New Testament · Letters

1 Corinthians chapter 3

Brothers and sisters, I couldn’t talk to you as people — I had to talk to you as people still driven by , like infants in the life of .I gave you , not — you weren’t ready for it. And honestly, you’re still not ready,because you’re still running on human impulses. When there’s and among you, aren’t you just operating like everyone else — living by purely ?When one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another says, “I follow ” — how is that any different from people who don’t know God at all?So what is Apollos, really? And what is Paul? We’re just who helped you — each doing the job God gave us.I the seed, Apollos watered it, but God .So the one who plants doesn’t really matter, and the one who waters doesn’t really matter — the only one who matters is God, who makes things grow.The one who plants and the one who waters are on the same team, and each will be according to their own work.We’re . You are God’s , God’s .Using the God gave me, I laid the like a , and now someone else is building on it. But everyone who builds on it needs to be careful how they build.Because no one can lay any other foundation besides the one that’s already been laid — and that foundation is .Now, if anyone builds on this foundation using , —each person’s work will eventually be exposed for what it really is. will bring it to light, because it will be revealed by , and the fire will test what kind of work each person has done.If what someone built on the foundation survives, they’ll receive their .If someone’s work burns up, they’ll lose their reward — but they themselves will be , though barely, like someone escaping .Don’t you realize that you yourselves are God’s , and that lives in you?If anyone God’s temple, God will destroy them. Because God’s temple is , and that temple is you.Don’t fool yourselves. If any of you think you’re by , you need to become a “fool” so you can become truly wise.Because what this world calls wisdom is to God. As it’s written: “.”And also: “ knows that the thoughts of the wise .”So stop about which leader you follow! Everything already belongs to you —Paul, Apollos, , , life, death, the present, the future — it’s all yours.and , and .