1Corinthians 3
Outline:
I. \\#1:1-4:21\\ In Answer to Chloe’s Report
A. \\#1:1-9\\ Introduction
1. \\#1:1-3\\ Greetings of Grace
2. \\#1:4-9\\ Prayer of Thanksgiving
B. \\#1:10-13\\ Report of Divisions
C. \\#1:14-4:21\\ Reasons for Divisions
1. \\#1:14-3:4\\ Misunderstanding of the Gospel Message
a. \\#1:14-17\\ The Gospel Message is not BAPTISM.
b. \\#1:17-2:16\\ The Gospel Message is in the PREACHING.
(1) \\#1:17-22\\ It is not the preaching with wise
words.
(2) \\#1:22\\ It is not the preaching with signs.
(3) \\#1:23-31\\ It is the kind of preaching "we"
do.
(4) \\#2:1-5\\ It is not preaching with "eloquent"
words, "excellency of speech."
(5) \\#2:6-8\\ It is preaching with the wisdom of
Christ.
(6) \\#2:9-16\\ It is preaching anointed with the
Holy Spirit.
2. \\#3:1-4\\ Misunderstanding of the Reader’s Maturity
3. \\#3:5-4:21\\ Misunderstanding of the Gospel Ministers
a. \\#3:5-17\\ God’s Servants Aren’t Competitors but
Co-Laborers
b. \\#3:18-23\\ Seek God’s Wisdom
c. \\#4:1-6\\ The Minister’s Accountability
d. \\#4:7-13\\ The Minister’s Biography
e. \\#14-16\\ This Minister’s Purpose
f. \\#17\\ This Minister’s Actions
Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible Maps &
Charts: Old and New Testaments, Rev. and updated ed. (Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson, 1996).
\\#1:14-4:21\\ Reasons for Divisions
I. \\#1:14-3:4\\ Misunderstanding of the Gospel Message
II. \\#3:1-4\\ Misunderstanding of the Reader’s Maturity
1Cor 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto
you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even
as unto babes in Christ.
A. This must have been a shock to the Corinthians!
B. Paul told them they were CARNAL Christians, babes in Christ;
and then went on to tell them why.
1. Because you were never able to handle the "meat" of God’s
Word.
1Cor 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with
meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it,
neither yet now are ye able.
a. They STILL weren’t able to handle it!
b. Even during the 18 months that Paul stayed at Corinth,
he did not feed them with the deeper truths of Christ
because he knew they could not deal with it.
c. Paul saw the carnality in the Corinthians!
d. You can tell a carnal person spiritual truths, but he
will not understand them.
2. Because of their divisions!
1Cor 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas
there is among you envying, and strife, and
divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and
another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
a. Paul was saying the first sign of spiritual maturity
is not Bible knowledge but unity within the body.
b. It does not matter what you know (or think you know).
c. If there is strife and divisions, there is immaturity
and carnality.
III. \\#3:5-4:21\\ Misunderstanding of the Gospel Ministers
A. \\#3:5-17\\ God’s Servants Aren’t Competitors but Co-Laborers
1. \\#5:9\\ God’s servants may have different roles, but they
are all working on the same project for the same Lord.
a. That is a reoccurring theme in God’s Word—in the
home, with slaves and masters, concerning
government—and in our world today.
b. \\#5\\ Who is Paul or Apollos? Ministers that the
Lord GAVE to EVERY MAN.
(1) Attempting to use those whom God has gifted us
with as an excuse to divide the body of Christ
is illogical and sinful.
(2) They belong to all and all belong to Christ.
c. \\#6\\ The roles:
(1) Paul planted because he was there first.
(2) Apollos watered, building and growing on what
Paul had begun.
(3) But it was God that gave the growth!
(4) Paul did not mention Peter in this list of roles
probably because Peter had never been to
Corinth. Those that followed Peter did so
because they had heard of Peter’s relationship
to Jesus through the gospels.
d. \\#7\\ "neither is he… but God" - And the only One
worthy of praise, worship, and pursuit was God.
e. \\#8\\ "is one" - All the rest are just one arm of the
same body.
f. "shall receive his own reward" - And will be rewarded
based on how they served their Lord.
(1) \\#9\\ "For we are the labourers" - We are the
ones that work with God to help you.
(2) "ye are God’s husbandry" - God’s garden.
(3) "ye are God’s building" - God’s buildings
g. I notice that a garden will—as long as it is alive—
always need a great deal of work, but a building’s
need should diminish when it is completed.
(1) Although a building will always need maintenance,
unless something catastrophic happens, the care
required should greatly decrease at a point.
(2) Of the two, I would rather be "God’s building"
rather than God’s garden!
2. \\#10-17\\ God is building a great work!
a. \\#10\\ "as a wise masterbuilder"
(1) Paul referred to himself as the "wise
masterbuilder" because he was blessed to lead
in the church at Corinth.
(2) This was not an effort to cease control of the
church, but a duty because he laid the
foundation of faith at Corinth; and because he
was called by God to be an apostle.
b. Subtle Warning #1!
1Cor 3:10 …But let every man take heed how he
buildeth thereupon.
(1) Here Paul swerved from his topic (different
ministers, the same team) to issue a first and
subtle warning.
(2) Paul knew he would deal with later in this book,
and he was giving warning to the Corinthian
church.
(3) The warning is, "EVEN CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE
CAREFUL HOW THEY LIVE THEIR LIFE."
c. \\#11-15\\ An Illustration to go with the Warning
(1) \\#11\\ Jesus and Jesus alone is the Foundation.
(a) No one can lay another other foundation,
although many have tried.
(b) Jesus taught this in \\#Matt 7:26-27\\, the
parable of the House Built on the Sand.
(2) \\#12-15\\ And even what we (Christians) build on
the Foundation of Jesus will be tested.
(a) The fact that this illustration speaks of
what is built on Jesus Christ means that
Paul considered the people of this church
to be Christians. Only Christians can
build on Christ.
(b) \\#12\\ But even Christians can build with
the eternal elements, "gold, silver,
precious stones" or the temporal elements,
"wood, hay, stubble."
(c) \\#13\\ The fire of God’s judgment will test
WHAT is built with only two results:
i. \\#14\\ The eternal elements will
remain and the builder shall receive
a reward.
ii. \\#15\\ The temporal elements will be
burned, "but he himself shall be
saved."
d. \\#3:16-17\\ Not-So-Subtle Warning #2!
(1) Perhaps this is still part of the first warning.
(a) Paul had not yet mentioned the MANY and DEEP
sins of Corinth, but he will.
(b) Paul’s warning in these verses is much more
severe than in the previous verses.
(2) Truths the Corinthians needed to know.
(a) \\#16\\ The Holy Spirit lives inside of the
believers.
i. Note, He lives inside of all believers,
even the sinning believers.
ii. The indwelling of the Holy Ghost into
every believer was on-going by the
time Romans was written.
Ro 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in
you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his.
iii. Many place 1 Corinthians and Romans
being written within two years of
each other.
https://biblestudy.org.nz/chronological-order-of-new-testament/
(b) \\#17\\ God’s presence within us makes our
bodies His temple and makes them holy, or
at the least sacred.
(c) If we defile (pollute, desecrate) God’s
temple, our bodies with the Holy Ghost
living inside of us, God will destroy us.
i. The body is the temple.
ii. The Holy Ghost is the Resident.
iii. If you defile (pollute with sin) this
body, God will destroy it.
(3) This is what God would do with a physical temple
that had been corrupted.
(a) This is what God will eventually do with a
sinning child that has been corrupted.
(b) This is a stern warnings, but their sins are
severe, and Paul can only ease into their
correction for so long.
(4) In the next chapter, Paul will be even more
blunt.
B. \\#3:18-23\\ Back on Track: Seek God’s Wisdom
1. \\#18-20\\ So don’t be deceived.
a. If you have the wisdom of this world, became a fool
and abandon it.
b. \\#19\\ Because the wisdom of this world is
foolishness.
c. Paul quoted \\#Job 5:13\\ to warn the Corinthians and
us that God has determined to use this world’s wisdom
to "take the wise…," a saying to mean God will take
and destroy them.
d. \\#20\\ Then he quoted \\Psalm 94:14\\ to remind us
that God knows what we think and what our thoughts
will accomplish—nothing.
2. \\#21-23\\ So don’t glorify men.
a. \\#21,22\\ "For all things are yours" - Because we
have Christ and because Christ is God’s \\#23\\, then
all that is God’s is ours.
b. \\#22\\ It does not matter what human instrument helps
us in our walk (i.e. Paul, Apollos, or Cephas), we
are God’s!
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