The supremacy of God and the Church: (chap.3)
Divisions in the church: (3:1-4):
In Chap.2 Paul speaks of carnal and spiritual Christians, but in this chapter-3m he speaks of mature and immature Christians. Paul called Corinthians as infants who are still taking milk not solid food. Paul ministered among Corinthians for 18-months. He built the church with Christ as the foundation. He fed the people with the Word of God, disciplined them, won them and prepared them to win others. He left Apollos and other saints to minister them.
Yet when Paul is away, they were quarrelling like little children. They are making divisions, for one group says they follow Paul, and another group says they follow Apollos. That’s why Paul says, they are immature, still not spiritual enough to receive the higher teaching, the hidden wisdom. They still have jealousy and controlled by their own desires. The existence of different groups among them portray that they are carnal and immature.
It is God’s field or God’s building: (3:5-9):
The carnal-mindedness of Corinthians show itself in choosing and following these human leaders. One said he was a Pauline, another said they belong to Apollos etc. After all who is Paul, or Apollos? They are only the ministers, servants, subordinates, agents through whom they believed on Christ. As the Lord gave to every man He gave to Paul and Apollos power to lead the Corinthians to faith. God alone can produce the result and make the seed to grow. It was Paul’s work given him to plant the seed of the kingdom; it was the work of Apollos afterwards to water it or cultivate the Christian plants which had come forth, but the growth is given God only. He gave the seed its vitality and the plant its life. The work of Paul and Apollos were ministering, but the power and life was given by God alone. Since Paul and Apollos have laboured for the church, each will be rewarded according to their own labour. As servants, Paul and Apollos were not competing against each other but were complementing each other’s ministries. Their purpose was to bring the church to maturity, to Christ-likeness (Eph.4:12-13). Their reward would be entirely depends upon their faithfulness to that task (1 Cor. 4:2-5). They were fellow-labourers with each other belonging to God. The Corinthian church was God’s field in which they Paul and Apollos laboured. Further Paul takes the image of building. Paul and Apollos are God’s builders, and the church is the building they build. The leading idea is that they are only God’s employees. How can Paul have a party, then, and Apollos another, when they are only employees of God?
The church as a building and as a temple: (3:10-17)
Paul’s ministry among the Corinthians is only by the grace of God. Grace is God’s undeserved favour. It is an exalted thing to be a fellow worker with God. But God doesn’t choose exalted people to do His work. It isn’t anything in them that makes them worthy to be His worker but it is according to the grace of God (2 Cor.4:1a). Paul gives the step by step points for the good foundation of church.
- Christ’s foundation: When Paul founded the church in Corinth (Acts 18:1-28), he set the only foundation that can be laid e. the person and work of Jesus Christ. Yet he knew that others would come after him and build on the foundation he set.
- Some build unworthily: There is only one foundation for the church. If it isn’t founded on Jesus Christ, it isn’t a church at all. It is possible that one can build unworthily on some one’s foundation.
- Building materials: God will test the building work. Every one’s work will become manifest. Some build with precious things like gold, silver, precious stones; others build with unworthy materials like wood, hay, and straw. Here Paul uses figure of speech of building material viz. gold, silver, and precious stones. Precious stones doesn’t mean jewels, but fine stone materials like marble and granite. Mixing the wisdom of men with the wisdom of God in the work of building the church is like using unworthy materials. Straw may be fine, it may have a place in the barn, but it is not fit for the building. In the same way, human wisdom and fleshly attractions may have a place in life, but not in the building of the church.