1Cor 3:8-9 | KingComments | STEP | . Every believer, including you, is a servant. A servant is someone who receives orders from a person in charge. There is someone above him. God is above all His servants and He orders each servant what he has got to do. It is all about His work and all servants must be aware of that. If everyone is focused on his own concern, nothing of God’s work will be done. The servants must be one. They should not work against one another nor should they have their own audience, but they should rather cooperate with each other, work together. . The unity in the service for God is important. God knows how to reward everyone according to his conduct therein. When it says that we are “God’s” fellow workers, it means that we are fellow workers with one another and that we together are servants of God. It doesn’t mean that you are doing a certain task together with God. No, He is above you and together with other servants you can be busy for Him. That means that you should not focus on what people or groups expect from you or command you to do. Then you’re not concerned about God’s interests and His work, but the interests of people, which cause dissension with your fellow workers. In this way the unity disappears very soon. In this verse you read about a “field” and a “building” right next to each other. Those are two very different things that you cannot interchange, can you? Yes, that’s right. But Paul moves over from one picture to the other picture. Both pictures actually present an area on which or in which God’s fellow workers work. A ‘field’ is an area on which the worker is busy with the intention to harvest fruit from it. God very much wants to receive fruit. What Paul is saying here, is that the believers in Corinth together are the field. This also applies to all places where believers gather (just think of ). God wants to receive the glory He is worthy of from the lives of all believers together. God’s building is also about the believers as one whole. They form together God’s building. When you think of a building, you think of dwelling. God dwells in the church. In of this chapter it is said like that. Also other things that have to do with a building are mentioned. You need a foundation, and also building materials and builders are needed. . First the foundation. That is laid by Paul. He doesn’t boast of that. He says that he has laid the foundation “according to the grace of God which was given to him”. The honor of this goes to God. The foundation is therefore not something he himself has invented. The foundation “is Jesus Christ”. As “a wise master builder” Paul has presented Him to the Corinthians and nothing else in his preaching. There is no other foundation. . Now the building can start. ‘But’, Paul warns, ‘take heed with what kind of material you build.’ The six building materials he mentions are divided into two groups. The first group contains three precious materials. They can pass the fire test. The second group contains three materials that are consumed by the fire and therefore are worthless for a good building. The mentality of the builder will determine with which material he is satisfied. I already said: it is a picture. These pictures present something from which we can draw a spiritual lesson. As you know, the believers together form the church of God. In the Bible, the church of God is compared with a bride, a body, and also with a house. The comparison with the bride we will talk about later. Here it is about the church as a house. That is a rather more difficult picture than a body or bride because you can see the church as a house from two points of view. Actually, you read in the Bible about the church as a house that is built by God and also as a house that is built by people. When it is about a house that is built by God, do you think that God will use materials that will be consumed by fire? That is impossible. When God is building a house, He uses only good materials. You can read about God building the church as a house for example in Matthew 16, Ephesians 2 and 1 Peter 2 ( ; ; ). But you read also in the Bible about the church as a house that is built by people. This is how it is presented here: “But each man must be careful how he builds on it.” And then it is possible that wrong materials, which are not fire proof, are used. You might somewhat sense what the materials present. Believers are presented as gold, silver and precious stones; wood, hay and straw are a picture of unbelievers. How do you have to imagine the building? It may be as follows. You preach the gospel. People are attracted. There are people who acknowledge their guilt before God. You yourself are convinced that they are sincere and honest and you accept them as Christians. You baptize them and at that time they confess that they step out from the world (baptism is a funeral), while they then enter Christianity. By your action to baptize them, they enter the area of the house of God to which professing Christianity is also compared. In this way you contribute to the construction of the house of God. However, you may be mistaken, what is impossible with God. Therefore you should take heed how you build. I realize that my explanation is rather brief, but I hope that the general intention and also the issue of this section are clear to you. There is another way you can build. The way you pass on something from the Bible can be right or wrong. Do you pass on God’s thoughts or do you pass on your own thoughts? That is something that also applies to me immediately by writing all this to you. I continually have to ask myself whether I clarify God’s Word to you in the correct way. The same applies to our way of life. What example do we give? Do we also apply to ourselves what the Bible says about how God wants us to behave and look like? If we are willing to do all things according to God’s will, we will surely make God’s building stronger. Anywhere we do not do so, we weaken it. . There comes a day that everything we have learnt and done will be revealed. Your and my work will be tested in the fire. That means that God’s holiness will test everything that we have done and said. And He does not make mistakes in His judgments. What remains, He shall reward. We suffer loss by what will be consumed and will therefore not be rewarded. Thankfully, we ourselves shall be saved. Our work can be wrong, but our salvation is assured in Christ. Let us make efforts to be builders who are building with good materials in the construction of God’s house. Now read 1 Corinthians 3:8-15 again. Reflection: How are you building?

‏ 1 Corinthians 3:8-9

To Build On the Foundation

1Cor 3:8. Every believer, including you, is a servant. A servant is someone who receives orders from a person in charge. There is someone above him. God is above all His servants and He orders each servant what he has got to do. It is all about His work and all servants must be aware of that. If everyone is focused on his own concern, nothing of God’s work will be done. The servants must be one. They should not work against one another nor should they have their own audience, but they should rather cooperate with each other, work together.

1Cor 3:9. The unity in the service for God is important. God knows how to reward everyone according to his conduct therein. When it says that we are “God’s” fellow workers, it means that we are fellow workers with one another and that we together are servants of God. It doesn’t mean that you are doing a certain task together with God. No, He is above you and together with other servants you can be busy for Him. That means that you should not focus on what people or groups expect from you or command you to do. Then you’re not concerned about God’s interests and His work, but the interests of people, which cause dissension with your fellow workers. In this way the unity disappears very soon.

In this verse you read about a “field” and a “building” right next to each other. Those are two very different things that you cannot interchange, can you? Yes, that’s right. But Paul moves over from one picture to the other picture. Both pictures actually present an area on which or in which God’s fellow workers work.

A ‘field’ is an area on which the worker is busy with the intention to harvest fruit from it. God very much wants to receive fruit. What Paul is saying here, is that the believers in Corinth together are the field. This also applies to all places where believers gather (just think of 1Cor 1:2). God wants to receive the glory He is worthy of from the lives of all believers together.

God’s building is also about the believers as one whole. They form together God’s building. When you think of a building, you think of dwelling. God dwells in the church. In 1Cor 3:16 of this chapter it is said like that. Also other things that have to do with a building are mentioned. You need a foundation, and also building materials and builders are needed.

1Cor 3:10-11. First the foundation. That is laid by Paul. He doesn’t boast of that. He says that he has laid the foundation “according to the grace of God which was given to him”. The honor of this goes to God. The foundation is therefore not something he himself has invented. The foundation “is Jesus Christ”. As “a wise master builder” Paul has presented Him to the Corinthians and nothing else in his preaching. There is no other foundation.

1Cor 3:12. Now the building can start. ‘But’, Paul warns, ‘take heed with what kind of material you build.’ The six building materials he mentions are divided into two groups. The first group contains three precious materials. They can pass the fire test. The second group contains three materials that are consumed by the fire and therefore are worthless for a good building. The mentality of the builder will determine with which material he is satisfied.

I already said: it is a picture. These pictures present something from which we can draw a spiritual lesson. As you know, the believers together form the church of God. In the Bible, the church of God is compared with a bride, a body, and also with a house. The comparison with the bride we will talk about later. Here it is about the church as a house. That is a rather more difficult picture than a body or bride because you can see the church as a house from two points of view.

Actually, you read in the Bible about the church as a house that is built by God and also as a house that is built by people. When it is about a house that is built by God, do you think that God will use materials that will be consumed by fire? That is impossible. When God is building a house, He uses only good materials. You can read about God building the church as a house for example in Matthew 16, Ephesians 2 and 1 Peter 2 (Mt 16:18; Eph 2:20-22; 1Pet 2:4-5).

But you read also in the Bible about the church as a house that is built by people. This is how it is presented here: “But each man must be careful how he builds on it.” And then it is possible that wrong materials, which are not fire proof, are used.

You might somewhat sense what the materials present. Believers are presented as gold, silver and precious stones; wood, hay and straw are a picture of unbelievers.

How do you have to imagine the building? It may be as follows. You preach the gospel. People are attracted. There are people who acknowledge their guilt before God. You yourself are convinced that they are sincere and honest and you accept them as Christians. You baptize them and at that time they confess that they step out from the world (baptism is a funeral), while they then enter Christianity. By your action to baptize them, they enter the area of the house of God to which professing Christianity is also compared. In this way you contribute to the construction of the house of God. However, you may be mistaken, what is impossible with God. Therefore you should take heed how you build.

I realize that my explanation is rather brief, but I hope that the general intention and also the issue of this section are clear to you.

There is another way you can build. The way you pass on something from the Bible can be right or wrong. Do you pass on God’s thoughts or do you pass on your own thoughts? That is something that also applies to me immediately by writing all this to you. I continually have to ask myself whether I clarify God’s Word to you in the correct way. The same applies to our way of life. What example do we give? Do we also apply to ourselves what the Bible says about how God wants us to behave and look like? If we are willing to do all things according to God’s will, we will surely make God’s building stronger. Anywhere we do not do so, we weaken it.

1Cor 3:13-15. There comes a day that everything we have learnt and done will be revealed. Your and my work will be tested in the fire. That means that God’s holiness will test everything that we have done and said. And He does not make mistakes in His judgments. What remains, He shall reward. We suffer loss by what will be consumed and will therefore not be rewarded.

Thankfully, we ourselves shall be saved. Our work can be wrong, but our salvation is assured in Christ. Let us make efforts to be builders who are building with good materials in the construction of God’s house.

Now read 1 Corinthians 3:8-15 again.

Reflection: How are you building?