Life In Christ Ministry with Pastor Flavio Carvalho

Corinth was a wealthy port city, a place of commerce and philosophy and public reputation, and the culture there prized the celebrity orator. A man could make a living being admired. That instinct walked straight into the church, and by chapter 1 Paul is already dealing with the wreckage — “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Peter.” Chapter 3 told them they were behaving like infants. Now, in chapter 4, Paul does something more constructive. He does not just rebuke the factions. He teaches them how to think about ministers in the first place.

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Pull up a chair, because we have arrived at the heart of 1 Corinthians 3 — and at one of the most searching passages in all of Pauls letters. In 1 Corinthians 3: 5-9, Paul has just called us Gods building. So, what materials have we been using on this building?

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Today we close chapter 3, and the tile of our message is, “Everything is Yours!”

How does Paul end a chapter that began by calling these people babies? The way a great composer ends a symphony — the theme returns, and then it opens into something enormous.

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Today we close chapter 3, and the tile of our message is, “Everything is Yours!”

How does Paul end a chapter that began by calling these people babies? The way a great composer ends a symphony — the theme returns, and then it opens into something enormous.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we are exploring 1 Corinthians 3, one section at a time. Today we focus on verses 1-4. Here is the sentence the whole chapter turns on, and I want you to carry it all week: a person can be saved and still be immature. Being born again happens in a moment. Growing up takes the rest of your life. Let that sink in for a minute.

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Friends, todays text is two verses long and carries a weight far beyond its size. Listen:

“All of you surely know that you are Gods temple and that his Spirit lives in you. Together you are Gods holy temple, and God will destroy anyone who destroys his temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16–17, CEV)

Now, most of us have heard this verse applied to the body — your body is a temple, so take care of it. That is true, and Paul does say it, but he says it three chapters later, in chapter 6. Here the pronouns are plural. Every “you” in these two verses is a “you all.” Paul is not looking at individuals. He is looking at a congregation and saying: together, you are the place where God lives.

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Corinth was a wealthy port city, a place of commerce and philosophy and public reputation, and the culture there prized the celebrity orator. A man could make a living being admired. That instinct walked straight into the church, and by chapter 1 Paul is already dealing with the wreckage — “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Peter.” Chapter 3 told them they were behaving like infants. Now, in chapter 4, Paul does something more constructive. He does not just rebuke the factions. He teaches them how to think about ministers in the first place.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is our final broadcast in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and what a week it has been. We have walked with Paul through his confession of weakness and the simple gospel. Through God’s hidden wisdom reserved for the mature. Through the Holy Spirit who searches the depths of God and dwells in the believer. Through the great contrast between the natural and the spiritual person. Today Paul closes the chapter with a single line that should arrest every reader. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 16.

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This week, we open chapter 2 — and Paul keeps pressing the same nail. If chapter 1 was the wisdom of the cross, chapter 2 is the source of true wisdom.

And Paul opens chapter 2 with one of the most beautiful and humbling confessions in the entire New Testament. He tells the Corinthians how he came to preach to them in the first place.

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Today Paul makes sure we do not misread him. He is not against wisdom. He is against the wrong wisdom. He distinguishes the wisdom of the world from the wisdom of God.

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