1 And so, brothers and sisters,
I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of
the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food,
for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready,
3 for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and
quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according
to human inclinations? 4 For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and
another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?
5 What then is Apollos? What is
Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to
each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So
neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only
God who gives the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters
have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the
labor of each. 9 For we are God’s servants, working together; you are
God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God given to
me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else
is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on
it.
11 For no one can lay any
foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is
Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 the work of each builder
will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be
revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has
done. 14 If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder
will receive a reward. 15 If the work is burned up, the builder will
suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are
God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys
God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy,
and you are that temple.
18 Do not deceive yourselves.
If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so
that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness
with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”
20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are
futile.”
21 So let no one boast about
human leaders. For 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
belong to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
CONTINUE |