March 8, 2022
God Makes Things Grow -- We Don't
1 Corinthians 3
Tony Sargent
Central Truth
Spiritual growth is gained in the true understanding of all that was accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Key Verse | 1 Corinthians 3:7
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
1 Corinthians 3
Divisions in the Church
1 But I, brothers, 1 3:1 Or brothers and sisters could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 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? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled 2 3:10 Or wise master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 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. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you 3 3:16 The Greek for you is plural in verses 16 and 17 are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
Listen to the Podcast
Listen NowDive Deeper | 1 Corinthians 3
As a new dad with two kids under 2, I found a new appreciation in Paul's counsel to the church in Corinth. When our first daughter was born, I quickly learned that I couldn't just hand her a bottle of milk and assume that she would know how to drink it. No, I had to prepare and feed the milk to her because she was still in the infancy stage of development, and it would have been impossible for her to drink it without my help. And as tedious and tiresome as this process was (especially at 3 a.m.), we never got frustrated with her because we knew that she needed the milk to grow and that she was completely dependent on us to feed it to her.
But if we were to fast forward a few years, and we still only fed her milk, then her growth would likely be stunted. Her health would start to decline, because that same source of nutrition that once helped her grow would no longer be enough to sustain her. Similarly, in our relationship with Christ, we are not meant to have the spiritual diet and worldly dependence of an infant for very long. However, we tend to prolong our dependency on pastors and teachers as our main source of spiritual nutrition instead of learning how to feed ourselves. We are called to be doers of the word (James 1:22), and to read our Bible so that we can teach God's Word to others (Matthew 28:19-20).
When we truly understand what Christ did for us on the cross, we should want to learn as much as possible about Him and teach others of this wonderful news! And in a beautiful, yet somewhat poetic irony, we get to that level of spiritual growth by becoming completely dependent on Jesus, craving God's Word like an infant longs for spiritual milk (1 Peter 2:2). But unlike an infant, we are able to eat solid food and are fully capable of feeding ourselves. So, Christian, it's time to go eat some food. Are you ready?
Discussion Questions
1. If Paul were speaking to you today (which would be so cool), how would he address you? As a spiritual person or as an infant?
2. Do you depend on others to feed your spirit (pastor, mentor, community group)? If so, spend some time in prayer this week, and ask God to stir your heart to give you a childlike eagerness to know Him more.
3. How often do you read your Bible each week? Is it enough to sustain a healthy spiritual diet? Is it enough to help you know your Savior better?
4. Is there anything in your life that may be stunting your spiritual growth and preventing you from eating solid food (1 Corinthians 3:2)?