By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
- 1 Corinthians 3:10-17
In the first part of 1 Corinthians 3, Paul talked about spiritual immaturity and divisiveness and how those would be detrimental to the church. Now, he talks about building a solid foundation for our faith, showing how we can grow in spiritual maturity.
Paul uses the analogy of a building with a foundation to help the Corinthians (and us) understand this concept. The first step in laying that foundation for the Christian faith is for the believer to hear and believe in the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Paul said previously that he brought the gospel message to this particular congregation. As he indicates in verse 10, he laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. The foundational doctrine is Jesus Christ and Him crucified, as Paul wrote back in 1 Corinthians 2:2.
The foundation is extremely important as it holds up the entire building. If there is a problem with the foundation, then even if the building itself is fine, it could still collapse. The foundation needs to not only be strong in the short term but also in the long term. It is important to stay on the foundation and not wander off of it, or else the building will be structurally unsound. This is true for our faith; we must stay on top of the foundation of Jesus Christ and not wander from Him.
Just because Paul laid the foundation, he is not the only person who can build on it. Apollos has previously been mentioned in verses 4-5 as a teacher in the Corinthian church, and it’s likely that he was the primary teacher after Paul left to move onto other churches. But no matter who is building on that gospel foundation, every teacher should be careful what they are teaching. The new believers may be especially susceptible to false teachings, so any teacher needs to exert extra care.
Paul gives his reasoning for that warning in verse 11: once the foundation is laid, it cannot be laid again. This should mean those who preach the gospel message should do so with care, and they should make sure that the foundation is Jesus Christ and not some other truth.
Once that foundation has been laid, the materials used to build on it are extremely important, as we see in verses 12-13. Paul lists off possible building materials – gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, and straw. Gold, silver, and costly stones were used to build temples in that time period, and they were considered to be good, solid building materials. Common homes were often built with wood, hay, and straw, which were less durable than metals and stones.
Paul notes how the quality of the building will be revealed on “the Day,” which is considered to be Judgment Day at the second coming of Christ. Whatever we have used to build our spiritual building with on the foundation of Christ will be tested. Are we using lesser quality materials – still having faith but not truly living it out? Or are we using high-quality materials – living the Christian life to the best of our ability? Both may have a foundation of Jesus Christ, but one will stand up better on the day of judgment than the other.
Fire is explained to be the test of how the quality of our work will be revealed. In verses 14-15, we see the consequences of that fiery judgment. If our spiritual building survives the fire of God’s judgment, then the builder (the believer) will receive a reward. But if our spiritual building is burned up in that fire, then we will suffer a loss, though we will still escape the fiery judgment.
Gold, silver, and costly stones would hold up much better in fire than wood, hay, or straw that will be consumed quickly and turn to ash. If we have the foundation of faith in the gospel truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, we will be able to withstand the judgment and spend eternity with Jesus. If we have a strong building (a strong faith) built with quality materials, we will receive a reward. This equates to being obedient and follow God as best as we can in this life. But if our building is weak (a weak faith), then we can still receive eternal life but we will experience loss instead of a reward. If this idea of judgment is hard to understand, that’s ok; fortunately, none of us are the Judge presiding over this! God is the Judge, so everything is up to Him.
Verse 16 continues this metaphor of a spiritual building, stating plainly that we are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit is dwelling in us. Paul mentions these ideas in Ephesians 2:22 and 1 Peter 2:5. Jesus also brought up this idea in John 2:19-21, calling His body the temple. Because of this, we should take care of our bodies and treat them as God’s temple – revere and respect them. We can also take comfort in knowing that the Spirit is always dwelling inside of us, helping us get through life.
Finally, Paul ends with another warning in verse 17, that if we destroy God’s temple, God will destroy us. God’s temple truly is holy and sacred, and anyone who damages what God considers to be holy deserves God’s anger and punishment.
We can use these building analogies in this passage to continue to strengthen our faith and help us grow in our faith. We need to first make sure that we have the appropriate foundation of Jesus Christ to build on, and that we do not stray from that foundation. Next, we need to consider the materials we’re building with – are we living our lives according to what we’re commanded in the Scriptures, or are we living according to the lusts of the flesh? Finally, we need to keep in mind that we will be judged according to how we live our lives on this earth, even when we have faith in Jesus. We need to treat our bodies and our faith with care, so that we follow what God desires for us, or else we risk receiving God’s punishment.
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