1 Corinthians 3:10-23

Divisions in the Church

10 r According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a s foundation, and t someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a u foundation other v than that which is laid, w which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - 13 x each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed y by fire, and z the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, a he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, b but only as through fire.

16 c Do you not know that you 1 are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For d God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

18 e Let no one deceive himself. f If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For g the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, h "He catches the wise in their craftiness," 20 and again, i "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." 21 So j let no one boast in men. For k 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 l you are Christ's, and m Christ is God's.

  1. Cross References
    2 Peter 3:15
    And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him.
    Romans 12:3
    For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
  2. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 3:11 - 12
    For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
    Romans 15:20
    And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation.
    Revelation 21:14
    And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
  3. 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.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 28:16
    Therefore thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.
  5. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 11:4
    For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
    Galatians 1:6 - 7
    I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel -
  6. Cross References
    Ephesians 2:20
    Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.
  7. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 4:5
    Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
  8. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 3:15
    If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
    2 Thessalonians 1:8
    In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
  9. Cross References
    1 Peter 1:7
    So that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
  10. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 3:8
    He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.
  11. Cross References
    Psalms 66:12
    You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
    Isaiah 43:2
    When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
    Jude 1:23
    Save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
  12. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 6:19
    Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.
    2 Corinthians 6:16
    What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
    Ephesians 2:21
    In whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
  13. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 7:1
    Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 5:21
    Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!
    Galatians 6:3
    For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
  15. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 8:2
    If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.
    Jeremiah 8:8 - 9
    How can you say, 'We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us'? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.
  16. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 1:20
    Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
  17. Cross References
    Job 5:13
    He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
  18. Cross References
    Job 5:13
    He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
  19. Cross References
    Psalms 94:11
    The Lord - knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.
  20. Cross References
    Psalms 94:11
    The Lord - knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.
  21. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 3:4 - 6
    For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human?
    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.
    1 Corinthians 4:6
    I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.
  22. Cross References
    Romans 8:28
    And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
  23. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 10:7
    Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we.
    Galatians 3:29
    And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.
  24. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 11:3
    But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.