1Co 3:5. Who then is Paul, &c. Some would read this and the following verse thus: Who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed?And as the Lord gave to every man, I planted, Apollos watered, &c. See Markland on Lysias, p. 560.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

1Co 3:5 . ] Now, igitur , introduces the question as an inference from the state of party-division just referred to, so that the latter is seen to be the presupposition on which the question proceeds. See Klotz, a [480] Devar. p. 719: “Such being the state of things, I am forced to propound the question,” etc. Rckert thinks that Paul makes his readers ask: But now, if Paul and Apollos are not our heads, what are they then? Paul, however, is in the habit of indicating counter-questions expressly as such (1Co 15:35 ; Rom 9:19 , al [481] ).

] more significant than ; comp 1Co 3:7 . The question is, what , as respects their position, are they? Comp Plato, Rep. p. 332 E, 341 D.

] They are servants , and therefore not fitted and destined to be heads of parties; , , Theodoret.

] “ per quos, non in quos,” Bengel. Comp Joh 1:7 . They are but causae ministeriales in the hand of God.

.] as in 1Co 15:2 ; 1Co 15:11 ; Rom 13:11 . [485]

] and that . is not to be joined with 1Co 3:6 (Mosheim, Markland, a [486] Lys. XII. p. 560 f.), seeing that in 1Co 3:7 no regard is paid to this .

] the emphasis is on ., as in 1Co 7:17 and Rom 12:3 .

] correlative to the , is here God , not Christ (Theophylact; also Rckert, who appeals to Eph 4:7 ; Eph 4:11 ], as what follows in particular 1Co 3:9-10 proves. Comp 2Co 6:4 .

As respects the of the Textus receptus: nisi (which makes the question continue to the end of the verse; comp Sir 22:12 ), see on Luk 12:51 ; 2Co 1:13 .

[480] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.

[481] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[485] Ye have become believers , which is to be understood here in a relative sense, both as respected the beginning and the furtherance of faith. See ver. 6. The becoming a believer comprehends different stages of development. Comp. Joh 2:11 ; Joh 11:15

[486] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

1Co 3:5-15 . Discussion of the position occupied by the two teachers: The two have no independent merit whatsoever (1Co 3:5-7 ); each will receive his reward according to his own work (1Co 3:8-9 ); and, more especially, a definitive recompense in the future, according to the quality of his work, awaits the teacher who carries on the building upon the foundation already laid (1Co 3:10-15 ). The aim this discussion is stated in 1Co 4:6 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

V. THE ESTIMATE TO BE PUT ON TEACHERS AND THEIR WORK. THEIR VALUE TO BE PROVED IN THE DAY OF TRIAL

1Co 3:5-15

5Who then is Paul, who is Apollos,8 but9 ministers by whom ye believed, even as 6the Lord gave to every man? I have [om. have] planted, Apollos watered; but God gave [was giving] the increase. 7So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man [each one] shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 9For we are labourers together with God: ye are Gods husbandry, ye are Gods building. 10According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have [om. have10] laid the foundation, and another 11buildeth 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.11 12Now if any man build upon this12 foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13Every mans work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire [itself: 13] shall try every mans work of what sort it Isaiah 14 If any mans work [shall] abide14 which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any mans work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

From this point onward to 1Co 3:23, Paul proceeds to explain in what light the Corinthians were to regard their spiritual teachers, and the work which these performed among them. And first, from 1Co 3:5-9, he deals with the relation which the human instrumentalities sustain to the Lord who employs them; then, from 1Co 3:10-15, with the responsibility which they have for their work and the decision to which it is liable; and, finally, from 1Co 3:16-23, with the position which the Church holds and ought to pursue towards them.Burger. 1Co 3:5.Who then is Apollos? and who is Paul?The reading : what, is at least as easily explainable on the ground that the answer given appears to point rather to what? than to who? as the reading is capable of being accounted for from the effort to assimilate the genders.[: then, follows on the assumption of the truth of their divided state.Alford.] The question here put is not to be regarded as coming from the readers (Rckert) q. d. Who are Apollos and Paul, if we may not have them as our leaders? This thought would have been expressed in quite a different mannermore his own.(Comp. 1Co 15:34; Rom 9:19 ff.). It is simpler to understand the connection thus: You call yourselves after Apollos and Paul. Who are these persons, then? From the answer given, it is clearly implied that the partizanship of their followers does not accord with the spirit of the leaders they have chosen, and is condemned as a carnality.Ministers, through whom ye believed.Were : but, to be taken as genuine (see under the text), then we should have here an emphatic implication that Apollos and Paul were nothing else than mere ministers. There is in these words a mixture of two constructions: , : nothing else but; and : nothing else that. So Meyer on 2Co 1:13. Fritzsche, according to Hermann on Viger, construes it otherwise: but eitheror I know not what. The phrase is to be found in Luk 12:15, where its correctness is undisputed. It was plainly, therefore, not rejected because of its objectionableness. : deacons, ministers, is here to be understood in its broadest sense, as contrasted with leaders. We may supplement of your Church, comp. 1Co 3:21, and Mat 20:28; or of God, or of Christ, comp. 1Co 3:6 ff; 2Co 6:4, etc. The words following would favor the one as well as the other, or perhaps hint at a combination of the two=ministers of Christ in your behalf. (Col 1:7.)through whom ye believed.Bengel says briefly and forcibly; Through whom, not in whom (Jam 1:7). They are thereby designated as instruments in Gods hand for the production of faith. And such they were in their function as preachers and teachers of truth. But this instrumentality was of different kinds; that of Paul, for the exercise of the faith, of Apollos, for its further development. This process is expressed in the aorist tense, as in Rom 13:11 : Gal 2:16.even as, the Lord gave to each one.This statement is made to bring forward prominently the fact of the dependence of the ministers on the Lord, both for their gifts and their ministry, and so to dampen the disposition to boast in men. , not an instance of attraction, as if sc. , . But stands first by way of emphasis, as in Rom 12:3, because having spoken of them in general, he wishes next to designate what is peculiar to each one. There is no need of taking the Lord to mean God, instead of Christ [so Hodge], contrary to the usage of Paul, nor are we compelled to this by 1Co 3:6; 1Co 3:9-10. The endowment of ministers with manifold gifts is also ascribed to Christ in Eph 4:7 ff. In what follows, when God is introduced, the Apostle is speaking of something else, viz. of the Divine blessing, and of the dependence on God for desired results.

1Co 3:6. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was giving the increase.Under these figures Paul exhibits partly the diversity of operation between him and Apollos, and partly their equal dependence on Divine favor for success. Paul labored for the founding of the Church, for the planting of the spiritual crop; Apollos for the further development of the life of faith thus begun, for the edification of the Church; he watered and helped to mature the growing crop. But after all it was to God, as the efficient cause, that both owed the results obtained. It was His power, working in them and through them, that caused the faith to strike root, and spring up, and bring forth fruit. : to increase, a designation of the attainment of an object which had been furthered by the Divine powers at work in the instruments, and by divers other auxiliary operations of grace which accompanied or prepared the way for them. [: was giving. Observe the force of the Imperfect, intimating a continued bestowal of Divine grace as distinguished from the transitory acts of His ministers whose operations are described by aorists.Words.].

1Co 3:7. So then [: an illative particle of frequent occurrence Words.] neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth, but He that giveth the increase, even God.The inference here drawn goes to the discrediting of all human organs taken by themselves, and to the rebuking of all partisanship, : is any thing, either in numero est: in account (comp. Acts 3:36) or yet more strongly, is absolutely any thing. On the other hand, to the last clause we naturally supplement : is all (1Co 15:28; Col 3:11). Bengel: is something, and, because He is alone, all things. What is here viewed separately for the purpose of counteracting the tendency to unduly exalt the instrument is elsewhere taken together; the agency of the instrument and the agency of God in their concrete unity (Rom 11:14; 1Ti 4:16). [In this passage ministers are brought into comparison with the Lord, and the reason of this comparison is, that mankind, while estimating grudgingly the grace of God, are too lavish in their commendation of ministers, and in this manner they snatch away what is Gods, with a view of transferring it to themselves. Calvin.].

1Co 3:8. Now He that planteth and He that watereth are one.[; one thing neuter. God is , mas. He is the one agent; they are an instrument in His hands; and they are one as united together in Christ. But they are not what you would make them by your party factions to be, separate persons and rival heads and leaders of opposing sects. Words.]. Paul does not here intend to deny the different merits of ministers or their separate worth, as though they all stood at par (Bengel, Billroth); he is referring only to their office and services. They are alike ministers. And in so saying he means to counteract all rivalry and all exaltation of one over another. The unity and mutual connection, which he asserts, do not, however, exclude diversities both in their labors and in the recognition of these labors, on the part of the Lord, in ways corresponding thereto.And each one shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.The words his ownhis own stand in contrast with are one. Bengel styles it an appropriate repetition antithetic to the one. . denotes not the result, but the labor, the effort put forth. This, however unsuccessful, involves a fidelity and devotion which can be estimated by God alone. indicates also the qualitative, and not merely the quantitative relation: own, that which especially belongs to each one, both in the labor expended and in the reward. The , as the context shows, signifies the Divine recompense. The full (, Altic Ionic form) points to the reward which will be conferred at the coming of Christ. (Comp. 1Co 4:5; 1Th 2:19; 2Ti 4:8; Dan 12:3; Mat 25:20 ff.; 1Pe 5:4). This reward is praise bestowed for the labor done. According to Bengel, Something more than salvation. It is an addition to the blessedness common to all the subjects of grace, which, as Osiander observes, consists in the various degrees of glory () conferred on them (comp. Luk 19:17 ff.); moreover it is a reward of grace, since the whole thing rests upon the plan and promise and operation of grace. Yet it is apportioned in righteousness, to each one his own. Relatively to redemption nothing can be said of desert. But within the sphere of redemption, the question comes up, how faithfully has a person employed the grace received and wrought with it. Here it can be asserted To him that hath shall be given. This is what Paul means by reward. Neander. That such a reward is to be expected appears from what follows:

1Co 3:9. For we are Gods fellow-laborers, Gods husbandry, Gods building are ye.The emphatic word here is , Gods. Since it is Gods work to which we devote our labor, each in his own part, we are therefore to expect it from His truthfulness that He will not refuse to us the corresponding reward. This reference to what precedes (Meyer) has a decided advantage over that interpretation which regards these words as a comprehensive exposition of the calling of spiritual teachers, and their debt of service to the congregation (1Co 3:5 ff.), and especially of their oneness in it (1Co 3:8). In this case the , for, in relation to the first clause, would be explanatory and in reference to the second, causal (Osiander). It is also preferable to that interpretation which, in order to make out here a rebuke of party spirit, takes the sense to be: Every thing is to be ascribed to God; therefore to God be all the glory. Burger. Inasmuch as the idea of a reward recurs also in what follows, it perhaps would be more proper to regard these sentences only as confirmatory of what was said respecting the reward. [Stanley takes the for as giving the reason for the oneness among the teachers. Their object is the same (though their modes of working are different), for it is God who is our fellow-laborer, etc.; therefore they cannot be set against each other. Hodge combines the two ideas]. =Gods helpers, who work with God,not: who do Gods work associatedly [as Olshausen], for this would be etymologically inadmissible. Even so , 1Th 3:2. Although God works all in all, yet He works through His servants, whom He recognizes as helpers in His work, and whom he suffers to work, each one in his own peculiar way. Calvin: Eximium elogium ministerii, quod, quum per se agere possit Deus, nos homunciones tanquam adjutores adsiscat, per quos ita solus agit, ut tamen vicissim cum eo laborent (cf. Osiander in loco). Here we have a hint of the dignity of the ministerial office, and of our obligation to keep in view Gods objects in it. [Though, indeed, it must be said that the design of the argument is not to dignify the teachers, but to abate the excessive estimate put upon them]. , a field belonging to God; so also ], Gods building. The Genitive of cause (=it is God who built you) [so Alford] is less fitting here, since Paul is speaking in the context concerning the performance and the reward of teachers, and in these statements he is establishing the expectation that God will grant to them their reward on the ground that that on which they are at work, belongs to Him. (also in Pro 24:30; Pro 31:16)= tilled land, a field, a garden, a vineyard; , a word of the later Greek =. Both indicate the kind of labor pursued by Gods co-workers: the cultivation of a field, the rearing of a building. But in making God () prominent, the subjects on both sides retire into the background in a corresponding degree. Hence neither we () nor you () is expressed. Taking the whole context in its broader scope, and considering the aim of the whole paragraph, we might suppose with Chrysostom, that in the repeated mention of God in the last clause there was an implied rebuke of the tendency in the Church to call themselves after men [so Words.] (1Co 3:4) (cf. Osiander). The figure in (building), analogous to that in the temple of God (1Co 3:16; 2Co 6:16; Eph 2:21) is carried out still further in what follows.

1Co 3:10. Paul here proceeds to state what he himself had done towards erecting Gods building.According unto the grace of God, which was given unto me.By grace he means not the Apostolic office as such, but those peculiar endowments which qualified him for laying the foundation (comp. 1Co 1:3-4). Lit. by virtue of the favor shown unto me. And this favor was manifest both in the call to office and in the bestowment of those gifts which enabled him to become a co-worker with God. By this acknowledgment of his indebtedness in advance, he obviates all misconception with a wise humility, and avoids all appearance of arrogance. The same expression occurs in Rom 15:15; Rom 12:3; Gal 2:9; Eph 3:2.as a wise master master-builder I laid the foundation.This was done in that preaching of Christ crucified, which had first elicited their faith (1Co 3:11; 1Co 2:2). [, a foundation. St. Paul uses the masculine form, 1Co 3:11, and 2Ti 2:19. St. Luke the neuter (Act 16:26); which is Attic. The masculine is very appropriate here, because the foundation is Christ. Words. In saying that he laid this as a wise masterbuilder, he does not vaunt himself, but propounds himself as an example, Chrysostom]. The wisdom he claims, might be regarded as that betokened in the act of laying a foundation, since the attempt to build without such preliminary work would indicate a lack of sense. Yet 1Co 3:11 seems to imply that he had reference to the nature of the foundation, in that it was the only one suited for a building of God, and such a one as a wise builder would alone lay. [Why not both?]. , wise, skilfulthoroughly understanding his art. The same usage occurs in the classics. The claim here made, tells against the partisan disparagement of his labors.and another buildeth thereon. another, not merely Apollos, but also every person who had engaged in the work of the ministry at Corinth, more especially those successors of his who were still laboring in the Church. Osiander. (Comp. 1Co 4:15). To such, he, as the Apostolic masterbuilder, gives the caution.But let each one look how he buildeth thereon.How, i.e. in what way, and with what material. He thus warns them of the greatness of their responsibility, and of the importance of making the edifice correspond with the foundation. On this point he explains himself further by showing what is the only proper foundation of a church.

1Co 3:11. For other foundation can no man lay besides that lying there.He here explains why he speaks simply of building the superstructure, and says nothing in regard to the foundation. This had been already laid, and was confessedly all right. There could possibly be no idea of changing or modifying that. [In taking this for granted, he implies the strongest possible caution against attempting to lay any other. Alf.]. The emphasis here rests on foundation, which is accordingly put first in the sentence, , not may, but can. Paul here wishes to express the absolute impossibility of change, without entirely destroying the character of the building. And hence there naturally follows the utter inadmissibleness of attempting to lay any other foundation. The thing is so contrary to the nature of the case, that no Christian teacher can be supposed willing to undertake it. , alongside of, and yet not touching; hence, besides, beyond, contrary to. In regard to , lying there it may be asked, whether the idea involved in , I laid, of 1Co 3:10, is here resumed, so that it refers to what Paul had done [in which case it would have been . Words.], or whether it implies what had been done by God in sending His Son to be our Redeemer, and laying him as the precious cornerstone of His Church [or whether it is with Words, to be taken in the middle sense as lying there by His own free will and act.]. Adopting the second of the above interpretations, the verb I laid, in 1Co 3:10, would indicate Pauls accordance with the Divine procedure. He had laid in its place at Corinth that foundation which God had provided for the Church universal, by proclaiming Christ there as the only proper object of faith. This would accord better with the more general form , and also establish the impossibility declared in the words, can no man. If God has laid a foundation, then surely no Christian teacher will think of laying any other. Accordingly, I also have made this the basis of the Church at Corinth, and could do no otherwise. [This Word, , from which comes, descriptive of Christs character as the one foundation of His Church, is applied to Him in His first presentation in the material temple at Jerusalem. Luk 2:34, . It is observable also that the man of sin, who places himself as a foundation of the Church, in the room of Christ, is called . 2Th 2:4. Words.]. What this foundation is, is expressed in the relative clause,which is Christ Jesus.By this he means Christ in His own person, not simply the doctrine of Christ as being a fundamental doctrine. [The former interpretation which is adopted by many distinguished commentators (de Wette, Alf., Stanley), is more in accordance with the common representations of scripture, and perhaps also with the form of expression here used. The second, however, is certainly more consistent with the context. In saying that he had laid the foundation, Paul could only mean that he had in Corinth taught the doctrine concerning the person and work of Christ. Hodge. But surely it was not the doctrine as such that was the foundation. The doctrine availed only as it brought Christ directly and personally present to the mind of the Church, and induced them to build on Him. The distinction Kling maintains is a very important one. There is constant danger of persons mistaking the doctrine of Christ for the person of Christ. The former is the foundation of a theology, the latter of a life.]

1Co 3:12. The nature of the foundation being settled, he now proceeds to consider the several ways in which superstructure might be carried up.But[The implies that though there can be but one foundation, there are many ways of building upon it. Alf.]if any man build upon the foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble.He here illustrates the various kinds of material that might be employed in the edifice, either worthy and durable, that could stand the test of fire, or worthless and incapable of passing the ordeal. Both sorts are mentioned in lively succession, without any express exhibition of the diversities implied. According to the best and largest number of commentators, from Clem., Alex., down to Osiander and Meyer, Paul here intends to denote by this building material, not persons, but doctrines, such as when joined with faith in Christ may or may not suit the foundation; such as in worth and durability do or do not correspond with the precious indestructible corner-stone. That the wood, hay and stubble were designed in general to signify such teachings as mingled the weak and disfiguring products of human wisdom, art, philosophy and Jewish traditions with the truth of God, is very evident. But any attempts to particularize, either as to the dogmas referred to, or as to the parts of the building they were intended for, would be futile and out of taste. Moreover, we are to hold fast to the idea of but one building contemplated, into which all the different kinds of material specified are worked, and not to imagine [as Wetst., Billr., Stanley] that two sorts of building are had in view, such as a palace and a hut; or that a whole city was intended, the city of God, for instance. We might also very appropriately, but rather by way of accommodation, bring under consideration here the distinctive practical fruits produced under the different kinds of teaching and the different sorts of church members brought in and trained under the same. [So Theodoret adopted by Stanley, who deems the practical fruits the main thing referred to, and adds, He is here preparing the way for the accusation of the incestuous person.]. To suppose, however, with Olsh., that there is any allusion to the private work of personal sanctification, would be untenable, inasmuch as the entire context treats solely of ministerial functions. Rckerts interpretation is too abstract and general. Proceeding on the ground that work () with Paul signifies the entire business of life, he takes the sense to be: only he who builds upon the true foundation in a right manner, so that his work will abide the test, is entitled to a reward. He who builds on it unsuitably, can expect none. This only, however, can be said for his comfort, that he will not forfeit his salvation since it was his will at least to further the work of the Lord. On this whole subject, consult Osiander and Meyer. [Precious stone here means stones valuable for building, such as granite and marble. Gold and silver, were extensively employed in adorning ancient temples, and are therefore appropriately used as symbols of pure doctrine, Wood, hay and stubble. are the perishable materials out of which ordinary houses were built. Wood for the doors and posts, hay mixed with mud for the walls, and straw for the roof. These materials, unsuited for the temple of God, are the appropriate symbols of false doctrines. Hodge].

1Co 3:13. Every mans work will be made manifest.The worth or worthlessness, the durability or perishableness of what a man has wrought is not to remain concealed.For the day will declare it.i. e., will make evident what is genuine or not genuine, what is truth and what mere show. This is a matter which often remains for a long time uncertain. But what are we to understand by this day of revelation? Not certainly the time of Jerusalems overthrow [as Starke], for the Apostle is not speaking here of Jewish traditions, the vanity of which would then be exposed. Nor yet time in general, or any prolonged lapse of time, for the term day is never used in this sense by the New Testament writers, nor would it suit the following context. Ever since the period of the Reformation, Calvins view has widely prevailed, that the allusion here is to the time when the pure knowledge of the Gospel should spread over the earth. So others also. But the apostolic usage and modes of thought warrant our understanding it only of the day of Christs second coming (comp. 1Co 4:5; Rom 2:16; 2Co 5:10). This is the period of that searching, sifting trial which is to begin at the house of God (1Pe 4:17), and which after manifold preludes will reach its consummation in the appearance of our Lord. In this sense the word day stands without any explanatory term in Heb 10:25; 1Th 5:4 ss.Because it is revealed in fire.What is revealed? The work of which he has just said it shall be made manifest. To this it is objected that the sentence would in that case be tautological. But a repetition of this prominent thought will appear less strange in view of the fact that it is more distinctly defined by the additional words, by fire, and that the following clause appears to be a fitting further development of them. It would indeed be most natural to regard day as the thing revealed. [So Alf., Stanley, Words., Hodge]. But nowhere is it said that the day of the Lord is revealed. Such a mode of speech would be unusual. It were better, with Bengel, to supply the Lord as the nominative, since indeed it is the day of the Lord that is referred to, and this construction would have its parallel in 2Th 1:7 : When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire. Here lire is represented as accompanying the manifestation of Jesus, (not, however, as a means of vengeance). But such a supplying of a word is warranted only in case no other suitable explanation can be found. If then work be the proper subject, the fire must be taken to denote that by which the work is tested. The relation of this clause to the foregoing then would be this: because fire is the agency by which the work is tried, therefore will the day of the Lord, who is to appear in flaming fire (2 Thessalonians 1), the day which is to burn as an oven (Mat 4:1), make this work manifest. [To show the certainty and perpetual imminence of that fiery trial of the Last Day, Paul uses the present tense () is revealed! Words.]And each ones work, what sort it is this fire itself shall prove.This clause stands independently of , because, and sums up the whole truth, stating once more the ordeal contemplated and the peculiar means of its accomplishment. It is the fire that is to try the work, and demonstrate its quality , the fire itself, by its own specific action. That this means neither the Holy Spirit nor yet persecutions of any sort is evident from the interpretation given to the word day. Still less tenable is the Roman Catholic interpretation, which discovers herein an allusion to purgatory. (Council of Florence). [The fire of which St. Paul speaks is the Fire of the Great Day; not a Fire of any intermediate state. And the Fire which he describes does not cleanse, as that intermediate fire is feigned to do, but tried and destroy. It is not a Purgatorial but a Probationary Fire. Words. Besides Paul is here speaking of ministers and their doctrines, and not of believers in general. Hodge, 9, 1Co 5:1]. We deny not that anticipations of the judicial fire of the Last Day may be traced in the fiery trials with which God will visit His own house (1Pe 4:12-17); but the fire by which Christians will be refined and purged before the end comes will burn not on the other side but this side of death. W. F. Besser. Neander on the contrary says: The fire is an image of the progressive purifying process which goes on along the course of the development of the Church. This process will allow only what is genuine and Divine to stand. It is, however, the outward and substantial manifestation of the judicial energy of the Lord, who will work as a purifying flame, so that everything in the labors of those who have been endeavoring to build up the Church, that does not carry the Divine impress, but is the vain and perishable invention of man, will be brought to nought. Of this manifestation we have a prelude now in the continuous judgment of the Holy Ghost, and in the persecutions which the Church here suffers. The effect of it is exhibited antithetically in

1Co 3:14-15. If any one s work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.This is the positive side. , shall abide (the future corresponds with ), shall stand the fire which is to consume all that is unworthy. Reward, as in 1Co 3:8. By this we may understand on the one hand, a presentation before Christ as a faithful and true workman, whose work is honorable to the Master (1Th 2:19 ff.; Php 2:15 ff.); and on the other hand, an appointment to higher trusts in the kingdom of God (Dan 12:3; Mat 19:28; 2Ti 4:8; Mat 25:21-23). The abiding of his edifice will be itself his great reward, just as Paul terms the fruit of his labor, and of his founding the Church his boasting and his crown in the day of the Lord (2Co 1:14; Php 2:16; 1Th 2:19). Still we do not in this completely gauge the reward of a true builder. W. F. Besser.Next comes the negative side.If any ones work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss.The omission of the conjunction is owing to the rapid rush of the thought, and renders the style more vivid. The loss spoken of is not of the work, but the reward. True, the judicial fire, which consumes all impure and untenable doctrines, will also consume his whole performance; but the consequence will be that he will forfeit his reward, and so incur damage (comp. , 2Co 7:7-9; Php 3:8; Mat 16:26). [It is possible that this whole image, as addressed to the Corinthians, may have been suggested or at least illustrated by the conflagration of Corinth under Mummius; the stately temples (one of them remaining to this day) standing amidst the universal destruction of the meaner buildings. Stanley].But he himself shall be saved; , he himself, as contrasted with the reward [and also with the work]. Here it is presupposed that the individual has been building indeed upon the true foundation, Christ, but has failed only in respect to the manner of his building (from infirmity of the flesh or from ignorance, as Calvin suggests). Altogether superfluous and incorrect would it be to translate it he can be saved. To supply the condition, if it be possible, is wholly arbitrary; and still more so to assume that by work is meant the scholars of a good teacher who perish without his fault. Many of the Fathers interpret , be saved, in the sense of , should be preserved, as if it meant: shall be not annihilated but kept alive in eternal torments and in fire. But this, apart from all other objections, is contrary to the usage of the word in the New Testament. It can only mean: he shall obtain salvation in Christ. Here we have one clear evidence that salvation is not a reward, but is freely given to us through the merits of Christ. W. F. Besser.Yet so as through fire.( ). Herein is expressed the narrowness of the persons escape. He will be snatched as a brand from the burning, saving nothing but his bare life (comp. Zec 3:2; Amo 4:11; Jude 23). The image is not that of a man living in a house, but of one occupied with the building of it, and who just delivers himself with great effort from the conflagration that has caught his work, and sees in sadness and anxiety the loss of all he has done, to the marring of his blessedness. And such a person attains only to a lower stage of bliss (comp. Mat 20:16; Mar 10:31, last clause). So Meyer, rejecting however, the idea that words embody anything of the nature of a proverb, since Paul is here speaking literally of a consuming fire. But nevertheless the use of the word , as, constrains us to regard it as such. For although we should interpret as in the same manner as we do in Joh 1:14, and render, just as one would expect in the case of a conflagration, still it would amount to about the same thing. Only we might say it is not to be understood as a proverb merely (comp. Osiander, p. 174 f).

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Ministers are co-workers with God.It is in this that the highest dignity of the Christian teacher consists. To wish to be nothing but an instrument for performing the Divine will, to aim at nothing but the fulfilment of Gods designs, to desire to have and to exercise no power save what this line of action includes, to covet no reward, no honor, no enjoyment, excepting what comes from such labor, and helps to the more complete discharge of this calling, this is the characteristic of a servant of God, who follows Christ in self-denial and love, and purposes only to save souls for God and consecrates to this all his faculties, and is diligent to present to God a work pleasing to Him and honorable to His holy Son, and neither seeks nor strives after any glory for himself, but is content that God be exalted Supreme over all, and that His will alone should prevail. To such a person, nothing is too insignificant to be undertaken, provided it serves this end. No work will he be ashamed of or shun, even though it be among those who are low, or despised, or degraded, provided the gracious designs of God may be accomplished thereby. Such servants are, in truth, co-workers with God. He takes them into a fellowship of labor with Himself. He shares with them His exalted work of renewing, blessing, sanctifying and glorifying lost creatures. He shares with them also His authority, His power, His honor, His joy in this work. And this He is able to do because they have entered into a fellowship with Him in His thoughts and intentions by the operation of the Holy Ghost; because the spirit of Christ, Gods perfect servant, animates them; because His mind is also their mind; and because the holy will of a self-denying, self-devoted love is alive and strong in their hearts. For this reason, they will have nothing to do with partizanship. It sickens them to see poor lost souls clinging to them and wishing to make them masters alongside of Christ, or in His place; to see people following their directions, and exalting their merely human and personal peculiarities into a standard of authority by which to regulate their conduct. Such proceedings they repel, and they strive with all their might instead to fasten souls upon Christ as their only master. The higher God places them, the more intent are they on being nothing, and passing for nothing, in themselves. Then and thus the Church of God is built up in truth.

2. This Church is Gods field.This truth controverts all party action in the same way that the view just given, of teachers being Gods servants and co-laborers, controverts it. The Church belongs to God; He it is who tills the fieldexternally, by the preaching of the Wordinternally, by His Spirit. What teachers do is to plant and to water. But the word sown is His seed; all the ability employed in its first planting and after culture is His gift; on Him depends all success. Without His blessing, all planting and all watering, however skilful and careful, amount to nothing. What thus belongs to God is a sacred possession, which must be secured for Him. To wish to introduce another there as co-possessor is a wicked ignoring and contemning of Gods right. Indeed, not to acknowledge this right in its entireness, is virtually to deny it altogether. And such denial takes place when we adopt human teachers as our masters, and follow them, and call ourselves by their names. Then God is robbed of what is His (Rom 2:22).

3. The Church is Gods house.Christ the foundation-stone, laid by Him.This is the ground and measure of all sound teaching. The foundation is of Divine worth and of lasting duration. To build anything on this, which is not according to the mind of Christ, which does not carry the impress of His Spirit, which does not spring from Him, but which originates in a foreign spirit, and is the product of human art, or science, or opinionthis is to introduce into Gods building something, which, however highly it may be estimated by man, is in truth worthless. It cannot stand in the day of Gods judicial purgation, however skillfully we may be able to vindicate it on human grounds. When Christ reveals Himself as the One to whom all judgment is given, when, by his majesty as Judge, he sifts out and destroys everything that is not His, then will this be found not proof. The fire of His judgement will annihilate it. Thus will the work of such a person come to naught. He can not be honored as one who has assisted in Gods building. He cannot confront the Lord his judge with joy,beholding in Him the Rewarder of his fidelity. On the contrary, he will shrink back in sorrow, pained at the thought of having wrought foolishly and to no purpose. Yet with all this, he will still have reason to congratulate himself that he may nevertheless snatch his soul from the flame which devours his unprofitable work. Thus it happens that the person himself may be saved, while all his doings prove worthless. From the common salvation, indeed, he may not be excluded, since he held fast to the foundation; but he forfeits the glory of being accounted a co-worker with God.

[4. Every believers work in life awaits a searching ordeal, which is to prove its genuineness. The times of such ordeal are called in Scripture days of the Lord. They occur for individuals and for communities all along the course of human history, and are the preludes to a final day when the Judge in person shall appear to purge His Churchthe living templeof all that is corrupt, and to set it up complete in the perfection of its beauty. Then will the value of each ones labor be fully manifest.

But what the specific means of this ordeal will be is a matter of question. Whether it will be by literal fire or by some other more spiritual instrumentality, of which fire is but a symbol, it were hard to determine. The latter seems the more probable in view of the declaration of the Baptist that Christ would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Such a baptism of purification is observable even in this age to some degree; yet it is not by material fire. We see the chaff of false doctrine and hypocritical performances, consuming and passing out of sight, as if perishing in consuming flames, while the golden truths of God, wrought out in the experiences and doings of the true believer, grow brighter, and live on to be a blessing to subsequent ages; and who can tell in what way the precious shall be taken from the vile at the last day? Sufficient to be assured that the ordeal will be applied in the most searching manner, and that it awaits every member of the Church. Judgment is to begin at the House of God.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Rieger: 1. Mischievous zeal. a. How kindled? By making too much of diversities of gifts in ministers. Here one is blamed if the Church be not edified, and there another is extolled, if by his preaching the light begins to burn more brightly, and people consider not that with the one as well as with the other, the increase depends on God, and that the inequality of results, so far as it lies with men, may be attributed not so much to the preacher as to the peculiarity of times and circumstances. b. How shall such evils be guarded against? Safety will be found just in proportion as the minister follows the simple word of God, and resolves to be nothing, and seek nothing for himself; just in proportion as he endeavors to improve impartially every thing that God sends, without attempting to determine prematurely to his own injury what the distinctive importance of it is in the sight of God.

2. Co-workers with God.God has chosen laborers, a. not because he needs assistance, but b. out of his own good pleasure, inasmuch as he desires to work on men through men, so that each persons love for the truth, and readiness to obey may be more signally manifested.

3. Caution in building.a. In building each one must take heed not only that he builds on the foundation, but that he uses good material and builds well. He must speak the truth in love, bring sound doctrines into their proper connection, employ suitable aids to discourse, and learn the art of seizing upon the hearts and consciences of men. b. The hearers, too, have need of care rightly to improve their advantages, since much of the preachers success depends upon their fidelity in receiving and practising what they hear.

4. Differences in the superstructure, though resting upon the right foundation, are found according as a person a. either adheres to that which is closely akin to the foundation, selecting that which promotes the salvation and edification of souls, b. or prefers what is alien in character, resorting to what pleases men, or promotes his renown, or gratifies a vain curiosity, rather than to what is of solid worth and promotes vital godliness.

5. [Preparation for the final ordeal. If there is to be a day of visitation and trial, how important to be examining our own work in advance and subjecting it to the most rigid tests, lest we be overwhelmed at last with utter dismay at our loss, and have the mortification of discovering too late that we spent our strength for naught, and have only our souls for a prey. 1Co 3:13 ff.].

Starke:All good comes from God and must be ascribed to him. No boasting. No exaltation of one at the expense of another (10, 11). Not wrong to prefer listening to enlightened and regenerated preachers, rather than to such as are carnally minded. Wrong comes when amid diversified gifts in genuine ministers we cleave to one and contemn the rest. This is to sin not only against those contemned, but also against God. This is to evince a lack of just spiritual taste, and to bring to the sermon, the ear rather than the heart. The preachers office an effective instrumentality for saving souls. The gifts and labors of the ministry diversified yet inseparable. One plays into the hands of the other. Preaching must be followed up. Instrumentalities are needed in the spiritual as much as in the temporal husbandry. Their efficient power, however, comes from God. It lies in the word as it lies in the seed. God works through the word on the heart. (1Co 3:6-7). Be satisfied with planting and watering. Should no crop ripen accept it as Gods will. Let not those more richly endowed and occupying more elevated positions exalt themselves above those holding a lower station. Nor let those below be troubled because they are there. All alike are servants of God (2Co 12:11) (1Co 3:8). Ministers labor with God, not as though associating their power with His, but as having His power working in them, (by the grace granted them of God, 1Co 15:10; 2Co 3:5 ff.); yet according to the degree of culture enjoyed by each one, and also according to the native talents possessed which the Lord sanctifies (Hedinger). He who wishes to have part in the heavenly paradise, must first consent to form a part of Gods earthly farm, and suffer himself to be ploughed, and sowed, and reaped (1Co 3:9). As a house is not built in a day, so neither is the Church. It rises gradually (1Co 3:9). Christ is the foundation, 1. in His Person, as God (Col 1:17), and man, (Act 4:12), and in both his natures; the whole Church (Eph 2:20) and each believer is firm only when resting on Christ. Yea, since believers are lively stones (1Pe 2:8) and Christ a living foundation, all the stones must be supposed to derive their life from Him. 2. in doctrine, by means of which we are brought to Him as the sole Life-giver (Joh 14:6), and by faith are justified, sanctified and glorified. They who would build a church for Christ by insisting only upon a reputable conduct, erect a structure without a foundation. It musty therefore, fall of itself (Ver.13). Better erect no superstructure and stop with the foundation, than to go on piling wood and stubble. Better simplicity in Christ with a little knowledge, than much learning without Christ, and a brain full of the fine spun cobwebs of worldly wisdom (Hedinger) (1Co 3:11). Fire tests and destroys. By the cross, by persecutions, by death through the judgment it will be shown what is wheat and what chaff, what is a pithy saying and what the dry lifeless conception of some subtle logician or wrangler of the schools (Hedinger) (1Co 3:13).

Heubner:The Christian Church is a garden; ministers the gardeners. The analogy may be carried out to the full, both as to labor and dependence (1Co 3:6). Gods Spirit has his times and seasons for operation (1Co 3:7). Ministers, however various in character and office, have one problem to work out, and therefore should be harmonious. Hereafter all will enjoy the work of all (1Co 3:8). What an honor to assist the Almighty! Gods part in the work, however, is the chief thing. If He leaves the fieldthe human heart, waste, it lies eternally waste. But He does work on us. And how faithfully oftentimes on one single soul! Ministers come in as instruments. They work under Him upon the field, which has to be broken up by the ploughshare of the Law, sown with the seed of the Gospel, warmed by the influences of the Holy Spirit, and fructified by the dew and rain of divine grace (1Co 3:9). An ordeal is coming. Anticipate it. Examine thyself in all that thou thinkest, teachest, preachest. Inquire whether thou art trusting to thyself for vindication at the bar of God (1Co 3:13).

Gossner:The love we show to ministers should be very different from that we show to Christ, They only proclaim grace; He bestows it. Hence while they are welcomed, He should be beloved. With them it is an honor if they may only preach, but He saves at the cost of His own blood (1Co 3:5.) God is so gracious that although He is the source of all goodness, yet He rewards His servants as if they had done it all (1Co 3:14).

[F. W. Robertson:The preaching of Christ means simply the preaching of Christ. Recollect what Pauls Christianity washow he sums all up. That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection, etc. Settle it in your hearts; Christianity is Christ; understand Him, breathe His Spirit, comprehend His mind. Christianity is a lifea Spirit (1Co 3:11). There is a distinction between the truth of work and its sincerity. In that day nothing shall stand but what is true; but the sincere worker, even of untrue work, shall be saved. Sincerity shall save him in that day, but it cannot accredit his work (1Co 3:15).

M. Henry:The ministry is a very useful and a very gracious institution; and faithful ministers are a great blessing to any people; yet the folly and weakness of people may do much mischief by what is in itself a blessing].

[1Co 3:5. If Paul and Apollos were nothing but servants, and refused the position of party leaders, how much more should this modesty appear in their successors. Who will arrogate the honors in a church which a Paul declines?]

[J. Saurin.1115:The different methods of preachers. I. The occasion of these words, as shown in the Epistle. II. The design of the Apostle,to rectify our judgments in regard to three different classes of preachers; a. such as preach the word of man not only different from, but directly opposite to the word of God (1Co 3:11); b. such as preach the pure word of God free from human admixtures (1Co 3:12); c. such as indeed make the word of God the ground of their preaching, but mix with it the explications and traditions of men (1Co 3:12). III. Explain the metaphors, a. Christ, the foundation, b. Gold, silver, and precious stonesdoctrines sublime, excellent, demonstrable, c. Wood, hay and stubbledoctrines less considerable, uncertain, unimportant, d. The revelation by firethe examination and disclosures of the last judgment, not the destruction of Jerusalem, nor the fire of purgatory. IV. Applicationin what manner we are to regard the three classes of ministers].

Footnotes:

[8]1Co 3:5.The Rec , instead of which Lach. and Meyer read [following A. B. Cod. Sin. and others] is sustained by nearly the same preponderance of authorities as declare for the mention of Apollos first. The received text, which puts Paul first, is to be explained from 1Co 3:4; 1Co 3:6. The repetition of is also established by the better authorities.

[9]1Co 3:5.Before the Rec. which Tisch., 6th ed., follows, has . This makes the question continue to . But the best authorities are against this reading, and it is therefore rejected by Lach. Tisch. and others. [For the true rendering see the Exegetical comment.]

[10]1Co 3:10.The Rec. is retained by Tisch. ed. 6 [also Alf., Words.]. But Lach. following A. B. C. [Cod. Sin.] reads .

[11]1Co 3:11.The Rec. is feebly supported. Better . Tisch., ed 6, .

[12]1Co 3:12. is rejected by Lach. according to A. B. C. [Cod. Sin.] but is retained by Tisch. in accordance with many weighty authorities [so too by Wordsworth, Alford].

[13]1Co 3:13. is inserted after by Lachmann, Meyer, Tisch. [Alford, Wordsworth, Stanley] according to the beet authorities. [A. B. C. Cod. Sin. Origen, Chry. Eus., etc.]

[14]1Co 3:14. , future, is better authenticated [Latin version]. Received [see note].

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 1944
UNDUE PARTIALITY TO MINISTERS REPROVED

1Co 3:5-7. 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. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

WE are apt to conceive of the primitive Churches as patterns of all perfection; and doubtless there were amongst them many individuals whose attainments in piety were truly apostolic: but there were in most of the Churches as great blemishes as can be found in any society of Christians at the present day. The Church of Corinth was peculiarly corrupt. They were indeed distinguished for gifts [Note: 1Co 1:5.]; but, in respect of graces, too many of them were sadly deficient. One evil especially obtained amongst them to a great extent: namely, the indulging of a contentious spirit, by means of which the Church was divided into parties; some accounting themselves followers of Paul, others of Apollos, others of Cephas, and others of Christ [Note: 1Co 1:12.]. Now, though this evil did not prevail so far as utterly to subvert their souls, it kept them in a low, and, as it were, an infantine state; insomuch that the Apostle could not speak to them as to spiritual persons, who had made any considerable advances in the divine life; but was forced to address them as mere babes in Christ, to whom he could only administer milk, when he would gladly have rather fed them with meat [Note: ver. 1, 2.]. Their being puffed up for one minister against another [Note: 1Co 4:6.] shewed that a great measure of carnality was yet in their hearts [Note: ver. 3, 4.]; and that, though spiritual in the main, they yet conducted themselves too much like the men of this world, whose chief zeal was occupied in contending for the leaders of their respective sects.

The same spirit, as might be expected, still infests the Christian Church. And that we may be put on our guard against it, I will endeavour to shew,

I.

In what light ministers should be viewed

They are instruments, whereby God carries on his work in the souls of men
[God is pleased to work by means, and to make use of men for the accomplishing of his gracious purposes in the world. Even when he has employed angels, he has still chosen to put honour upon men as his immediate instruments of good; as when he directed Cornelius to send for Peter to instruct him, and removed from Peters mind the scruples which would have kept him from executing that office of love. Though God might as easily effect his work without instruments, yet he has decreed that faith shall come by hearing: and where no minister is sent to till the ground, there is one great desert, in which no plant of righteousness is found, no real goodness exists. The land uncultivated brings forth nothing but briers and thorns. Human learning, to whatever extent it be carried, can produce no spiritual change in the heart of man. The most learned philosopher needs instruction from Gods ministers, no less than the untutored savage: yea, and to the end of life, no less than at the commencement of his Christian course, does every saint require the aid of ministerial exertions, to water that which Divine grace has planted in his soul: and the more exalted any mans attainments are, the more highly will he esteem the ordinances of God, and the more sensible will he be of his dependence on them for a supply of those blessings which he stands in need of.]

They are, however, mere instruments, and nothing more
[They can effect nothing of themselves: not even Paul himself, with all his eloquence and force of reasoning, could bring conviction to the minds of his hearers: the very discourses which converted some, only irritated others against him, and caused them to regard him as a babbler, and a maniac [Note: Act 26:24.]. If any received his word aright, it was because God had opened their hearts to attend to it. Whether he planted, or Apollos watered, it was God alone who gave the increase. This is universally felt and acknowledged in the natural world. There may be a great disparity between the skill and industry of different labourers: yet no one ever thinks of ascribing the harvest to the skill of man: every one knows, that without the influences of the sun and rain the husbandman will cultivate his land in vain. And the same is true respecting ministers, who will labour to no purpose, if God do not accompany their word with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. The very best of men are but as a voice crying in the wilderness, as unable in themselves to convert a soul as they are to raise the dead.]

The manner in which St. Paul speaks of them, will lead us to consider,

II.

The importance of forming a right estimate of their labours

A just view of them will teach us,

1.

To moderate our regards for man

[We are apt to idolize those from whose ministry we have derived benefit to our souls. From their labours we expect a blessing which we scarcely hope to derive from any other quarter; and a secret dissatisfaction arises in our minds, if, at any time, his place be occupied by a less-favoured minister. We forget that neither the word, nor the power with which it has been accompanied, were his; and we are ready to ascribe to him the honour which is due to God alone. But if we duly considered that ministers are only the channels of communication between the Fountain and us, and that the waters by which we have been refreshed have proceeded from God alone, we should look through them to God, and limit both our expectations and our gratitude to Him, from whom alone any spiritual good can flow. I say not that we are to feel no gratitude towards them: for we are to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake. Nor do I say that some measure of partiality may not fitly be shewn towards those to whom, under God, we owe our own souls: for though we have ten thousand instructors, yet have we but one Father, to whom, therefore, we owe a filial regard: but such a measure of attachment to one, as leads us to undervalue others, is a mere carnal feeling, which ought to be suppressed. St. Paul repeatedly appealed to the Corinthians themselves respecting this: whilst ye indulge such partialities, are ye not carnal? yea, are ye not carnal, and do ye not walk as carnal men? I may say, therefore, that a just estimate of the labours of ministers will prevent an undue rivalry amongst them in our affections.]

2.

To augment our dependence of God

[The husbandman, when his fields are sown, looks to God for a blessing on his labours. In like manner will our eyes be directed to God alone for a spiritual harvest, if we be thoroughly convinced that he is the only source from whence it can spring. We shall not look to the creature, but to God, in and through the creature: and to the same gracious Giver of all good shall we render thanks for all the good we have received; ever mindful that it has proceeded from his Holy Spirit, who divideth to every man severally as he will. We shall be afraid of provoking God to jealousy, by ascribing to man any part of that glory which belongs to him: and we shall live in the very frame of those who are around the throne of God; who, ever mindful of the benefits they have received from him, are singing, salvation to God and to the Lamb for ever and ever. As in heaven, so on earth, the creature will be nothing; but God will be all in all [Note: Neither he that planteth, nor he that watereth, is any thing.].]

Let me found on this subject,

1.

Some matter of inquiry

[What benefit have you received from all the labours of your minister? Are there not many who are as ignorant and as worldly as if they had never heard the Gospel at all? You can bear me witness, that, from the beginning, I have never known any thing amongst you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified; and yet how many of you have derived no benefit to your souls! To what has this been owing? I acknowledge, with shame, that the word has been ministered to you in much weakness; but if Paul or Apollos had ministered unto you, even their labour would have been lost, it is to be feared, on many of you, because you have not regarded the word as Gods, nor looked to him for a blessing upon it To some, we would hope, the word has not been altogether in vain: but would it not have taken far more effect, if you had looked less to the creature, and more to God? I pray you to be on your guard respecting this. The brazen serpent was broken to pieces as Nehushtan (a piece of brass) because to it was transferred the honour that was due to God alone. Cease! O cease from all carnal partialities! and, by whomsoever God shall speak to you, receive the word, not as the word of man, but, as it is in truth, the word of God.]

2.

Some ground of encouragement

[Behold what God has wrought by means of a few poor fishermen! And can he not make his word effectual for you? Is it not sharper than any two-edged sword? and shall it not still be mighty, through Him, to the pulling down of strongholds, and to the casting down every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ? It gained not its efficacy from the wisdom of Paul; nor shall it lose its efficacy because spoken by me. God has ordained, that by the foolishness of preaching he will save them that believe: and if ye receive our testimony, however weak it may be, it shall prove the power of God to the salvation of your souls. Direct your eyes, then, simply to the Lord; and, since ye are not straitened in him, be not straitened in your own souls. Only let your expectations be from Him alone, and you shall not be disappointed of your hope. Open your mouth wide; and he will fill it.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

Ver. 5. But ministers ] Not masters, as Magistri nostri Parisienses. (Praefat. in 1 Sentent.) So the Sorbonists will needs be called, contrary to Jas 3:1 . Bacon the Carmelite was called Doctor resolutissimus, most free, because he would endure no May-bes.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

5 15. ] He takes occasion, by example of himself and Apollos, to explain to them the true place and office of Christian teachers: that they are in themselves nothing ( 1Co 3:5-8 ), but work for God ( 1Co 3:9-10 ), each in his peculiar department (1Co 3:10 ; cf. 1Co 3:6 ), each requiring serious care as to the manner of his working, seeing that a searching trial of its worth will be made in the day of the Lord ( 1Co 3:10-15 ).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

5. ] follows on the assumption of the truth of the divided state of things among them: ‘ Who then ( What then ) , seeing that ye exalt them into heads over you ?’ The question is not asked by an objector, but by Paul himself; when an objector is introduced, he notifies it, as ch. 1Co 15:35 ; Rom 9:19 .

, as in reff.: ye became believers .

, = . . , see reff. It refers, not to the teachers , but to the hearers , see below .

In the rec. text, the question is carried on to the end of the verse by , which is good Greek for ‘nisi,’ ‘prterquam,’ so , Plato, Rep. p. 427, see Hartung, Partikellehre, ii. 44, but seems to have been inserted from not observing the form of the sentence.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1Co 3:5 . The Cor [491] Christians were quarrelling over the claims of their teachers , as though the Church were the creature of men: “What therefore (I am compelled to ask) is Apollos? what, on the other side ( ), is Paul?” is more emphatic than ; it breathes disdain ; “as though Apollos or Paul were anything!” (Lt [492] ). Abollos precedes, in continuation of 1Co 3:4 . For both , the question is answered in one word , “non autores fidei vestr, sed ministri duntaxat” (Er [493] ); cf. 2Co 1:24 ; 2Co 4:5 .: in the next clause is its antithesis. Paul calls himself in view of specific service rendered (2Co 3:6 ; 2Co 6:4 , etc.), but in his personal relation to Christ (Gal 1:10 , etc.). “Through whose ministration you believed:” per quos, non in quos (Bg [494] : cf. 1Co 1:15 ). To “believe” is the decisive act which makes a Christian (see 1Co 1:21 ); for the relation of saving faith to the Apostolic testimony, cf. 1Co 15:1-11 ; 2Co 1:18-22 , etc. Some Cor [495] had been converted through Apollos.

[491] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[492] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).

[493] Erasmus’ In N.T. Annotationes .

[494] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.

[495] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

The above-named are servants, each with his specific gift: . . . ., “and in each case, (servants in such sort) as the Lord bestowed (on him)”. is emphatically projected before the ; cf. 1Co 7:17 , Rom 12:3 . The various disposition of Divine gifts in and for the Church is the topic of ch. 12. “The Lord” is surely Christ, as regularly in Paul’s dialect, “through whom are all things” ( 1Co 8:6 , 1Co 12:5 ; Eph 4:7-12 , etc.) the sovereign Dispenser in the House of God; from “Jesus our Lord” (1Co 9:1 ) P. received his own commission; the Apostolic preachers are alike “ministers of Christ” (1Co 4:1 ): so Thp [496] , Rckert, Bt [497] , Gd [498] However, Cm [499] , and most modern exegetes, see God in on account of 1Co 3:6-9 ; but the relation of this ver. to the sequel is just that of the to the of 1Co 8:6 ; cf. note on , 1Co 1:30 ; and for the general principle, Mat 25:14 ff.

[496] Theophylact, Greek Commentator.

[497] J. A. Beet’s St. Paul’s Epp. to the Corinthians (1882).

[498] F. Godet’s Commentaire sur la prem. p. aux Corinthiens (Eng. Trans.).

[499] John Chrysostom’s Homili ( 407).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Co 3:5-9

5What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

1Co 3:5

NASB, NRSV,

NJB”what”

NKJV, TEV”who”

The King James version has “who” (i.e., tis), following the Greek manuscripts P46, C, D, and G. Most modern English translations have “what” (i.e., ti), which seems to be purposeful to take the focus off the personalities (i.e., Apollos, Paul, Peter). This is confirmed by ti in 1Co 3:7. See Bruce Metzger, A Textual Commentary On the Greek NT, p. 548.

“Servants” This is the term (i.e., diakonos) from which we get our English word “deacon” (cf. Php 1:1; 1Ti 3:8; 1Ti 3:12). It became one of three Greek words (i.e., therapeu, huprete and diakone) used to denote service, help, or ministry (another common term latreu denotes priestly service). See SPECIAL TOPIC: SERVANT LEADERSHIP at 1Co 4:1.

“through whom you believed” Christianity begins with a volitional decision to receive (i.e., aorist active indicative) God’s gospel, which is Jesus Christ, His teachings, His redemptive actions, His resurrection, and His return. One cannot osmose into salvation. It is not a matter of one’s parents, one’s nation, one’s intelligence. It is a matter of God’s covenant gift and our covenantal response (i.e., repentance, faith, obedience, service, and perseverance). People become Christians by receiving Christ, believing the gospel, and walking in Christ. These had done the first two, but lacked the third. The good news is a Person, a truth, and a lifestyle. All three are crucial for maturity.

The Greek term believe (i.e., pisteu)is translated in English as believe, trust, or faith. Its OT counterpart meant “to be firm” and, thereby came to be used metaphorically of someone who was trustworthy, loyal, dependable, or faithful (see Special Topic at 1Co 1:9). As the implications of this context reveal, humans can only respond to God’s trustworthiness, God’s faithfulness, God’s covenant loyalty. Human faith is a response to God’s faithfulness! The object of faith, the promise of faith is God! His grace, His mercy, His call, His Son, His Spirit, these are the only hope of rebellious mankind.

“even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one” The emphasis here is on the divine element, not human response or performance. But the goal of predestination is holiness (cf. Eph 1:4; Eph 2:10), not a privileged position, not the exercise of personal privilege or personal preference. Every believer is equipped by God for service in and for the church (cf. 1Co 12:7; 1Co 12:11; Eph 4:11-13).

The exact identification of “the Lord” is difficult. Usually it is God the Father who calls to salvation. But Paul has used “Lord” several times already in 1 Corinthians to refer to Jesus (cf. 1Co 1:2-3; 1Co 1:7-10; 1Co 2:8). However, several times Paul quotes an OT passage where Lord refers to YHWH (cf. 1Co 1:31; 1Co 2:16; 1Co 3:20). The ambiguity is clearly seen in 1Co 2:16 where Lord in an OT quoteis used in parallel to “the mind of Christ.”

The phrase “to each one” also clearly shows the difficulty in determining who is being addressed. Is it the leaders like Paul and Apollos, the believers in Corinth, or all believers?

1. All believers are called and gifted, but some are also called and gifted to lead (cf. Num 16:3).

2. Is the context exclusively corporate or is there an individual emphasis (i.e., certain leaders)?

1Co 3:6 “planted. . .watered” Paul is using agricultural metaphors. The gospel is the seed (i.e., Matthew 13), but humans sow it and nurture it.

The Great Commission (i.e., Mat 28:19-20) has two co-equal tasks.

1. evangelism

2. discipleship

Paul started the church by preaching the gospel and Apollos taught the church. Both are crucial and inseparable!

“but God was causing the growth” This is an imperfect tense, which means continual action in past time. Apollos’ and Paul’s actions were one-time events, but God’s actions are continuing (cf. 1Co 3:7).

1Co 3:8

NASB, NKJV”are one”

NRSV”have a common purpose”

TEV”there is no difference between”

NJB”it is all one”

The question of this brief and ambiguous Greek phrase (i.e., NASB, NKJV) is (1) are all leaders equal or (2) do all leaders share in the same church-growing ministry? The true contrast is not between spiritual gifts (i.e., initial evangelist or discipler, pastor/teacher, etc., cf Eph 4:11), but between God’s work and human instrumentality. The key is God!

“but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor” The concept of rewards is developed in 1Co 3:10-15. In discussing rewards see fuller note at 1Co 3:14.

This idea of rewards for service is related to the spiritual principle delineated in 1Co 3:13 and Gal 6:7. We reap what we sow (cf. 2Co 9:6).

A related theological issue is degrees of rewards. Knowledge of the gospel energized by the Spirit and the call to leadership within God’s church brings a greater responsibility (cf. Luk 12:48). The NT seems to teach degrees of rewards and punishments (cf. Mat 10:15; Mat 11:22; Mat 11:24; Mat 18:6; Mat 25:21; Mat 25:23; Mar 12:40; Luk 12:47-48; Luk 20:47; Jas 3:1). See Special Topic at 1Co 9:24.

1Co 3:9

NASB, NKJV “we are God’s fellow workers”

NRSV”we are God’s servants, working together”

TEV”we are partners working together for God”

NJB”we do share in God’s work”

REB”we are fellow-workers in God’s service”

The different translations are trying to show that Apollos and Paul work “for” God, not that they are all three co-workers. The priority must remain with God, not His temporary human leaders!

This refers to Paul and Apollos. This is the Near Eastern metaphor of a family working together in the field (cf. 2Co 6:1). This verse has three possessive genitives: Paul and Apollos belong to God the Father, as does the church in Corinth.

“you are God’s field, God’s building” This refers to the Corinthian church. Paul is using the metaphors of agricultural growth (cf. Isa 61:3; Mat 15:13) and building construction (cf. Eph 2:20-22; Col 2:7; 1Pe 2:5) to describe the church. Theologically it must be remembered that the church is a people, not a building.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

ministers = servants. App-190.

by = through. App-104. 1Co 3:1.

believed. App-150.

the Lord. App-98.

gave. See Eph 4:11.

every man = each (one).

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

5-15.] He takes occasion, by example of himself and Apollos, to explain to them the true place and office of Christian teachers: that they are in themselves nothing (1Co 3:5-8), but work for God (1Co 3:9-10), each in his peculiar department (1Co 3:10; cf. 1Co 3:6), each requiring serious care as to the manner of his working, seeing that a searching trial of its worth will be made in the day of the Lord (1Co 3:10-15).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

1Co 3:5. ; who?) He returns to what he began with.-, ministers) a lowly expression and on that account appropriate here.- , by whom), not in whom. Pelagius correctly observes on this passage, If we, whom He himself has constituted ministers, are nothing, how much more those, who glory in carnal things?-, to every man) i.e. every man as well as they.- , the Lord) The correlative is, , ministers.-, has given) in various ways and degrees; see the following verse.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

1Co 3:5

1Co 3:5

What then is Apollos? and what is Paul?-What position does Apollos and Paul occupy that they should divide over them? [From the answer given it is implied that the partisanship of their followers does not accord with the spirit of the leaders they have chosen, and is condemned as carnality.]

Ministers through whom ye believed;-Here is an emphatic statement that Apollos and Paul were nothing else than mere ministers, servants of God. [They are thereby designated as instruments in Gods hands for the production of faith, and such they were in their function as preachers and teachers of the truth.]

and each as the Lord gave to him.-Each ministered as the Lord gave him ability and knowledge, so God, not his servant, is the leader to follow.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

ministers: 1Co 3:7, 1Co 4:1, 1Co 4:2, Luk 1:2, Rom 10:14, Rom 10:15, 2Co 3:6, 2Co 4:5, 2Co 4:7, 2Co 6:1, 2Co 6:4, 2Co 11:23

even: 1Co 3:10, 1Co 9:17, 1Co 12:4-11, 1Co 12:28, Mat 25:15, Joh 3:27, Rom 12:3-6, 1Pe 4:10

Reciprocal: Exo 35:29 – the Lord Num 16:11 – what is Aaron Ecc 9:1 – that the Ecc 11:6 – thou knowest Isa 61:6 – named Eze 44:19 – sanctify Mat 13:27 – the servants Mat 13:37 – is Mat 25:14 – and delivered Mar 13:34 – and to Joh 3:30 – but Joh 4:36 – both he that Act 14:27 – they rehearsed Act 18:24 – Apollos Act 21:19 – he declared Rom 15:16 – I should 1Co 3:22 – Paul 1Co 4:7 – and what 1Co 12:18 – as it 1Co 16:12 – our 2Co 1:24 – that 2Co 10:14 – we stretch not 2Co 12:6 – I would Col 4:11 – fellowworkers 1Pe 5:3 – as 3Jo 1:8 – fellowhelpers Rev 21:6 – freely

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

1Co 3:5. What then is Apollos, and what is Paul? Ministersmere servants.through whom (as instruments) ye believed, and each as the Lord gave to him.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

As if the apostle had said, “Neither Paul nor Apollos were the authors of your faith, but only ministerial helpers of it, as God is pleased to furnish them with gifts, and to give a blessing to their ministerial endeavours.” Your ministers give out to you as God gives in to them: and therefore you ought not factiously to boast of their gifts, nor to make parties upon that account.

Learn hence, 1. That the ministry of the word is the instituted mean and instrumental cause which God hath appointed for working faith in the hearts of men.

2. That God has furnished his ministers with variety of gifts and abilities; all which he makes use of in order to that end.

3. That therefore the ministers of Christ ought neither to be deified nor nullified, neither to be cried up nor trodden down; we are not efficient causes, but only instrumental means of faith. Render therefore unto God the glory of the author, and unto ministers the honour of the instrument. Who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers?

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Increase Comes From God

Paul wanted to know what it was about Apollos and himself that could cause division. They were both “ministers,” which is the same word translated “deacons” in Act 6:2 and means they were servants. They were both God’s servants and worked as God gave them the ability, thus deserved no special credit for the things they did.

Paul had planted the seed, which is the word of God ( Luk 8:11 ), at Corinth. Apollos had, through giving further instruction, watered. However, God should be recognized as the one who caused growth. Just as in the physical realm, those that plant and water can get no results without God’s power. Both Paul and Apollos worked toward the same goal. They did as God commanded and would be rewarded according to their faithfulness in carrying out his instructions ( 1Co 3:5-8 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Vers. 5-20.

In order to show what, in a religious organization like that which the gospel creates, is the place of preachers, the apostle takes two examples: Apollos and himself; and he develops what he means to expound regarding the true place of Christian preachers, by applying it more specially to those two principal agents of the Divine work at Corinth.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

What [the neuter of disparagement] then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers [literally, deacons, i. e., servitors– Act 6:2; Col 1:7; not leaders– Luk 22:25-26] through whom [“not in whom”–Bengel] ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him. [i. e., gave spiritual gifts (Rom 12:6); and success.]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

5. And what is Paul, what is Apollos, but ministers through whom ye believed as the Lord gave to each one? Of course Paul had his admirers as their spiritual father and founder of their church, while Apollos had won them by his wonderful eloquence as well as argumentative power; while still others rallied around Peter, the senior apostle, having sojourned with our Lord during His entire earthly ministry, and having been the honored instrument in the inauguration of the Holy Ghost dispensation on the day of Pentecost.

These parties had not crystallized into sects, neither did they in the apostolic age, because all of the apostles, like Paul, turned the battering-rams of inspired truth against every manifestation of that sort. But, oh! what wonderful development this party spirit has received! confusing the world with six thousand religious denominations. Babylon means confusion. Surely we have it in paradoxical superfluity. It is a shame for a Christian to say: I am a Methodist, I am a Baptist, I am a Presbyterian. If you are and were so born, it is not worth telling, and thus displaying the foibles of your spiritual infancy. Who was John Wesley? Who was John Bunyan? Who was John Knox? While these noble Johns are the reputed founders of the three great denominations above mentioned, yet it is true these paragon saints had something else to do besides building sectarian temples. They lived heroes, and left the world in triumph. Their unsanctified spiritual children have built up these mammoth ecclesiasticisms. Spiritual adults talk about Jesus instead of sectarian parties. Babyhood is all right in its time. The tallest saints have all been babies. But babyhood perpetuated means dwarfhood and death. If a baby does not progress into manhood, it either dies or becomes a pitiful stinted dwarf. That is the trouble with the church at the present day. Christendom is not simply in babyhood, but in dwarfhood. Oh! how I pity the pastors! Instead of commanding an army of giants clothed with shining panoply, roaring the battle shout, and burning for the conflict with the powers of darkness, ready to run the devil out of the country, the poor pastor has on his hands five hundred babies, all wanting the sucking bottle at the same time, bawling and squalling because he cant wait on them all at once. Quite a lot of them are sick and need constant attention, not a few of them are dead and need coffins and interment; no wonder the devil is everywhere triumphant. He doesnt care for an army of babies. The New Testament constantly speaks of the two classes, neepioi, i. e., babes, and the telioi, the perfect or adults. Neither of these states denotes the beginning of existence, but only certain notable and salient epochs thereof. Regeneration makes you a neepios, i. e., an infant, and sanctification makes you a telios, i. e., an adult; i. e., it takes you out of spiritual infancy, removing your depravity which locks you tight in spiritual babyhood. Instead of being the ultimatum of all progress, it is the beginning of grand, glorious and rapid progress. Children must be born before they can be treated for hereditary diseases. These diseases must be removed before they can make rapid growth and become stalwart men. Depravity in the Bible is illustrated by leprosy, a hereditary blood trouble which God alone can heal. It takes the blood of Jesus to remove out of the human spirit that hereditary alient and extricate the taint of inbred sin. Infants born of leprous people so know disease in the beginning; but soon the awful destroyer begins to tell its own sad story. Until inbred sin is removed we are held fast in the disabilities of spiritual infancy. The moment this native evil is extirpated we rank as spiritual adults, and enter at once the stadium of illimitable progress, not only in this life, being unencumbered racers for glory, but to sweep on through all eternity. We see here in these plain statements of Paul that spiritual infancy is characterized by envy and strife and party spirit. That is the trouble with Christendom today. Little rival churches are wasting ammunition fighting each other, while the devil is running at large and gobbling up all. That the experience of sanctification destroys party spirit, envy and strife, and unifies the people of God, is everywhere observable. In our great holiness camps people and preachers of all denominations, races and nationalities are heterogeneously mixed up, and it is impossible to discriminate one from another. In the same pulpit we hear the preachers from the babbling sects of Christendom, and it is impossible to discriminate their theological shibboleths. They are all one in Jesus and lost in God!

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 5

Ministers; servants, subordinate instruments.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

SECTION 5 APOLLOS AND PAUL ARE BUT SERVANTS DOING THE WORK OF ONE MASTER CH. 3:5-4:5

What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers through whom you believed, and as to each one the Lord gave.

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So that neither he that plants is anything, nor he that waters; but God who gives the growth. And he that plants and he that waters are one: and each will receive his own reward according to his own labour. For God’s fellow-workers are we: God’s field, God’s building, you are.

According to the grace of God given to me, as a wise masterbuilder, I laid a foundation: and another builds up. But let each one see how he builds up. For, another foundation no one can lay, beside that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And if anyone builds up on the foundation, a piece of gold, a piece of silver, costly stones, pieces of wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become manifest. For the day will declare it: because in fire it is revealed, and each one’s work, of what kind it is the fire itself will prove. If any one’s work shall remain which he built up, he will receive reward. If any one’s work shall be burnt up, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, but in this way, as through fire.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any one injures the temple of God, him God will injure: for the temple of God is holy, which you are.

Let no one deceive himself. If any one thinks himself to be wise among you in this age, let him become foolish, that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He that lays hold of the wise ones in their craftiness. (Job 5:18.) And again, The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise ones, that they are vain. (Psa 94:11.) So then let no one exult 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 coming; all things are yours: and you are Christ’s: and Christ is God’s.

In this way let a man reckon us, as helpers of Christ and stewards of mysteries of God. This being so, moreover, search is made about stewards, that a man may be found faithful. But to me it has become a very little thing that by you I may be examined, or by a human day of assize. No, I do not even examine myself. For of nothing am I conscious to myself But not in this am I justified. But He who examines me is the Lord. So then, do not before the right time judge anything, until the Lord come, who will also bring to light the hidden things of the darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts. And then the due praise will be given to each one from God.

1Co 3:5. What then etc.: a wider question than who then? Since they call themselves followers of Paul or Apollos, Paul asks what these men are, i.e. what are their position, powers, and achievements. He thus, armed with the great principles developed in 3, 4, approaches the specific matter kept in view throughout DIV. I.

Ministers: see Rom 12:7.

Through whom: Rom 1:2; cp. Joh 1:7; 1Pe 1:21.

You believed: were led to believe the Gospel: see Rom 13:11. From this we learn that the ministry of Apollos, not only (Act 18:27) benefited the Corinthian believers, but increased their number.

And as etc.; adds another important truth.

The Lord: probably Christ, the One Master whose work Paul and Apollos were doing. So 1Co 8:6; 1Co 12:5; Eph 4:5.

Gave: for the converts’ faith was Christ’s work in them: cp. Rom 12:3; Rom 1:8; Joh 6:44; Joh 6:65. Therefore, since converts will be (cp. Php 4:1; 1Th 2:19) the preacher’s eternal enrichment and joy, they are Christ’s gift to each one. Yet each man’s faith is his own mental act, his own self-surrender (which he might have refused) to divine influences which came to him before he believed, and led him to faith. And the preacher’s success is usually in proportion to his energy and skill. But the full truth of Paul’s words is felt by all who have had the joy of turning a sinner from the error of his ways.

Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament

3:5 {2} Who then is Paul, and who [is] Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

(2) After he has sufficiently reprehended ambitious teachers, and those who foolishly esteemed them, now he shows how the true ministers are to be esteemed, that we do not attribute to them more or less than we ought to do. Therefore he teaches us that they are those by whom we are brought to faith and salvation, but yet as the ministers of God, and such as do nothing of themselves, but God so working by them as it pleases him to furnish them with his gifts. Therefore we do not have to regard or consider what minister it is that speaks, but what is spoken: and we must depend only upon him who speaks by his servants.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

5. The role of God’s servants 3:5-17

Paul turned next to a positive explanation of how his readers should view him and his fellow workers.

"At issue is their radically misguided perception of the nature of the church and its leadership, in this case especially the role of the teachers." [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 128.]

"In the first place, they have not understood the nature and character of the Christian message, the true wisdom (1Co 1:18 to 1Co 3:4). In the second place, their sectarian spirit indicates that they have no real understanding of the Christian ministry, its partnership under God in the propagation of the truth (1Co 3:5 to 1Co 4:5)." [Note: Johnson, p. 1231.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Fellow workers under God 3:5-9

"Besides evidencing a misapprehension of the gospel itself, the Corinthians’ slogans bespeak a totally inadequate perception of the church and its ministry." [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 129. See Jay E. Smith, "Slogans in 1 Corinthians," Bibliotheca Sacra 167:655 (January-March 2010):68-88.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Paul, Apollos, and, of course, Cephas were only servants of Christ each serving in his own way and sphere of opportunity under the Master’s direction.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)