1 Corinthians 3:1-23.
1 Corinthians 3:1-23 (Good News Translation)
1As a matter of fact, my friends, I could not talk to you as I talk to
people who have the Spirit; I had to talk to you as though you belonged to
this world, as children in the Christian faith. 2I had to feed you milk,
not solid food, because you were not ready for it. And even now you are
not ready for it, 3because you still live as the people of this world
live. When there is jealousy among you and you quarrel with one another,
doesn't this prove that you belong to this world, living by its standards?
4When one of you says, I follow Paul, and another, I follow
Apollos—aren't you acting like worldly people? 5After all, who is
Apollos? And who is Paul? We are simply God's servants, by whom you were
led to believe. Each one of us does the work which the Lord gave him to
do: 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who
made the plant grow. 7The one who plants and the one who waters really do
not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow. 8There
is no difference between the one who plants and the one who waters; God
will reward each one according to the work each has done. 9For we are
partners working together for God, and you are God's field.
You are also God's building. 10Using the gift that God gave me, I did
the work of an expert builder and laid the foundation, and someone else is
building on it. But each of you must be careful how you build. 11For God
has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no
other foundation can be laid. 12Some will use gold or silver or precious
stones in building on the foundation; others will use wood or grass or
straw. 13And the quality of each person's work will be seen when the Day
of Christ exposes it. For on that Day fire will reveal everyone's work;
the fire will test it and show its real quality. 14If what was built on
the foundation survives the fire, the builder will receive a reward. 15But
if your work is burnt up, then you will lose it; but you yourself will be
saved, as if you had escaped through the fire. 16Surely you know that you
are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you! 17God will destroy
anyone who destroys God's temple. For God's temple is holy, and you
yourselves are his temple. 18You should not fool yourself. If any of you
think that you are wise by this world's standards, you should become a
fool, in order to be really wise. 19For what this world considers to be
wisdom is nonsense in God's sight. As the scripture says, God traps the
wise in their cleverness; 20and another scripture says, The Lord knows
that the thoughts of the wise are worthless. 21No one, then, should boast
about what human beings can do. Actually everything belongs to you:
22Paul, Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and
the future—all these are yours, 23and you belong to Christ, and Christ
belongs to God.
people who have the Spirit; I had to talk to you as though you belonged to
this world, as children in the Christian faith. 2I had to feed you milk,
not solid food, because you were not ready for it. And even now you are
not ready for it, 3because you still live as the people of this world
live. When there is jealousy among you and you quarrel with one another,
doesn't this prove that you belong to this world, living by its standards?
4When one of you says, I follow Paul, and another, I follow
Apollos—aren't you acting like worldly people? 5After all, who is
Apollos? And who is Paul? We are simply God's servants, by whom you were
led to believe. Each one of us does the work which the Lord gave him to
do: 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who
made the plant grow. 7The one who plants and the one who waters really do
not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow. 8There
is no difference between the one who plants and the one who waters; God
will reward each one according to the work each has done. 9For we are
partners working together for God, and you are God's field.
You are also God's building. 10Using the gift that God gave me, I did
the work of an expert builder and laid the foundation, and someone else is
building on it. But each of you must be careful how you build. 11For God
has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no
other foundation can be laid. 12Some will use gold or silver or precious
stones in building on the foundation; others will use wood or grass or
straw. 13And the quality of each person's work will be seen when the Day
of Christ exposes it. For on that Day fire will reveal everyone's work;
the fire will test it and show its real quality. 14If what was built on
the foundation survives the fire, the builder will receive a reward. 15But
if your work is burnt up, then you will lose it; but you yourself will be
saved, as if you had escaped through the fire. 16Surely you know that you
are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you! 17God will destroy
anyone who destroys God's temple. For God's temple is holy, and you
yourselves are his temple. 18You should not fool yourself. If any of you
think that you are wise by this world's standards, you should become a
fool, in order to be really wise. 19For what this world considers to be
wisdom is nonsense in God's sight. As the scripture says, God traps the
wise in their cleverness; 20and another scripture says, The Lord knows
that the thoughts of the wise are worthless. 21No one, then, should boast
about what human beings can do. Actually everything belongs to you:
22Paul, Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and
the future—all these are yours, 23and you belong to Christ, and Christ
belongs to God.
God bless you.
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