1 Corinthians 3
On Divisions in the Church
1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ.2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe-as the Lord has assigned to each his task.6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labour.9 For we are God's fellow-workers; you are God's field, God's building.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.11 For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise.19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness";t20 and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."t21 So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours,22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephast or the world or life or death or the present or the future-all are yours,23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
1 CORINTHIANS 3
Working Together for God
1 My friends, you are acting like the people of this world. That's why I could not speak to you as spiritual people. You are like babies as far as your faith in Christ is concerned. 2 t So I had to treat you like babies and feed you milk. You could not take solid food, and you still cannot,
3 because you are not yet spiritual. You are jealous and argue with each other. This proves you are not spiritual and you are acting like the people of this world.
4 t Some of you say you follow me, and others claim to follow Apollos. Isn't this how ordinary people behave? 5 Apollos and I are merely servants who helped you to have faith. It was the Lord who made it all happen. 6 t I planted the seeds, Apollos watered them, but God made them sprout and grow. 7 What matters isn't those who planted or watered, but God who made the plants grow. 8 The one who plants is just as important as the one who waters. And each one will be paid for what they do.
9 Apollos and I work together for God, and you are God's garden and God's building.Only One Foundation
10 God treated me with undeserved grace and let me become an expert builder. I laid a foundation on which others have built. But we must each be careful how we build, 11 because Christ is the only foundation. 12-13 Whatever we build on this foundation will be tested by fire on the day of judgment. Then everyone will find out if we have used gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. 14 We will be rewarded if our building is left standing.
15 But if it is destroyed by the fire, we will lose everything. Yet we ourselves will be saved, like someone escaping from flames.
16 t All of you surely know you are God's temple and his Spirit lives in you.
17 Together you are God's holy temple, and God will destroy anyone who destroys his temple.
18 Don't fool yourselves! If any of you think you are wise in the things of this world, you will have to become foolish before you can be truly wise. 19 t This is because God considers the wisdom of this world to be foolish. It is just as the Scriptures say, “God catches the wise when they try to outsmart him.” 20 t The Scriptures also say, “The Lord knows that the plans made by wise people are useless.” 21-22 So stop bragging about what anyone has done. Paul and Apollos and Petert all belong to you. In fact, everything is yours, including the world, life, death, the present, and the future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.