Talk of JESUS . com

Category: Epistles – Is his letter to our church?

Epistle of Paul to the Romans 1 - the Apostles sends a church letter to Rome and the local saints of area churches
Epistle of Paul to the Romans

Epistles ἐπιστολή or Letters

I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.

Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians 

Don’t  miss our recent FEATURED SERIES

JUNE 2024 – 2025 —

1 CORINTHIANS 

———————————————————-

Letters – Is he writing to me?
The short answer: YES.

In their epistles or 1st century church letters the Apostles and other men sent out by Jesus build up the saints [small – ‘s’] or members of local first century churches.

A Disciple or other witness of JESUS would write it. Messengers then delivered these church letters to many isolated worshipers.

Followers of Jesus Christ receive these letters as a major encouragement to their personal faith. Then leaders read them to worshipers of their church.

Although the Epistles 0r Letters to the Church were originally written to churches of the first century,

Romans through Jude will seem like letters to your 21st century church.

  • What do Peter, Paul, John and others tell us we must do?
  • Is he talking about an issue in your 21st c. church as well?
  • How does the writer’s advice, warning, or encouragement to the 1st c. believers apply to you as well
  • Is the writer of this letter talking about something you need to address in your 21st century ‘christian’ life?

Contemporary Application of the Letters (Epistles)

Most New Testament writers take on specific issues confronting faithful followers of Jesus Christ. These same issues continue to confront believers until the Lord’s coming again in these last days.

Certainly Christ our Lord will come again to those God has chosen for eternal life.

Believers currently suffer more than most of you who know Christ in your local church can imagine.

In other lands Christians continue to suffer by the hand of the ungodly.
Go into all the world

A 21st century Common Era church can see and hear nearly any atrocity of man or artificial imagination of sinful man’s mind, yet ‘christians‘ dare not speak of any absolute truth of the Lord God or talk of JESUS CHRIST.

Will YOU comment on Scripture and share the Gospel?

I invite you to read the inspired word of Scripture written in these LETTERS TO THE CHURCH.

YES, He IS writing to YOU.

Beloved brother or sister in Christ Jesus,

Will you read this ‘CHURCH LETTER’ and talk of JESUS through your comment, sharing and email to me about this ‘Letter to you?”

Roger@talkofJesus.com

  • Ministers of Christ: Faithful Stewards – 1 Corinthians 4

    Ministers of Christ: Faithful Stewards – 1 Corinthians 4

    4 Let a man so account us as the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

    1 Corinthians 4:1 21stCenturyKJV

    The Apostle Paul has been making his case as the architect of the Corinthian church.

    Christ’s Contractor in Corinth
    The Need for Unity

    .. you ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. [NIV]

    Now Paul moves forward by pointing to the ministry of Corinthian Christians and make a few points as example.

    Moreover it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.

    1 Corinthians 4:2 RSV

    ἀνακρίνω – anakrinō – examined

    • it is a very small thing that I may be examined (by you or any)
    • In fact, I do not even examine myself.
    • No charges against me
    • Yet I am not acquitted
    • But the one who examines me is the Lord.
    Consider personally the definition of Paul's topic:

    Do YOU examine or judge? interrogate? examine the accused or witnesses?

    Does your investigation examine, enquire into, scrutinize, sift, and question?

    As the Corinthian church’s leading architect the Apostle challenges its leaders and members to be judges of and estimate or determine (the excellence or defects of any person or thing) ALL who build Christ’s church in Corinth.

    Contrary to our Common Era cop-out by evangelicals avoiding examination of our own inconsistencies within the church, the Apostle Paul has already established the architecture for Christians to account for each other.

    But he who is spiritual examines G350 all things, yet he himself is examined G350 by no one.

    1 Corinthians 2:15 LSB – : Strong’s G350 – anakrinō

    IT’S A HIGH STANDARD.

    Now the Apostle writes in response to the Corinthian church (some translations use JUDGED in place of examined):

    I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.

    My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.

    It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes.

    1 Corinthians 4:3-5a New International Version

    He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. – 1 Cor 4:5b

    Later in this letter Paul instructs further:

    Therefore if.. an unbeliever or an uninformed man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that SURELY GOD IS AMONG YOU. 1Co 14:24 LSB excerpt; 1Co 14:25

    The Nature of True Apostleship

    FIRST, a reminder of who are apostles AND what defines a true apostle?

    Acts Apostolos - Acts 1 of the Apostles begins a 28 chapter account of the chronicles of Christ's Apostles - a history of Christ's Church

    ἀπόστολος

    a delegate; specially, an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ (“apostle”) (with miraculous powers):—apostle, messenger, he that is sent.

    Strong’s G652 – apostolos

    Paulos apostolos iēsous christos [Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ] will further define his anointing as an apostle just a bit further into his epistle [letter] to the Corinthians.

    If to others I am not an apostle G652, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

    1 Corinthians 9:2 LSB

    Paul moves forward to an alleged controversary perceived between his leadership and teaching and that of Apollos, who had also ministered to the Corinthian church with great power.

    Apollos and Paul – Apostles crossing paths
    (in case you missed this from Luke’s historical Account of the Apostles of the 1st c. church)

    Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another. –1 Corinthians 4:6 BSB

    NOW the Apostle’s accounting of leaders of the Corinthian church:

    • For who makes you so superior?
    • What do you have that you did not receive?
    • And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
    Paul answers his own rhetorical questions:

    Servants of Christ

    8 Already you have all you want.

    Already you have become rich.

    Without us, you have become kings.

    How I wish you really were kings, so that we might be kings with you!

    9 For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death.

    We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as well as to men.

    WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE APOSTLE OBSERVE OF THIS CHURCH?

    This judgment from these verses of Paul’s epistle translates from the Greek to English with words perhaps more telling:

    You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us— NKJV

    You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! – NLT

    Fools for Christ

    SO YOU think that you are smart enough to lead YOUR church without listening to apostles sent to guide you in building Christ's church?

    We are fools on account of Christ, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; You are honored, but we are without honor.

    1 Corinthians 4:10 BLB

    Now listen to Paul's circumstance at the very time the Apostle writes to the Corinthians:

    11 As far as the present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are poorly clad, and are buffeted [harshly treated], and wander homeless, and we toil, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being slandered, we entreat [endure].

    We have become as the residue of the world, the refuse of all, until now.

    – 1 Corinthians 4:11-15 BLB

    – IS PAUL CONDEMNING THE CORINTHIAN PASTORS?

    – Does PAUL understate his own challenges by comparison to the Corinthians?

    WHY would this architect of the Corinthian Church write to them with such severity?

    Apostolic Fatherhood

    Paul restates his case for continuing his own guidance of the leadership of the Corinthian leadership.

    The New King James Version of Paul’s epistle heads this section of Scripture given in his first letter to the Corinthians: Paul’s Paternal Care.

    Leading young Pastors and guiding their sheep

    14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you.

    How do YOU take fatherly warnings such as these?

    Do you LISTEN as an obedient child of the Lord? 

    OR might you, beloved child of God, insist on a life with Jesus YOUR own way?

    I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. – KJV

    I WARN you. – to put in mind, i.e. (by implication) to caution or reprove gently:—admonish, warn.

    Of course some are ashamed, convicted in their hearts by nature of our guilt. Some translations use admonish, correction, advise — but don’t miss the Apostle’s intent as a father of his flock in the Way of Christ Jesus as our Lord.

    15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.

    Paul, of course, has fathered or mentored others -- several others throughout his three Apostolic missions proclaiming the Gospel into all the world; none more faithful and true than Timothy, his young protege in Ephesus.

    It is Timothy who brings Paul's Epistle to Corinth. And the Apostle expresses complete confidence in this young pastor who he sent to the Corinthians. 

    The ESV states this well:

    I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

    That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord,

    to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.

    Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 4:16-17 ESV

    Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.

    NIV

    But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.

    the Kingdom of God

    - Who has authority in the Kingdom of Christ Jesus?

    The Apostle challenges the Corinthian believers and leaders to show the true fruit of humility in Christ.

    For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.

    1 Corinthians 4:20 NLT

    Which do you choose? 

    • Should I come with a rod to punish you,
    • or should I come with love and a gentle spirit?

    NEXT: The Apostle Paul will take on an enduring common challenge of the Church:

    πορνεία – porneia

  • Christ’s Contractor in Corinth

    Christ’s Contractor in Corinth

    You are God’s building

    According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation,

    and another is building on it.

    But each man must be careful how he builds on it.

    1 Corinthians 3:10 LSB

    The Architect of the Corinthian Church

    ἀρχιτέκτων – architektōn

    a master builder, an architect, the superintendent in the erection of buildings

    APOSTLES, all ministers of the Lord Jesus, Paul points out to the Corinthians, each have different roles at various times in the process of growing the church and your faith. 

    So why do you have divisions claiming that you belong to that powerful preacher Apollos OR Cephas of the Twelve OR Paul?

    The apostle’s approach to these Hellenists of Corinth:

    I am just an architect with the blueprint for you to use as you grow in your faith and as a church. Give all attention to the Foundation.

    Who is building on it?

    Apollos. AND other ministers to the Corinthians.

    Apollos and Paul – Apostles crossing paths

    Paul laid a foundation. It is a picture familiar to Greeks not only of buildings and walls, but a great metaphor for first principles establishing truth.

    I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it.

    1 Corinthians 1:10b NKJV

    The Master Builder OR Architect is no more important than those laborers who continue to build on the foundation. The Architect or MASTER builder here issues instructions to the laborers similar to what any superintendent of an important project of work might do:

    But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

    1 Corinthians 1:10c NKJV

    But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.

    1 Corinthians 1:10c NLT

    The ARCHITECT (Paul) writes a caution using yet another metaphor for the first principles of building a CHURCH.

    In fact, Paul points out, the foundation has already been built!

    For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

    Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 3:11 NKJV
    Such imagery once familiar through worship Hymns with a Scriptural foundation, i.e. "The Church's One Foundation" [is Jesus Christ our Lord].
    Corinthian Greek columns with Jesus Christ inscribed at the foundation and wise architect (in Greek) imprinted above.

    the Day shall declare it

    The Corinthians and others of the Hellenist Aegean walked in ruins of great temples erected to many gods — glorious buildings of the Macedonian Alexander conquered, destroyed and being rebuilt by a distant Rome.

    from temples of ancient Corinth Corinthian-style columns

    Paul puts our current work on the building (be it a temple, church building or the Church itself) into the context were WE are its assigned builders.

    Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear..

    Do you see that every LABORER'S work matters here when building on the Great foundation before the work is finished (by many others)?

    If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.

    1 Corinthians 1:14 NKJV

    The Wages of Work for Christ

    REWARD! (Perhaps you think of it as a ‘BONUS!’)

    YOU do not receive a bonus reward until completion of the work. What if the building is not finished before your death?

    • What good is any reward for a lowly minister of the Corinthians building a church which will only be completed AFTER our death and then destroyed by others?

    Reward – μισθός – misthos

    dues paid for work, wages, hire

    Okay, I get that; maybe a bigger wage for some work.

    reward: used of the fruit naturally resulting from toils and endeavours

    MORE: Pay attention here, and then we will get back to Paul's text.
    1. in both senses, rewards and punishments
    2. of the rewards which God bestows, or will bestow, upon good deeds and endeavours
    3. of punishments

    Paul has already reminded us of this two-sided coin of God’s reward for our labor.

    It is the SAME REWARD to which the apostle points for laborers in the field.

    each man’s work will be revealed.

    For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire;

    and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is.

    1 Corinthians 3:13 HNV
    and the flip-side of the coin of REWARD:

    If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.

    Picture of the Completed Church

    If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward..

    Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

    1 Corinthians 3:14,16 NKJV
    Corinthian Greek columns with Jesus Christ inscribed at the foundation and wise architect (in Greek) imprinted above.

    If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

    Let no man glory in men

    Do you recall the divisions of the Corinthians caused by their loyalty to a preacher?

    18 Let no one deceive himself.

    If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.

    19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

    Is he writing to me?

    Paul suggests that “anyone among you” Corinthians may seem like the wisdom-worshiping Hellenist philosophers of ancient Greece (330-63 B.C.). Of course the present age belongs to Rome governing Corinth for more than a century now.

    And counter to Greek culture Paul advises, “let him become a fool.”

    What we of this Common Era age may not understand is that the wise [sophos] in this world are not entirely exact opposites of fools [μωρός] which suggests a root word [mystērion] which means:

    • a hidden thing, secret, mystery
      • generally mysteries, religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals

    Have an open mind to the wisdom of GOD.

    Let no man deceive himself. KJV

    Paul has already written:

    But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory..

    1 Corinthians 2:7 NKJV

    Avoid Worldly Wisdom

    Now the Paul writes, as the Apostle often does, quoting Scripture:

    For it is written,

    “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; quoting Job:

    He catches the wise in their craftiness,

    and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

    Job 5:13 BSB

    20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile,” recalling Psalm 94:11.

    Psalm 94:
    1 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs—
    O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!
    2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
    Render punishment to the proud.
    3 Lord, how long will the wicked,
    How long will the wicked triumph?
    8 Understand, you senseless among the people;
    And you fools, when will you be wise?
    9 He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?
    He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
    10 He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct,
    He who teaches man knowledge?
    11 The Lord knows the thoughts of man,
    That they are futile.
    Had Paul possibly previously taught the hymn of PSALM 94 to the Corinthians?

    NO Boasting in anthrōpos

    So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours..

    1 Corinthians 3:21 NIV
    • So let no one boast..
    • Therefore let no man glory in men.

    It’s all the same word: καυχάομαι – kauchaomai —

     glory (23x), boast (8x), rejoice (4x), make boast (2x), joy (1x).

    Again, Paul has already introduced the all-important dichotomy between giving GOD glory (boasting in God) and giving various mortal men, even church leaders such glory.

    • that no flesh should glory in His presence. – 1 Corinthians 1:29 KJV
    • therefore, as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 1:31 NIV

    Human Leaders

    ἄνθρωπος – anthrōpos

    DIVISIONS, Paul asks?

    Do you GLORY over mere men like your PREACHER or some APOSTLE?

    31X Paul speaks of men [anthrōpos] in 1 Corinthians, the most in any Epistle.

    And what does the Apostle say?

    For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

    “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—

    1 Corinthians 1:25 NIV, 2:9b NIV

    3:22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23 And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

    Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

    1 Corinthians 4:1 NKJV

    This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.

    1 Cor 4:1 NIV

    Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel

  • 1 Corinthians 3 Meat for Ministers

    1 Corinthians 3 Meat for Ministers

    and Milk for New Babes

    In his letter to the Corinthians the Apostle typically begins with encouragement.

    I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in him in every way, in all speech and all knowledge.

    Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 1:4-5 CSB

    And Paul will, as is his custom, close this epistle written in Greek with the same personalness of the Lord Jesus.

    The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.

    I Corinthians 16:23-24 CSB

    However HERE in the meat of his message Paul addresses the Corinthian church most pointedly, especially its ministers and leaders.

    AND the Apostle also will close with a CURSE of those who would divide Christ by their own means.

    blessing of curse you can choose

    If anyone does not love the Lord [does not obey and respect and believe in Jesus Christ and His message], he is to be accursed. Maranatha (O our Lord, come)!

    1 Corinthians 16:22 AMP

    1 Corinthians 3:

    Lest we take a more common casual contemporary approach let us begin with the King James Version.

    And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

    I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

    1 Corinthians 3:1-2 KJV

    for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

    1 Corinthians 3:3 NKJV
    There it is: the Apostle's initial summary of the problem reported to him of the Corinthian church. 

    NOTE a few of the HEADINGS various Bibles use for their serious doctrinal issues:
    • The Church and Its Leaders
    • Divisions in the Church
    • Sectarianism Is Carnal
    • Jesus Christ, Our Foundation
    • But I cannot yet call you spiritual

    Are you Spiritual? OR Carnal?

    Christian, (brother, as Paul addresses the Corinthian readers, who would also read the Apostle’s letter to the whole church, including women) — Dear MINISTER to your Corinthian community — HAVE YOU RECEIVED CHRIST?

    or DO you just lift up the preaching of one minister over the teaching of another?

    For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

    HEAR in your heart Paul's CONTRAST of those gathered together as the Corinthian church.

    πνευματικός – pneumatikos

    Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit

    1 Corinthians 3:1a NIV

    AND the Apostle has already brought our consequent condition IN CHRIST to the forefront.

    ANNOUNCEMENT of the Testimony of GOD
    1 Corinthians 2

    These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual…

    But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.

    1 Corinthians 2:15 NKJV
    Judge ALL things, 
     yet judge NO ONE.

    Are you and your church doing any better than the Corinthians?

    Fleshy Carnal ‘christians‘

    Paul points to those unbelievers from the world who join us to worship God.

    WE ought to influence those who are BABES in their FLESH and FAITH without including their carnality so as to be like them.

    CARNAL iS NOT a nice enough word to describe someone sitting next to you on Sunday in your evangelical 21st century C.E. ‘church‘ is it?

    Never-the-less, WE all know what WE are by NATURE 
    and what we were before confessing Christ.

    Some translations of the BIBLE describe our carnal ‘worldliness‘ as IN THE FLESH.

    The KJV translates Strong’s G4559 in the following manner: carnal (9x), fleshly (2x).

    • having the nature of flesh, i.e. under the control of the animal appetites
      • governed by mere human nature not by the Spirit of God
      • having its seat in the animal nature or aroused by the animal nature
      • human: with the included idea of depravity

    The Humanist by embracing ALL humanity denies our demonstrable depravity as godless creatures of desire.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    PAUL had nurtured the Corinthians with SPIRITUAL MILK as babes at the breast. The Corinthians, a NEW church of Hellenists, naturally admired oratory and great emotional appeals. Christ through Paul adopted these children (though they were adults) drawn even as Greeks to this JESUS of the JEWS.

    Powerful Preaching to powerless Christians
    Luke describes Apollos’ preaching as eloquent

    I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal.

    1 Corinthians 3:2-3a NKJV
    IS IT STILL THE MILK YOU REQUIRE, BELOVED EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN OF THIS COMMON ERA TIME AND PLACE?

    What makes US Carnal?

    Paul tells the Corinthian believers what to judge — how to identify in others MINISTERS claiming Christ.

    • ζῆλος – zēlos – ENVYING
    • ἔρις – eris – STRIFE
    • διχοστασία – dichostasia – DIVISIONS among you

    After sending a second letter to the Corinthians next year, Paul will write to the Romans in A.D. 57:

    Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.

    Romans 16:17 NKJV
    In essence, give them back to the world and the enemy of Christ.

    Mere Men, Mere Ministers

    NKJV 3:4 
    For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

    The rhetorical QUESTION of personal accountability in Greek reads:

    οὐκ ἄνθρωποί ἐστε

    (I imagine that you will recognize the word.)
    more literally:

    eimi [are you] ou [not] anthrōpos

    • LSB v.3 for you are still fleshly [sarkikos]
    • .. are you not fleshly [sarkikos]
    • are you not walking like mere men? [anthrōpos]?
    • are you not carnal [sarkikos] and behaving like mere men [anthrōpos]?
    • v.4 .. ARE YOU NOT anthrōpos?

    The Apostle goes on to point out through his apologia that PERSONALITIES do not matter OR who it was that BAPTIZED you (where you publically confessed to ALL that JESUS CHRIST is LORD!)

    Ministers of Christ

    5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?

    1 Corinthians 3:5 NKJV

    The Apostle had pointed to their divisions by minister and he will mention Peter [Cephas] even more in his rebuke of their schisms.

    • Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” – 1 Cor. 1:12
    • whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, – 1 Corinthians 3:22 LSB

    Paul uses imagery of sowing [planting a new church in various places] and watering [the very symbol of baptism, cleansing and in a sense the milk of pure nourishment required for growth].

    I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

    So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

    8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one..

    one? (as opposed to divided?)

    What does the Apostle mean by this?

    Paul will later emphasize the ONENESS of spirit in ministers of the church writing later in this letter:

    But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

    For even as the body is one G1520  and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one G1520 body, so also is Christ.

    1 Corinthians 6:17; 12:12 LSB

    3:8b ..and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

    9a For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field..

    the Reward of your Labor

    The Apostle now changes the metaphor and picture of faith for the Corinthian church to visualize in his Epistle.

    For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. - 1 Cor. 3:9 NLT

    ..and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

    θεοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν συνεργοί θεοῦ γεώργιον θεοῦ οἰκοδομή ἐστε

    1 Cor. 3:9 TEXTUS RECEPTUS 
    For those of us who do not understand Paul's eloquent GREEK text, rather than leaning on a single ENGLISH translation let's observe some of what we know from Paul's Greek words in this verse.

    For we are laborers together

    synergos – συνεργός

    • Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers G4904 in Christ Jesus – Romans 16:3
    • Timotheus my workfellow, G4904 – Romans 16:23a

    with God [THEOS], you are God’s

    geōrgion – γεώργιον

    I didn't know this one. a (presumed) derivative of γεωργός (G1092) husbandman

    husbandry – a cultivated field, husbandry (as in the animal husbandry of tending sheep), tillage (tilling soil for planting and growth)

    It is the WORK -early work – BEFORE the harvest.

    You are God’s farming, translates the HNV and in most English translations: you are God’s field.

    SO Paul has been preaching that it does not matter to YOU THE SOIL in Corinth (or in your home church) the names of the MINISTERS who labored in you.

    EACH will have their separate reward.

    The Apostle then builds on this:

    You are God’s [Theos]

    oikodomē – οἰκοδομή

    metaph. edifying, edification

    the act of one who promotes another’s growth in Christian wisdom, piety, happiness, holiness

    ..and each shall receive his wages according to his labor. 1 Cor. 3:8b RSV

    What wage have you earned for edifying other Christians?

    (Paul will speak more to this later.)

    NEXT: Christ’s Contractor

    According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation..

    1 Corinthians 3:10a NKJV – Paulos klētos apostolos iēsous christos

    Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel