HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1401
1 COR INTHIANS 4
page 1031
we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using
the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.*
14 But people who aren’t spiritual* can’t receive
these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for
only those who are spiritual can understand
what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves
cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For,
“Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to teach him?”*
But we understand these things, for we have the
mind of Christ.
Paul and Apollos, Servants of Christ
Dear brothers and sisters,* when I was
with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would
to spiritual people.* I had to talk as though
you belonged to this world or as though you
were infants in Christ. 2 I had to feed you with
milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t
ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t
ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and
quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you
are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you
living like people of the world? 4 When one of
you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another
says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just
like people of the world?
5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We
are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work
the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your
hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God
who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does
the planting, or who does the watering. What’s
important is that God makes the seed grow.
8 The one who plants and the one who waters
work together with the same purpose. And both
will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For
we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s
field. You are God’s building.
10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid
the foundation like an expert builder. Now
others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than
the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may
use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels,
wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day,
fire will reveal what kind of work each builder
has done. The fire will show if a person’s work
has any value. 14 If the work survives, that
builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is
3
2:13 Or explaining spiritual truths in spiritual language, or
explaining spiritual truths to spiritual people. 2:14 Or who
don’t have the Spirit; or who have only physical life. 2:16 Isa
40:13 (Greek version). 3:1a Greek Brothers. 3:1b Or to
people who have the Spirit. 3:16 Or among. 3:19 Job 5:13.
3:20 Ps 94:11. 3:22 Greek Cephas.
burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The
builder will be saved, but like someone barely
escaping through a wall of flames.
16 Don’t you realize that all of you together
are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God
lives in* you? 17 God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and
you are that temple.
18 Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you
are wise by this world’s standards, you need to
become a fool to be truly wise. 19 For the wisdom
of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say,
“He traps the wise
in the snare of their own cleverness.”*
20 And
again,
“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise;
he knows they are worthless.”*
21 So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to
you—22 whether Paul or Apollos or Peter,* or
the world, or life and death, or the present and
the future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you
belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Paul’s Relationship with the Corinthians
So look at Apollos and me as mere servants
of Christ who have been put in charge of
explaining God’s mysteries. 2 Now, a person who
is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.
3 As for me, it matters very little how I might
be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this
point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t
prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will
examine me and decide.
5 So don’t make judgments about anyone
ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he
4
• Leadership
1 C OR I N THI A N S 3:10-15
In order to build a solid structure, a builder
must have both a sound foundation and
a plan for what the building will look like
when it is completed. So also leaders
need both a foundational commitment
to values and a vision for what they are
trying to build. Paul clearly states that his
foundation is Jesus Christ and that his
goal is to build a church that will endure.
The task of Christian leaders has not
changed. Toward what goal is your work
leading? Upon what foundation are you
building? And where do you look for the
master plan?