged to them in this way: for it is a very different, and even opposite thing, to belong to the world, and to have the world belong to you: in the one case it is your master; in the other, your servant. Life too, and death, belonged to them, and with such a thought we are familiar. Things present too, and things to come: anything that could happen; -a, wonderful summing up. And here is what certifies and makes all right, “ye are Christ’s,” to belong to Christ is more than to have all else belong to you; and that “Christ is God’s” brings all the universe together into fulness of blessing. He who is Heir of all things is the Son of the Father; by whom and for whom also all things were created; and He who is above all created things has, come down to. the lowest parts of the earth to reconcile in Himself all things to God.
5. The apostle goes on to show the responsibility of the laborer to be to God, who as knowing the hearts can alone give judgment rightly, and award due praise. The differences among the workmen also were according to His good pleasure, every gift being from Him; so that there was no ground for glorying in any way.
People were to account of them as accredited servants of Christ, and stewards of time mysteries of God. This last, as we have often seen, is the peculiar character of Christianity, that it is the unfolding of things until then, hidden. There is no thought in it of things beyond comprehension, -of the “mysteries,” or magic, rather, of sacramental ritualism. They are the “new things” of Christianity added to the old things revealed before. For such a stewardship faithfulness was a primary necessity; but to whom then was this faithfulness to be? They were not the stewards of men, but of God; what matter then about that judgment of them by men, so easily passed, so utterly uncalled for?
In fact, it was not in that character that they were then judging, but according to their own tastes and sympathies, which were sure to be all wrong, therefore, Would those in this Corinthian state favor most those teachers who were most faithful to them? The question answers itself, and now when the custom is for men to choose their own exclusive teachers, time same principle will necessarily work, and how complete is Satan’s opportunity when men can choose those to whom they shall devote themselves as teachers, shutting out, as far as possible, all other ministry by which God might awaken their consciences! The apostle here manifests entire independence of all their judgment. There was no spirit of pride in him in this, but simply the consciousness of responsibility to God, and if God and man were measured together, of what account could man be? He was not careful, therefore, to justify himself to them, or as to what judgment they might pass upon him. It was man’s day, the day in which he had the earth to himself; not indeed without the restraining hand of God upon him, but still in such:a way that, if once faith were not active, he might preach to himself the entire liberty which he loves. As a fact, man’s day will end in the judgment of God. What a thing simply to think of! The day of the Lord begins in judgment and is upon everything that is high and lifted up, upon all that is exalted in man’s wisdom, to cast it down. If this be the character of things completely in the world at large, yet amongst Christians also the spirit of it will invade them, as we see at Corinth here, if they are not self-judged before God.
As for the apostle, in that respect in which they were judging, he did not even judge himself; he did not consider himself to be able to give a sufficient estimate of his acts and ways, although he might be, and was, conscious of nothing. After all, that did not justify him. He who justified was the Lord alone. He is not, of course, in this thinking of salvation, nor does that question enter in at all. Every Christian is, as that, a man saved already, and will himself personally, as the Lord has assured us, never come into judgment, but his ways and acts will do so; and in this respect not even an apostle could be considered a fully competent judge of his own condition. It was not that he would not be exercised about it. On the contrary, as he has himself told us, he always exercised himself to have a conscience void of offence toward God and toward man, but that is a very different thing from forming an estimate of one’s self as a whole, which these Corinthians were doing, putting himself into a place as compared with others. How completely will that day to come in this way reverse the judgments which we may form with the greatest assurance even here on earth!
He had, as he says, transferred these things, -made application of these principles, to himself and Apollos simply, omitting all others. There were, in fact, others, and even enemies, as we know, amongst them, as he has already hinted; but if there were a Petrine party, for instance, in their midst, he says nothing about it here. Had he done so, that might well look as if, with the one opposition between himself and Peter on one important matter, he was giving judgment against Peter of the very sort he blamed; but he does not even name those who were actually moving at Corinth, teachers of quite another character from any of these. They could Hardly refuse an application to himself and to Apollos, between whom there was certainly no disagreement, and who had been, in fact, the main workers at Corinth; Paul laying the foundation and Apollos building upon it.
As to the differences between God’s workers, such there really were, but not of the character to be apprehended by those in this Corinthian state; and whatever differences there were, God Himself it was who had made them. Thus they would be really judging Him. They had nothing that they had not received, and if they had received it, and thus there was a difference, how could any one glory as if he had not received it!
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
As if the apostle had said, “My brethren, although I speak the highest wisdom amongst them that are perfect, yet could not I speak the unto you as unto spiritual persons, but as unto carnal: because the works of the flesh are found with you, and at the best you are but babes in Christ.”
Learn hence, That even amongst those who are the true and real members of the visible church, some are spiritual, some are carnal: some are men, some are babes. The apostle doth not call them absolutely carnal, as if they were wholly given up to the works of the flesh; but comparatively so, having too much carnality and corruption in them, and savouring too much of the flesh, though for the main truly pious: and therefore he uses the word as for mitigation sake; I could not speak unto you, but as unto carnal.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Division Is Carnal
The Corinthians had grown slowly in spiritual things. They still clung to carnal things like envy and strife ( 1Co 3:1 ). Like those at Ephesus, they needed not to be “children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head: Christ” ( Eph 4:13-14 ).
In working with them, Paul had concentrated on first principles. He could not go further in teaching them because they were not ready to go on. The Hebrews’ writer said, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food” ( Heb 5:12-14 ; Heb 6:1-3 ; 1Pe 2:2 ). Those at Corinth were still ruled by worldly thoughts and desires, as is evidenced in the divisions mentioned in 1Co 1:11-12 . They could not argue with his statement that they were carnal since their division stood as proof against them ( 1 Corinthians 3:24 ; Gal 5:19-21 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
1Co 3:1-3. And I, brethren The apostle having, in the latter part of the preceding chapter, observed that mere natural men, still unenlightened and unrenewed, receive not the things of the Spirit, begins this chapter with informing the Corinthians, that though he was an apostle, fully instructed in the mind of Christ, he could not, during his abode with them, speak to them as to truly spiritual persons: inasmuch as they really were not such, but still in a great measure carnal, even mere babes in Christ; as little acquainted with, and experienced in, the things of God, as babes are with respect to the things of the world. He had spoken before (1Co 2:1) of his entrance, now he speaks of his progress among them. I have fed you with milk With the first and plainest truths of the gospel, alluding to milk being the proper food of babes: not with meat The higher truths of Christianity; such as are more difficult to be understood, received, and practised, and therefore belong to those believers who have made some considerable progress in Christian knowledge and holiness. For ye were not able to bear it Your state of grace has been, and still is, so low, that it would not properly admit of such a way of teaching. So should every preacher suit his doctrine to the state and character of his hearers. For ye are yet carnal That is, the greater part of you are so in some degree; for whereas there is among you envying One anothers gifts in your hearts, or uneasiness of mind that others have greater gifts than yourselves: or the word may be rendered, emulation, a kind of rivalry, or a desire of superiority over others; and strife Outward contentions in words and deeds; and actual divisions Of one party from another; are ye not carnal Is not this a clear proof that you are so; and walk as men? , according to man; as worldly men walk, who have no higher principle from which to act than that of mere nature, and not according to God, as thorough Christians walk.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:1-4.
After demonstrating that though the gospel is not a wisdom, yet it contains one, but one which cannot be expounded except to those who by their spiritual maturity are in a condition to understand it, the apostle applies this truth to his relation to the Church of Corinth. The passage 1Co 3:1-4 is the pendant of 1Co 2:1-5. Edwards well says: I preached to you the gospel as a power (1Co 2:1-5); I could not preach it to you as wisdom (1Co 3:1-4).
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. [The simplicity of Paul’s instruction had given occasion to the false apostles (2Co 11:12-15) to criticize him as a shallow teacher (2Co 10:10), rather than as one who had “the mind of Christ.” To this the apostle replies that their own immature condition up to the time when he left them, rendered them incapable of any fuller instruction; for, far from being mature disciples (1Co 2:8; Eph 4:13), they were still swayed by the prejudices and passions of the unregenerate life out of which they had been but lately born, and to which they were not wholly dead.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
1 Corinthians Chapter 3
They were not natural men; but they were carnal (not spiritual) men, so that the apostle had to feed them with milk and not with meat which was only fit for those that were of full age. That with which they nourished their pride was a proof of this-their divisions into schools of doctrine. Paul, no doubt, had planted; Apollos watered. It was well. But it was God alone who gave the increase. Moreover the apostle had laid the foundation of this building of God, the assembly at Corinth; others had built since-had carried on the work of the edification of souls. Let every one take heed. There was but one foundation; it was laid. But in connection with it, they might teach things solid or worthless and form souls by one or the other-perhaps even introduce souls won by such vain doctrines among the saints. The work would be proved, sooner or later, by some day of trial. If they had wrought in the work of God, with solid materials, the work would stand; if not, it would come to nothing. The effect, the fruit of labour, would be destroyed-the man who had wrought be saved, because he had built on the foundation-had true faith in Christ. Yet the shaking, caused by the failure of all that he had thought genuine, [5] would be apt, for himself, to shake the consciousness of his connection with, and confidence in, the foundation. He should be saved as through the fire. He who had wrought according to God should receive the fruit of his labour. If any one corrupted the temple of God-introduced that which destroyed fundamental truths, he should be destroyed himself.
The subject then is ministerial labour, carried on by means of certain doctrines, either good, worthless, or subversive of the truth; and the fruits which this labour would produce. And there are three cases; the work good as well as the workman; the work vain, but the workman saved; the corrupter of Gods temple-here the workman would be destroyed.
Finally, if any one desired to be wise in this world, let him become unintelligent in order to be wise. God counted the wisdom of the wise as foolishness, and would take them in their own craftiness. But in this the saints were below their privileges. All things were theirs, since they were the children of God. All things are yours-Paul, Apollos, all things-you are Christs, and Christ is Gods.
Footnotes for 1 Corinthians Chapter 3
5: Remark here, the very important instruction as to the assembly viewed as Gods building. In Mat 16:1-28 we have Christs building, and Satans power cannot prevail against it. This building will go on till complete at the end. Hence in 1Pe 2:1-25 and Eph 2:1-22 we have no workman, and the stones come, and the building grows. It is Christs own work: He builds, and the building is not yet complete. Here it is Gods building; but there is a builder, and mans responsibility comes in. There is a wise master-builder, or it may be those who build with wood, hay, and stubble-yea, even those who corrupt. In Eph 2:1-22 there is also a present building, but it is the fact viewed abstractedly. Here the responsibility is formally stated. The confusion of Christs building (not yet finished) and mans building, the applying the promise made to one to the other which rests on mans responsibility and is a present building on earth, is one grand source of Popish and Puseyite errors. Against Christs work nothing can prevail. Man may build with wood and hay and stubble, and his work be destroyed, as it will.
Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament
SPIRITUAL BABYHOOD
1. And, brethren, I was not able to speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even babes in Christ. The class of the Corinthian church here addressed are most assuredly regenerated people, because they are here recognized as the children of God, i. e., babes in Christ; yet they did not rank as spiritual, but were yet carnal.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
1Co 3:1-2. Babes in Christ, like children at the breast, requiring to be fed with milk, and not with meat. Our great tutor here addresses the Corinthians in a superior style of eloquence, to make them ashamed of their folly, being yet like children, crying and debating in parties, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos.
1Co 3:6-8. I have planted, Apollos watered. Here again we see the great and noble mind of this apostle. He detracts nothing from the real excellence of Apollos as a workman, but ascribes to God the full glory, as the giver of all good. Those who plant are not the authors, but the helpers of our faith and joy. These helpers are encouraged by the liberal promises of grace, that every man shall receive his own reward.
1Co 3:10. As a wise master-builder, an experienced man in architecture, I have laid the foundation, by preaching Christ through the Grecian provinces. Therefore let those who succeed, build according to the plan and grand design of the temple.
1Co 3:11. Other foundation can no man lay, no new theory, no new doctrine than what is described in Isa 28:16. But the materials of the building, concerning which the Corinthians are cautioned to take heed, are of two sorts; gold, silver, and precious stones, as used in Solomons temple; and wood, hay, and stubble, as used in the mud-walled houses of the poor. The foundation is the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, from which the covenant and the promises have emanated. Those great and precious promises are more to be desired than fine gold. Therefore, as the temple had outward glory, and inward beauty, so the stones in the living temple must be built up in their most holy faith. Babes must be nourished with the sincere milk of the word, and men with stronger food. The inward beauty regards the edification of the church in all the graces of the Holy Spirit, and these graces are above all estimation: if a man would give all the substance of his house, he cannot purchase love. The same may be said of faith, which being tried and purified, is much more precious than gold that perisheth. 1Pe 1:7.
1Co 3:12. Wood, hay, stubble. St. Paul allows the ministers of Corinth to have been regenerate men, begotten by his ministry; but some of them still adhered to many jewish rites and customs. Others dabbled in gentile philosophy, which could not save in the fiery trials of life; and in fact, their labours availed but little in the salvation of souls. They forgot to preach Christ, and him crucified, and so missed their aim.
1Co 3:13. The day shall declare it. Beza remarks here, after Calvin, that the light, like the rising sun, shall disperse the darkness of ignorance, and cause curious opinions which have been admired, to be of no value. But Poole adheres to Peters idea, that it is the fiery trial which shall reveal the moral state of the heart; the fire which shall purify our graces, and make the christian bright in the furnace. Then the builder and the building shall receive a reward by a vast encrease of grace here, and of glory in the life to come.
1Co 3:15. He himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Yea, as a brand plucked from the burning. How many good ministers have filled the sanctuary, and been applauded by their hearers; yet they have no work of God, or revival of religion among their hearers. It is because they have been building wood for gold, hay for silver, and stubble for precious stones. And when the fiery trial comes, such a mans own soul shall have but a narrow escape from the conflagration. He has been preaching moral duties to carnal, wicked, and unconverted men, instead of laying the axe at the root, pressing a present salvation, and entire holiness of heart and life, as stated in the next words.
1Co 3:16. Ye are the temple of God. The Father, Son, and Comforter will come and make His abode with you; and that heart alone is meet for his abode, which is his own workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, and formed for all good works.
1Co 3:17. If any man defile the temple of God, , him will God defile, by leaving him in his pollution, as in Rev 22:11. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who grossly and wantonly profaned a temple, was accounted worthy to die. Hence Polycarp said, Young men, keep your flesh as the temple of God.
1Co 3:18. Let no man deceive himself in vain efforts of rhetoric to please his hearers, instead of saving and sanctifying them; for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. He despises such craftiness and cunning, especially in those who profess to be his servants. By deceiving Isaac, Jacob narrowly escaped assassination; and the rich man who laid up treasures for many years, was, in the midst of his schemes, hurried away by death. In building the temple of the Lord, Paul is yours to plant, Apollos to water, and you are all the servants of Christ Jesus, even as he is the beloved Son of the Father. Why then should discord exist in the church? Why not obey the great Healers advice, and seek the lowest place, to be servants of all for Christs sake?
1Co 3:19. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. Let no man trouble the church as a party man, for the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. He took the wise inhabitants of Jerusalem in their policy. They did not honestly confess the Saviour through fear of man, and when the christians fled from that devoted city, they were enveloped in the siege. Mar 8:34. Therefore let no man glory in any leader of a faction, for Christ is one, and the body is one; whatever is contrary to concord shall be revealed in the day of fiery trial.
1Co 3:21-23. All things are yours, labourers in the vineyard, and builders of the temple. Whether Paul, who puts himself first because he could not well do otherwise, being the founder and father of the Corinthian church. Or Apollos, who, it would seem, had reached Corinth before Peter: a triad of the most illustrious men. Or the world, which also is yours, the faithful in Abraham being made heirs of the world. Or life, or death; that you may glorify God by a holy and a useful life, and by a happy death. In this great bond of perfection, you owe only subordinate reverence to men, for ye are Christs body, his vineyard, his temple; and Christ is Gods high servant in the ministry of his kingdom. The unity therefore which subsists in heaven, should reign in the church below.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Co 3:1-17. Renewed Condemnation of Party Spirit.Paul has now reached a point where he can effect an easy return to the divisions at Corinth. He has been speaking of the spiritual man who is capable of receiving spiritual things as the natural man is not. But such teaching he has not been able to give the Corinthians. For they are not spiritual, as is demonstrated by their party spirit. Here again he humbles the church in the very matter of which it was most proud. Its spirituality was its peculiar boast. It was richly endowed with spiritual gifts, and the excesses into which it had plunged were complacently paraded as evidence of enlightenment and illustration of the truth that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
1Co 3:1-9. When Paul was with them he had to treat them not as spiritual but as fleshen, to feed them like infants on milk, for meat they were not able to bear (Heb 5:12). And not even yet are they able, for where jealousy and wrangling exist are they not carnal, living and acting on a purely human plane? They are mere men, as if no higher power had lifted them to the superhuman level, since they boast of this human teacher and that. Paul and Apollos are just mere servants, the channels through which their faith was evoked. All they did was achieved through the gift of God. Paul planted, Apollos watered the seed, Gods blessing alone made their work fruitful. They are nothing, God is all. Both toil for a common cause, each shall receive a reward proportioned to his labour. They are Gods partners in work, the Corinthians are Gods tillage, Gods erection.
1Co 3:1. carnal: two cognate adjectives (sarkinos here, sarkikos in 1Co 3:3) are translated by the same word. The former means simply consisting of flesh and may or may not be used in an ethical sense, whereas the latter has usually an ethical meaning. Yet the former might be even more ethically severe than the latter, for, if used with the ethical sense of flesh attaching to it, it might mean composed entirely of flesh, carnal through and through. So probably in Rom 7:14. Here the leading idea is that suggested by what follows, a baby at the breast is just a lump of animated flesh, in which the mind has scarcely begun to dawn. Still the contrast with spiritual and the presence in the context of carnal imparts an ethical tinge to the word.
1Co 3:4. Observe that only two parties are mentioned and the others ignored. Possibly the latter constituted an insignificant section, possibly Paul selects himself and Apollos because he is going to speak of their work at Corinth. This would make it still more unlikely that Peter had visited Corinth.
1Co 3:9. Gods fellow-workers: probably sharers with God in His work; but possibly colleagues who belong to God.
1Co 3:10-15. The tone changes. It becomes cautionary, almost threatening. It is, therefore, unlikely that another (1Co 3:10) is Apollos, towards whom in 1Co 3:5-9 Pauls language has been cordial. It may be the leader of the Apollos section, perhaps the leader of the Cephas party. But each man suggests that another is equivalent to others. Paul claims that at Corinth he had laid a foundation like an expert master-builder, but all his skill in founding churches was due to Gods grace. Others were building on it, for no other foundation than his, i.e. Jesus Christ, was possible. But on the same foundation structures of very different materials may be built, costly and durable, or cheap and flimsy. The quality of each mans work will be tested by the Day of the Lord, for that is a fiery manifestation. If the work survives the test by fire, the builder will be rewarded; if it perish, he will lose his material and labour. Yet, since his error is one of judgment rather than intention he shall himself be saved, though he must pass to safety through the scorching flames. We may compare the Persian belief that at the judgment everyone must pass with his work through the stream of molten metal, which to the righteous seems like warm milk, to the wicked as what it actually is. There is no reference to purgatory in 1Co 3:15.
1Co 3:16 f. The metaphor of the building suggests that of the sanctuary. But the subject of 1Co 3:16 f. differs from that of the preceding section. There Paul dealt with injudicious builders, here with wreckers of the sanctuary. In the one case the man will be saved, though scarred and suffering loss, in the other he will be destroyed by God. As God dwelt in the Holy of Holies, so the Christian community is now the shrine which He inhabits. His holiness is therefore communicated to it, to desecrate it by faction violates the holiness of God which will react fatally against the offender.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
But in practical experience the Corinthians were not properly regarding, nor depending on, the wisdom of the Spirit of God, who had been given to them. Paul could not write to them as spiritual, but as unto “carnal,” or “fleshly,” or as unto “babes in Christ.” Actually they were not babes, but were as babes, a matter of shame, for this was not normal. When they ought to have been able to digest solid food, Paul had found it necessary still to feed them with milk, the most elementary truths of the Word; and even now they could not bear the solid food of which they were in need. Therefore, instead of teaching them, he must first reprove their carnality.
The evidence of their fleshliness was in their emulation, strife, and factions. The spirit of rivalry is how contrary to Him, who, being Himself the Highest, has come amongst us “meek and lowly in heart.” And of course the fleshly effort of one to be in a high place will awake the fleshly resentment of another, and strife follows, with its consequent breaking of the people of God into factions.
Paul considered it no honor to be flattered by such followers, and insists that, whether himself or Apollos, they were only ministering servants whom God had used for their blessing, giving each servant his particular gift and function. When one sends a messenger with a message, it is most unbecoming that the messenger should be given a place of high honor. He should be respected simply for his message, and his message carefully considered; but he must not be given the honor that belongs only to his master. And his message is to be carefully checked, as to whether it is simply and only the word of the master faithfully given.
Paul had planted, Apollos had watered, each doing the work for which he was fitted. Labour is surely involved in each case, but it was God who gave them ability for this. Moreover their labour was nothing if God did not cause the seed to grow: the work of God alone is that which is of true value. Certainly the servant working as under the clear direction of God will be blessed; but all the honor belongs to God, who gives the increase. Paul’s establishing of the assembly at Corinth was surely accompanied by labour and travail; and Apollos would not water this with the refreshing ministry of the Word, apart from serious exercise of soul; but they were both servants of one Master. They were united as to their labours, not rivals, as the factions in Corinth would make them. And the Corinthians were not told to reward them according to their own estimate of their value. God would do this, according to their labour, after their labour was finished.
For they were “God’s fellow-workmen” (J. N. Darby Trans.), that is, working together in subjection to God’s authority, concerned that only the work of God should prosper. And the Corinthians were “God’s husbandry, God’s building,” that is, the object of God’s own workmanship. What a fact to lift their souls far above any thought of glorifying man! If they were the product merely of one man’s workmanship, of what real value was this?
Yet Paul was given by God the special grace, as a wise master builder, to lay the foundation. And they were not called upon to merely admire the master builder, but to build. They were to be diligent too, as to how they built upon the foundation. For the foundation is Jesus Christ, and this has been permanently laid: nothing can change it, nor substitute for it. He is the Rock on which His Church is built, the foundation of all spiritual prosperity and blessing. Every believer builds upon this foundation, and of course the unbeliever has no place as a builder here.
It may be questioned in what sense Paul laid the foundation, if the foundation is Christ. Is it not in the fact of Paul’s declaring the whole truth concerning Christ in every relationship to the present dispensation of grace – Christ crucified, raised, glorified, Head of the new creation, Head of the church, His body, with all the precious truths connected with these things? The foundation therefore involves the complete revelation of Christ personally and His magnificent work. It is this upon which the assembly is built.
What believers build here is not the building basically, for God does this of living stones (1Pe 2:5; Eph 2:20-22); but that which adorns the building, “gold, silver, precious stones.” These three are of value, of course, for fire will not destroy them, but will rather tend to bring out their purity and beauty. Gold is a symbol of the glory of God: silver of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: and the precious stones of the fruit of the Spirit of God. What is done therefore honestly for God’s glory, what is done out of appreciation of the sacrifice of Christ, what is done as the response of the soul to the Spirit’s working, will be rewarded. It is actually the working of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that produces all that is acceptable to Him, yet the builder is rewarded for it! – for of course he has responded to such working in grace, and the heart of God has pure delight in the response of faith to Himself.
The “wood, hay, and stubble” may vary in their value, just as certain works may be good or better from a fleshly, material viewpoint, but when the crucial test of fire tries them, none will endure. The pure holiness of God will manifest everything for what it is, and at the judgment seat of Christ that which abides the fire will be rewarded; but if one’s work is burned, he will suffer loss. Since he is himself on the foundation, the burning will not touch his person, but as to his works he suffers loss. Lot is a most painful example of this in Gen 19:1-38 : he escaped the awesome judgment of Sodom, but all his possessions were burned up. How tragically sad that a believer may have nothing to show in the way of real spiritual value for all the years God has given him on earth!
The building here is of course the building up of souls personally and of the Church collectively. Let us seek full part in this. Verse 16 urges upon us that the Church is the temple of God: in this the Corinthians had their place, and the Spirit of God dwelt in them, not only individually, but corporately: they were the display of the Spirit’s work in a united way. It is an unchangeable truth, and certainly worthy of our full response to it.
Verse 17 however does not speak of a builder, but a destroyer, and therefore not a believer at all. There are those on the outside willing to do Satan’s work of destruction; and sometimes “grievous wolves enter in” among the saints with the intention of destroying. In our verse, the marginal reading, “destroy” is correct, rather than “defile.” Such an one God would destroy. But while this strictly refers to an enemy, yet let the believer be diligent not to resemble a destroyer in the slightest way. “For the temple of God is holy, which ye are.”
Such truth should lead to wholesome self-judgment now, for it is far better to confess our own foolishness that we may be wise, than to glory in a false show of wisdom. Let us keep from glorying in human wisdom or in men. “For all things are yours,” whether God’s servants, given for the help of all saints; or the world, life, or death, etc., all are intended for the spiritual benefit of saints of God, servants to their need, not masters. For “ye are Christ’s,” not then mere servants of men or things, but Christ’s own bondservants. And Christ is God’s, in Manhood come in perfect subjection to God, devoted utterly to the service of His Master. Here is the supreme Example of proper subjection to true authority.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
1Co 3:1. And I to you; as in 1Co 2:1, turns suddenly from a general principle to a personal matter.
Brothers; suitably introduces a brother’s reproof. So 1Co 1:10.
Speak; takes up 1Co 2:6; 1Co 2:13.
Spiritual: as in 1Co 2:15. It admits of degrees, in proportion as a man’s purposes and life are controlled by the Spirit. All the justified (Rom 8:9) have the Spirit. But the contrast with babes in Christ shows that Paul refers here to some fullness (Eph 5:18) of the Spirit. Only of such is the statement of 1Co 2:15 conspicuously true.
Men-of-flesh: same word in Rom 7:14. Paul is compelled to speak to them as to men consisting only of the material side of human nature, i.e. to teach them the rudiments of the Gospel (Heb 5:12) as though still unsaved.
Babes in Christ: in contrast to full grown, 1Co 2:6. So 1Co 14:20; Eph 4:13 f; Heb 5:13 f; cp. Rom 2:20. It rather softens the foregoing words. He does not look at them as altogether destitute of the Spirit, but as men whose spiritual life is as yet undeveloped.
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
1 Corinthians 3.
Having brought before us the Cross as setting aside the flesh in judgment, and the Holy Spirit as setting aside the wisdom of this world, the apostle now returns to the theme with which he commenced the Epistle, the state of division that existed in the assembly at Corinth. Later he will deal with other manifestations of the flesh, but, apparently, he deals first with this particular evil, for, as so often since that day, a divided state in the assembly renders it difficult, if not impossible, to correct other abuses.
The apostle first refers to the low condition of the assembly proved by their fleshly attitude towards the servants of God (verses 1-4). To correct this abuse of gifts and gifted servants, the apostle gives valuable instruction as to service, or work, for the Lord (verses 5-23), and as to the servants, or workmen, in 1 Cor. 4.
1. The low spiritual condition of the assembly.
(Vv. 1-4). With all their boasted wisdom and knowledge and gifts the Corinthian assembly was in such a low spiritual condition that the apostle was unable to minister to them the deep things of God. It is true they were not natural men that have not the Spirit (1Co 2:14), nor were they spiritual men walking according to the Spirit, but the apostle has to say, Are ye not carnal?. They were believers, having the Spirit, but walking according to the flesh. How deeply humbling to discover that it is possible to be enriched with all utterance and knowledge and gift, and be full and wise in Christ and strong (1Co 4:8-10), and yet, in the sight of God, be carnal, or spiritually undeveloped, like a babe that has ceased to grow, and therefore unable to assimilate the rich, spiritual food that God has provided for His people.
The apostle convicts them of their carnality by calling attention to the conditions that existed amongst them. He says, There is among you envying, and strife. In their practical ways they walked as natural men. Instead of serving one another in love, as becomes saints, they were envious of one another and seeking to equal, or excel, one another in knowledge and the exercise of gifts, even as men of the world. Envy was thus at the root of all their strife. Perhaps there is no greater power for evil in the world than envy. Envy led to the first murder in the world, when Cain rose up against his brother and slew him; and envy led to the greatest murder in the world, when the Jews killed the Prince of life, for we read that Pilate knew that for envy they had delivered Him (Mat 27:18). Will it not be found that envy has been the main cause of all the strifes amongst the people of God? The apostle Peter warns us that envy knows no pity. It leads to malice and evil speakings, and the malice leads to guile by which a man attempts to cover up what he is, and hypocrisies by which a man pretends to be what he is not (1Pe 2:1).
These Corinthian saints pandered to this spirit of emulation by attaching themselves to certain gifted teachers, and by closely following and accepting all they said, not necessarily because it was the truth according to the word of God, but because it was advanced by a favourite teacher. One said, I am of Paul; another said, I am of Apollos. Each seeking to defend his favourite teacher naturally led to strife, and strife to divisions. Thus men were followed, individuals were exalted, and divisions resulted. Two evils followed: one was sectarianism, which set aside the truth of the assembly, the other clericalism, which set aside Christ as the Head of the assembly.
2. Instruction as to service.
(V. 5). To correct this abuse of gifts, the apostle first presents some important truths as to service and the different forms it may take.
First, the apostle asks, Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos?. These gifted brothers, whom the Corinthian assembly had been exalting into the false position as leaders of parties, were, after all, but ministering servants by whom the Corinthians had believed.
Secondly, these gifted men held their position as servants, not according to man’s appointment, but as the Lord has given to each.
(V. 6). Thirdly, these servants had not all been given the same service. As in the field, one plants and another tends the plants, but God alone can cause the plants to grow, so, in the service of the Lord, Paul may be used to obtain converts and Apollos be used to care for the converts, but God alone can give life and spiritual growth.
(V. 7). Fourthly, if it is God that giveth the increase, then the servants that the Corinthians had been exalting out of their place were comparatively very insignificant. Without God they were nothing and their service useless.
(V. 8). Fifthly, though different work may be given to the servants yet they are one. By constituting them leaders of parties the Corinthian assembly were setting them in opposition to one another. But none can do without the other. However varied the gifts, as servants they are one.
Sixthly, though one as servants, each shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. The reward will not be according to the position that man may have given the servant, nor according to man’s thoughts of his service, but according to God’s estimate of his labours.
(V. 9). Seventhly, we are reminded that the servants are God’s fellow-workmen, words that do not imply that they are labourers together with God, but that they work together under the direction of God. They are not rivals, as men would make them, but fellow-companions.
Such is the service of the labourers; but what of the saints that are served? Are they merely man-made sects, such as the Corinthians were forming, to be dominated by certain gifted leaders? Paul’s answer is that, instead of being sects, taking their character from certain gifted men such as Paul and Apollos, they belong to God. They are God’s husbandry and God’s building. First, they are viewed under the figure of a field in which there is fruit, or increase, for God; secondly, they are looked at as a temple in which the Spirit of God dwells and where there is light for men. Already the Lord in His teaching has connected fruit with the field and light with the house (Luk 8:15-16). The truth by which Paul met, and condemned, divisions in those early days is still the truth that condemns the divisions of Christendom in our day. If we realise that we belong to God, that we are God’s husbandry and God’s building, we shall surely refuse to be called by any sectarian name.
(Vv. 10, 11). The saints truly belong to God. Nevertheless, the servants of God have their special service in connection with the people of God according to the special grace given by God. Of his own special service the apostle proceeds to speak, and then of the responsibility of others who follow him in service. Paul had been used to lay the foundation of the assembly at Corinth in his testimony to Jesus Christ. He preached Christ, with the result that a company of people was led to believe in Jesus. In apostolic power and grace the foundation had been truly laid – Christ in the souls of believers. It was the responsibility of other servants who followed to edify these saints.
It is important to remember that in this passage God’s building presents a very different view of the church to that which is brought before us in Mat 16:18, 1Pe 2:4-5 and Eph 2:20-21. In these passages the church is viewed as a building against which the power of Satan cannot prevail, a holy temple into which no defilement can enter, of which the Builder is Christ, and with which no workmen are mentioned. Here, although the assembly is spoken of as God’s building, workmen are employed.
(V. 12). Following upon the laying of the foundation by the apostle Paul, we have the solemn possibility of the breakdown in responsibility of those who continue to build upon the foundation through building with bad material. A man may teach sound doctrine, or that which is worthless. Moreover, the figures used, gold, silver, precious stones, would suggest that there are differences in the value of the doctrines taught, even as wood, hay, stubble would suggest that some errors are worse than others.
(V. 13). The work of each one will be tested by the day of trial. The day looks on to the revelation of Christ from heaven in flaming fire (2Th 1:7-8). Anything built with wood, hay or stubble will not stand the fire of judgment. Souls may be held together for a time with false doctrine, as we see on every hand in Christendom, but such work will not stand the fire.
(V. 14). The apostle makes a distinction amongst three classes of workmen. First, he speaks of the true workman who does good work. He teaches sound doctrine, whereby the saints are edified. His work abides, and he himself will receive a reward.
(V. 15). Secondly, he speaks of a true workman, but whose work is bad and therefore burned. A builder may see his building destroyed by fire, though he may escape. So the day of Christ may prove that a man has taught doctrines which were erroneous, and therefore his work, in connection with the people of God, worthless, though he himself is on the foundation – a true believer in Jesus. Such will be saved, though his work is destroyed and he loses his reward.
(Vv. 16, 17). Thirdly, the apostle speaks of a bad workman and bad work. We are reminded that the assembly of God, viewed as a whole, is the temple of God in which the Spirit of God dwells. It is not merely that there are converted people on earth, but God has His house or temple. We are to look at ourselves, not as isolated individuals, but as forming part of God’s dwelling on earth, and holiness becomes God’s house. It thus becomes intensely solemn if any defiles or corrupts the house of God. We have seen that there are those who edify the people of God with sound doctrine. Then there are those who present defective views of truth, or a false interpretation of the word. Lastly, there is the far worse case of one who teaches false doctrines that destroy the fundamental truths of God and undermine the foundations of Christianity. The fact that a man can teach such doctrines is a sure proof that he himself is not on the foundation. He is a corrupter and will be destroyed as well as his work. The effect of his work is to destroy God’s temple, and God destroys him.
Whether the doctrines taught are good, worthless or destructive, they will all be tested. Much that passes muster now in that day may be found worthless or, what is worse, corrupt.
(V. 18). These solemn considerations lead to the apostle’s warning, Let no man deceive himself. It is possible, then, to deceive oneself that what is being taught is true, when, in fact, it is worthless. The great source of deception is the attempt to stand well with the world by seeking to accommodate Christianity to the wisdom of this world. The servant who will stand for the truth must be content to become a fool in the eyes of the world; then, indeed, he will have the true wisdom according to God. It was so with the apostle, of whom the worldly Festus could say, Thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
(Vv. 19, 20). The wisdom of this world commands the respect of the natural man, and at times may look very attractive even to the Christian, as in the case of the Corinthian saints; nevertheless, it is foolishness with God. The very wisdom of the world becomes its undoing, for it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. The wisdom of this world is mere craft, which entraps those who boast in it. The Lord knoweth that the reasonings of the wise are vain (N.Tn.).
(Vv. 21-23). As Christians, therefore, we are warned against glorying in men. To do so would be to place ourselves in the apparently false position of belonging to those in whom we glory. As Christians we do not belong to men, but all things belong to us in the sense that we are set above all as belonging to Christ. The Corinthians were ranging themselves under certain teachers as if they belonged to different gifted men. No, says the apostle, they all belong to you. The world with all its power, life with all its changes, death with its terrors, even as all that can happen in the present or future, are set under the Christian because he belongs to Christ, and Christ is God’s. God is over all, Christ is God’s, we are Christ’s, and all things are ours.
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
CHAPTER III.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER
He endeavours to put an end to the divisions among the Corinthians, by reminding them of their mutual subjection and union in Christ and God.
i. He points out that Paul and Apollos are but ministers of Christ (vers. 1-9).
ii. He reminds them that Christ is the foundation of the Church: let each one, therefore, take heed what he builds on that foundation; for if it is only hay and stubble he will be saved indeed, but as by fire (vers. 10-15).
iii. He tells them that they are the temple of God, and bids them beware how they break in pieces or violate that temple (vers. 16-20).
iv. He forbids party strife (vers. 21-23).
Vers. 1, 2.-As babes in Christ I have fed you with milk and not with meat. In the preceding chapter the Apostle, to support his own authority, and to remove from the minds of the Corinthians the false opinion that they had about his ignorance and lack of speaking powers, said that he spoke wisdom among them that were perfect: hidden wisdom which the eye had not seen, nor the ear heard, but which God had revealed. Now, anticipating an objection, he gives the reason why he had not displayed this wisdom to the Corinthians, and transfers the blame from himself to them. It was because they were like children and carnal, not yet capable of receiving such wisdom, and to be fed, therefore, not with meat but with milk.
Notice that the Apostle designates as milk that easier, pleasanter, and more teaching about the Manhood of Christ, His grace and redemption, which befits catechumens recently converted and still carnal. He calls “meat,” or solid food, the more perfect and robust teaching about the deeper mysteries, such as about God, about the Spirit of God and spiritual things, about the wisdom, power, and love of the Cross. So say Ambrose, Theophylact, S. Thomas. S. Anselm moralises thus: “The same Christ is milk to man through the Incarnation; solid food to an angel through His Divinity. The same Christ crucified again, the same lection, the same sermon is taken by carnal men as milk, by spiritual as solid food.”
S. Paul is here alluding, as his custom is, to Isa. xxviii. 9, and to Isa. lv. 1. In this connection notice that what Isaiah calls “meat,” which represents the full spiritual wisdom of the perfect, as milk signifies the discipline of children and of the imperfect. Hence, in former times wine and milk were given to the newly baptized, when they had been clad with the white robes, and this custom, as S. Jerome says in his commentary on Isaiah, is still kept up in the churches of the West. In other places honey and milk were given, as Tertullian testifies (contra Marcion lib. i. c. 14), to denote (1.) their infancy and innocence in Christ, milk being a symbol of both. Hence Homer calls men that are innocent and just “feeders on milk,” as Clemens Alexandrinus says (Pdag. lib. i. c. 6). (2.) To denote their likeness to Christ, of whom Isaiah sang (Isa 7:15), “Butter and honey shall we eat.” (3.) To symbolise the infantine gentleness, humility, and meekness of the Christian life. Hence it was that at the first sacrifice of the Mass, which the newly baptized heard at Easter, viz., on Low Sunday, there was read as the Epistle that portion of S. Peter’s Epistle in which occur the words, “As new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word.” Hence S. Agnes, on the authority of S. Ambrose (Serm. 90), used to say, “Milk and honey have I received from His mouth,” Clement (Pdag. lib. i.c. 6) discourses at length about this milk.
Ver. 3.-Whereas there is among you envying and strife . . . are ye not carnal? (1.) The word carnal is here applied to one who not only has his natural use of sense and reason, but also to one who follows the motions and dictates of the flesh, that is, of his animal nature. And, therefore, as S. Thomas rightly remarks, he who follows the motions of lust, or of his fallen nature, is carnal, natural, walking according to man, and destitute of the Spirit of God. (2.) Both here and in Gal. v. 19., the works of the flesh, i.e., of our corrupt nature, include envying, jealousy, strife, which are spiritual sins, as well as gluttony and lust, which are, strictly speaking, fleshly. Cf. notes to Rom 7:22, and Gal 5:17. The meaning is: You, O Corinthians, are carnal, i.e., contentious, because you fight like boys foolishly about the dignity of your teachers, and extol and put up for sale, one Paul, another Apollos.
Ver. 5.-Even as the Lord gave to every man. God gave to each one of His ministers powers of such kind and such extent as befitted his ministry. Therefore they should glory in God alone, not in Paul or Apollos, His ministers. These latter were not the lords or the authors of their faith, but merely the instruments used by God. So Anselm, Ambrose, Theophylact.
Ver. 6.-I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. I was the first to sow the seeds of the faith at Corinth, and then Apollos coming after me helped it forward (Act 18:26). But it was God who gave the inner life and strength of grace for growth and maturity in Christian faith and virtue: this belongs to God alone. Cf. Augustine (in Joan. Tr. 5).
God gives to plants their increase, not, as rustics suppose, by directly adding some special daily power of growth, but by bestowing upon and preserving to the nature itself of the seed or the root a vigorous power of growth. In other words, He is continually bestowing it and preserving it, and co-operating with it: for the Divine work of preservation is nothing but a continuation of the primal creative power. He does this by ordering and tempering according to His counsel the rain, heat, and winds, and other things needed by the fruits of the ground, so that, as these are tempered, the fruit is larger or smaller. So it is in the sowing of the Word of God, and in its growth, perfecting and harvest in the minds of men.
It appears from this (1.) that outward preaching, calling, examples, and miracles are not alone sufficient for the conversion and the beginning of the spiritual life, or for its further growth. (2.) That, though all alike hear the same word of preaching, yet some profit little, some profit much by it, viz., those whom God works upon by a special inward calling, and whose hearts He touches to change their lives, or to continue to rise to higher things. Hence, both those who preach and those who hear profit most who earnestly beseech God for this inward influence.
Ver. 7.-So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God giveth the increase. The husbandman who plants and waters does hardly anything when compared with God; for he works from without only, and whatever he does he receives it from God, and works as His instrument. But God works within directly as the chief agent, and supplies the power of vigorous growth. For action is assigned to the chief agent, and especially to the first cause. So S. Thomas and Theophylact; S. Augustine (in i. Ep. S. John. Tr. 7) says beautifully: “Outward ministries are helps and warnings, but He that teacheth the heart has His throne in heaven. These words which we address to another from without are to him as the husbandman to the tree. For the husbandman acts upon the tree from without, by diligently watering and tending it, but He does not fashion its fruits.” It is God that co-operates with the tree, and lends it the power of bringing forth fruit. In the same way the words of the preacher do but little, for they sound from without only. But it is God who co-operates with them within, and by His grace illuminates and converts the soul.
Ver. 8.-Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one. They are one, say S. Thomas, Anselm, and others, in office and one in their ministry, i.e., they are both alike ministers. Therefore one is not to be despised or extolled in comparison of another, e.g., Paul in comparison of Apollos. Moreover, all ought to be knit together as one by the same bond of charity, and ought not to cause divisions on account of their ministers. For although they may have different gifts, yet they all discharge the self-same duty, and are one in Christ, who hates schisms, loves unity, and carefully watches over His ministers, however feeble thy be, and wishes them to be esteemed and honoured by all, not as men but as His representatives.
And every man shall receive his own reward according to his labour. This passage shows clearly the merits of good works; for where there is reward there is merit, the two terms being correlatives.
He does not say, it should be noticed, that “each one shall receive a reward according to the fruit that he has brought forth,” but simply “according to his labour,” for the fruit is not in our power, but in the hand of God that giveth the increase. You will receive, therefore, a full reward for all genuine labour, even though no fruit follow-though no heretic or sinner be converted. Nay, the reward will be the greater, because it is more difficult and more disheartening to preach when little or no fruit is seen than when many applaud the sermon, or profit by it.
Ver. 9.-For we are labourers together with God. S. Dionysius (Clest. Hierarch. c. 3) says, “A great, an angelic, nay, a Divine dignity is it to become a fellow-worker with God in the conversion of souls, and to show openly to all the Divine power working in us.”
Ye are God’s husbandry. Not Paul’s or Apollos’: so you cannot boast yourselves in them. S. Paul continues the illustration drawn from agriculture. The chief tiller is God; Paul and Apollos are his servants; the Corinthians are the field; the seed is grace, the fruits good works. God by His Spirit cultivates within: Paul assists Him by his preaching from without. So Anselm.
Ye are God’s building. He inculcates the same truth by another illustration from building and architecture. The first architect is God; the secondary minister is Paul; the building is the Church and every Christian soul. So Anselm.
We should observe that the Hebrews and Syrians rejoice in metaphors and parables, and run them together, easily passing from one to another.
Ver. 10.-According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder I have laid the foundation. Not mine is this building, not mine the works; for although I, as the first architect, laid the foundations, by my preaching, of the Church at Corinth, yet whatever I did, and brought to perfection there, was done, not by my strength, but by the grace of God. Let, then, this building of God’s Church be attributed to His grace, not to my efforts.
Ver. 11.-For other foundation can no man lay. I have laid the foundation of your Church: let Apollos and others see what superstructure they raise upon, but not endeavour to lay a new foundation. For no other foundation can be laid, for it is Jesus Christ Himself. The foundation, then, of the Church, and of each individual soul in it, is Jesus Christ, i.e., faith in Him as our Saviour, and especially that faith which is quickened by charity, on which I have built you. So Anselm, and S. Gregory (lib. vii. epist. 47).
In this sense Christ alone is the foundation of the Church, and the foundation of the foundations, as S. Augustine says (Ps. lxxxvii. 1), because He rests on Himself alone, and bears up all others, even Peter. In another sense Peter is the foundation of the Church, viz., a secondary one, because from his firmness in the faith he cannot publicly teach error, but always confirms others in it, and gives them light. This is laid down by S. Thomas and all Catholic theologians. In a similar sense, not only Peter, but all the Apostles, are called the foundations of the Church (Psa 87:1; Rev 21:19).
Vers. 12 and 13.-Now if any man build . . . the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. This is a metaphor drawn from a house on fire, which if constructed of gold or precious stones receives no damage, but if of wood or stubble is consumed.
Notice in passing that by “previous stones” we must here understand marble, porphyry, and the like, not diamonds or other gems; for the houses of wealthy men are built of the former, not of the latter. Such was the boast of Augustus: “I received the city built of brick, I leave it built of marble.” The Apostle’s meaning, then, is that, if a fire occur, a house built of marble and gold is not injured by it, but rather shines the more brightly. But the next house, being built of wood and stubble, will burn, and its tenant will escape indeed, but he will be scorched. So if any Christian, and especially any teacher or preacher of the Gospel (for such are primarily referred to here, as appears from vers. 4, 6, and 10), build upon the faith of Christ gold and silver, that is, according to Theodore and Theophylact, holy works, and especially sound, edifying, and holy doctrine, he shall receive his reward. So Ambrose and S. Anselm. S. Thomas says: “Gold is charity; silver, contemplative wisdom; precious stones are the other virtues.” On the other hand, wood, hay, stubble are sins, not deadly sins, as Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Gregory (contra. Magd. lib. iv. c. 13) think (for these are lead and brass, as is pointed out by Anselm and S. Thomas and S. Augustine (Enchirid. c. 68), nor are they built upon, but they overturn and destroy the building, viz., that living faith which alone wins a reward from Christ); but they represent venial sins, which make the mind cling to vanities, to worldly advantages, to vain-glory. But strictly speaking the Apostle is referring, when he speaks of wood, hay, stubble, to doctrine that is fluid, frivolous, showy, ornamental, wire-drawn, and useless. So say Ambrose, S. Thomas, Theodoret, Anselm. For he that builds these things on the foundation of faith in Christ shall be saved, yet so as by fire.
The Apostle in verses leaves the Corinthians to give a warning to Apollos and their other teachers and preachers, especially those gifted with eloquence, to beware of their great danger, vain-glory, and to be teachers of the truth in its purity, lest if they do otherwise they have to expiate their sin by fire. That there were some such at Corinth who had been the cause or the occasion of strife and division is pretty plainly hinted here and in the next chapter in vers. 6, 10, 15, 18, and 19.
For the day shall declare it. This day is the day of the Lord, to be marked with a white or black stone, the day of judgment, especially of the universal judgment, which shall be revealed in fire. For that day of the Lord is now our day, as Anselm, Theodoret, Ambrose, and S. Thomas say. Cf. also 2Ti 4:8; 2Ti 1:12; and c. 15. In these and other places we are evidently to understand “that day” to be as it were a technical name for the famous day of universal judgment.
But notice that the day of particular judgment is also to be included under this day of universal judgment. For the judgment of both is one and the same, as is also their sentence.
It shall be revealed by fire. What is this fire? To answer this we must notice that the Apostle speaks of three things: (1.) that the day of the Lord shall be revealed in fire; (2.) that it shall try each man’s; (3.) that those who build wood, hay, stubble shall pass through it, and shall be saved, yet so as by fire.
1. Many of the ancients, as Origen (in Lucam, hom. 14), Ambrose (in Ps. 37), Lactantius (lib. vii. c. 21), Basil (in Isa 14.), Rupert (in Gen. lib. ii. c. 32), take the fire to be literal fire, which they think all souls, even those of Peter and Paul, must pass through on their way to heaven, to have their impurities purged away, whether it be the general conflagration at the end of the world, or the purgatorial fire beneath the earth, or some other fire in the upper ther. For Bede says (hist. lib. iii. xix.) that S. Fursey saw huge fires on the road which led to heaven, through which the traveller must pass. But this opinion, though it has not been condemned, and though Bellarmine (de Purg. lib. ii. 1) has not ventured to condemn it, yet lacks foundation. For this passage of the Apostle’s, on which alone those who uphold this view rely, has a different meaning. That vision of Fursey’s, too, was merely a representation, under the image of literal fire, of God’s spiritual judgment and the punishments awaiting carnal men, as I will show presently.
2. S. Chrysostom and Theophylact, who were followed by the Greek Fathers at the Council of Florence, reply that it is hell-fire, in which the sinner will remain safely, i.e., undestroyed and undying, so as to undergo punishment everlastingly. But this is a perversion of the meaning: for salvation everywhere stands in Scripture for a state of freedom from pain and sorrow, never for an eternal existence in torments. And so all other interpreters understand it, as well as the Latin Fathers at that same Council.
But we should notice that though S. Chrysostom understands this verse of hell, yet he does not deny that it may refer to purgatory, as was falsely asserted by Mark, Archbishop of Ephesus, at the Council. He even expressly admits it (in Matt. Hom.32, in Philipp. Hom. 3, Heb. Hom. 4, and elsewhere). In these places he exhorts the faithful to pray for the faithful departed in purgatory; for we may not pray for those in hell, since there there is no redemption.
Heretics reply that this fire is the fire of the tribulation of this life; and this is even implied by Anselm and Gregory (Dial. iv. 39) and Augustine (in Ps. xxxviii), all of whom, however, understand it of purgatory, or that it is the fire of confusion, which they feign that the Holy Spirit sends upon the Saints in life, or else at their death, as, e.g., they say He did in the case of SS. Bernard, Francis, and Dominic, to show them their errors about the monastic life, the Mass, and Confession, that so they might have their eyes opened and be led to retract. But all this is a gratuitous invention, nor does there exist any such retractation made by these Saints or by others on their death-beds: they rather gave with constancy an exhortation to their followers to persist and go forward in the monastic life.
Add to this that many have died suddenly, and still die suddenly, or die in their sleep, and that they depart with the stain of venial sins. Where are they purged? Not in heaven, for there nothing that defiles shall enter (Rev 21:27); not in hell, for that is the place of the lost; therefore, it must be in purgatory. For after this life there is no place for the wonted mercy and pardon of God, but only for justice and for just making amends, or rather suffering amends, so that no one may say that God freely forgives all sin to the dead, i.e., all pain and guilt. Lastly, the day of death is not called the day of the Lord, but the day of judgment; nor does fire denote the confusion that happens then, but literal fire.
Calvin objects that wood, hay, stubble are used figuratively, so therefore is fire. I reply by denying that it follows; for it appears that the day of the Lord is to be revealed by fire properly so called, and I shall show this directly.
4. Sedulius, Cajetan, Theodoret, Ambrose understand this fire of the strict and severe examination of the judgment of God, punishing sin after death by fire; or, as Bellarmine suggests, it is the fire partly of judgment, partly of purgatory. In other words, as the works of sinners shall have their fiery examination, so too shall they that work them have their fire, the fire of vengeance, in purgatory. By way of analogy that judgment is called by the name of fire, because, like fire, it will be most purifying, most searching, most rapid, and most efficacious (Mal 2:2; Heb. xii. 29). But since the words of the Apostle speak of nothing but fire, and repeat it twice and three times, they seem plainly and properly to mean what they say, and to denote literal fire throughout, with no figure, double meaning, or variation.
I say, then, 1. that it is certain that this place is understood of the fire of purgatory. So it is taken by the Council of Florence, by Ambrose, Theodoret, S. Thomas, Anselm, here, and in innumerable places by the Greek and Latin Fathers, cited at length by Bellarmine and Salmeron. This is the tradition and common opinion of the Church and of doctors, although they may sometimes explain the details differently, or apply them to purgatory in a different way.
It may be objected: If the Council of Florence understands this passage of purgatorial fire, it is therefore a matter de fide, and must be understood of it by all, and therefore also it is de fide, not only that there is a purgatory, but that souls are purged in it by fire.
I answer by denying that it follows. For although the Latin Fathers in the Council of Trent so understand it, and though consequently it is certain that there is a purgatorial fire, yet they were unwilling to define it to be a matter of faith that it is fire, but only that it is purgatorial. They did this, too, so as not to offend the Greeks, who admitted indeed a purgatory, but denied the existence of fire in it, saying merely that it was a dark place and full of suffering.
2. The fire spoken of here by the Apostle is, properly speaking, the fire of the conflagration of the world. This appears from the fact that it will be in the day of the Lord, that is, at the last judgment, which is everywhere described in Scripture “by fire which is to burn up the world.” Cf. Psa 92:3; 2Th 1:8; Joe 2:3; 2Peter 3:12. For this fire will at the same time consume the world, and prove and purge those who shall then be living, as theologians everywhere lay down; it will also be the precursor, or rather the companion and lictor, of Christ, the Judge. It will, too, bring death and punishment, if not to the pure, at any rate to the impure, proportioned to their deserving. This fire shall then surround and carry off the condemned with it into hell, and so it is said that “the day of the Lord shall be revealed by fire;” which means that that day shall be revealed by fire as the day of the vengeance and judgment of the Lord.
You will ask, How does this fire purge works which have long passed away and are not? I reply that Scripture says that men’s good and evil deeds follow them; they are with them after death, inasmuch as responsibility for them still remains with men, binding them either to reward or punishment.
You may ask again, How can works be said to be burnt? I answer, in two ways: (1.) Figuratively, for they are compared to stubble, which literally burns. Works, too, burn in a figurative sense, i.e., they are punished and destroyed like wood which is consumed by fire. (2.) By metonymy the works are put for the worker, and are thus said to burn.
Notice here that the Apostle uses this figure and metonymy so as to carry on the illustration of a building which he introduced in ver. 9, and also because he is referring to the conflagration which is to burn all the buildings in the world. For men’s works build for them as it were houses, just as silkworms spin little balls of silk, and enwrap themselves in them, as if they were their houses; so that if you burn these little balls you burn the silkworm, and vice vers. So here work is figuratively burnt like a house, because the worker and builder to whom the works adhere, and in whom they may be said to adhere is burnt. Moreover, the works rather than the workman are said to be burnt, because the workman is not utterly consumed, but is saved, yet so as by fire. But the guilt of his works is by this fire consumed and done away.
It may be asked in the third place, How is it that this fire is said to try gold and silver, i.e., good works? I answer, By the very fact that it does not touch them, but leaves them wholly unharmed, because they are wholly without alloy; the fire declares the perfection of the workmen and their works. But it will manifest by burning, i.e., by punishing wood, hay, stubble, when it shall attack and burn those that committed venial sin, and shall purge them so as to save them, yet so as by fire. Similarly, in olden times, until it was forbidden by the Canons as tempting God, trial by ordeal was resorted to for the purpose of deciding guilt: an accused person had to handle a red-hot iron, or walk upon it barefoot. If he was really guilty he was burnt; if innocent, uninjured. This happened to S. Cunegund, wife of the Emperor Henry, and to the three children in the Babylonian furnace. The one proved her chastity by walking barefoot over the hot iron, the others their innocence by passing uninjured through the fiery furnace.
It may be asked again, How does fire try the work of every man? For Paul, and all who are already dead, do not pass through the fire that consumes the world. I reply (1.) that S. Paul is on the habit of speaking as if the last day were close at hand, that so he may stir up every one to prepare himself for a day that is uncertain, and perhaps soon to come. (2.) Moreover, this fire will purge the whole world, and therefore if there is any stain in any of the dead that has not yet been purged away, it will be attacked and punished by that fire; and so each one’s work, whether he be living or dead, will be manifested. (3.) As the Apostle includes the day of death under the day of the Lord, and particular judgment under the general, and regards them under one aspect, so in like manner, under the fire that will accompany Christ when He comes in judgment, and that will purge whatever then remains that needs purging, he wishes us to understand that fire by which souls begin to be purges directly after death. By this fire, he means the fire of purgatory.
It is no objection to this that the fire which shall destroy the world will be before death, when it should be after death. For (1.) it will do away with the sins of the whole life and of death also. But it cannot be after death so as to purge the dead, for they that are dead then will immediately rise and be carried to judgment. (2.) If any one before death shall chance not to have been sufficiently purged, he will after death be fully dealt with by the same purgatorial fire. This is proved by this verse; for the Apostle writes it to the living, who were not to see the general conflagration, but were to have their own purgatory after death, as the others were to have theirs at death. For why should one escape this fire more than the other, if their merits were the same? (3.) The Greek word is in the present tense, “is being revealed:” in other words, the “day of the Lord” is revealed at death. (4.) The work of every one will be tried by this purgatorial fire, and yet the work of those alive at the general conflagration will alone be tried by it. (5.) All the Catholic Fathers, the Latin doctors, and the Council of Florence, at its beginning, understood this passage of the fire of purgatory, and it has the unanimous tradition of the Church. (6.) To try by purging is in the strictest sense the work of purgatory, and of it we can most truly say that it shall save, yet so as by fire. For from the moment of death a man will be saved, and when he has been thoroughly purged he will fly from purgatory to heaven, before the great day of the Lord.
As, then, the saying of the Apostle’s, that the day of the Lord shall be revealed by fire, exactly suits the fire at the end of the world, so also it strictly falls in with the fire of purgatory, because it shall try each man’s work, and because the righteous man who has sinned shall be saved yet so as by fire.
I must add to this that theologians of repute, as Francis Suarez (pt. iii. vol. 2, disp. 57. sec. 1), hold that thus general conflagration will not slay the purge men, but that after the resurrection, at the general judgment, this fire will only be for the terror and punishment of the lost, and to burn up and renew the world after judgment. Still, they say, that we can infer that it will try and purge the good, inasmuch as it will be a witness to the acknowledgment by Christ of their innocence resulting from the purgation they have undergone in purgatory. It is therefore much more certain that the trial spoken of here will be by the fire of purgatory rather than by the conflagration at the end of the world. In short, the whole of this passage of the Apostle’s must be understood as well of the day of judgment, both particular and universal, as of purgatory and the fire that is to consume the world. It may be asked, Why does the Apostle blend these and speak indifferently of both judgments and both fires? The reason is (1.) that as the particular and general judgment will be one and the same, so will the fire of purgatory and at the end of the world be one and the same. One purges men, the other the world. The fire of purgatory is related as a part to the whole to the general fire which will be the world’s purgatory; it will give place to it, and perhaps be changed into it, and perhaps become numerically one with it. (2.) The Apostle frequently speaks of the day of judgment being close at hand, and consequently as if the passage from purgatory to the general conflagration were soon to be made; and, as was said, he does this that men may prepare themselves for it by holy and pious lives. Cf. 1 Thess. iv. 15; Heb. xi. 40; 2 Cor. v. 1, 3, 4. Similarly, the Prophets and Christ Himself often mingle type and antitype, as in S. Matt. xxiv. Christ speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the world as one destruction, and as if one were to follow closely upon the other. This is why the Apostles, when Christ said this, thought that the two would be nearly contemporaneous, though afterwards when better taught they perceived and corrected their mistake.
You may ask secondly, How can the words, “it shall be revealed by fire,” be applied to the particular judgment? What fire will be Christ’s assessor at the particular judgment when each man’s works are tried and declared? I answer that the fire of purgatory is Christ’s assistant in the particular judgment of any man, ready to His hand to try, punish, and purge each man’s work. We ought to remark that S. Paul personifies this purgatorial fire, and makes it a kind of assessor to Christ, so that, like soldiers before their captain, all the dead must pass before it, to be inspected, and, if they need it, to be corrected. The Apostle does this (1.) to carry in his figure of gold and the refiner; (2.) to keep the fitting proportion between this fire and the general conflagration, to which his reference is primarily when he says, “the day of the Lord shall be revealed by fire.” Notice also that, as then the Prophets and Christ blend confusedly type and antitype, as, e.g., when they speak of Solomon and Christ, of the destruction of the city and the world, and appear to apply to both things, which have more reference to the one than to the other, so also S. Paul does here: for the words, “the day of the Lord shall be revealed by fire,” refer rather to the conflagration at the end of the world; but the words that follow, “the fire shall try every man’s work,” have to do rather with the fire of purgatory.
The fire of purgatory, then, is Christ’s assistant at the day of particular judgment, His precursor, lictor, jailer, and scourge; it examines each man’s work, leaves the gold of good works unharmed, but burns up as if they were its proper fuel all works of wood, hay, stubble; and so each one shall suffer loss, or punishment-in such a way, however, that the worker is saved, yet so as by fire. And so at the day of death and particular judgment this fire is revealed to each one. And this was the meaning of Fursey’s vision. For when he saw himself dead and the fire approaching him, he said to the angel, “Lord, lo! the fire is coming near me.” The angel answered, “What thou didst not kindle shall not burn thee. For though the pyre seem great and terrible, yet it tries every man according to the merit of his works, for each man’s lust shall be burnt in this fore. For just as each one burns in his body with unlawful lust, so when freed from the body shall he be burnt by just punishment.”
Ver. 15.-But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Isidorius Clarius wrongly applies this to the “foundation.” Grammatically it is possible, but logically not, for it does not agree with the context. For the Apostle is showing that those teachers who erect an empty and showy structure on the faith of Christ shall be punished with fire. Moreover, the preceding words, “he shall receive a reward,” evidently refer to the builder, not to the foundation. So, too, the opposite clause here must be referred to him who builds and not t the foundation laid.
Notice (1.) that as is a mark of truth, not of comparison. So in S. John i. 14: “We have seen His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten. (2.) That it is possible for as to be the introduction of a comparison here. The meaning then would be, He shall be saved like as one who escapes from a burning house, and passes scorched through the flames, as I said at ver. 12. Hence it appears both that there is a purgatory and that there is fire. Hence Chrysostom (Hom. ad pop. 69) says that “the Apostles ordered that at the sacrifice of the Mass prayer be offered for the departed.” Dionysius (Eccles. Hierarch. cvii. pt. 3) records these prayers, and says that he received them from the Apostles. For, as S. Augustine says (Ps. xxxviii), “Because it is said ‘shall be saved,’ this fire is thought little of, but it will be more than anything that man can endure in this life.” S. Bernard too says (de Obit. Humb.), “What we have neglected here shall there be paid a hundredfold.”
Many think that the fire of purgatory is the same as the fire of hell, which borders on purgatory, but only differs from it in duration. From this Anselm gives the wise advice: “If to escape tortures we obey a king here, let us obey the will of Gos so as to escape that fire which is more terrible than all tortures here.” And S. Chrysostom (de Penit. hom. 5) says: “Now there is space for repentance; let then penitence forestall punishment; let us come before His face with confession; let us extinguish the fore prepared for our sins, not with many waters, but with a few tears.” At all events, it is better and easier to be purged with water than with fire: it is better to spend the life whole in the purgatory of penitence than to dwell for a year in the purgatory of fire.
S. Bernard, in his sermon on “the wood, hay, stubble,” gives a tropological discourse that is much to the point. He says: “The foundation is Christ, the wood is perishable, the hay yielding, the stubble light. They who began stoutly enough, but when broken are not renewed, are the wood. They are the hay who, being lukewarm by reason of the sloth that they should have fled from, are unwilling to touch arduous labours with the tip of their fingers. They are the stubble who, being tossed about by every light breeze, never remain in the same state. For such must we fear, though not despair: for if they have heed to Christ as the foundation, and have finished their life in Him as the Way, they shall be saved, yet so as by fire . . . Fire has three things-smoke, light, heat. Smoke calls forth tears, light illuminates what is near, heat burns. So he who is of this sort ought to have smoke, that is, a smarting as it were in his mind, because of his lukewarmness, his remissness, his fickleness; for as far as in him lies he disturbs and overthrows natural order. So, too, should he have light in his mouth, that he may by confession say and bewail that he is what he knows himself to be; so that his tongue may sharpen his conscience, and his conscience shame his tongue. It is necessary, too, that he feel in his body the heat of the suffering exacted by penitence-in some degree at all events, if not very acutely. Thinkest thou that He who wishes all men to be saved will cast away those who in this way are of contrite heart, who humbly confess, and try to bring under their bodies? . . . There are, too, others who build on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, who begin ardently, more ardently go forward, and most ardently seek perfection, not paying any heed to what the flesh can do, but what the Spirit wills.”
Ver. 16.-Know ye not that ye are the temple of God? This is a return to the image of ver. 9: “Ye are God’s building,” and therefore not a heathen temple, but the temple of God, in which by faith, grace, charity, and His gifts He dwells. So Anselm and others. For a fuller exposition if this, see the notes to 2Co 6:16.
How the soul may be dedicated as a temple to God is declared at length by S. Bernard (Serm. 1 de Dedic. Eccl.). He says that there are five things observed in a dedication: the sprinkling, the marking with the cross, the anointing, the illumination, and the benediction; and all these take place also in the dedication of the soul.
Observe that up to the present S. Paul has been dealing with those teachers and those of the faithful who build up the holy edifice of the Church. He now turns to those who undermine it.
Ver. 17.-If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. If any one, through the fatal pride that is born of human wisdom, through novel, erroneous, and pestilential teaching, or through schisms such as are found among you, O Corinthians, says Anselm; or if any one in any other way corrupt the Church, or any individual soul in it-him shall God destroy. The Apostle is speaking mainly of the corruption that comes through the teaching of false doctrine, through pride, through envy, or the fomenting of schism. For as he began, so does he finish this chapter with warnings to false teachers. It appears, too, from the next words where he says that any such defiler shall not be saved, so as by fire, but shall be consumed in everlasting fire.
Ver. 18.-If any man among you seemeth to be wise . If any man is proud if his worldly wisdom and eloquence, his earthly knowledge and so come to look down on others, let him become filled with humility and faith, and with the folly of the Cross, so as to be a fool in the eyes of the world. Cf. notes on i. 26. This with God is the only true wisdom. Since the world’s wisdom is folly with God, and God’s wisdom foolishness to the world, it follows that we cannot be wise unless according to the world we are fools-unless, in spite of our greatness and wisdom before the world, we submit ourselves like children, nay, like fools, to the faith, doctrine, cross, and obedience of Christ. “So,” says S. Bernard (Serm. 2 de Epiph.), “did the three Magi worship the Child in the manger and become fools, so as to learn wisdom; and so the spirit taught them what was afterwards preached by Apostles: ‘He who wishes to be wise let him become a fool, that he may be wise.’ They enter the stable, they find a child wrapped in swaddling clothes: they think no scorn of the stable, stumble not at the swaddling clothes, nor find offence in the Infant at the breast: they fall down, they worship Him as King, they adore Him as God. Surely, He who led thither their steps also opened the eyes of their mind. He who guided them from without by a star, also taught them in the deepest recesses of the heart.” S. Basil asks (Reg. brevoir. 274): “How is any one made a fool in this world?” And he replies, “If he fears the judgment of God, who says. ‘Woe to them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight;’ and if he imitates Him who said, ‘I became even as a beast before Thee;’ if he throw away all empty belief in his own wisdom, reverse all his former judgments, and confess that not even from the beginning has he ever thought aright till he was taught by the command of God what was pleasing to Him in thought, word, and deed.”
Ver. 19.-For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. God has rejected the wisdom of the world as worthless, (1.) because it has nothing in it that is wholesome and Divine, and does nothing towards salvation; (2.) He would not use it in the preaching of the Apostles, but employed instead unlettered Apostles; (3.) It is often contrary to the faith, not only in speculative matters (as, e.g., all who are merely worldly-wise reject the mystery of the Holy Trinity, of the Incarnation and death of the Son of God as being impossible and incredible), but also in matters of practice and morals. For Christ bids us love our enemies; the wisdom of the world bids us hate them: Christ bids us overcome evil with good, the world says, “Return evil for evil;” Christ calls blessed the poor, the meek, them that mourn, that hunger, that suffer persecution, but the world says that it is the rich, those that are in high station, that laugh, feast, and rule, that are happy.
For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. This is from Job 5:13. They are the words, not of Job, but of Eliphaz, who wished to show that Job had deserved his calamities through his sins. He was reproved by God (Job 42:7), and therefore these words of Eliphaz have not the authority os Holy Scripture, but only that of a wise man. For S. Paul approves of this saying of Eliphaz as being true, and wisely said by a wise man.
God takes the wise in their craftiness when He fulfils His will by the very means by which they thought to reverse it. When the brothers of Joseph, wishing to stultify his dreams about his future leadership, threw him into a pit and sold him into Egypt, God through their action, exalted him, and made him ruler over Egypt, and forced his brothers to do him reverence. In like manner God overruled the wisdom of Pharaoh at the Red Sea, of Saul and Achithophel on their attempts to destroy David, of Haman at the gallows, where he thought to slay Mordecai. So S. Thomas.
Ver. 20.-And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are but vain. Psa 94:11. By all these quotations and reasons S. Paul impresses on the Corinthians that the worldly wisdom and eloquence of which they boasted themselves, and through which they put Apollos before himself, were but vain. He declares that the true wisdom is the faith and teaching of Christ, which he had preached them-on simple words, indeed, but yet with burning and efficacious zeal.
S. Jerome, moralising on Ps. xciv., says: “Do you wish to know how it is that the thoughts of men are vain? A father and mother bring up a child, they promise themselves happiness in him, they send him to be educated; he comes to manhood, they enter him as a soldier, and when through thirty years they have thought of everything for him, a slight attack of fever comes and carries away the fruit of all their thought. O anxiety of man! how vain is it in human affairs! One thought alone brings happiness-the thought of God.”
Vers. 21, 22.-Therefore, let no man glory in men . . . all are yours. Glory not in Paul or in Apollos, for they and all others, nay, all creatures are common to each one of you; they all alike concur in procuring your salvation.
It should be remarked that S. Paul, when he says that all are yours, does not teach a community of goods such as there was in paradise, and as Huss, Wyclif, and others fondly dream of. He means that by way of final cause and use, not by way of possession, all things have been intended to help forward their salvation. So say Anselm, Ambrose, Theodoret, S. Thomas, Chrysostom. They have been given to be used either objectively or subjectively, which latter consists in acknowledging and praising the Creator in all His creatures; and this is what is meant by the common saying, “The whole world swells the wealth of the faithful.” Cf. Theodoret (Serm. 10 de. Provid.). Hence S. Chrysostom says: “We are Christ’s in one way; Christ is God’s in another; the world is ours in another. For we are Christ’s as His work; Christ is God’s as His most dearly-beloved Son; the world is ours, not as being our work, but because it was made on our account.” The world then is ours, because all creatures in the world serve our body and soul; life is ours, that we may lay up a store of merits; death is ours, because it is the gate through which we pass to everlasting life; or the death of martyrdom is ours; things present, whether adverse or prosperous, are ours that we may extract good from them; things to come are ours, that we may enjoy them: they are now ours in hope, they will be ours in fact in heaven. So S. Thomas and Anselm. Ours, too, are evil things, such as hell and the lost, that we may rule over them.
Ver. 23.-Ye are Christ’s. You are the mystical members of Christ, your Head and Lord, and therefore you are His possession, having been bought by His Blood. Therefore you should glory in Christ, not in Paul or Apollos. So S. Thomas and Anselm.
And Christ is God’s. (1.) Because, as God, He is the Son of God. Ambrose says, “Christ is the Son of God, and does His will, that we too may do it.” So, too, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Anselm. (2.) Christ as man is God’s, as His Lord and Head, being His creature and His possession. So S. Thomas and Cajetan.
From what has been said it appears that all the faithful, and especially the elect, are the end for which God created all things. The end of all things is Christ as man. For this glory was the due of such a man, viz., that all things should serve Him, be ordained foe Him, and look to Him as their end. But Christ is for God and His glory, and therefore all glory is to be given, not to Paul or Apollos, but to God alone.
S. Chrysostom (Hom. 10 Moral.) says beautifully: “All that we are and all that we have comes from Christ: life and light, and spirit, and air and earth. If any of these be taken from us we perish, for we are but strangers and pilgrims. ‘Mine and thine’ are, when carefully considered, but empty words. Though you may speak of your house as being your own, you speak foolishly; for indeed the air, the earth, the material of which it is made, yourself who build it, and all other things are the property of the Creator. Even if the use of it is yours it is of uncertain duration, not only because of death, but also because of the uncertainty of all things before death. for we are God’s in two ways-by creation and re-creation; and if your soul is not your own, how can you say that your money is? Since, therefore, it is not your own, you should expend it upon your fellow-servants. Do not say, then, ‘I spend my own.’ It is not your own, it is another’s, nay, it is common to thee and thy fellow-servant, like as the sun and air and all things are.”
Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary
3:1 And {1} I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto {a} carnal, [even] as unto babes in Christ.
(1) Having declared the worthiness of heavenly wisdom, and of the Gospel, and having generally condemned the blindness of man’s mind, now at length he applies it particularly to the Corinthians, calling them carnal, that is, those in whom the flesh still prevails against the Spirit. And he brings a twofold testimony of it: first, because he had proved them to be such, in so much that he dealt with them as he would with ignorant men, and those who are almost babes in the doctrine of godliness, and second, because they showed indeed by these dissensions, which sprang up by reason of the ignorance of the power of the Spirit, and heavenly wisdom, that they had profited very little or nothing.
(a) He calls them carnal, who are as yet ignorant, and therefore to express it better, he calls them “babes”.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
4. The immature and carnal conditions 3:1-4
The apostle proceeded to tell the Corinthians that they had not been viewing things from the spiritual point of view. He was referring specifically to their exaltation of one or another of God’s servants above the others (1Co 1:10-17). Paul urgently appealed to them to change.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Here Paul introduced a third category of humanity, namely, the "fleshen" (Gr. sarkinos) or immature Christian. The Corinthians were not spiritually mature even though they possessed the Holy Spirit. Paul said he could not speak to them as spiritual men. He explained the reason in 1Co 3:3. Instead he had to address them as fleshen people, even as babes in Christ. Immaturity is not blameworthy if one is very young. However if a person has been a Christian for some time and is still immature, his or her condition is blameworthy (cf. 1Co 2:6). Such was the condition of the Corinthians.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
6
Chapter 5
DIVINE WISDOM
IN the preceding paragraph Paul has explained why he had proclaimed the bare facts regarding Christ and His crucifixion and trusted to the Cross itself to impress the Corinthians and lead them to God, and why he had resisted the temptation to appeal to the Corinthian taste for rhetoric and philosophy by exhibiting Christianity as a philosophy. He believed that where conversion was the object of preaching no method could compare in efficiency with the simple presentation of the Cross. But sometimes he found himself in circumstances in which conversion could not be his object. He was occasionally called, as preachers in our own day are regularly called, to preach to those who were already Christians. And he tells us that in these circumstances, speaking “among the perfect,” or in presence of fairly mature Christians, he made no scruple of unfolding the “wisdom” or philosophy of Christs truth. To expound the deeper truths revealed by Christ was useless or even hurtful to mere “babes” in Christ or to those who as yet were not even born again; but to the adolescent and to those who might lay claim to have attained some firm manhood of Christian character, he was forward to teach all he himself knew. These words, “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect,” he makes the text of the following paragraph, in which he proceeds to explain (1) what the wisdom is; (2) how he speaks it; (3) to whom he speaks it.
I. First, the wisdom which he speaks among the perfect, though eminently deserving of the name, is not on a level with human philosophies, nor is it of a similar origin. It is not just one more added to human searches after truth. The princes of this world, its men of light and leading, have had their own theories of God and man, and yet have really “come to nought.” The incompetence of the men and theories that actually control human affairs is put beyond a doubt by the crucifixion of Christ. In the person of Christ the glory of God was manifested as a glory, in which man was to partake; had there been diffused among men any true perception of the real nature of God, the Crucifixion would have been an impossibility. The fact that Gods incarnate glory was crucified is a demonstration of the insufficiency of all previous teaching regarding God. But the wisdom taught by Paul is not just one theory more, devised by the speculative ingenuity of man; it is a disclosure made by God of knowledge unattainable by human endeavour. The three great sources of human knowledge-seeing, hearing, and thought-alike fail here. “Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, it has not entered into the heart of man to conceive,” this wisdom. Hitherto it has been a mystery, a thing hidden; now God has Himself revealed it.
What the contents of this wisdom are, we can readily perceive from such specimens of it as Paul gives us in his Epistle to the Ephesians and elsewhere. It is a declaration of the Divine purpose towards man, or of “the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” Paul delighted to expatiate on the far-reaching results of Christs death, the illustrations it gives of the nature of God and of righteousness, its place as the grand moral centre, holding together and reconciling all things. He delights to show the superiority of the Gospel to the Law and to build up a philosophy of history which sheds light on the entire plan of Gods training of men. The purpose of God and its fulfilment by the death of Christ he is never weary of contemplating, nor of showing how out of destitution, and disease, and war, and ignorance, and moral ruin, and what seemed a mere wreck of a world there were to be brought by this one healing element the restoration of man to God and to one another, fellowship with God and peace on earth, in short a kingdom of God among men. He clearly saw how through all that had previously happened on earth, and through all that men had thought, preparation had been made for the fulfilment of this gracious purpose of God. These were “the deep things of God” which caused him to see how different was the wisdom of God from the wisdom of men.
This “wisdom” which Paul taught has had a larger and more influential place in mens minds than any other system of human thought. Christendom, has seen Christ through Pauls eyes. He interpreted Christianity to the world, and made men aware of what had been and was in their midst. Men of the largest faculty, such as Augustine and Luther, have been unable to find a religion in Christ until they entered His school by Pauls door. Stumbling at one or two Jewish peculiarities which attach to Pauls theology, some modern critics assure us that, “after having been for three hundred years”-and they might have said for fifteen hundred years-“the Christian doctor par excellence, Paul is now coming to an end of his reign.” Matthew Arnold, with truer discernment, if not on sounder grounds, predicts that “the doctrine of Paul will arise out of the tomb where for centuries it has lain buried. It will edify the Church of the future. It will have the consent of happier generations, the applause of less superstitious ages. All will be too little to pay half the debt which the Church of God owes to this least of the Apostles, who was not fit to be called an Apostle, because he persecuted the Church of God.”
We may find in Pauls writings arguments which, however convincing to the Jew, are not convincing to us; we may prefer his experimental and ethical to his doctrinal teaching; some estimable people can only accept him when they have purged him of his Calvinism; others shut their eyes to this or that which seems to them a blot in his writings; but the, fact remains that it is to this man we owe our Christianity. It was he who disengaged from the dying body of Judaism the newborn religion and held it aloft in the eye of the world as the true heir to universal empire. It was he whose piercing intellect and keen moral discernment penetrated to the very heart of this new thing, and saw in it a force to conquer the world and to rid men of all bondage and evil of every kind. It was he who applied to the whole range of human life and duty the inexhaustible ethical force which lay in Christ, and thus lifted at one effort the heathen world to a new level of morality. He was the first to show the superiority of love to law, and to point out how God trusted to love, and to summon men to meet the trust God thus reposed in them. We cannot measure Pauls greatness, because the light he has himself shed has made it impossible for us to put ourselves back in imagination into the darkness through which he had to find his way. We can but dimly measure the strength that was required to grasp as he grasped the significance of Gods manifestation in the flesh.
Paul then used two methods of teaching. In addressing those who had yet to be won to Christ, he used the foolishness of preaching, and presented to them the Cross of Christ. In addressing those who had already owned the power of the Cross and made some growth in Christian knowledge and character, he enlarged upon the significance of the Cross and the light it threw on all moral relations, on God and on man. And even in this department of his work he disclaims any desire to propagate a philosophy of his own. The system of truth he proclaims to the Christian people is not of his own devising. It is not in virtue of his own speculative ability he has discovered it. It is not one of the wisdoms of this world, having its origin in the brain of an ingenious theorist. On the contrary, it has its origin in God, and partakes therefore of the truth and stability attaching to the thoughts of God.
II. But if it be undiscoverable by man, how does Paul come to know it? To the Corinthian intelligence there seemed but these three ways of learning anything: seeing, hearing, or thinking; and if Gods wisdom was attainable by none of these, how was it reached? Paul proceeds to show how he was enabled to “speak” this wisdom. He does this in vers. 10-13 {1Co 2:10-13}, in which his chief affirmations are that the Spirit of God alone knows the mind of God, that this Spirit has been given to him to reveal to him Gods mind and to enable him to divulge that mind to others in suitable words.
1. The Spirit of God alone knows the mind of God and searches its deep things, just as none but the spirit of man which is in him knows the things of man. “There is in every man a life hidden from all eyes, a world of impressions, anxieties, aspirations, and struggles, of which he alone, in so far as he is a spirit-that is to say, a conscious and personal being-gives account to himself. This inner world is unknown to others, except in so far as he reveals it to them by speech.” And if we are baffled often and deceived regarding human character and find ourselves unable to penetrate to the “deep things” of man, to his inmost thoughts and motives, much more is it true that “the deep things” of God are wholly beyond our ken and are only known by the Spirit of God which is in Him. A vague and uncertain guess, possibly not altogether wrong, probably altogether wrong, is all we can attain to.
2. And still more certainly true is this of Gods purposes. Even though you flatter yourself you know a mans nature, you cannot certainly predict his intentions. You cannot anticipate the thoughts of an able man whom you see designing a machine, or planning a building, or conceiving a literary work; you cannot say in what form a vindictive man will wreak his vengeance; nor can you penetrate through the abstracted look of the charitable and read the precise form his bounty will take. Every great work even of man comes upon us by surprise; the various inventions that facilitate business, the new poems, the new books, the new works of art, have never been conceived before. They were hidden mysteries until the originating mind disclosed them. And much more were Gods intentions and His method of accomplishing inconceivable by any but Himself. What Gods purpose was in creating man, what He designed to accomplish through the death of Christ, what was to be the outcome of all human life, and temptation, and struggle-these things were Gods secret, known only to the Spirit of God that was in Him.
3. This Spirit, Paul declares, was given to him, and revealed to him Gods purposes, “the things which are freely given to us of God.” He had received “not the spirit of the world,” which would have enabled him only to theorise, and speculate, and create another “wisdom of this world”; but he had received “the Spirit which is of God,” and this Spirit had revealed to him “the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”
We may think of revelation either as the act of God or as it is received by man. God reveals Himself in all He does, as man discloses his character in all he does. With Gods first act therefore in the remotest past revelation began. As yet there was none to receive the knowledge of God, but God showed His nature and His purpose as soon as He began to do anything. And this revelation of Himself has continued ever since. In the world around us and the earth on which we live God reveals Himself; “the things which are made,” as Paul says, “give us clearly to see and understand the invisible things of God, His unseen nature, from the creation of the world.” Still more fully is Gods nature revealed in man: in conscience, distinguishing between right and wrong; in the spirit craving fellowship with the Eternal. In the history of nations, and especially in the history of that nation which founded itself upon its idea of God, He revealed Himself. By guiding it, by delivering it from Egypt, by punishing it, God made Himself known to Israel. And at length in Jesus Christ God gave the fullest possible manifestation of Himself. The veil was entirely lifted, and God came as much as possible into free intercourse with His creatures. He nut Himself within reach of our knowledge.
But it was not enough that God be revealed objectively in Christ; there must also be a subjective revelation within the soul of the beholder. It was not enough that God be manifested in the flesh and men be allowed to draw such inferences as they could from that manifestation; but, in addition to this, God gave His Spirit to Paul and others that they might see the full significance of that manifestation. It was quite possible for men to be witnesses of the objective revelation without understanding it. The open eye is needed as well as outward light. And Paul everywhere insists upon this: that he had received his knowledge of Divine truth by revelation, not by the mere exercise of his own unaided thought, but by a spiritual enlightenment through the gift of Gods Spirit.
The presence of Gods Spirit in any man can of course only be verified by the results. Gods Spirit working in and by means of mans nature cannot be known in separation from the mans spirit and the work done in that spirit. This inward revelation which Paul refers to is accomplished by the action of the Divine Spirit on the human faculties, quickening and elevating these faculties. The revelation or new knowledge acquired by Paul was given by God, but at the same time was acquired by Pauls own faculties, so that it remained with him always, just as the knowledge we naturally acquire remains with us and can be freely used by us. An inward revelation can come to a man only in the form of impressions, convictions, thoughts arising in his own mind. Paul knew that his knowledge was a revelation of God, not by the suddenness with which it was imparted, not by supernatural appearances accompanying it, not by any sense or consciousness of another Spirit working with his own, but by the results. It is always the substance or content of any revelation which proves its origin. Paul knew he had the mind of Christ because he found that he could understand Christs words and work, could perfectly sympathise with His aims and look at things from Christs point of view.
In their humility, many persons shrink from making this affirmation here made by Paul; they cannot ever unhesitatingly affirm that the Spirit of God is given them or that they have the mind of Christ. Such persons should recognise that it was the very humility of Paul which enabled him so confidently to affirm these things of himself. He knew that the knowledge of Christs purposes he had and the sympathy with them were the evidence of Gods Spirit working in him. He knew that without Gods Spirit he himself could never have had these thoughts. And it is-when we recognise our own insufficiency most that we are readiest to confess the presence of Gods Spirit.
4. But Paul makes a further affirmation. Not only is the knowledge he has of Divine things a revelation made by Gods Spirit to him, but the words in which he declares this revelation to others are taught him by the same Spirit: “which things we also speak, not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” The meaning of these last words is doubtful. They either mean “fitting spiritual words to spiritual truths,” or “applying spiritual truths to spiritual people.” The sense of the passage is not materially altered whichever meaning is adopted. Paul distinctly affirms that as his knowledge is gained by Gods revealing it to him, so his utterance of this knowledge is by the inspiration of God. The spirit of the world produces its philosophies and clothes them in appropriate language. The philosophies with which the Corinthians were familiar taught how the world was made and what mans nature is, and they did so in language full of technicalities and adorned with rhetorical devices. Paul disclaimed this; both his knowledge and the form in which he taught it were dictated, not by the Spirit of this world, but by the Spirit of God. The same truths which Paul declared might have been declared in better Greek than he used, and they might have been embellished with illustrative matter and references to their own authors. This style of presenting Divine truth may have been urged upon Paul by some of his Corinthian hearers as far more likely to find entrance into the Greek mind. But Paul refused to allow his style to be formed by human wisdom and the literary methods of secular authors, and thought it more suitable to proclaim spiritual truth in spiritual language and in words which were taught him by the Holy Ghost.
This statement of Paul may be construed into a guarantee of the general accuracy of his teaching; but it was not intended to be that. Paul did not express himself in this way in order to convince men of his accuracy, still less to convince them that every word he uttered was infallibly correct; what he intended was to justify his use of a certain kind of language and a certain style of teaching. The spirit of this world adopts one method of insinuating knowledge into the mind; the Spirit of God uses another method. It is the latter Paul adopts. That is what he means to say, and it is obvious from this statement of his we can gather nothing regarding verbal inspiration or the infallibility of every word he spoke.
It might indeed seem a very simple and sound argument were we to say that Paul affirms that the words in which he embodies his teaching are taught him by the Holy Ghost, and that therefore there can be no error in them. But to interpret the words of any writer with no regard to his intention in writing them is voluntarily to blind ourselves to their true meaning. And Pauls intention in this passage is to contrast two methods of teaching, two styles of language, the worldly or secular and the spiritual, and to affirm that the style which he adopted was that which the Holy Ghost taught him. An artist whose work was criticised might defend himself by saying, “I have been trained in the Impressionist school,” or “I use the principles taught me by Ruskin,” or “I am a pupil of this or the other great teacher”; but these replies, while quite relevant as a defence and explanation of the particular style of painting he has adopted, are not intended to identify the work of the scholar with that of the master, or to insinuate that the master is responsible for all the pupil does. Similarly Pauls reply is relevant as an explanation of his reason for refusing to use the methods of professional rhetoricians in teaching his spiritual truths. “Spiritual modes of presenting truth and an avoidance of rhetorical artifice and embellishment accord better with what I have to say.” Whoever gathers from this that every individual word Paul spoke or wrote is absolutely the best does so at his own risk and without Pauls authority. Certainly it was not Pauls intention to make any such statement. And it is quite as dangerous to put too much into Pauls words as to put too little.
III. Having shown that the wisdom he teaches is spiritual, and that his method of teaching it is spiritual, he proceeds finally to show that it can be taught only to spiritual persons. “The spiritual man judgeth all things”; he can discern whether he is “among the perfect” or among the carnal, whether he may speak wisdom or must confine himself to elementary truth. But, on the other hand, he himself cannot be judged by the carnal man. It is in vain that rudimentary believers find fault with Pauls method of teaching; they cannot judge him, because they cannot understand the mind of the Lord which guides him. It would have served no purpose to teach spiritual wisdom in Corinth, for the members of that Church were as yet only babes in Christ, carnal and not spiritual. Their carnality was proved by their factiousness. They were still governed by the passions which rule the natural man. And therefore Paul fed them with milk, and not with strong meat; with the simple and affecting Gospel of the Cross, and not with those high and far-reaching deductions from it which he divulged among prepared and sympathetic spirits.
In the distinctions of men into natural, carnal, and spiritual Paul here shows how untrammelled he was by theological technicalities, and how straight he looked at facts. He does not divide men summarily into believers and unbelievers, classing all believers as spiritual, all unbelievers as carnal. He does not unchurch all who are not spiritual. He may be disappointed that certain members of the Church are carnal and are very slow in growing up to the maturity of Christian manhood, but he does not deny such carnal persons a place in the Church. He gives them time. He does not flatter them or deceive them as to their condition. He neither counts them as perfect nor repudiates them as unregenerate. He allows they are born again; but as the babe is apparently a mere animal, exhibiting no qualities of mind or heart, but only animal instincts, and yet by care and suitable nourishment develops into adult man, so the Christian babe may as yet be carnal, with very little to differentiate him from the natural man, yet the germ of the spiritual Christian may be there, and with care and suitable nourishment will grow.
The confidence which Paul here expresses regarding his superiority to the judgment of carnal men is a superiority inseparable from knowledge in any department. Truth carries with it always a self-evidencing power, and whoever attains a clear perception of truth in any branch of knowledge is aware that it is the truth he has attained. When the mind has been long puzzling over a difficulty and at last sees the solution, it is as if the sun had risen. The mind is at once convinced.
No one had ever greater right than Paul to say, “I have the mind of Christ.” Every day of his life said the same thing. He at once entered into Christs mind and more than any other man carried it out. It was by his moral sympathy with Christs aims that he entered so completely into the knowledge of His person and work. He lived his way into the truth. And all our best knowledge is reached in the same way. The truths we see most clearly and have deepest assurance of are those which our own experience has taught us. Spiritual truth is of a kind which only spiritual men can understand.
Spiritual men are those who can say, with Paul, “We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” What mens eyes need especially to be opened to is the bounty of God and the consequent wealth and hopefulness of human life, Pauls wondering delight in Gods grace and loving adaptation of Himself to human needs continually finds utterance in his writings. His own sense of unworthiness magnified the forgiving mercy of God. He rejoiced in a Divine love which was passing knowledge, but which he knew could be relied upon to the utmost. The vision of this love opened to his hope a vista of happiness. There is a natural joy in living that all men can understand. This life in many ways appeals to our thirst for happiness, and often it seems as if we needed nothing more. But, in one way or other, most of us learn that what is naturally presented to us in this world is not enough, indeed only brings in the long run anxiety and grief. And then it is that, by Gods grace, men come to find that this life is but a small lagoon leading to, and fed by, the boundless ocean of Gods love beyond. They learn that there is a hope that cannot be blighted, a joy that is uninterrupted, a fulness of life that meets and satisfies every instinct, and affection, and purpose. They begin to see the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him, the things that are freely given to us of God “freely given,” given without desert of ours, given to make us happy, given by a love that must find expression.
But to know and appreciate the things which are freely given to us of God a man must have the Spirit of God. For Gods gifts are spiritual; they attach to character, to what is eternally ours. They cannot be received by those who refuse the severity of Gods training and are not alive to the reality of spiritual growth, of passing from a carnal to a spiritual manhood. The path to these eternal, all-satisfying joys may be hard; Christs path was not easy, and they who follow Him must in one form or other have their faith in the unseen tested. They must really, and not only in word, pass from dependence on this present world to dependence on God; they must somehow come to believe that underneath and in all we here see and experience lies Gods unalterable, unmingled love, that ultimately it is this they have to do with, this that explains all.
How soon do men think they have exhausted the one inexhaustible, the love and resources of God; how quickly do men weary of life, and think they have seen all and know all; how ready are men to conclude that for them existence is a failure and can yield no perfect joy, while as yet they know as little of the things God has prepared for them that love Him as the new-born babe knows of the fife and experiences that lie before it. You have but touched the hem of His garment; what must it be to be clasped to His heart? Happy they to whom the darkness of this world reveals the boundless distances of the starry heaven, and who find that the blows which have shattered their earthly happiness have merely broken the shell which confined their true life and have given them entrance into a world infinite and eternal.