In this episode of Add Bible, we delve into 1 Corinthians chapter 3, exploring the Apostle Paul’s message on spiritual maturity. Are we still feeding on spiritual milk, or are we ready to digest the solid food of deeper faith? Discover how Paul addresses the Corinthians about their growth, and reflect on what kind of foundation your faith is built upon.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we are in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and we’ll listen to the recording by Faith Comes By Hearing of the 23 verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians 3
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But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, I follow Paul, and another, I follow Apollos, are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? servants through whom you believed as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
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He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers, you are God’s field, God’s building.
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According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
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And again, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.
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So let no one boast in men, for 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 Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
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Chapter 3 follows that great verse ending chapter 2, that we have the mind of Christ. If we go back to that verse and then start with chapter 3, it makes a little more sense. So the last verse again in chapter 2 was, but we have the mind of Christ. Then chapter 3 starts, but I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. How about you? Are you still being fed with milk spiritually? Or are you ready for solid food? How long have you been a Christian anyway? How would Paul describe you and your Christianity? Would he call you a spiritual person? Would he call you people of the flesh? Would he call you as still an infant in Christ? Do you take your Christianity seriously? Do you long to grow, to mature in your faith in Jesus? That was the point Paul was making to the Corinthians. It’s the same point he’s making to us. It’s time to get beyond elementary principles of Christianity. It’s time to move on to deeper spiritual things. But Paul tells the Corinthians, but you’re not ready. Are you ready? Paul said to the Corinthians, How about you? Are you still of the flesh? Are you still dealing with petty issues of Christianity? Still behaving only in a human way? I guess one way of looking at the argument Paul is making is what we’ve made of denominations in Christianity. That’s kind of what Paul is referring to here. He says to the Corinthians, some of you say, I follow Paul. Some of you say, I follow Apollos. And Paul is telling them, forget about it. He says in verse 6, So are you stuck on milk? Or are you ready to move on to solid food, the deeper things of Christianity found in the Word of God? Paul goes on to say, the foundation of faith is Jesus Christ. Is he your foundation of your Christianity? If so, that’s the foundation. And that’s what we build on, our foundation in Christ and Christ alone. But the foundation is only the foundation we must build. We must build on our faith. In verse 16, Paul says, Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s spirit dwells in you? So are you a temple built on the foundation of Jesus Christ? Does God’s Spirit dwell in you? And then Paul goes on to tell us, for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. Are you a holy representation of God and of Jesus Christ? Have you built an honoring, glorious, beautiful temple that houses the Holy Spirit built on your foundation of Jesus Christ in your life? Paul then finishes the chapter by saying this, And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. Are you Christ’s? If so, you belong to God. If not, if you are not Christ, what is your foundation? May I encourage you to consider Christ, to let Jesus Christ become your foundation, and build a holy temple acceptable to God, which is your reasonable sacrifice. Go back to the introduction when we said the point Paul was making to the Corinthians is to not be divisive. Don’t divide yourselves over this doctrine or that doctrine, but grow in the foundation of Jesus. It was an important message to the Corinthian church, and it is an important message to each one of us today. Let’s close out 1 Corinthians 3 by going back to those couple of verses, verses 6 through 9, where Paul said, So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. May we all build on a solid foundation, and that’s Jesus Christ. And may we become God’s building, a temple that can house the Holy Spirit and effectively serve and worship Jesus by being a holy temple, God’s temple, here on earth. Again, verse 16 and 17. Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s spirit dwells in you? For God’s temple is holy and you are that temple. Father, remind us today, it doesn’t matter where we started. It doesn’t matter who got us into this faith called Christianity. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you caused the increase. You caused the growth. And we’re thankful that you grow us into a temple that the Holy Spirit can dwell in here on earth. Lord, you want us to be a holy temple, a temple that reflects you. But we’re flawed human beings, Lord, so help us. Help us set aside jealousy, strife, works of the flesh, our own human behavior, and allow your Holy Spirit to grow a beautiful temple, a holy temple. dedicated to you. Use me as a temple for you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. You know, sometimes we need a plumb line, a true north, a solid basis of truth to live life. We’re not going to find it in the media or in social media or Google or your friends, but it is available right at your fingertips. Pilate asked Jesus in John 18, 38, what is truth? The chapter before, Jesus had answered the question in his prayer to God for his disciples. In the 17th verse, Jesus pleads with the Father, Sanctify them in the truth. Thy word is truth. So what would it be like if everyone, everywhere, read the Bible every day? Wow, it might be heaven on earth. What would it be like if every Christian read the Bible every day? Would we be better ambassadors for Christ? What would it be like if everyone in your community read the Bible every day? Would we have greater impact in our communities? And what would it be like if you personally read the Bible every day? Could you use a closer walk with Jesus? Could you use a light unto your path and a lamp unto your feet to walk through this life? Could you use a spiritual power surge in your life? Matthew 22, 29, Jesus speaking to the Sadducees said, You are mistaken not understanding the Scriptures or the power of God. Yes, the Scriptures can give us power to live this life. So I’m going to give you three easy action steps to make the Bible worth your time each and every day. Number one, commit to daily Bible reading. Commit to seek God and His Word daily, every day. And if you miss a day, start again the next day. Change your belief about God’s Word to behavior in God’s Word. Use any of our Ezra Project resources to help you. Visit EzraProject.net to get an Ezra Project Bible reading journal or one of our day-by-day through the Bible books. Commit today and visit EzraProject.net for easy-to-use resources for your daily time in God’s Word. Number two, be intentional. Decide what you want out of your Bible reading. I got to visit the headquarters of Back to the Bible once in Lincoln, Nebraska. And in one hallway down one side, they had scribbled all the reasons people say they don’t read the Bible. On the other side were all the reasons people do read the Bible. And I want to give you some of those to encourage you. On that wall, it said, God wants me to. Yes, God wants you to read the Bible. Do you want to meet with him daily? Because he’ll meet with you every day through his word. Number two, it changes me. Where could you be in one year with more Bible reading in your life? Number three, it improves my outlook on life. Yeah, turn out the bad news and saturate yourself with good news from the Word of God. Number four, it keeps me grounded. Yes, when the storms of life come, and they will, can you stand? Yes, you’ll stand better and more solid because you’re in the Word of God. Next, it keeps my heart soft. Yeah, Nehemiah 8, when people heard the Word, they wept and they worshiped. You will do the same as the Word softens your heart. Lastly, on the wall, it said, it keeps my daily focus on God. Yeah, that’s a great reason to read the Bible. You’ll gain the spiritual power to live life in our secular world. And then thirdly and lastly, feed your soul. Let God minister to your soul. Hebrews 4.12 says the Word of God pierces between your soul and your spirit, between joints and marrow, and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart. Nothing else goes that deep. I don’t know where the place is between my soul and my spirit, but I want to put the Word of God there each and every day of my life. I hope you do too. God bless you as you spend time in God’s Word. I know you’re going to enjoy it and want to share it with others.
