Divisions in the Church

1 Corinthians 3

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.

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 2 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
    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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. 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 -
  23. Cross References
    Ephesians 2:20
    Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.
  24. 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.
  25. 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.
  26. 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.
  27. 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.
  28. 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.
  29. 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.
  30. 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.
  31. 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.
  32. 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.
  33. 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?
  34. 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.
  35. 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.
  36. Cross References
    Psalms 94:11
    The Lord - knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.
  37. Cross References
    Psalms 94:11
    The Lord - knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.
  38. 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.
  39. 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.
  40. 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.
  41. 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.
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