1 CorinthiansChapter 3

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And I, brothers, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. And even now you are not ready,

for you are still worldly. For where there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly, living like mere human beings?

For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not merely human?

What, then, is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, each as the Lord assigned him.

I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it grow.

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes it grow.

The one who plants and the one who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

By the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. But let each one be careful how he builds,

for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,

the work of each will be made plain, for the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each one's work.

If anyone's work that he has built on it survives, he will receive a reward.

If someone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple is you.

Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool, so that he may become wise.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their own craftiness."

And again: "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."

So let no one boast in men, for everything is yours:

whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, whether the world or life or death, whether the present or the future—all is yours,

and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

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Summary2

Chapter 3

Main Theme: Paul warns against division and human wisdom, pointing out that the church is God’s building with Christ as its only foundation.

Content: Paul rebukes the Corinthians for their immaturity and divisions—they are still fleshly and can only tolerate "milk." He explains that he and Apollos are merely servants; it is God who gives growth. The church is God’s temple where the Spirit dwells, and Christ is the only foundation. The wisdom of this world is foolishness to God, and all things belong to believers—but they belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Key Words/Images:

Milk and solid food: A picture of spiritual immaturity—the Corinthians were not ready for deep teaching.
God’s field and building: The church is God’s property where servants plant and water, but God gives the growth.
The Foundation (Christ): Jesus Christ is the only basis on which the church can be built.
God’s temple: Believers are God’s holy temple where the Spirit dwells—to destroy it has serious consequences.

Historical context

Historical and Cultural Context for 1 Corinthians 3

People

Apollos is prominently mentioned in this chapter as a central figure in the church. According to Acts 18:24–28, Apollos was a Jewish scholar from Alexandria, described as eloquent and knowledgeable about the Scriptures. His Alexandrian background and rhetorical skills may have led some in the church to prefer him over Paul, who, according to 2 Corinthians 10:10, was criticized for having weak presence in speech.

Cephas (Peter) is mentioned in verse 22 as one of the leaders with whom some in Corinth identified. The Greek Κηφᾶς is a transcription of the Aramaic "Kefa" (rock). Whether Peter actually visited Corinth is uncertain, but his apostolic authority gave him considerable status among those who identified with him in the church.

Events and Customs

Paul uses the image of a master builder (ἀρχιτέκτων) in verse 10. In the Greco-Roman world, an architect was not merely a designer but a highly respected professional who oversaw the entire construction process. The term implied technical expertise and responsibility for laying a solid foundation. Corinth was marked by extensive building activity following its reconstruction in 44 BC, so the image of construction work would have been very familiar to readers.

The agricultural metaphor in verses 6–9 (planting, watering, growth) was well known in both Greek and Jewish tradition. The Isthmian region around Corinth was fertile farmland, and the image of workers cooperating on the same field would have resonated with readers.

Key Terms

Σαρκίνοις/σαρκικοί (sarkinos/sarkikos) – "fleshly" – are key words in verses 1–3. Paul distinguishes between σαρκίνοις (verse 1), which describes the natural state of human weakness, and σαρκικοί (verse 3), which suggests a moral failure where believers live as if they still lacked the Spirit. This wordplay marks the distinction between immaturity and spiritual backsliding.

Ναὸς θεοῦ (naos theou) – "God’s temple" (verses 16–17) – uses ναός, which specifically denotes the inner holy place, the sanctuary itself, in contrast to ἱερόν, which refers to the entire temple complex. This underscores the church’s status as the most holy place where God’s Spirit dwells. In a city full of temples—including the Temple of Apollo and the Sanctuary of Aphrodite—this was a radical claim about the church’s holy identity.

Συνεργοί (synergoi) – "co-workers" (verse 9) – was a term known from both craft guilds and philosophical schools in antiquity. Paul’s use of the term to describe God’s co-workers was bold and emphasized shared service rather than competition among leaders.

Chapter-Specific Findings

Archaeological excavations in Corinth have uncovered extensive building remains from the first century, including foundations of varying quality—from expensive worked stone to simple materials. This provides concrete background for Paul’s metaphor of building with "gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw" (verse 12). Inscriptions found in Corinth also show that the city had an active construction environment with architects and craftsmen, making the building metaphor immediately understandable to members of the church.

People5

Apollos4 God2 Paul3 Jesus1 Peter1

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Timeline1