I Corinthians 3:9-17

Let us go to I Corinthians 3 as we describe what the Bible says about this house. We have already seen it is a structure but an unusual structure. It is a structure that is alive. Its stones are shown to be living.

There are three things I want you to look at in verse 9.

"We are laborers with God." We are not only the building (the house) but we are also working in and on it with God. That certainly, at least to me, indicates the dignity of our Christian responsibilities because how many people in this world can claim that God is their co-worker?

Now, look at the "field." The field brings in the element of life. This could have just as easily been translated "you are God's farm." Now, what does that mean? You know that the ground, the soil, except where it has been destroyed, is filled with life. That is another indication that we are working with a living organism.

The third thing is the word "building." It was this metaphor that Paul chose to concentrate on in the remainder of the chapter. There is only one foundation upon which this spiritual house may be built. This is basic and there better be no misconceptions at all about this. We cannot base Christianity upon good works. It cannot be based upon human factors at all. It cannot be based on science. Christianity has its foundation and begins when a person passes through the door that has the blood around it. That is the only way in. There are many ways out but there is only one way in to this house and that is through the bloodstained door.

Once the foundation is laid, Paul warns us that we have to be careful about how we build because though there is only one foundation, there are many directions the superstructure can be built in. It all depends how each person builds. That is because he is a living stone. He is a co-worker with God and what he is working on is himself. He is not responsible for making sure anybody else is beautiful, well-polished, or fits right into things, because the person can only really answer for himself. That is why Paul says to be careful how you build upon the one foundation.

We find the superstructure is capable of almost endless varieties because of all the different personalities that God is putting into His church. There are almost endless varieties there, but the warning is there: "Be careful how you do it so you do not fall short." Thus, the metaphor is about stone, silver, and gold as compared to that which will burn. So, he is saying, in effect, do not build of any materials that cost you nothing—the cheap things. He is saying, "Go after the hard things, the expensive things, the good things," and those things are involved in the same way that Christ became perfected. How did He become perfected? Through suffering. He became perfected through sacrifice.

Now, we also have here the introduction of the word "temple." This comes from a root that means "to dwell." In the Old Testament, the Temple was seen as God's dwelling place. The Temple was not a place of public access. It was not a place of assembly for people. That is what the synagogues were for. They assembled and heard sermons at the synagogue. But God lived in the Temple. Are you beginning to get the picture?

We are the Temple and God lives in us. We are God's dwelling place now. The only way to get into God's dwelling place is to go through the door that has the blood around it. Once we are in it, we begin to find we have certain responsibilities. And those responsibilities primarily surround the perfecting of this one stone, ourselves, working in conjunction with God who is co-laboring with us that we might be polished up and be made a sparkling jewel within His building.

So He labors with us that this might take place but we have a great deal of control over what is produced because we can go the easy way and do virtually nothing or we can go the hard way and expend all our efforts on those things that are really difficult and costly.

Are you beginning to … . . .

I Corinthians 3:15

Here we have three occasions where the verbal construction is passive future indicative. And this is great, this is really great. It means that the action will be done, that is the indicative part, to the subject, that is the passive part, at some later time. That is the future part. What I really thought was neat was the indicative. It will be done. So he who endures to the end will be saved—in the future by God. And the same with this here in I Corinthians 3, where a person goes through a great deal and he fails, but he is still faithful. All this is burned by fire, it says, but he will be saved.

These verses signify that salvation has a future aspect as well, which we call glorification. So we had justification, sanctification, and glorification. They are three parts of the salvation process. And glorification is where the process becomes complete. It ends. The product is made, has been produced, and the Christian at that point is changed to spirit in the resurrection. When Christ comes in His glory, that is when the saints will rise and that process is then complete. They are glorified in Christ and share in His glory. If you want to, all of that is I Corinthians 15; I John 3; and Revelation 14 and 20. In Revelation it is like the first five verses of those two chapters.