1 Corinthians 3

23 verses

Paul rebukes the Corinthians for remaining infants in Christ, still on milk rather than solid food, their immaturity exposed by the divisions among them—quarreling as though they belonged to the world. He redirects their focus: Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth; the ministers are servants, not masters or sources of loyalty. The foundation is Christ alone, and others build upon it with different materials—gold, silver, precious stones versus wood, hay, straw—and the Day will reveal each one's work, for it will be disclosed by fire and tested to determine its quality. Each worker will receive wages according to their labor, or lose reward if the work burns. The temple metaphor shifts focus: you are God's temple, and if anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person, for the temple is holy. Paul closes with a reversal of status: all things are yours—whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, world, life, death, things present or things to come—but you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.

VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS