1 Corinthians 3:18-23

Butler's Comments

SECTION 3

Concludes With Spiritual Compensation (1 Corinthians 3:18-23)

18 Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness, 20and again, The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile. 21 So let no one boast of men. For all things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future, all are yours; 23and you are Christ'S; and Christ is God'S.

1 Corinthians 3:18-20 Nothing: The man who thinks he is following the way of wisdom by dividing the church into factions striving against one another for superiority is self-deceived. The Greek word exapatato is intensive and means thoroughly deceived; it is related to the word apatao, meaning to cheat. The man who is looking to glorify himself or some other man in the church is only cheating himself of the real reward from God. The wisdom of this doomed world is foolishness. The world that refuses to see through the perspective of God's revealed truth is a world that cannot know what is real and abiding. Christians do not see anything from a human standpoint of view (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:16-17). Christians are the ones who are wise; all who are not Christians are cheating themselves of God's divine wisdom. These are being blinded by the devil (2 Corinthians 4:3-6) and deceived into thinking that following Christ is foolishness. It is true, he who would be greatest in the kingdom must be the servant of all (Mark 9:35; Luke 22:24-27).

If we are to follow Christ and have his reward we must be ready to be considered a fool by the worldly-wise. Those who give their money to see that the gospel is proclaimed and to minister to people's physical needs in the name of Jesus are fools according to the worldly-wise. The smart thing to do, according to the worldling, is to keep one's money and invest it for one's future security. The Christian who is willing to take the lowliest task or position, and let others receive the credit and applause, is a fool according to the world.
But the worldling is a fool! No human being can out-fox God. Paul says all wisdom in this world not focused on knowing God and doing his will is foolishnessbut how many people believe that? God traps all the worldly-wise in their craftiness. The Greek word panourgia is translated craftiness. Literally, it means, all working, that is, a crafty person is one who is versatile and clever in everythinghe thinks! The word panourgia is applied to the subtlety of the devil in deceiving Eve (2 Corinthians 11:3) and to the methods of teachers who deceive immature Christians with false doctrines (Ephesians 4:14). Christian teachers renounce the very idea that they need to practice such human cleverness (2 Corinthians 4:2). The Christian does not need the clever subtleties of falsehood and deception to feel secure in this world. He has the faithful, never changing word of God which makes him happy and secure. The one who lives by deceit and dishonesty is caught in the trap of guilt, shame, and destruction of selfhood. That is the way God governs his creation, (cf. Romans ch. 1 and 2).

1 Corinthians 3:21-23 Everything: While the non-Christian thinks the Christian is a fool and has nothing, Paul says the Christian has everything! Everything God has made belongs to the Christian to use to glorify God and thus be glorified by God. God has given everything to the Christian because only the child of God has surrendered his evaluation and use of everything to the revealed will of God. The Christian is the only person who knows what everything in God's creation is for! To surrender one's mind to human leaders is really a kind of self-impoverishment. Human wisemen who deny God understand nothing about what God has made. They will eventually use what God made for good to produce evil, But the Christian, in harmony with Christ's will, has opened up to himself the whole universe as his servant. Everything God has made is good (cf. Genesis, ch. 1-2; 1 Timothy 4:4-5). God intended his creation for man's benefitto make man a spiritual partner with him and to give man enjoyment. When a man uses all that God has made to promote good, truth, purity, holiness and mercifulness, he is rewarded with glory and happiness.

All things belong to the Christian. Some in Corinth had been saying, I belong to Paul, others, I belong to Apollos. But the truth was that Paul and Apollos belonged to the Christians as their servants to bring them into a glorifying, enjoyable relationship with Christ. The world was theirs to use in service to God by serving men. In this they would be exalted and find satisfaction. Life was theirs to live in harmony with God's truth and holiness and in so doing find purpose and fulfillment. Even death belonged to them. Death belongs to the Christian as a release from the trials and tribulations of this world and a door opening into eternal bliss (Philippians 1:21; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:1). He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him? (Romans 8:32) Christians are stewards of the whole universe. It belongs to their Father. He has given it into their hands for faithful use. He did not give it to them to be enslaved. They are to control it as men made free by Christ to enjoy and praise the name of their Master. They will be asked for an accounting when the Master returns. They will be asked only if they honestly used it to the best of their abilities according to his will.

The fact that God has given the Christian everything in his creation in no way gives the Christian room to be arrogant or boastful. With great privilege comes great responsibility. It is only by virtue that the Christian is in Christ that God gives these things. Having been united in Christ by faith and obedience the Christian has victory over death, life, present, future and everything else. Man had been given dominion over God's creation in the Garden of Eden, but man lost it by believing the devil and rejecting God. The Son of man (God incarnate) won that dominion back for man by his life of perfect faith and obedience (see Hebrews 2:5-18). We share in what Christ has won for man only if we hold our faith in him firm to the end (Hebrews 3:14).

To minister or not minister has been a problem with God's covenant people from the time Israel left Egypt until now. In old Israel (from Moses to Malachi) the majority of priests, prophets and kings were self-centered. There were always a few saintly exceptions. Among the thousands of Israel who assumed the offices of ministry, only a few heroic individuals really ministered God's will to God's people. There was Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah and Elisha; there was David, Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah; there was Isaiah, Amos, Jeremiah and the other faithful prophets. These ministered in times of great distress, devastation and discouragement. But for the most part the whole nation of Israel defaulted on its call from God to minister to the nations around themthey begged, rather, to be ministered unto. So God said through the old prophets that he would form a new nation a new Israel out of every nation on earth who would be ministers unto him and the world (cf. Isaiah 66:18-23, etc.). The church of Christ is that new nation of priests (1 Peter 1:9-10). Every Christian is called to be a minister. Every Christian is a priest offering the sacrifices of praise and confession with the lips and of good deeds toward those in need (see Hebrews 13:15-16). When every Christian is committed to ministry rather than being ministered to, the problem of division in the church will disappear.

Applebury's Comments

The Apostles Earnest Exhortation (1 Corinthians 3:18-23)

Text

1 Corinthians 3:18-23. Let no man deceive himself. If any man thinketh that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He that taketh the wise in their craftiness: 20 and again, The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise, that they are in vain. 21 Wherefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours; 22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 and ye are Christ'S; and Christ is God'S.

Commentary

Let no man deceive himself.The rebuke for the sin of division has been clearly stated. The remedy for the condition is apparent: Make the church what God intended it to be, His holy temple wherein dwells His Spirit.

This appeal is three-fold: (1) Let no man deceive himself (1 Corinthians 3:18); (2) Let no one glory in men (1 Corinthians 3:21); and (3) Let a man account of as ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:1).

The first is an appeal for clear thinking about the world's wisdom in contrast to the message of the cross. The word of the cross is wisdom for the mature. God is able to adequately cope with the cleverness of the crafty, worldly-wise man. God knows the futility of the thoughts of men when compared with His thoughts.

all things are yours.This is the reason for the second appeal: Let no one glory in men. Some had been saying, I belong to Paul, others, I belong to Cephas. But the truth was that Paul and Apollos and Cephas were theirs, that is, they were their ministers through whom they had believed (1 Corinthians 3:5). But more than that, the world was theirs too. God created it for man and placed in it all the things needful for his welfare. The world was theirs as their sphere of activity for God, not a thing to conquer them and make them slaves of sin. Even life and death belonged to them. Life was theirs to be lived for Christ, not to be wasted in endless discussions of man's wisdom and the sinful practices that grew out of them. To the Christian, the apostle said, Death is yours. It is true that he calls death an enemy to be abolished (1 Corinthians 15:26). But death belongs to the Christian as a means of release from the trials of life and of entrance into the presence of Christ (Philippians 1:21; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:1). Both the present and the future are yours in which to serve Christ and praise Him. The apostle rebukes those who had been practicing division in the church and claiming to belong to Paul or Apollos. To whom did they belong? Ye are Christ'S, and Christ is God'S. Thus the word of God presents the solution to the problem of division.

Summary

The Corinthians were more interested in their own wisdom than in the wisdom of God. They looked upon the message of the cross as foolishness. It is not surprising that some of Paul's converts failed to reach spiritual maturity.
When he was with them, he had spoken to them about the elementary things of the gospel because they were not able to appreciate the things that belong to the mature Christian life. Even as he was writing to them, he realized that they were still unable. His teaching had been like milk for those whom he calls babes in Christ. Some of them were saying, I belong to Paul and I belong to Apollos. Their jealousy and strife clearly shows that they were acting as men and not as new creatures in Christ.
Paul turns now to the corrective measures that were designed to lift the church out of this condition. There are three steps in his plan to correct the sin of division. The first step shows the correct relationship leaders to the church. The apostle asks, What is Paul and what is Apollos? They are ministers through whom you believed. They are not masters; they are not heads of political groups; they are the Lord's servants performing a task for the sake of His Body, the church. They were fellow-workers who belonged to God. Their task was to work in God's field and to build God's building.
The second step in the apostles-' plan to overcome division is this: The church is the temple of God. Leaders, of course, have their place in relation to the temple. Paul says, I laid a foundation and another built on it. After he had started the work at Corinth, another teacher such as Apollos had followed him. His task was to instruct the new converts. He was building on the foundation Paul had laid. That foundation was Christ; there could be no other foundation for the temple of God.
Paul solemnly warns the teachers to exercise care as to the kind of disciples they may teach. This is not a warning to false teachers, but to faithful teachers like Apollos who built on the foundation which Paul had laid. Some of their disciples would be like gold, silver, and precious stones. They would stand the fiery trials of the Christian life. Others would be like wood, hay, and stubble. They would be destroyed in the same fiery trials, and the teacher would lose the reward for his efforts. These are the carnal, factious, jealous ones who remained as babes when they should have been mature Christians. The faithful teacher does not share the fate of those who refuse to heed his message of truth, that is, if he conforms to the gospel standard of character and conduct.
After discussing the relation of the leaders to the church as the temple of God, Paul reminds the brethren that they are the temple of God. Its sacredness is indicated by the fact that the Spirit of God dwells in His temple. Paul warns that God will destroy anyone, leader or follower, who through faction or division or other sin, destroys God's temple.
A third corrective step is given in the closing exhortation of the chapter: Avoid being deceived by leaders and their pretended wisdom. Those who think they are wise are urged to become fools by rejecting their own wisdom and accepting the word of the cross. Let no one boast in men, for all things belong to the faithful Christian. Instead of saying, I am of Paul or I am of Cephas, they are to remember that Paul and Apollos and Cephas belong to them as the Lord's servants through whom they believed. The world is theirs, for God made it to be used by His people and not that they should become slaves of the world of sin. Even life and death are theirs. But (and here is a thing they were forgetting) they belong to Christ, and Christ to God.