First Letter to the Corinthians -- Chapter 3
Having testified to the work of the Spirit, Paul continues on by reprimanding the church at Corinth. Paul betrays what we saw implicitly in chapter one by now explicitly stating his disappointment in the church for being very immature in their faith. “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). Paul openly tells the believers at Corinth that he had to stick to the very basics because of their spiritual immaturity. Though he wanted to build their faith further with solid food he realized that their foundation was still not quite stable, so he continued to feed it deliberately with spiritual milk. “You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3-4). The outward behavior of the church at Corinth gave testimony to their worldliness and immaturity in the faith. Their focus was on worldly happenings and not on Jesus Christ; they were always looking for something “more” or busy creating drama by fighting over which teacher they followed; they were not content with the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone and this rightly concerned Paul very deeply.
Paul continues on with passionate and earnest teaching, hoping that thru his proclamation they might see the error of their ways: “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. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:5-9). The first thing Paul wants the Corinthians to see is that God does indeed use men to spread His gospel and gather His harvest, but that ultimately these men are only servants and vessels of God’s work. As Paul put it, the men who do the work of God in this life are in the final analysis “not anything”; they are nothing, God is everything. “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Lowborn men are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath” (Psalm 62:8-9). “Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing” (Isaiah 40:17). “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3). Therefore it is only God who ultimately creates faith and makes believers out of unbelievers. “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so Yahweh will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations” (Isaiah 61:11). The problem for the Corinthians was that they were failing to see God’s work and God’s power thru His Word. The Corinthians were falsely falling into the worldly ways of esteeming men and were raising Paul and Apollos to “celebrity status” and beyond. They thought that their teachers and even their own wills had the power to create faith and therefore they were busy obsessing about mere men and no longer looking to God. This “idolizing” of their teachers caused the Corinthians to lose focus on Christ and therefore put what little faith they had, teetering on the brink of destruction. Paul and Apollos were indeed actively proclaiming the Word of God to the people of Corinth but the efficacy and power of that Word was always in God’s hands, and this is what the Corinthians (and many of us today) failed to realize. “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11). By clinging to the strength of man the Corinthians were in reality pushing away Christ. In his letter to the Colossians Paul spoke of how the Gospel (God’s Word in Christ Jesus!) was bearing fruit and growing as it created faith in those it touched. This gospel and message was the power of God that enabled Paul’s ministry to flourish and succeed even amidst what seemed to be worldly failures and collapses. “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth” (Colossians 1:6). “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Also, in his second letter to the church at Thessalonica, Paul clearly shows that God deserves all the thanks for making men grow in faith and love; Paul does not congratulate the men themselves, but he instead thanks God for doing work in their lives. “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing” (2 Thessalonians 1:3). We too need to truly give thanks to God for the work He has done within us thru His Word and His Baptism, and not fall into the trap of the Corinthians by thinking that somehow we brought ourselves to faith or put ourselves in the grace of God. It is arrogance, pride, self-absorption, and thanklessness that cause men to think that they are the workers and sustainers of their salvation; this attitude dangerously kicks Christ to the curb and undermines our entire foundation. God spoke very clearly thru the prophet Ezekiel about how He saved us from our helplessness and caused us to grow: “I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels” (Ezekiel 16:6-7). Clearly God alone creates faith and makes it grow in the hearts of men. We were nothing but bloodied and helpless sinners who were kicking and flailing about aimlessly when God stepped in thru the manger, cross, and empty tomb of Jesus Christ and proclaimed to us with power: “Live!” This Word and promise brought us new life and caused us to grow in faith and love for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ Himself also used the seed/sow/plant/water/grow analogy in His parables. In His explanation of the parable of the sower He proclaimed: “The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). Therefore the Word of God is the seed from which our faith is created. After being planted and watered a seed sprouts and produces growth while flourishing into a new creation. In the same way our faith and subsequent good works grow out of the Word of God when it is planted into our hearts by God’s grace and working. Without the Word of God there is no faith and no good works. Peter discussed the beauty of the imperishable seed of God’s Word: “You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23-25). Our new birth in Christ Jesus has been thru the Word of God and this is not fleeting and fickle like the products of man, but it is by means of the eternal and immutable Word of God Almighty who spoke the entire universe into existence. “By the word of Yahweh were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6). Thru the prophet Ezekiel God spoke of the power of His Word to bring us men, who are nothing but dry and dead bones, back to life: “Dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh! This is what Yahweh says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life…Then you, my people, will know that I am Yahweh, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I Yahweh have spoken, and I have done it, declares Yahweh” (Ezekiel 37:4-6, 13-14). Therefore we must not focus on the servants who carry out God’s work or on our own faculties and abilities, but we need to instead focus on Jesus Christ and His Word by which He has chosen to give us life and bring us to faith. Let us pray that we do not fall into the human trap of looking to the will of man (thinking we are sleek and strong in our own choices and will), but that we instead look humbly and relentlessly (realizing we are injured, weak, lost, and stray) to God’s work, will, and grace thru our good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness…I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares Yahweh. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy” (Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-16).
Having firmly taught the church at Corinth that the gospel is God’s power and working that brings men to faith, Paul continues on by discussing the foundation that is so imperative for us all: “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. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). Jesus Christ is our foundation and He is in fact the only true foundation; any foundation other than Jesus Christ is no foundation at all. Jesus Christ as our foundation means that we rely completely and totally on His work that was done on our behalf on the cross; it is upon this alone that we rest, stand, and build. Apart from the foundation of Jesus Christ there is no salvation and there is no life, for Jesus Christ is indeed “the Head from whom the whole body…grows as God causes it to grow” (Colossians 2:19). God spoke of this foundation thru the prophet Isaiah: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed” (Isaiah 28:16). Paul also spoke of this to the church at Ephesus: “You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:19-20).
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus also spoke of the importance of having our foundation upon Him alone: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (Matthew 7:24-27). Is Jesus teaching us that our own works and deeds are our source of life when He says he who “puts them into practice” has the foundation on sure rock? Not at all! Christ is not teaching works righteousness here, he is simply illustrating that the true work of God’s Word is a living faith that manifests itself daily thru good works. Those who do not live according to Christ’s words are those who have no faith; those who live according to Christ’s words are those who have the Spirit alive and at work within them. “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). As Paul taught earlier to the Corinthians, one must “hear” the Word of Christ to even be brought to faith at all; therefore one must “hear” the Word of Christ in order to put the words “into practice”; and as we have seen so clearly, the Holy Spirit alone is the one who works “hearing” in our hearts and minds, compelling us to good works. Therefore we rely on the Word and promise of God to create a new will in us (granting us the mind of Christ) that acts faithfully upon Christ’s words. We do not rely on our own works or righteousness, but we trust that the Word of God will create the proper foundation of Jesus Christ within us that moves us to loving action. With the psalmist we pray: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:10-12). At this point it is important for us to observe that Paul also gives each of us a clear warning thru his words to the Corinthians when he says, “each one should be careful how he builds.” But what is Paul talking about here? What kind of building is he referring to?
Continuing on in the chapter we find our answers: “If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 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. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Clearly Paul is talking about building on the foundation of Jesus Christ, but what specifically is the building he refers to that will be tested by fire? What does he mean by building with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw? First off we need to recognize that we ourselves are the building: “you are God's field, God's building” (1 Corinthians 3:9). This means that our lives, our bodies, our thoughts, our words, our deeds, our doctrine, and all that we are is the building that is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. We need to be careful that no part of our lives is built off of the foundation of Jesus Christ. Therefore Paul warns us to be careful or wary in how we build on Christ so that we do not undermine our foundation with careless and reckless building. The gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw are different teachings and works. Sound doctrine and love for instance would be gold, for when they are tested by fire they not only survive but are actually purified and strengthened. The straw and hay would be false teachings and desires of the sinful flesh, for when they are tested by fire they burn up and become nothing, possibly even igniting and taking with them everything around them. If we dare build false teachings and sinful deeds on our foundation of Christ then we are most certainly flirting with disaster. As Paul says, we can still be saved if our foundation is truly Jesus Christ (relying on Him crucified and risen for complete salvation), but if we are saved amidst these false teachings and carnal living than it is only as “one escaping thru the flames.” We therefore need to seriously heed the warning of Paul to be very careful what and how we build upon our foundation of Jesus Christ. Ultimately we will be weakening our foundation of Jesus Christ if we accept false teachings and live in our sinful desires, and this may eventually corrode and bring down our entire foundation. We need to think of these false teachings and carnal living as termites or mold in our building of life: if they are allowed to continue and are not treated and squelched out, they will eventually spread throughout the entire foundation and destroy everything. It is for this very reason that God allows us to be tested by “fire” in this life, so that all of our reckless and selfish building will be destroyed before it can take us completely down. God wants to save us, so He disciplines us in order that the lies and sin in our life are removed before they corrupt our foundation. Therefore it is imperative for us to take Paul’s warning with sober humility and repentance, continually falling onto the work and grace of Jesus Christ as we actively cleanse ourselves of all false teachings and sinful habits.
Continuing on Paul speaks in more clarity about taking care of our building that stands on Christ: “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). In these words we see the first instance of Paul’s teaching to the church at Corinth where he proclaims that we ourselves are in fact the temple of God where the Holy Spirit dwells. Paul brings this up here in order to solidify his warning about being careful how we build on the foundation of Christ. We need to honor the fact that we are no longer our own, but having been bought by Christ we are now God’s. We truly hear the Word of God and have faith in Christ’s work because we belong to God. “He who belongs to God hears what God says” (John 8:47). Therefore we must not destroy God’s temple by clinging to false teachings and living immersed in sin, we need to build appropriately on what Christ has done for us in the manger, cross, and empty tomb. “In him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22).
In light of this Paul continues on to actually implore us to become “fools” for God and His Word: “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. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile’” (1 Corinthians 3:18-20). Building on his teaching that the Gospel is foolishness to sinful man, Paul reinforces here that we in fact need to become “fools” by the world’s standard in order to become truly wise in God’s eyes. It is only when we cling foolishly to the plain Word of God and His promises therein (the cross, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and all the “foolish seeming” teachings of Christ) that we will come to see that the true hidden wisdom of God lies only in faithful adherence to what He has made known and proclaimed. Therefore let us get away from clinging to anything from man and fall completely on what God has done for us in Jesus Christ and proclaimed to us thru His prophets and apostles. Where men and our own abilities will fail us, God has already succeeded on our behalf! “So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).
Paul continues on with passionate and earnest teaching, hoping that thru his proclamation they might see the error of their ways: “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. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:5-9). The first thing Paul wants the Corinthians to see is that God does indeed use men to spread His gospel and gather His harvest, but that ultimately these men are only servants and vessels of God’s work. As Paul put it, the men who do the work of God in this life are in the final analysis “not anything”; they are nothing, God is everything. “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Lowborn men are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath” (Psalm 62:8-9). “Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing” (Isaiah 40:17). “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3). Therefore it is only God who ultimately creates faith and makes believers out of unbelievers. “For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so Yahweh will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations” (Isaiah 61:11). The problem for the Corinthians was that they were failing to see God’s work and God’s power thru His Word. The Corinthians were falsely falling into the worldly ways of esteeming men and were raising Paul and Apollos to “celebrity status” and beyond. They thought that their teachers and even their own wills had the power to create faith and therefore they were busy obsessing about mere men and no longer looking to God. This “idolizing” of their teachers caused the Corinthians to lose focus on Christ and therefore put what little faith they had, teetering on the brink of destruction. Paul and Apollos were indeed actively proclaiming the Word of God to the people of Corinth but the efficacy and power of that Word was always in God’s hands, and this is what the Corinthians (and many of us today) failed to realize. “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11). By clinging to the strength of man the Corinthians were in reality pushing away Christ. In his letter to the Colossians Paul spoke of how the Gospel (God’s Word in Christ Jesus!) was bearing fruit and growing as it created faith in those it touched. This gospel and message was the power of God that enabled Paul’s ministry to flourish and succeed even amidst what seemed to be worldly failures and collapses. “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth” (Colossians 1:6). “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Also, in his second letter to the church at Thessalonica, Paul clearly shows that God deserves all the thanks for making men grow in faith and love; Paul does not congratulate the men themselves, but he instead thanks God for doing work in their lives. “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing” (2 Thessalonians 1:3). We too need to truly give thanks to God for the work He has done within us thru His Word and His Baptism, and not fall into the trap of the Corinthians by thinking that somehow we brought ourselves to faith or put ourselves in the grace of God. It is arrogance, pride, self-absorption, and thanklessness that cause men to think that they are the workers and sustainers of their salvation; this attitude dangerously kicks Christ to the curb and undermines our entire foundation. God spoke very clearly thru the prophet Ezekiel about how He saved us from our helplessness and caused us to grow: “I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels” (Ezekiel 16:6-7). Clearly God alone creates faith and makes it grow in the hearts of men. We were nothing but bloodied and helpless sinners who were kicking and flailing about aimlessly when God stepped in thru the manger, cross, and empty tomb of Jesus Christ and proclaimed to us with power: “Live!” This Word and promise brought us new life and caused us to grow in faith and love for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ Himself also used the seed/sow/plant/water/grow analogy in His parables. In His explanation of the parable of the sower He proclaimed: “The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). Therefore the Word of God is the seed from which our faith is created. After being planted and watered a seed sprouts and produces growth while flourishing into a new creation. In the same way our faith and subsequent good works grow out of the Word of God when it is planted into our hearts by God’s grace and working. Without the Word of God there is no faith and no good works. Peter discussed the beauty of the imperishable seed of God’s Word: “You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23-25). Our new birth in Christ Jesus has been thru the Word of God and this is not fleeting and fickle like the products of man, but it is by means of the eternal and immutable Word of God Almighty who spoke the entire universe into existence. “By the word of Yahweh were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6). Thru the prophet Ezekiel God spoke of the power of His Word to bring us men, who are nothing but dry and dead bones, back to life: “Dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh! This is what Yahweh says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life…Then you, my people, will know that I am Yahweh, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I Yahweh have spoken, and I have done it, declares Yahweh” (Ezekiel 37:4-6, 13-14). Therefore we must not focus on the servants who carry out God’s work or on our own faculties and abilities, but we need to instead focus on Jesus Christ and His Word by which He has chosen to give us life and bring us to faith. Let us pray that we do not fall into the human trap of looking to the will of man (thinking we are sleek and strong in our own choices and will), but that we instead look humbly and relentlessly (realizing we are injured, weak, lost, and stray) to God’s work, will, and grace thru our good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness…I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares Yahweh. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy” (Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-16).
Having firmly taught the church at Corinth that the gospel is God’s power and working that brings men to faith, Paul continues on by discussing the foundation that is so imperative for us all: “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. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). Jesus Christ is our foundation and He is in fact the only true foundation; any foundation other than Jesus Christ is no foundation at all. Jesus Christ as our foundation means that we rely completely and totally on His work that was done on our behalf on the cross; it is upon this alone that we rest, stand, and build. Apart from the foundation of Jesus Christ there is no salvation and there is no life, for Jesus Christ is indeed “the Head from whom the whole body…grows as God causes it to grow” (Colossians 2:19). God spoke of this foundation thru the prophet Isaiah: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed” (Isaiah 28:16). Paul also spoke of this to the church at Ephesus: “You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:19-20).
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus also spoke of the importance of having our foundation upon Him alone: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (Matthew 7:24-27). Is Jesus teaching us that our own works and deeds are our source of life when He says he who “puts them into practice” has the foundation on sure rock? Not at all! Christ is not teaching works righteousness here, he is simply illustrating that the true work of God’s Word is a living faith that manifests itself daily thru good works. Those who do not live according to Christ’s words are those who have no faith; those who live according to Christ’s words are those who have the Spirit alive and at work within them. “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). As Paul taught earlier to the Corinthians, one must “hear” the Word of Christ to even be brought to faith at all; therefore one must “hear” the Word of Christ in order to put the words “into practice”; and as we have seen so clearly, the Holy Spirit alone is the one who works “hearing” in our hearts and minds, compelling us to good works. Therefore we rely on the Word and promise of God to create a new will in us (granting us the mind of Christ) that acts faithfully upon Christ’s words. We do not rely on our own works or righteousness, but we trust that the Word of God will create the proper foundation of Jesus Christ within us that moves us to loving action. With the psalmist we pray: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:10-12). At this point it is important for us to observe that Paul also gives each of us a clear warning thru his words to the Corinthians when he says, “each one should be careful how he builds.” But what is Paul talking about here? What kind of building is he referring to?
Continuing on in the chapter we find our answers: “If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 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. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Clearly Paul is talking about building on the foundation of Jesus Christ, but what specifically is the building he refers to that will be tested by fire? What does he mean by building with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw? First off we need to recognize that we ourselves are the building: “you are God's field, God's building” (1 Corinthians 3:9). This means that our lives, our bodies, our thoughts, our words, our deeds, our doctrine, and all that we are is the building that is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. We need to be careful that no part of our lives is built off of the foundation of Jesus Christ. Therefore Paul warns us to be careful or wary in how we build on Christ so that we do not undermine our foundation with careless and reckless building. The gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw are different teachings and works. Sound doctrine and love for instance would be gold, for when they are tested by fire they not only survive but are actually purified and strengthened. The straw and hay would be false teachings and desires of the sinful flesh, for when they are tested by fire they burn up and become nothing, possibly even igniting and taking with them everything around them. If we dare build false teachings and sinful deeds on our foundation of Christ then we are most certainly flirting with disaster. As Paul says, we can still be saved if our foundation is truly Jesus Christ (relying on Him crucified and risen for complete salvation), but if we are saved amidst these false teachings and carnal living than it is only as “one escaping thru the flames.” We therefore need to seriously heed the warning of Paul to be very careful what and how we build upon our foundation of Jesus Christ. Ultimately we will be weakening our foundation of Jesus Christ if we accept false teachings and live in our sinful desires, and this may eventually corrode and bring down our entire foundation. We need to think of these false teachings and carnal living as termites or mold in our building of life: if they are allowed to continue and are not treated and squelched out, they will eventually spread throughout the entire foundation and destroy everything. It is for this very reason that God allows us to be tested by “fire” in this life, so that all of our reckless and selfish building will be destroyed before it can take us completely down. God wants to save us, so He disciplines us in order that the lies and sin in our life are removed before they corrupt our foundation. Therefore it is imperative for us to take Paul’s warning with sober humility and repentance, continually falling onto the work and grace of Jesus Christ as we actively cleanse ourselves of all false teachings and sinful habits.
Continuing on Paul speaks in more clarity about taking care of our building that stands on Christ: “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). In these words we see the first instance of Paul’s teaching to the church at Corinth where he proclaims that we ourselves are in fact the temple of God where the Holy Spirit dwells. Paul brings this up here in order to solidify his warning about being careful how we build on the foundation of Christ. We need to honor the fact that we are no longer our own, but having been bought by Christ we are now God’s. We truly hear the Word of God and have faith in Christ’s work because we belong to God. “He who belongs to God hears what God says” (John 8:47). Therefore we must not destroy God’s temple by clinging to false teachings and living immersed in sin, we need to build appropriately on what Christ has done for us in the manger, cross, and empty tomb. “In him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22).
In light of this Paul continues on to actually implore us to become “fools” for God and His Word: “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. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile’” (1 Corinthians 3:18-20). Building on his teaching that the Gospel is foolishness to sinful man, Paul reinforces here that we in fact need to become “fools” by the world’s standard in order to become truly wise in God’s eyes. It is only when we cling foolishly to the plain Word of God and His promises therein (the cross, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and all the “foolish seeming” teachings of Christ) that we will come to see that the true hidden wisdom of God lies only in faithful adherence to what He has made known and proclaimed. Therefore let us get away from clinging to anything from man and fall completely on what God has done for us in Jesus Christ and proclaimed to us thru His prophets and apostles. Where men and our own abilities will fail us, God has already succeeded on our behalf! “So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).
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