1 Corinthians 3
3
Following People Is Wrong
1Brothers and sisters, in the past I could not talk to you as I talk to spiritual people. I had to talk to you as I would to people without the Spirit—babies in Christ. 2The teaching I gave you was like milk, not solid food, because you were not able to take solid food. And even now you are not ready. 3You are still not spiritual, because there is jealousy and quarreling among you, and this shows that you are not spiritual. You are acting like people of the world. 4One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” and another says, “I belong to Apollos.” When you say things like this, you are acting like people of the world.
5Is Apollos important? No! Is Paul important? No! We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work God gave us to do. 6I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who made it grow. 7So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God, who makes things grow, is important. 8The one who plants and the one who waters have the same purpose, and each will be rewarded for his own work. 9We are God’s workers, working together; you are like God’s farm, God’s house.
10Using the gift God gave me, I laid the foundation of that house like an expert builder. Others are building on that foundation, but all people should be careful how they build on it. 11The foundation that has already been laid is Jesus Christ, and no one can lay down any other foundation. 12But if people build on that foundation, using gold, silver, jewels, wood, grass, or straw, 13their work will be clearly seen, because the Day of Judgment will make it visible. That Day will appear with fire, and the fire will test everyone’s work to show what sort of work it was. 14If the building that has been put on the foundation still stands, the builder will get a reward. 15But if the building is burned up, the builder will suffer loss. The builder will be saved, but it will be as one who escaped from a fire.
16Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person, because God’s temple is holy and you are that temple.
18Do not fool yourselves. If you think you are wise in this world, you should become a fool so that you can become truly wise, 19because the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. It is written in the Scriptures, “He catches those who are wise in their own clever traps.” 20It is also written in the Scriptures, “The Lord knows what wise people think. He knows their thoughts are just a puff of wind.” 21So you should not brag about human leaders. All things belong to you: 22Paul, Apollos, and Peter; the world, life, death, the present, and the future—all these belong to you. 23And you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
1 Corinthians 3
3
The Church and Its Leaders
1Brothers and sisters, I couldn’t speak to you as people who were led by the Holy Spirit. I had to speak to you as people who were still following their own wrong desires. You’re not growing as Christ wants you to. You’re still like babies. 2The words I spoke to you were like milk, not solid food. You weren’t ready for solid food, and you’re still not ready for it. 3You’re still following your own wrong desires. If you’re jealous and you’re arguing, aren’t those desires in charge? Aren’t you acting like ordinary human beings? 4When one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting like ordinary human beings?
5After all, what is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants who helped you to believe. The Lord has given each of us our own work to do. 6I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7So the one who plants doesn’t matter, and neither does the one who waters. It’s God who matters. He makes things grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters have the same goal, and the Lord will give each of them a reward for their work. 9We’re working together to serve God. You’re like God’s field and God’s building.
10God has given me the grace to lay a foundation as a wise builder. Now someone else is building on it. But each one should build carefully. 11No one can lay any other foundation than the one that has already been laid, and that foundation is Jesus Christ. 12A person might build on it using gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13Every person’s work will be recognized for what it is, because the Day of Judgment will expose it. Everyone’s work will be put through fire to test how good it is. 14If what a person has built doesn’t burn up, God will give them a reward for their work. 15If what a person has built does burn up, they’ll lose everything. They’ll still be saved, but only like someone escaping from a fire.
16Don’t you know that together you are God’s temple? Don’t you know that God’s Spirit lives among you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. God’s temple is holy, and you together are that temple.
18Don’t fool yourselves. If any of you think you’re wise by the standards of the world, you should become “fools” so that you can become truly wise. 19The wisdom of this world is foolish in God’s eyes. It is written, “God catches wise people in their own clever plans.” 20It is also written, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of wise people don’t really amount to anything.” 21So don’t brag any more about human leaders! Everything is yours, 22including Paul and Apollos and Peter, and the world and life and death and the present and the future. All these things are yours, 23and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
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