“Construction Zone”
Unit III: Christians and Sacrifice
PRINTED TEXT: 1 Corinthians 3:10-23, NIV
August 3, 2025
Key Verse: No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:11, NIV)
Lesson Aim:
- Assess the factors faced by the Corinthian church community that caused Paul to write the message of 1 Corinthians 2 and 3.
- Value the foundation and building materials that make for a solid and united church community.
- Identify how God’s holy temple shows in and through believers.
Unifying Principle and Why this Lesson Matters: People yearn for a sense of belonging within a community that shares a common set of values. How do splinter groups threaten the community? Paul stated that disputes among believers are destructive and that unity emerges only when the church’s foundation is built on Jesus Christ.
The Introduction, Lesson in Focus, and Biblical Context:
The First Epistle to the Corinthians was written by the Apostle Paul, a former persecutor of the early Christian church who experienced a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus. After his conversion, Paul became a zealous missionary, spreading the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. Corinth was the most important city in Greece during Paul’s life and ministry. This city was known as a prosperous worldwide commercial center with gross immorality and idolatrous religious practices. However, amid these conditions, Paul founded and organized the church at Corinth during his second missionary journey after ministering in Macedonian/Greek cities, sometimes between AD 49-52. He ministered in Corinth for one and a half years before departing for Ephesus and Palestine. In this lesson, Paul addresses the divisions and factions that had arisen within the Corinthian church. He reminds the believers that they are all part of God’s temple, built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. However, he warns them against building with inferior materials that will not withstand the test of God’s judgment. The Chapter also touches on the role of Christian leaders and the importance of unity within the body of Christ. As we delve into this passage, Paul echoes the words of Jesus, who emphasized the unity of his followers and the need to build their lives on the solid rock of his teachings (Matthew 7:24-27). Paul also explores the concept of spiritual maturity and the responsibility that comes with being a leader in the church.
Corinth was noted for its moral corruption and religious plurality; hence, the church became plagued with multiple problems, with the most serious being its inability to separate itself from the surrounding immorality. After receiving a disturbing report from Chloe’s household about schisms, conflicts within the church, and moral issues, Paul wrote what is known as 1 Corinthians. Chloe is a figure mentioned in the New Testament, specifically in 1 Corinthians 1:11. She was a Christian woman living in Corinth and is known for her role in the early Christian community. Chloe is recognized for bringing issues within the Corinthian church to the attention of the apostle Paul, indicating her significance and leadership in the local church. Her actions helped Paul address problems and provided guidance to the believers in Corinth. This letter’s content addresses answers to questions posed by the church regarding: marriage, food sacrificed to idols, issues about spiritual gifts, and the believer’s resurrection. 1Corinthians 3:10-23 revolves around divisions in the church over leaders, specifically Paul and Apollos. Paul uses three metaphors to emphasize the error in elevating leaders over one another because each is a servant God used to help them come to faith in Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 3:8-9, Paul compares himself and Apollos to field workers, in which one plants the seed, while the other waters, in another owner’s (God’s) field. In verses 10-15, Paul pictures himself as a master builder who laid the foundation of faith in Christ, who is the building’s foundation. Paul emphasizes that builders must build carefully because the quality of their work is subject to severe judgment by God. Verses 16-23 emphasize God’s superior wisdom and the need to focus on Christ as the object of spiritual allegiance instead of aligning with and being divided over human leaders whose wisdom is limited. More importantly, for the Christian life, our faith must be built on a solid foundation if it is to mature and allow us to persevere, be effective disciples, and produce the fruits of righteousness. Thus, if we desire to build strong Christian lives, we must ensure that our faith and hope are built on this foundation, which is none other than Jesus Christ. As believers, we must remember that at the center of the church is a deep-seated faith in Jesus, the crucified Son of God. To build on anything else is an error that will not stand the test of time.
Build on the Right Foundation (1 Corinthians 3:10-17, NIV):
10. 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.
11 .For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13. 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.
14. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.
15. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
16. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
17. If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
In chapter 3, Paul addresses the nature of the church and its leadership. Among the issues plaguing the church in Corinth was the undue prominence given to preachers and leaders, particularly those responsible for leading them to Christ and mentoring them in the Word. This misguided tendency caused division among the congregation. Although Paul initiated this work, he acknowledged that others were building on the foundation he laid to assist their spiritual growth and maturity. Paul uses metaphors to illustrate the damaging error of elevating and crediting leaders as the source of salvation instead of God. Paul completes the metaphor of the church as an agricultural field, describing himself and Apollos as laborers among the Corinthians who belong to God. Their allegiance should be to God, not human leaders. Paul then shifts to the metaphor of constructing a building, describing himself as a master builder by God’s grace. God used Paul to lay the foundation for the church in Corinth by introducing them to Christ. Paul’s purpose is to show that all human teachers are co-workers, not competitors, and it is senseless to choose sides and judge their work because God produces the results of their labor. Leaders and teachers must be careful how they build through their teaching and leading because Jesus Christ is the foundation. No human leader can lay another foundation because the only one that will stand is the message of salvation that begins and ends with Jesus Christ. Every builder must use quality material that lasts instead of inferior ones that cannot withstand time or endure God’s judgment. Paul emphasizes that it is the quality of the works of those serving the church, not the person, and only quality work will survive Christ’s testing and receive a reward. Those whose work fails Christ’s evaluation will receive some unspecified loss. However, this loss does not refer to salvation because those in Christ are eternally secure. Paul’s message to spiritual leaders and teachers is that their work is held to a higher standard and level of accountability because the church belongs to God, and Christ is its foundation. In verses 16 and 17, Paul personalizes his instructions by reminding the Corinthians that they are God’s temple collectively and individually because the Holy Spirit dwells in them. This imagery stresses the importance of recognizing the faith community’s communal sacredness and underscores the truth that every believer is essential to God’s dwelling place. Their attitudes and behaviors affect believers’ fellowship, and each member is responsible for treating each other with mutual care and respect. Hence, Paul sends a stern warning to anyone who destroys God’s temple, those in Christ with the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. He elevates the seriousness of maintaining the sanctity and unity of God’s temple by declaring that God will destroy anyone found guilty of this sin. The faith community must recognize Christ as the church’s only foundation, not any spiritual leader or teacher, and they owe their allegiance to God. Each member is responsible for maintaining the holiness of God’s temple by promoting unity, adhering to biblical standards, and supporting one another through mutual care.
Align with True Wisdom (1 Corinthians 3:18-23, NIV):
18. Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise.
19. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”;
20. and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
21. So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours,
22. whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,
23. and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
In these final verses, Paul continues his instructions regarding eliminating division over leaders in the church at Corinth. He begins with a strong warning against self-deception to those who regard themselves as wise in contemporary worldly wisdom and emphasizes that true godly wisdom embraces what the world considers foolish. Paul declares that anyone who doesso should become foolish to receive God’s wisdom, be truly wise, and recognize that human wisdom is foolish without God. In this context, unity in the church will never become a reality unless human wisdom is recognized as what God declares foolishness, nor until believers become foolish in the world’s eyes by conforming to God’s wisdom in matters of salvation and spirituality. Those wise in the world’s knowledge cannot comprehend spiritual things because, to them, it appears to be foolishness, thus leading to the rejection of spiritual truth. Hence, Paul concludes that God knows that the thoughts of those wise in human wisdom are useless, leading them farther away from spiritual truth. Paul further explains that division among Christians can be eliminated when they refuse to align themselves with and boast about specific spiritual leaders and teachers, instead of seeing themselves as wise in their own eyes by selecting leaders they claim are better. The Corinthians received excellent teaching from Paul, Apollos, and Peter; therefore, they had no reason to cut themselves off from these God-given gifts for pride’s sake. Instead, they should receive these leaders’ unique ministries rather than claiming to belong to one over the other, because all things that come with their inheritance in Christ belong to and unify them just as Christ, God, and the Holy Spirit are One. The presence of division within the church challenges believers to practice Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians regarding how to eliminate it. First, an atmosphere must be created where God’s Word is the only standard prioritized, and human options are not allowed to substitute or replace divine revelation. Second, Christians must allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to give them discernment and spiritual insight to avoid aligning themselves with leaders and teachers because of their charismatic personalities, personal appeal, intellectual abilities, and preaching and teaching styles.
Point to Remember: If the Spirit of God is truly present in our midst, then we must ask how our lives should be ordered to give reverent honor and glory to God.