In 1 Corinthians 3, the apostle Paul describes our lives as the “field” of God and the “building” of God. In this text, he will also portray our bodies as the “temple” of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of which metaphor you use, Paul’s point is going to be that if you want to build a healthy, spiritually-thriving successful life, you must build on the right foundation. If you want to have the right ingredients for your life’s garden, you must use the right source and that source is the Holy Spirit of God and the Gospel message He gives us.
Let’s study the text together…
NO FOUNDATION BUT JESUS CHRIST – 3:10-11:
The whole purpose of this paragraph is found in the last sentence of verse 10: “Each man must be careful how he builds on the foundation.” The point being, that we need to build our lives on Jesus Christ, His life and His teachings. We have to convert other people to Jesus Christ, His life and His teachings. Christianity is a taught religion and people have to learn about Jesus Christ. They have to fall in love with Jesus Christ. They have to humbly submit their lives to Jesus Christ. They have to obey Jesus Christ.
Building on the right foundation is emphasized by Paul in the next short paragraph by reminding us that we are the temple of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.
CHRISTIANS ARE A TEMPLE OF GOD – 3:16-17:
When God sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, He made His Holy Spirit available to all followers of Jesus Christ. First, this is in fulfillment of several prophecies of the Old Testament: Isa. 32:15; 44:3; Eze. 36:26-27; 39:29; Joel 2:28-32. Secondly, Peter promised that if we repent and are baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), we will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift. Third, Peter also says in Acts 5:32 that God gives the Holy Spirit to all those who obey Him.
In verse 17, Paul promises that if anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. This is a very broad promise. If someone destroys – through bad or negative influence – an individual Christian – then God will destroy that person. Remember that the immediate context of this whole discussion is that some Christians in Corinth were guilty of preacher-itis. So, we ought to be careful about how our influence impacts other Christians.
Secondly, we need to be careful how we treat ourselves. This temple, this body that is the temple of the Holy Spirit, is holy and I need to treat it holy. That is Paul’s point over in chapter 6. Don’t contaminate your holy body by involving it in sin.
Thirdly, we go back to the idea that the church is the temple of God and it is holy. If anyone pollutes the church of Christ – here the context deals with building on a false foundation – then God will destroy that person. The church of Christ must be built on the Gospel of Christ.
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Let us not deceive ourselves into believing that we are wiser than God in His plan and pattern for His church. That’s the point in the next paragraph…
LET US BE “FOOLISH” IN ORDER TO BE “WISE” – 3:18-20:
God, in His omniscience, He looks down from heaven and sees the “wisdom” of the world and says it is foolishness. To substantiate what Paul is saying, he quotes twice from the Old Testament: Job 5:13 & Psalm 94:11.
So it is…
DO NOT BOAST IN MEN – 3:21-23:
Do not trust men. Do not put your ultimate confidence in men. Again, I believe Paul is speaking metaphorically when he says all things belong to us.
You see, their “preacher-itis” began back in 1:12 where Paul says some of them were saying, “I am of Paul. I am of Cephas. I am of Christ.” Some of them were claiming to belong to Paul because Paul had taught them or baptized them. Here, Paul himself writes, “Paul belongs to you! Cephas belongs to you!” Actually, we are all Christ’s and Christ belongs to God.
Paul is emphasizing in this text that our lives need to be built on Jesus Christ and His Gospel. No other foundation will last. Make sure your life and your teaching (of others) is built on Christ’s book, chapter, and verse. To be a temple of the Holy Spirit, you cannot have any other foundation.
–Paul Holland
