1 Corinthians 3:5-11 (WEL) So who is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God is continually giving the growth. 7 So then, neither is he who is planting anything, nor he who is watering, but God who is giving the growth. 8 Now he who is planting, and he who is watering are one, and everyone will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are co-laborers with God. You are God’s farm. You are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God, which was given to me, as a wise construction manager, I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it, but let everyone beware how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any other foundation than what is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
V5 So who is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to each.
Paul wants to emphasize the importance of the real leader of Christians is Jesus Christ.
Paul and Apollos declare themselves to be servants, ministers of Jesus Christ.
God used Paul and Apollos to be the heralds of the Gospel.
We should never elevate with respect and devotion any one who is human. All glory must always be given to God who is the one giving assisting grace.
V6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God is continually giving the growth.
Paul was the first in Corinth. Apollos came and reinforced Paul’s message. Only God gives the growth in faith.
The Gospel is the seed that Paul planted by preaching the Gospel. Apollos waters the seed by apologetics and repeating the same Gospel. But all growth comes from God. The Holy Spirit convicts (John 16:8), then calls (Matthew 11:28 and Revelation 22:17), then waits for the response. It is up to every person to believe or reject.
John 3:16-18 (EHV) “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.
V7 So then, neither is he who is planting anything, nor he who is watering, but God who is giving the growth.
Only God is to receive glory for a successful ministry.
2 Corinthians 4:7 CSB – Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.
Isaiah 28:26, 29 CSB – His God teaches him order; he instructs him. … This also comes from the LORD of Armies. He gives wondrous advice; he gives great wisdom.
V8 Now he who is planting, and he who is watering are one, and everyone will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
They are one because both are servants of Jesus Christ. This reward refers to the Bema Seat Judgement which all Christians will face to give an account of our lives and what we did, how we did it, and our faithfulness to Jesus Christ in consistency and truth.
V9 For we are co-laborers with God. You are God’s farm. You are God’s building.
God is the husbandman. We are His farm, vineyard, fruit tree, garden. He plants and blesses; we are to grow and bear fruit. We grow by reading and studying Scripture and bear fruit in living our lives for the glory of God. Compare Numbers 24:5-6, Psalm 1:1-3, John 15:2, John 15:4, and John 15:8.
God is the one who constructs this building, a Temple for the Holy Spirit. Compare Hebrews 11:10, Matthew 13:55, and John 1:3.
V10 According to the grace of God, which was given to me, as a wise construction manager, I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it, but let everyone beware how he builds on it.
The Lord Jesus is the chief cornerstone of the whole Temple of God (the New Testament believers from Pentecost to the Rapture) and the foundation is the NT period Apostles and prophets. See Ephesians 2:20.
V11 For no one can lay any other foundation than what is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Thus, the chief cornerstone, which is the standard for all dimensions in the building, and the footings are the Lord Jesus. The Apostles and prophets built on this by their teaching which is reflected in the New Testament Scriptures.
We learn:
- God is to receive all the glory, not any human teacher.
- The only cornerstone and foundation is Jesus Christ.
Questions:
- Are you dedicatedly following a human teacher instead of the Lord Jesus?
- Are you growing in the faith? How?