1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Divisions in the Church

¹ But I, brothers, ₁ could not address you as _a spiritual people, but as _b people of the flesh, as _c infants in Christ. ² _d I fed you with milk, not solid food, for _e you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, ³ for you are still of the flesh. For while there is _f jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? ⁴ For _g when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," _h are you not being merely human?

⁵ What then is Apollos? What is Paul? _i Servants through whom you believed, _j as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶ _k I planted, _l Apollos watered, _m but God gave the growth. ⁷ So _n neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸ He who plants and he who waters are one, and each _o will receive his wages according to his labor. ⁹ For we are _p God's fellow workers. You are God's field, _q God's building.

1. Cross References
   1 Corinthians 2:15
   The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
   Romans 7:14
   For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
   
2. Cross References
   1 Corinthians 2:14
   The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
   
3. Cross References
   Hebrews 5:13
   For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
   1 Corinthians 2:6
   Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
   
4. Cross References
   Hebrews 5:12 - 13
   For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food.
   1 Peter 2:2
   Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation -
   
5. Cross References
   John 16:12
   I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
   
6. Cross References
   Galatians 5:19 - 20
   Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality.
   1 Corinthians 1:11
   For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.
   1 Corinthians 11:18
   For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part.
   Romans 13:13
   Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
   
7. Cross References
   1 Corinthians 1:12
   What I mean is that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ.
   
8. Cross References
   1 Corinthians 3:3
   For you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
   
9. Cross References
   2 Corinthians 6:4
   But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities.
   Ephesians 3:7
   Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
   Colossians 1:25
   Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known.
   2 Corinthians 3:3
   And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
   
10. Cross References
    Romans 12:6
    Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith.
    
11. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 4:15
    For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
    1 Corinthians 9:1
    Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?
    1 Corinthians 15:1
    Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand.
    Acts 18:4 - 11
    And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
    2 Corinthians 10:14 - 15
    For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ.
    
12. Cross References
    Acts 18:27
    And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed.
    
13. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 15:10
    But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
    Colossians 1:18
    And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
    
14. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 12:11
    I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.
    Galatians 6:3
    For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
    Galatians 2:6
    And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality) - those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
    
15. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 3:14
    If the work that anyone has built on the founda...
    1 Corinthians 15:58
    Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, i...
    2 John 1:8
    Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what...
    1 Corinthians 4:5
    Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the ...
    Galatians 6:4 - 5
    But let each one test his own work, and then hi...
    Matthew 16:27
    For the Son of Man is going to come with his an...
    Romans 2:6
    He will render to each one according to his works:
    
16. Cross References
    Mark 16:20
    And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]]
    2 Corinthians 6:1
    Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
    
17. Cross References
    Ephesians 2:20 - 22
    Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.
    Colossians 2:7
    Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
    1 Corinthians 3:16
    Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
    Psalms 127:1
    Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.