1 Corinthians 3:10-17

November 19, 2017

Lord’s Day Worship

Sean Higgins

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The sermon starts at 17:10 in the audio file.

Or, Building That Passes the Fire Code

These are the best days in church history. We have more resources and more opportunities than any Christians in any generation. Copies of the Bible in our native language are ubiquitous, or at least easily obtained for not much money in not much time. Access to the Scriptures in the original languages, as well as access to learn about the original languages, surpasses any Reformer’s imagination. There are books that are about books that are about the books of the Bible. We could (search and) read notes from Spurgeon’s sermons while listening to this sermon. We could download and listen to any number of sermons before the drive home.

We also live in a time when it is easy and cheap to make websites for our local churches and ministries. We can print brochures for our “brand” of church, host conferences and seminars to promote a certain style or emphasis of theology, even create business (or buy from them) that provide strategies for reaching more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In today’s market, if we have an Internet capable phone and a logo, what can stop us?

This spirit of building is at least American if it isn’t Christian. Entrepreneurial Evangelicalism, which is different from individual Evangelicals who are entrepreneurs, grows richer every day, claiming to produce a rising number of conversions and claiming to have transferable answers for how to see increased interest and attendance wherever we minister. This is amazing, and, I don’t use this phrase willy-nilly, a lot of it is going to burn.

The spirit of building is Christian. The question is not whether or not we should build. We will build, the question is how? In 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 Paul likened the church to a field and compared his work to that of a farmer. In this paragraph, verses 10-17 (one paragraph in the Greek New Testament, though understandably two paragraphs in most English translations due to the change from mostly third person to second person in verses 16 and 17), Paul refers to the church as a building and work on the building to that of a contractor or construction worker. Building is Christian, as a verb and as a noun; we build and we are a building, but a day is coming when not everyone’s work will pass inspection.

There are two main ideas in these verses. The first is building on the foundation of Christ in verses 10-15 and the second is destroying the temple of Christ in verses 16-17.

Building on the Foundation of Christ (verses 10-15)

In these verses there is an assumption and an admonition.

The assumption is that, like any building, there is a foundation, and for “God’s building” (οἰκοδομή, verse 9) the foundation is Jesus Himself.

Paul begins, According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation. Was it God or was it Paul who laid the foundation? Yes. It was God’s grace giving Paul wisdom, and “wisdom” would be a more fitting translation than skilled due to the fact that he’s already referred to the wisdom of God numerous times in the first part of his letter. He was a wise architekton, a chief carpenter or mason, doing more than drawing plans but laying the groundwork on which the entire building would rest.

In verse 11 he clarifies, For no one can lay a foundation, at least not a solid one, other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. The church of God is built on the cornerstone, rejected by the builders of men but “chosen and precious” (1 Peter 2:6-7). This is the assumption, not because it is unspoken but because it is the necessary condition. Paul brought the gospel of Christ and laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it.

The admonition is at the end of verse 10 with explanation in verses 12-15 that fills in the picture. Let each one take care[...]