1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17
Chapter 3
9
We are coworkers with God, but you are God’s field and building.
10
As a good builder, given the foundation I was trusted with, I laid it, and others must build on it. Everyone should be careful about how they build on it.
11
No one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
16
Do you realize that you are God’s temple and that his Spirit dwells in you?
17
If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Commentaries
The Immaturity of the Corinthians.
After establishing the essential Christian principles that every community of believers should be built upon, Paul addresses the specific issues faced by his beloved Corinthians, starting with the main one: the envy and discord that had divided the community into factions (4). He then works to dismantle these factions rooted in personality cults: “Who is Apollos? Who is Paul?” (5). Ministers and servants of faith are not the owners of the community. They plant, water, build, and encourage growth; that is, “we are God’s fellow workers” (9), but only God causes the growth, and “no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (11), cf. Ephesians 2:20-22. Paul’s insightful perspective offers us a powerful conclusion: “All things are yours, you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (22f).