1 Corinthians 3 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

Foundations for Living

However, brothers and sisters, I could not talk to you as to spiritual people, but [only] as to [fn]worldly people [dominated by human nature], mere infants [in the new life] in Christ!

1Co 3:2

1Co 3:2I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Even now you are still not ready.

1Co 3:3

1Co 3:3You are still [fn]worldly [controlled by ordinary impulses, the sinful capacity]. For as long as there is jealousy and strife and discord among you, are you not [fn]unspiritual, and are you not walking like ordinary men [unchanged by faith]?

1Co 3:4

1Co 3:4For when one of you says, “I am [a disciple] of Paul,” and another, “I am [a disciple] of Apollos,” are you not [proving yourselves unchanged, just] ordinary people?

1Co 3:5

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Just servants through whom you believed [in Christ], even as the Lord appointed to each his task.

1Co 3:6

1Co 3:6I planted, Apollos watered, but God [all the while] was causing the growth.

1Co 3:7

1Co 3:7So neither is the one who plants nor the one who waters anything, but [only] God who causes the growth.

1Co 3:8

1Co 3:8He who plants and he who waters are one [in importance and esteem, working toward the same purpose]; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

1Co 3:9

1Co 3:9For we are God’s fellow workers [His servants working together]; you are God’s cultivated field [His garden, His vineyard], God’s building.

1Co 3:10

According to the [remarkable] grace of God which was given to me [to prepare me for my task], like a skillful master builder I laid a foundation, and now another is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it,

1Co 3:11

1Co 3:11for no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ.

1Co 3:12

1Co 3:12But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,

1Co 3:13

1Co 3:13each one’s work will be clearly shown [for what it is]; for the day [of judgment] will disclose it, because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality and character and worth of each person’s work.

1Co 3:14

1Co 3:14If any person’s work which he has built [on this foundation, that is, any outcome of his effort] remains [and survives this test], he will receive a reward.

1Co 3:15

1Co 3:15But if any person’s work is burned up [by the test], he will suffer the loss [of his reward]; yet he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has barely escaped] through fire.

1Co 3:16

[fn]Do you not know and understand that you [the church] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells [permanently] in you [collectively and individually]?

1Co 3:17

1Co 3:17If anyone destroys the temple of God [corrupting it with false doctrine], God will destroy the destroyer; for the temple of God is holy (sacred), and that is what you are.

1Co 3:18

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool [discarding his worldly pretensions and acknowledging his lack of wisdom], so that he may become [truly] wise.

1Co 3:19

1Co 3:19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness (absurdity, stupidity) before God; for it is written [in Scripture], “[He is] THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE and CLEVER IN THEIR CRAFTINESS;”

1Co 3:20

1Co 3:20and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE THOUGHTS of the [humanly] wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.”

1Co 3:21

1Co 3:21So let no one boast in men [about their wisdom, or of having this or that one as a leader]. For all things are yours,

1Co 3:22

1Co 3:22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas (Peter) or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things are yours,

1Co 3:23

1Co 3:23and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.

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AMP Footnotes

Lit fleshly.

Lit fleshly.

Lit fleshly.

Paul repeats “Do you not know” nine more times, each time followed by an important truth (cf 5:6; 6:2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19; 9:13, 24).

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