READING IN 1 CORINTHIANS THREE
READING IN 1 CORINTHIANS THREE
Wisdom is more prominent in this epistle than righteousness, although, of course, the latter has its place. The fact that the order that should mark the house of God is in view explains this. There is great evidence of divine wisdom in the structure of the epistle. Wisdom is the handmaid of love, and love in peculiar fervency underlay what the apostle wrote. The Corinthians were his “beloved children”, and the apostle’s communications to them were in genuine fatherly affection, although largely taking the form of warning and admonition. Chapter 2 emphasises the spiritual, but the Corinthians, alas! were not spiritual. Although they had the Holy Spirit, they were but “babes in Christ”. The subject of spirituality is brought forward so that the Corinthians might realise their poverty in this respect. Chapter 13 has the same bearing in regard of love. “The spiritual discerns all things, and he is discerned of no one”. How great is the advantage he possesses! Normally the Christian has the mind of Christ; he has no puzzles. Although undiscerned by the worldlings about him, yet the spiritual man has no dark parts; he is transparent, and quite well understood by those who are like himself. The Lord in John 15, verses 26 and 27, distinguishes between the testimony of the twelve, as having been with Him from the beginning, and that of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 2 the Holy Spirit is the instrument of revelation, and He is also the power in the believer for understanding the things revealed. He is the Spirit which is of God. The twelve bore witness to Christ, as He was here, “all the words of this life”; the Holy Spirit, through Paul, brings in the heavenly things.
Although the Corinthians had the Holy Spirit, they were carnal; the apostle fed them, however, but this could not be with meat, but with milk. Their carnality was largely evidenced in partisanship; this usually appears in young or stunted Christians. In the world partisanship is legalised, and this is true in Christendom also, but it is a most baneful thing among the people of God. Scarcely anything is more hateful to a spiritual man than that he should be regarded as the leader of a party. It must have been very painful to Paul. The Corinthians walked “as men”. To do this does not necessarily involve what is outwardly sinful. It works out in natural preferences and selections. It is quite natural for a man to like another of his own rank or education. National prejudices, too, come under this head. In a word, the principles that mark the world are here condemned as appearing among Christians. For a brother to accept the fealty of others in any sense, or to aim at being a recognised leader, is a serious matter; it can only serve the enemy’s designs. It makes for division among the saints.
Paul’s careful judgment as to what he should present to the Corinthians is very striking; it was “Jesus Christ, and him crucified”. The blessed character of that Man presented to them in Paul’s ministry was calculated to lay a foundation in their souls, that would, if truly accepted, save them from the very evils they were allowing. The blind man of Mark 8 who had his eyes opened, first saw “men as trees, walking”. He is a type of the Corinthians and, alas! of many at the present time; subsequently “he saw all things clearly”. Following this in Mark 8 Peter confesses that Jesus was “the Christ”. Normal progress is indicated in this. The Lord inquired of the disciples, “Whom do ye say that I am?” Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ of God”. Here in 1 Corinthians 3, the question is, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos?” They were ministering servants through whom the Corinthians had believed; but Jesus is “the Christ of God”, the anointed Man, by whom God effects all that is in His heart.
There are two figures employed here, agricultural and architectural. As to the first, Paul had planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. Without the “increase”, which is from God alone, the planting and the watering were useless, and so it ever is. This thought, as constantly before the mind of the servant, keeps him humble and dependent. The Corinthians were “God’s husbandry” and “God’s building”. Husbandry gives the idea of life in its normal development and position; building would be in view of a sphere, where life is enjoyed. In Luke 15, the house is in view as the place of enjoyment. Paul was a wise master-builder and laid the foundation, and “another buildeth thereon”. The reference is to a building just started; the symmetry and beauty of it are not yet apparent. There is not much to see yet, but much work to be done. The important consideration was as to how one would build, and what material he would use. “Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon”; “the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is”. A very large number were employed by Solomon in building the temple, and many have been engaged in building the spiritual structure: hence the necessity for the apostle’s instructions here.
Besides being God’s husbandry and building the Corinthians were His temple. The truth of the temple is a great feature in Christianity. It is connected with the presence of the Spirit of God in the saints. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” In Ephesians and 1 Peter God’s building is presented more concretely. In Peter the stones are said to be living, so that the material is prominent; the same is true of Matthew 16. The complete structure is in view in Ephesians and Christ is said to be the chief corner stone. In Him “all the building fitted together increases to a holy temple in the Lord”. Divine communications are received in the temple; the blessed light of God in Christ as Man is diffused from it. The Psalmist speaks of inquiring in God’s temple. Those who avail themselves of it have the mind of God about things. They are not in doubt, they know. It is wonderful how things become clear when they are considered in connection with the saints, as having the Spirit of God.