1 Corinthians 3:1 – Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? 4 When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world? 

5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. 

12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames. (NLT) 

As we continue in 1 Corinthians, let us note that Paul is addressing members of the local church.  These are men and women who have been baptized, yet notice what he says about them: “you are still controlled by your sinful nature.”  Could the church have people who had been baptized and had become members yet they remained spiritually immature? Of course!  Maturity is a process, and for some people the process is lengthier than for others.  Church membership is not something reserved for the spiritually mature, rather church membership affords us an opportunity to mature spiritually under the guidance of spiritual leaders. 

In verse four we hear again one of the causes of their divisions: “When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?”  We may learn under a number of wise Christian leaders, but we follow only Jesus.  Paul makes this clear in verse eleven: “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.”  Remember last weeks reading where Paul said he decided to only preach Jesus and the cross?  Jesus and the cross – this is our foundation, and all Christian teaching must begin there.  

Paul then discusses the work of Christian leaders, those who ‘build upon the foundation using various materials’.  I love this spiritual application of this passage – God did not make Christian leaders all the same.  According to verse twelve, some build using gold, some using silver, some using jewels, but all build.  Paul does, however, mention other materials of cheaper value.  The real test of the Christian leader is whether or not the work remains when testing comes.  No matter what materials a Christian leader uses to build a congregation, no one will withstand testing unless the foundation is Jesus Christ.

Today, let us remember our foundation – sin separates us from God; Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins; because of Jesus we can be made right with God.  Amen!  

Posted by Ramón Torres