1 Corinthians 3:5-17 - The Role Of God's Servants

⁵ After all, who is Apollos? And who is Paul? They are [only] servants through whom you believed [in Christ], with each one doing what the Lord gave him to do. ⁶ I [Paul] planted [i.e., preached God's word], Apollos watered [it], but God made it grow. ⁷ So then, it does not matter who plants or who waters, but [it is] God who matters, for He makes the seed grow. ⁸ Now the person who plants and the person who waters have the same [purpose], and each one will receive his own wages, according to the work each one does. ⁹ For we are all fellow-workers in God's service; you people are God's farm land; [you are] God's building. ¹⁰ Using the unearned favor shown to me by God [Note: Paul here probably refers to his apostleship and its attending spiritual gifts], as an expert building contractor, I laid the foundation [i.e., in starting the Corinthian church], and someone else is building on it [i.e., Apollos. See verse 6]. ¹¹ For no one can lay [any] other foundation than the one which [God] has [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² But if anyone [i.e., a preacher or soul winner] builds on this foundation with gold, silver, expensive building stones, wood, grass, or straw, ¹³ [the quality of] each person's work will become evident [i.e., for what is it made of]. For the [judgment] day will expose his workmanship. And it will be revealed by the fire [of judgment], which will test the quality of a person's workmanship [i.e., the faithfulness of his converts]. ¹⁴ If the work of anyone lasts [i.e., if his converts are judged faithful], he will receive a reward [i.e., his converts will constitute part of his reward]. ¹⁵ But if anyone's work is burned up [i.e., does not survive the judgment], he will experience loss [i.e., of his converts], but he himself will [still] be saved, like a person escaping from the fire [i.e., of a burning building, which consumes his efforts].

¹⁶ Do you people not know that you are God's Temple [i.e., the church. See I Pet. 2:5; I Tim. 3:15], and that the Holy Spirit of God lives in you [i.e., collectively]? ¹⁷ If any person destroys God's Temple, God will destroy him. For God's Temple is holy [i.e., set apart for His service], and you people are His [holy] Temple.