1 Corinthianschapter 3
23 verses · Paul · AD 54 or 55 · Paul's letters
his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work.
Introduction
Paul, Paul's letters, 1 Corinthians Overview.
Paul turns from teaching about the Spirit back to the problem in front of him. The same people who prided themselves on wisdom were still arguing over which teacher they followed. He answers with pictures his hearers knew from daily life in a growing city: a nursing child, a farm, a building site and a temple. Listen for the shift from what the church is to how each worker builds on it. Listen also for the warning about fire and the final list of what belongs to them. Read it as a charge to every teacher and every church.
Context
- Who
- A congregation Paul calls infants, believers still divided over which leader was better.
- What
- Paul calls the Corinthians immature for their factions and describes the church as God's field, building and temple, with every worker's labour to be tested.
- Where
- Written from Ephesus to the church at Corinth.
- When
- About AD 53 to 55, a few years after Paul planted the church and Apollos taught there.
- Why
- To put teachers in their place as servants of God and to warn that the church belongs to God and is judged by Him.
Historical context
Corinth was a construction city. It had been rebuilt from ruins within living memory, and its public works, temples, and shops were the visible proof of Roman investment. Everyone there knew the difference between laying a foundation and putting up a shoddy building on top of it.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Building materials made the metaphor obvious. Gold, silver, and costly stone were for public monuments meant to last; wood, hay, and straw were what poorer construction used, and fire went through them. City fires were a constant hazard, and the test Paul describes is the one every builder feared.
The word for the reward of a workman is the ordinary term for a day labourer's pay. Paul and Apollos are fellow workers on the same site, hired by the same owner, and neither of them owns it.
When he says "you are God's temple," the plural matters, he means the congregation as a whole, in a city full of actual temples. Destroying a temple was sacrilege in anyone's religion, which gives the warning its edge.
Significance
The Corinthians heard their factions reclassified. Saying "I am of Paul" or "I am of Apollos" was not sophistication but immaturity, milk, not solid food, and a sign they were behaving like everyone else in town.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The remedy was ownership. All things are yours, Paul says, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. The leaders belonged to the church, not the church to the leaders.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Still on Milk: Babies Squabbling Over Teachers
1 Corinthians 3:1-3
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual: Paul addresses the Corinthians as worldly, the term that follows from the natural and spiritual man of chapter 2. Verse 3 names the proof, jealousy and dissension among you.
1 Corinthians 3:1
“Those persons, then, who possess the earnest of the Spirit, and who are not enslaved by the lusts of the flesh, but are subject to the Spirit, and who in all things walk according to the light of reason, does the apostle properly term "spiritual," because the Spirit of God dwells in them. Now, spiritual men shall not be incorporeal spirits; but our substance, that is, the union of flesh and spirit, receiving the Spirit of God, makes up the spiritual man.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies (Book V, Chapter 8)patristic
3 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
1 Corinthians 3:1
“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.”
1 Corinthians 3:1
“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.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 3:1
“This implies they were not men wholly of flesh, though carnal in tendencies. They had life in Christ, but it was weak. He blames them for being still in a degree (not altogether, compare 1Co 1:5, 7; therefore he says as) babes in Christ, when by this time they ought to have "come unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph 4:13).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
I gave you milk: Milk and solid food name two levels of teaching. Origen finds solid food in the teaching about the Father and the Son.
1 Corinthians 3:2
“I have fed you with milk - I have instructed you in the elements of Christianity - in its simplest and easiest truths; because from the low state of your minds in religious knowledge, you were incapable of comprehending the higher truths of the Gospel: and in this state you will still continue. The apostle thus exposes to them the absurdity of their conduct in pretending to judge between preacher and preacher, while they had but a very partial acquaintance even with the first principles of Christianity.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:2
“If, however, any one say, "What then? Could not God have exhibited man as perfect from beginning?" let him know that, inasmuch as God is indeed always the same and unbegotten as respects Himself, all things are possible to Him. But created things must be inferior to Him who created them, from the very fact of their later origin; for it was not possible for things recently created to have been uncreated. But inasmuch as they are not uncreated, for this very reason do they come short of the perfect.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 38)patristic
jealousy and dissension among you: Paul proves the charge of worldliness from their conduct. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown trace a climb from envy to strife to factions.
1 Corinthians 3:3
“For ye are yet carnal,.... The Syriac reads it, בבסר אנתון, "ye are in the flesh": a phrase the apostle elsewhere uses of men in an unregenerate state; but this is not his meaning here, as before explained, but that carnality still prevailed among them, of which he gives proof and evidence: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:3
He did this when He appeared as a man, that we, being nourished, as it were, from the breast of His flesh, and having, by such a course of milk nourishment, become accustomed to eat and drink the Word of God, may be able also to contain in ourselves the Bread of immortality, which is the Spirit of the Father. And on this account does Paul declare to the Corinthians, "I have fed you with milk, not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it."
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book 4patristic
1 Corinthians 3:3
“There is a gradation, or ascending climax: envying had produced strife, and strife divisions (factious parties) [GROTIUS]. His language becomes severer now as He proceeds; in 1Co 1:11 he had only said "contentions," he now multiplies the words (compare the stronger term, 1Co 4:6, than in 1Co 3:21). carnal--For "strife" is a "work of the flesh" (Ga 5:20).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
For when one of you says: The slogans of chapter 1 return, I follow Paul and I follow Apollos, as evidence of worldliness. The division has outlasted the first rebuke, so Paul now attacks the view of ministry beneath the slogans.
1 Corinthians 3:4
“For while one saith, I am of Paul, etc. - It was notorious that both Paul and Apollos held the same creed; between them there was not the slightest difference: when, therefore, the dissentients began to prefer the one to the other, it was the fullest proof of their carnality; because in the doctrines of these apostles there was no difference: so that what the people were captivated by must be something in their outward manner, Apollos being probably more eloquent than Paul.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:4
“I am of Apollos - St. Paul named himself and Apollos, to show that he would condemn any division among them, even though it were in favour of himself, or the dearest friend he had in the world. Are ye not carnal - For the Spirit of God allows no party zeal.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
One Plants, One Waters, God Gives the Growth
1 Corinthians 3:5-7
What then is Apollos?: Paul ranks both party heads as servants through whom the Corinthians believed. He planted and Apollos watered, but God made it grow, and by verse 7 only God counts, Paul's own work included.
1 Corinthians 3:5
“Who then is Paul ... - See the notes at 1Co 1:13. Why should a party be formed which should be named after Paul? What has he done or taught that should lead to this? What eminence has he that should induce any to call themselves by his name? He is on a level with the other apostles; and all are but ministers, or servants, and have no claim to the honor of giving names to sects and parties.”
Apollos watered it: Paul describes the founding of the Corinthian church as the work of a farm in its order. He sowed the word, and Chrysostom says Apollos kept the seed from withering under temptation, arriving after Paul as Acts 18:27 records. Matthew Henry says the growth came from God alone.
1 Corinthians 3:6
“I have planted - I first sowed the seed of the Gospel at Corinth, and in the region of Achaia. Apollos watered - Apollos came after me, and, by his preachings and exhortations, watered the seed which I had sowed; but God gave the increase. The seed has taken root, has sprung up, and borne much fruit; but this was by the especial blessing of God.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
only God, who makes things grow: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that God stands last and emphatic in the Greek sentence. Augustine draws the lesson for later teachers: if the apostles achieved nothing apart from God's gift of growth, far less can any teacher since. That leaves no ground for boasting in teachers.
1 Corinthians 3:7
“Anything - This is to he taken comparatively. They are nothing in comparison with God! Their agency is of no importance compared with his: see the note at 1Co 1:28. It does not mean that their agency ought not to be performed; that it is not important, and indispensable in its place; but that the honor is due to God - Their agency is indispensable. God could make seed or a tree grow if they were not planted in the earth. But He does not do it.”
He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose: Planter and waterer are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. Measuring each man against his own work removes the ground for ranking one minister above another.
1 Corinthians 3:8
“He that planteth and he that watereth are one - Both Paul and Apollos have received the same doctrine, preach the same doctrine, and labor to promote the glory of God in the salvation of your souls. Why should you be divided with respect to Paul and Apollos, while these apostles are intimately One in spirit, design, and operation? According to his own labor - God does not reward his servants according to the success of their labor, because that depends on himself; but he rewards them according to the quantum of faithful labor which they bestow on his work.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:8
“He shall be rewarded according to, not his success or the amount of work done, but "according to his own labor." It shall be said to him, "Well done, thou good and (not successful, but) faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" (Mt 25:23).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
For we are God’s fellow workers: Paul calls himself and Apollos God’s fellow workers and the church God’s field, God’s building. Both images mark the congregation as God's own possession and work.
1 Corinthians 3:9
“For we are labourers together with God - Θεοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν συνεργοί Theou gar esmen sunergoi. We are God’s co-workers. A similar expression occurs in 2Co 6:1, “We then as workers together with him,” etc. This passage is capable of two significations: first, as in our translation, that they were co-workers with God; engaged with him in his work, that he and they cooperated in the production of the effect; or that it was a joint-work; as we speak of a partnercy, or of joint-effort among people. So many interpreters have understood this.”
3 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:9
“For we are all fellowlabourers - God's labourers, and fellowlabourers with each other. Ye are God's husbandry - This is the sum of what went before: it is a comprehensive word, taking in both a field, a garden, and a vineyard.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 Corinthians 3:9
"But who are these, Lady, that are white and round, and yet do not fit into the building of the tower?" She answered and said, "How long will you be foolish and stupid, and continue to put every kind of question and understand nothing? These are those who have faith indeed, but they have also the riches of this world. When, therefore, tribulation comes, on account of their riches and business they deny the Lord." I answered and said to her, "When, then, will they be useful for the building, Lady?"
Shepherd of Hermas · written before 160 · Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3patristic
1 Corinthians 3:9
“Every Christian is a living temple of the living God. God dwelt in the Jewish temple, took possession of it, and resided in it, by that glorious cloud that was the token of his presence with that people. So Christ by his Spirit dwells in all true believers.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Gold or Straw: What the Fire Will Do to Your Work
1 Corinthians 3:10-11
By the grace God has given me: Paul laid a foundation as an expert builder, and he warns that each one must be careful how he builds. No one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:10
“As a wise master builder - Ὡς σοφος αρχιτεκτων. The design or plan of the building is from God; all things must be done according to the pattern which he has exhibited; but the execution of this plan was entrusted chiefly to St. Paul; he was the wise or experienced architect which God used in order to lay the foundation; to ascertain the essential and immutable doctrines of the Gospel - those alone which came from God, and which alone he would bless to the salvation of mankind.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:10
“But, though he gives himself such a character, it is not to gratify his own pride, but to magnify divine grace. He was a wise master-builder, but the grace of God made him such. Note, It is no crime in a Christian, but much to his commendation, to take notice of the good that is in him, to the praise of divine grace.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 3:10
“What has he also to do with illustrations from our God? For when (the apostle) calls himself "a wise master-builder," we find that the Creator by Isaiah designates the teacher who sketches out the divine discipline by the same title, "I will take away from Judah the cunning artificer," etc.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book Vpatristic
the one already laid: The foundation is fixed, and every later builder works on it. Origen notes that the other apostles laid it among the Jews and Paul among the Gentiles.
1 Corinthians 3:11
“Can no man lay than what is laid - In the counsels of divine wisdom, in the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament, in the preaching of the apostles, St. Paul in particular. Which is Jesus Christ - Who, in his person and offices, is the firm, immovable Rock of Ages, every way sufficient to bear all the weight that God himself, or the sinner, when he believes, can lay upon him.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:11
“And was it not Paul himself who was there foretold, destined "to be taken away from Judah"-that is, from Judaism-for the erection of Christianity, in order "to lay that only foundation, which is Christ? " Of this work the Creator also by the same prophet says, "Behold, I lay in Sion for a foundation a precious stone and honourable; and he that resteth thereon shall not be confounded.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book Vpatristic
1 Corinthians 3:11
“For other foundation - It is “implied” by the course of the argument here, that This was the foundation which had been laid at Corinth, and on which the church there had been reared. And it is affirmed that no other foundation can be laid. A foundation is that upon which a building is raised; the foundation of a church is the doctrine on which it is established; that is, the doctrines which its members hold - those truths which lie at the basis of their hopes, and by embracing which they have been converted to God.”
1 Corinthians 3:12-15
If anyone builds on this foundation: The materials, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, stand for the quality of a teacher's work on Christ's foundation. The builder is kept apart from his work: He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.
1 Corinthians 3:12
“If we think what is right and good, then we are building on a foundation of gold. If we repeat every holy word that has been spoken without corrupting it, then we are building on a foundation of silver. If all our works are good, then we are building on precious stones. But if I sin after laying the foundation, then I am building on wood; if I continue, I am building on hay, and finally, if I still go on, I am building on straw.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on 1 Corinthians 1.15.46-55patristic
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:12
“The "gold, silver, precious stones," which all can withstand fire (Re 21:18, 19), are teachings that will stand the fiery test of judgment; "wood, hay, stubble," are those which cannot stand it; not positive heresy, for that would destroy the foundation, but teaching mixed up with human philosophy and Judaism, curious rather than useful.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
the Day will bring it: The Day is the day of judgment, as Theophylact reads it. Wesley notes the present tense, the way faith speaks of what is certain and near. Augustine holds that one fire tests every work, profiting one builder and harming another, while neither is lost forever.
1 Corinthians 3:13
“Every man’s work shall be made manifest - What every man has built on this foundation shall be seen. Whether he has held truth or error; whether he has had correct views of piety or false; whether what he has done has been what he should have done or not. For the day - The Day of Judgment. The great Day which shall reveal the secrets of all hearts, and the truth in regard to what every man has done. The event will show what edifices on the true foundation are firmly, and what are weakly built.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:13
“The time is coming when every one's work shall be made manifest: for the day of the Lord, that great and final day, shall declare it - To all the world. For it is revealed - What faith beholds as so certain and so near is spoken of as already present.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 Corinthians 3:13
“Though some understand it of the time when the Jewish nation was destroyed and their constitution thereby abolished, when the superstructure which judaizing teachers would have raised on the Christian foundation was manifested to be no better than hay and stubble, that would not bear the trial.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
he will receive a reward: The reward belongs to the builder. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take it as a teacher's wages, the converts he built soundly on Christ becoming his crown of rejoicing.
1 Corinthians 3:14
“He shall receive a reward - A peculiar degree of glory. Some degree even the other will receive, seeing he held the foundation; though through ignorance he built thereon what would not abide the fire.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:14
“If any man’s work abide - Perhaps there is here an allusion to the purifying of different sorts of vessels under the law. All that could stand the fire were to be purified by the fire; and those which could not resist the action of the fire were to be purified by water, Num 31:23. The gold, silver, and precious stones, could stand the fire; but the wood, hay, and stubble, must be necessarily consumed.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
as if through the flames: Readers have long divided over this fire. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say the builder forfeits his reward and keeps his salvation, while Bonaventure reads a purgatorial fire cleansing the just.
1 Corinthians 3:15
“If any man’s work shall be burned - If it shall not be found to hear the test of the investigation of that Day - as a cottage of wood, hay, and stubble would not bear the application of fire. If his doctrines have not been true; if he has had mistaken views of piety; if he has nourished feelings which he thought were those of religion; and inculcated practices which, however well meant, are not such as the gospel produces; if he has fallen into error of opinion, feeling, practice, however conscientious, yet he shall suffer loss.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:15
“His weakness and corruption will be the lessening of his glory, though he may in the general have been an honest and an upright Christian. This part of his work will be lost, turning no way to his advantage, though he himself may be saved. Observe, Those who hold the foundation of Christianity, though they build hay, wood, and stubble, upon it, may be saved.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple: Paul widens the building image to the whole congregation: you yourselves are God’s temple, and God’s Spirit dwells in you. The warning matches the honour, If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him.
1 Corinthians 3:16
“Ye are the temple of God - The apostle resumes here what he had asserted in 1Co 3:9: Ye are God’s building. As the whole congregation of Israel were formerly considered as the temple and habitation of God, because God dwelt among them, so here the whole Church of Corinth is called the temple of God, because all genuine believers have the Spirit of God to dwell in them; and Christ has promised to be always in the midst even of two or three who are gathered together in his name. Therefore where God is, there is his temple.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
God’s temple is holy: Paul uses one verb twice, destroy and destroy, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see God repaying the destroyer in kind. The temple here is the church, and Wesley names schism and false doctrine as the ways it is destroyed. Theophylact takes the sentence as a prediction.
1 Corinthians 3:17
“If any man defile ... - Or, “destroy, corrupt” (φθείρει phtheirei). The Greek word is the same in both parts of the sentence. “If any man ‘destroy’ the temple of God, God shall ‘destroy’ him.” This is presented in the form of an adage or proverb. And the truth here stated is based on the fact that the temple of God was inviolable. That temple was holy; and if any man subsequently destroyed it, it might be presumed that God would destroy him.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:17
“If any man defile the temple of God,.... By the wisdom of the world, through philosophy, and vain deceit; by bringing in false doctrines, errors, and heresies, and hereby corrupt their minds from the simplicity that is in Christ; and make rents, factions, and divisions among them: him shall God destroy; body and soul in hell; for as their wicked principles and heretical notions are pernicious to others, they are damnable to themselves, and will bring upon them that judgment which lingereth not, and that damnation which slumbereth not.”
Stop Boasting in Men: Everything Already Belongs to You
1 Corinthians 3:18-20
Let no one deceive himself: Paul closes the wisdom argument: whoever thinks he is wise in this age should become a fool, so that he may become wise. Job 5:13 and Psalm 94:11 follow, both turning human cleverness against itself.
1 Corinthians 3:18
Philosophers also profess that they pursue this virtue; but in their case the patience is as false as their wisdom also is. For whence can he be either wise or patient, who has neither known the wisdom nor the patience of God? since He Himself warns us, and says of those who seem to themselves to be wise in this world, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reprove the understanding of the prudent."
Cyprian · written before 258 · Treatise IX. On the Advantage of Patiencepatristic
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:18
“If any man among you seemeth to be wise - Ει τις δοκει σοφος ειναι· If any pretend or affect to be wise. This seems to refer to some individual in the Church of Corinth, who had been very troublesome to its peace and unity: probably Diotrephes (see on 1Co 1:14 (note)) or some one of a similar spirit, who wished to have the pre-eminence, and thought himself wiser than seven men that could render a reason. Every Christian Church has less or more of these.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Corinthians 3:18
“He must be sensible of his own ignorance, and lament it; he must distrust his own understanding, and not lean on it. To have a high opinion of our wisdom is but to flatter ourselves, and self-flattery is the very next step to self-deceit. The way to true wisdom is to sink our opinion of our own to a due level, and be willing to be taught of God.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Paul supports the charge from Job 5:13. Theophylact explains the image: God defeats the wise with their own weapons, so their cunning exposes their folly.
1 Corinthians 3:19
“For the wisdom of this world - That which is esteemed to be wisdom by the people of this world on the subject of religion. It does not mean that true wisdom is foolishness with him. It does not mean that science, and prudence, and law - that the knowledge of his works - that astronomy, and medicine, and chemistry, are regarded by him as folly, and as unworthy the attention of people.”
Cross references
1 Corinthians 3:19
- QuotingJob 5:13“He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.”
'He taketh the wise in their own craftiness' ('it is written')
The second witness is Psalm 94:11. The psalm speaks of men, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Paul names the wise, the proud reasoners the psalm has in view. Chrysostom asks what further proof is needed when boundless Wisdom gives this verdict.
1 Corinthians 3:20
“The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise - They are always full of schemes and plans for earthly good; and God knows that all this is vain, empty, and unsatisfactory; and will stand them in no stead when he comes to take away their souls. This is a quotation from Psa 94:11. What is here said of the vanity of human knowledge is true of every kind of wisdom that leads not immediately to God himself.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:20
“There it is of men; here it is "of the wise." Paul by inspiration states the class of men whose "thoughts" (or rather, "reasonings," as suits the Greek and the sense of the context) the Spirit designated in the Psalm, "vanity," namely, the "proud" (Ps 94:2) and worldly-wise, whom God in Ps 94:8 calls "fools," though they "boast themselves" of their wisdom in pushing their interests (Ps 94:4).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Cross references
1 Corinthians 3:20
- QuotingPsalms 94:11“The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.”
'The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain'
1 Corinthians 3:21-23
Therefore, stop boasting in men: The chapter's last command, stop boasting in men, answers its opening problem, since all things are yours. Verse 23 grounds the reversal in one line, you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
1 Corinthians 3:21
“Let none glory in men - So as to divide into parties on their account. For all things are yours - and we in particular. We are not your lords, but rather your servants.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:21
“Now, from whom do all things come to us, but from Him to whom all things belong? And pray, what things are these? You have them in a preceding part of the epistle: "All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come." He makes the Creator, then the God of all things, from whom proceed both the world and life and death, which.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book Vpatristic
All of them belong to you: Paul turns the party slogans inside out. The Corinthians said they belonged to Paul or Apollos, and here the teachers belong to them.
1 Corinthians 3:22
“The apostle, however, in his epistle says, "Whether it be the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours: " and he here constitutes us heirs even of the future world.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On the Resurrection of the Fleshpatristic
3 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:22
“Whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas - We are all equally yours, to serve you for Christ's sake. Or the world - This leap from Peter to the world greatly enlarges the thought, and argues a kind of impatience of enumerating the rest. Peter and every one in the whole world, however excellent in gifts, or grace, or office, are also your servants for Christ's sake.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 Corinthians 3:22
“Whether Paul, or Apollos - As if he had said: God designs to help you by all things and persons; every teacher sent from him will become a blessing to you, if you abide faithful to your calling. God will press every thing into the service of his followers. The ministers of the Church of Christ are appointed for the hearers, not the hearers for the ministers. In like manner, all the ordinances of grace and mercy are appointed for them, not they for the ordinances.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Corinthians 3:22
“Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas,.... These are particularly named, because their disputes were chiefly about them; but what is said of them is true of all other, and all the ministers of Christ, that they are the church's. The gifts which Christ received for them, and has bestowed on them, are not their own, but the church's, and are given to them, not so much for their own use, as for the good and benefit of others.”
you belong to Christ: The chain ends in its true order. The Corinthians owe their loyalty to Christ alone, and Barnes grounds this in redemption and in their dedication to His service. Wesley reads Christ's belonging to God as the Mediator referring all His work to the Father's glory.
1 Corinthians 3:23
“And ye are Christ’s - You belong to him; and should not, therefore, feel that you are devoted to any earthly leader, whether Paul, Apollos, or Peter. As you belong to Christ by redemption, and by solemn dedication to his service, so you should feel that you are his alone. You are his property - his people - his friends. You should regard yourselves as such, and feel that you all belong to the same family, and should not, therefore, be split up into contending factions and parties. Christ is God’s - Christ is the Mediator between God and man.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 3:23
“And ye are Christ's - His property, his subjects. his members. And Christ is God's - As Mediator, he refers all his services to his Father's glory.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: The third step of the divisions section from 1:10 to 4:21, where Paul turns to the church's judgment of its ministers as the root of the strife, as Aquinas classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Infant, field, building, temple | The chapter moves through four pictures in turn: infants fed with milk in verses 1 and 2, a field planted and watered in verses 6 to 9, a building on one foundation in verses 9 to 15, and a temple in verses 16 and 17. Verse 9 joins the field to the building, and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown mark the emphasis on God, named three times in that verse.Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on 1 Corinthians 3:9. | 1 Corinthians 3:2, 1 Corinthians 3:6, 1 Corinthians 3:9, 1 Corinthians 3:16 |
| Three that bear the fire, three that burn | Verse 12 lists six materials, gold, silver and precious stones, then wood, hay and straw. John Wesley divides them into three that will bear the fire and three that will burn, and reads the first three as true and solid doctrine. Origen of Alexandria reads the six as stages of a life, from right thinking as gold down to continued sin as straw.John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755, on 1 Corinthians 3:12. | 1 Corinthians 3:12, 1 Corinthians 3:13 |
| Are you not worldly? | The chapter asks six questions, two in verse 3, one in verse 4, two in verse 5 and one in verse 16, where Do you not know appears for the first time in the letter. Adam Clarke, reading a text with three nouns in verse 3, takes envying, strife and divisions as faults in thought, word and deed.Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1832, on 1 Corinthians 3:3. | 1 Corinthians 3:3, 1 Corinthians 3:4, 1 Corinthians 3:5, 1 Corinthians 3:16 |
| All things are yours | Verse 22 lists eight things that belong to the church, from Paul, Apollos and Cephas to the world, life, death, the present and the future. Verse 23 then climbs in two steps, the church to Christ and Christ to God, and the party cries of 1:12 are turned inside out. Charles Spurgeon reads the passage as Paul lifting the church's eyes from any one teacher to the full length and breadth of what it owns.Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 870, Things Present, 1869, on 1 Corinthians 3:22. | 1 Corinthians 3:21, 1 Corinthians 3:22, 1 Corinthians 3:23 |
Where the chapter stands
9 more paragraphs on the patterns
Chapter 3 comes back to the quarrel of 1:12 after the long account of wisdom in 1:18 to 2:16. The chapter before ended on the mind of Christ, and verse 1 answers that Paul could address the Corinthians only as infants. Thomas Aquinas marks the turn here to the church's judgment of its ministers, which he calls the root of the strife. Paul speaks in the first person and sets Apollos beside himself in verses 4 to 6 and again in verse 22, with Cephas added there.
The unit across the seam
The argument about ministers runs from 3:5 into the next chapter. It opens with the question of what Apollos and Paul are, and it closes at 4:5 with the Lord who will bring hidden things to light, so 3:5 to 4:5 reads as one unit. The Day of verse 13, which reveals each builder's work with fire, is the same day of the Lord's coming that 4:5 names.
The Old Testament cited
Two citations close the warning of verses 18 to 20. Verse 19 cites Job 5:13 under the formula as it is written, and verse 20 adds Psalm 94:11 with the word again. Both passages set the wisdom of the wise as futile before God. Clement of Alexandria quotes the two together, and Pope Urban I and Dionysius of Alexandria each quote the first line of verse 19.
The debated readings
The fire of verses 13 to 15. Augustine of Hippo holds that the fire tests every work and that neither builder is lost forever, though it profits one and harms the other. Bonaventure reads the text of a purgatorial fire in which the just are afflicted for penance left undone. Caesarius of Arles warns against readers who think serious sins built on Christ can be purged by passing flames.
What the materials are. John Wesley reads them as doctrines, true or of human invention. Theodoret of Cyrus holds that the context shows Paul speaking of morals and behaviour, and reads the gold and silver as hearers who come through the fire purified.
Planting and watering in verse 6. Ambrosiaster reads planting as preaching and watering as baptism. John Chrysostom reads the watering of Apollos as the care that kept the seed from withering under trial.
Keep studying
Studies12
People and groups1
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on 1 Corinthians 3:1; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians, 1107, on 1 Corinthians 3:1 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians, 1274, on 1 Corinthians 3:1.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Augustine of Hippo; Bonaventure, Breviloquium, Part 7; Caesarius of Arles, SERMONS 179.1; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Frederic Godet, Commentary on First Corinthians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians; John Chrysostom; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria; Severian of Gabala, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH; Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 184 and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.