1 Corinthians 3:5

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? PAUL ... APOLLOS. 'Aleph (') A B C Delta G f g, Vulgate, read in the reverse order, Apollos ... Paul. He puts Apollos before himself, in humility. WHO THEN - seeing that ye severally strive so for your favourite teachers, "Who is (of what intrinsic power is) Paul?" If so great an apostle reasons so of himself, how much more does humility, rather than self-seeking, become ordinary ministers. BUT MINISTERS ... So 'Aleph ('). A B C Delta G f g, Vulgate, have no "but." "Who is Apollos ... Paul? (mere) ministers (a lowly word appropriate here, servants) by whom (not 'in whom;' by whose ministrations) ye believed." AS THE LORD GAVE TO EVERY Man_1:-1 :e., to the several ministers ...

5._Who then is Paul _? Here he begins to treat of the estimation in which ministers ought to be held, and the purpose for which they have been set apart by the Lord. He names himself and Apollos rather than others, that he may avoid any appearance of envy. (156) “What else,” says he, “are all ministers appointed for, but to bring you to faith through means of their preaching?” From this Paul infers, that no man ought to be gloried in, for faith allows of no glorying except in Christ alone. Hence those that extol men above measure, strip them of their true dignity. For the grand distinction of them all is, that they are ministers of faith, or, in other words, that they gain disciples to Christ, not to themselves. Now, though he appears in this way to depreciate the dignity of ministers, yet he does not assign it a lower place than it ought to hold. For he says much when he says, that we r...

5-9 The ministers about whom the Corinthians contended, were only instruments used by God. We should not put ministers into the place of God. He that planteth and he that watereth are one, employed by one Master, trusted with the same revelation, busied in one work, and engaged in one design. They have their different gifts from one and the same Spirit, for the very same purposes; and should carry on the same design heartily. Those who work hardest shall fare best. Those who are most faithful shall have the greatest reward. They work together with God, in promoting the purposes of his glory, and the salvation of precious souls; and He who knows their work, will take care they do not labour in vain. They are employed in his husbandry and building; and He will carefully look over them....

Verse 1 Corinthians 3:5. _MINISTERS BY WHOM YE BELIEVED_] The different apostles who have preached unto you the word of life are the _means_ which God has used to bring you to the knowledge of Christ. No one of those has either preached or recommended _himself_; they all preach and recommend Christ Jesus the Lord. _EVEN AS THE LORD GAVE TO EVERY MAN?_] Whatever difference there may be in our talents, it is of God's making; and he who knows best what is best for his Church, has distributed both _gifts_ and _graces_ according to his own mind; and, as his judgment is infallible, all these dispensations must be right. Paul, therefore, is as necessary to the perfecting of the Church of Christ as Apollos; and Apollos, as Paul. Both, but with various gifts, point out the same Christ, building on one and the same foundation....

WHO THEN IS PAUL ... - See the notes at 1 Corinthians 1:13. Why should a party be formed which should be named after Paul? What has he done or taught that should lead to this? What eminence has he that should induce any to call themselves by his name? He is on a level with the other apostles; and all are but ministers, or servants, and have no claim to the honor of giving names to sects and parties. God is the fountain of all your blessings, and whoever may have been the “instrument” by whom you have believed, it is improper to regard them as, in any sense the fountain of your blessings, or to arrange yourselves under their name. BUT MINISTERS - Our word minister, as now used, does not express the proper force of this word. We in applying it to preachers of the gospel do not usually advert to the original se

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1 _The carnal conceit of the spiritually immature._ 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1 I… COULD NOT SPEAK UNTO YOU AS UNTO SPIRITUAL. Though softened by the word brethren, there was a crushing irony of reproof in these words: "You thought yourselves quite above the need of my simple teaching. You were looking down on me from the whole height of your inferiority. The elementary character of my doctrine was after all the necessary consequence of your own incapacity for anything more profound." AS UNTO CARNAL. The true reading here is _sarkinois, _fleshen, not _sarkikois, _fleshly, or carnal; the later and severer word is perhaps first used in...

WHO THEN IS PAUL? AND WHO IS APOLLOS?.... The apostle's name being used, and he a party concerned, could speak the more freely upon this head, and ask what they thought of himself, and other preachers, whether they were more than men? what authority and power they had, whether they looked upon them as the authors of a new religion, or the founders of a new sect, that were to go by their names? and directs them what light to consider them in, how that they were BUT MINISTERS BY WHOM YE BELIEVED: they were servants to Christ and to his churches, and not lords; they did not assume any dominion over men, or pretend to lord it over God's heritage; there is but one Lord and master, and that is Christ, whom they served, and taught others to obey; they were only instrumental in the hand of God, by whom souls were directed, encouraged, and brought to believe in Christ; as for faith itself, that...

1. _And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ._ The church at Corinth consisted of persons of large education and great abilities. It was one of those churches that had given up the one-man system, where everybody talked as he liked a very knowing church, and a church of Christians, too; but for all that. Christian babies. And though they thought themselves to be so great, yet the apostle says that he never spoke to them as to spiritual: he kept to the simple elements regarding the carnal part as being too much in them as yet, to be able to drink down spiritual things. 1 Corinthians 3:2. _I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able._ How grateful we ought to be that there is milk, and that this milk

1 CORINTHIANS 3:5 ti, … ti, Instead of ti, (“What?”) the Textus Receptus, following î46 C D F G and most minuscules, reads ti,j (“Who?”) in both instances. The masculine, however, appears to be a secondary accommodation to suit the personal names; moreover, the implication of the neuter ti in ver. 1 Corinthians 3:7 is decisive for ti, in ver. 1 Corinthians 3:5 (since the answer is “Nothing” the question...

CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The Carnal state of the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 3:1)._ 2. The Workmen and their Work. (1 Corinthians 3:10). 3. The Church the Temple of God. (1 Corinthians 3:16). 4. Warning against Deception and Glorying in Men. (1 Corinthians 3:18). Their condition is next uncovered. They did not depend on the Spirit of God and did not enjoy the hidden wisdom and walk in it. They were carnal, mere babes in Christ, in the sense that their growth, their spiritual development had been arrested. Carnal (fleshly) is not equivalent to “natural.” The belie