고린도전서 Chapter 3

Translation: ESV

1

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

Key Message

The true standard of spiritual maturity is not factionalism but the unity and love that resembles Christ's character.

▸Paul points out that while the Corinthians boast of spiritual maturity, they are actually still at the infant stage.

Paul points out that while the Corinthians boast of spiritual maturity, they are actually still at the infant stage. Their party divisions (vv. 3–4) are the evidence. The standard of spiritual maturity is not mystical experience or eloquence but the character of Christ.

Related Verses

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.
6

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

Key Message

The ultimate cause of church and faith growth is God, not human ministers. Ministers are only instruments.

▸Ministers are God's tools, not ends in themselves.

11

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Key Message

Jesus Christ alone is the sole, unchangeable foundation of the church.

▸The only foundation of the church is Jesus Christ.

16

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

Key Message

The church community is God's temple; therefore, destroying the church through factions is a serious sin of destroying God's temple.

▸A declaration that the church community is God's temple.