Yeager divides the human race into two main groups as follows: group 1 - the unsaved (psuchikos); group 2a - regenerate but babes in Christ (sarkinos); group 2b - regenerate and mature Christians; they are mature Christians whose lives are dominated by the Holy Spirit (pneumatikos). A Christian who ought to be pneumatikos may backslide and become sarkinos, but he can never be psuchikos. "The sarkikos Christian presents a problem in spiritual pediatrics to the pastor-teacher who must be, like Paul, adept in the care and feeding of spiritual babies. It is possible to make the mistake of overfeeding the new Christian with a philosophical diet that he is, as yet, unable to take. First he must have the A B C's of the Christian faith" (Vol. XII, p. 350). In verse 2 Paul speaks of feeding the milk of the word because the Corinthians cannot tolerate meat (solid food that required masticating and assimilating). Broma does not mean meat (flesh) as opposed to bread, but all solid food as in "meats and drinks" (Hebrews 9:7) (Robertson, p. 92). Paul and his associates initially remained in Corinth for at least eighteen months during which time he fed the Christians the rudiments of Christian theology.
3, 4 The Corinthians proved to be carnal because there were envious (zelos) or jealous, striving (eris) or contentious, and there were divisions among them; they were living like fleshly beings. The word zelos can also be translated zeal (to boil); however, for the Christian he must have the right kind of zeal. Zeal is good if under control, but it may be not according to knowledge (Romans 10:2), and it can easily become jealousy. Sometimes evil zeal can result in fanaticism; we are to contend for the faith, but we are not to be contentious. There is a difference, wrangling usually follows jealousy. The Corinthians envying and strife led to divisions; some followed Paul and some Apollos. "The cause of their quarreling is that they attribute to men what belongs properly to God" (Grosheide, p. 80). Paul questions them, "Are ye not carnal (mere men) or walking in the ways of man?"
5 - 8 Paul and Apollos were simply ministers (diakonoi), not leaders of parties or sects, but merely servants through whom the Corinthians believed. The office and not the person is important to Paul. This word translated ministers comes from two words (di and konis) which means "raising dust by hastening," that is, ministering by running to serve the master. Now Paul uses the analogy of a garden, he simply planted the "seed or seedlings" of the gospel, Apollos came along and "watered the seed," but it was God Who gave the increase. "Reports of revivals sometimes give the glory to the evangelist or to both evangelist and pastor. Paul gives it all to God" (Robertson, p. 94). Most anyone can plant the seed and water it; however, germination involves life - only God is the Giver of life. The heavenly Father causes the seed of the gospel to germinate and grow. "The farmer is expected to do all the field work in preparation for growth. This includes plowing, fertilizing, sowing or planting, watering, weeding, cultivating and spraying" (Kistemaker, p. 105). The planter and the one who waters are of one unimportant class; they are like "nobodies." God is to receive the glory for the harvest. Will we ministers ever learn this lesson? Oh, the rewards that await the planters and those who water if we give God the glory! Many an evangelist leaves the revival meeting without seeing expected results, but they are forthcoming (possibly weeks or months after the revival is over), but God has the record book - He knows who will receive the reward for every converted soul. He knows how to reward His servants. "God will bestow to each the reward that his labor deserves. That is the pay that the preacher is sure to receive. He may get too little or too much here from men. But the due reward from God is certain and it will be adequate however ungrateful men may be" (Robertson, p. 94).
9, 10 All of God's people have a part in the winning of souls - someone prayed, someone witnessed, someone preached, someone nourished, but God saved the soul. God is the major partner in the enterprise of each life, but He lets men work with Him. All are laborers together (sunergoi) or workers together under God; in fact, God views the responding souls as His husbandry (geogrion), tilled ground or His plot of ground and His building (oikodome) or edifice. Paul used figures of agriculture and architecture. We are God's farm or God's building; He is the general Architect, Supervisor or Superintendent (much depends upon the wisdom of the architect in laying the Foundation). God will reward according to His judgment. Servants of God must be masterbuilders (architekton) or architects; our Lord has laid the Foundation; we built thereon. Care must be taken; take heed how we build, we are to be wise masterbuilders. Paul views himself as a masterbuilder of the Corinthian church (Acts 18:1 - 18); we can do the same wherever we minister.
11 - 17 Paul laid the foundation through the preaching of God's word; Apollos or someone else went on the build the building. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Foundation upon which men build (Psalm 118:22, 23). "If one accuses Paul of narrowness, it can be replied that the architect has to be narrow in the sense of building here and not there. A broad foundation will be too thin and unstable for a solid and abiding structure" (Robertson, p. 96). No one is able to lay any other foundation, for Jesus is of sterling quality. Each Christian is to build his superstructure on the Foundation; we build a block at a time as souls are saved and born into God's kingdom. Rewards are forthcoming which are dependent upon what materials are used. Paul uses a metaphor here when he mentions gold, silver, precious stones, pieces or scraps of wood (lumber), hay and stubble (kalamen) or the stalk of a flower or plant. The gold, silver and precious stones are of sterling quality and will stand the test of fire from the discriminating God; wood, hay and stubble are highly flammable and perishable and will be burned up. Paul could have used a palace on the one hand, and a mud-hut on the other. An age-old anecdote of the bricklayer is fitting: "A passerby saw two masons laying bricks. He asked the one what he was doing and received the curt reply, 'Can't you see I am laying bricks?' The other, when asked what he was doing, looked up and with pride in his voice exclaimed, 'Sir, I am building a cathedral!'" (Kistemaker, p. 113).
"When the immense stone piers of the East River bridge were begun, some years ago, the builders did not attempt to manufacture a foundation. They simply dug down through the mud and sand, and found the solid bed rock, which the Almighty Creator had laid thousands of years ago. It is a wretched mistake to suppose that you need to construct a foundation. 'Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.' Your own merits, however, cemented by good resolutions, will no more answer for a solid base than would a carload of bricks as the substratum of yonder bridge. God has provided for you a corner-stone already (T. L. Cuyler, B. I., Vol. XLII, p. 257).
Every man's work will be made manifest in the day of judgment (I Thessalonians 5:4; Romans 13:12; Hebrews 10:25) indicating of what sort it is; our works will be evaluated (dokimasei) or examined to ascertain their quality. Sad will be the person who has built upon the Foundation wood, hay and stubble; his works will go up in smoke. He will be saved, but no rewards wil be forthcoming. The person whose work has been of good quality with the right motives, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19, 20; Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 2:10; Hebrews 13:20, 21; Galatians 5:16, 22, 23; Romans 6:11 and other passages), will see his building survive the judgment fire unscathed. When the fire has done its work, what is left? His rewards are given over and above his salvation. Salvation is not a reward but a gift from God. The worker's work is burned up completely and hopelessly, but he himself escapes destruction because he is really a saved man, a real believer in Christ.
The Christian is God's temple or dwelling-place. God is our honored Guest; we should treat Him as such. The Spirit of God makes his home in us, not in temples made with hands (Acts 7:48; 17:24). "Note that the Holy Spirit, Who is called 'the Spirit of God'...is identified as God since He is the One Who lives in the divine temple. His residence in the body of the believer is continuous...(He) is the One Who convicted the believer of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:7 - 11), Who incorporated him into the Body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13); Who leads the believer into all truth (John 16:12 - 15); Who produces His fruits in the life of the believer (Galatians 5:22, 23); and Who guarantees the resurrection of the body of the believer (Romans 8:11) is living in the physical body of the believer should motivate the Christian to a life of obedience to the will of God. We can grieve Him, but we cannot grieve Him away (Ephesians 4:30) (Yeager, p. 371). Since the body of the believer is the residence of the Holy Spirit, the body should remain holy. In fact, if the believer defiles the body, God will destroy him. The same word (phtheirei) is translated defile and destroy in this verse and can also mean profane. For the unbeliever the wages of sin is both physical and spiritual death; for the believer the wages of sin (addiction to alcohol and drugs, illicit sex and venereal disease) may bring on physical death.
18 - 23 Paul again writes of the wisdom of this world and how foolish it is. He wants the Corinthians to be concerned with what they are taught. He writes, "Let no man deceive himself (ezapatato) or be beguiled." This age "thinking" is to be avoided; "let him become a fool, that he may be wise." True wisdom is forthcoming to the one who is willing to take his place before the unsaved world as a fool for Jesus' sake. "The Christian who shuns the world, the flesh and the devil is considered a fool by the pleasure-oriented world of hedonism" (Yeager, p. 375). "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." Then Paul quotes from Job 5:13 which reads, "(God) taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the clever (froward) is carried headlong." The word translated craftiness (panourgia) also can mean cunning or subtilty; see also I Corinthians 1:21. Then Paul in verse 20 quotes from Psalm 94:11, "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity." If man glories in anything such as wisdom, knowledge or whatever, let him glory in the Lord; it is He Who gives everything. All of man's wisdom, grace, wealth and health comes from God; He gives to all who recognizes his need. We belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. "Sixteenth-century theologian Zacharias Ursinus posed the pertinent question, 'What is your only comfort in life and death?' And he replied to his own query, 'That I am not my own, but belong- body and soul, in life and death - to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.' With Paul Christians are able to say, 'If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord' (Romans 14:8; Galatians 3:29)" (Kistemaker, p. 123). The songwriter expresses it thus:
O to grace how great a debtor/daily I'm constrained to be/let Thy goodness like a fetter/bind my wandering heart to Thee/prone to wander, Lord, I feel it/prone to leave the God I love/here's my heart, O take and seal it/seal it for Thy courts above.
"Ye are Christ's--You are His--By donation: for the Father gave you to the Son. By purchase: for He counted down the price for your redemption. By dedication: for you have consecrated yourself to Him. By relation: for you are named by His name, and made one of His brethren and joint heirs. Application--Labor practically to show the world that you are (1) the servant, (2) the friend, (3) the bride of Jesus" (Spurgeon, B. I., XLII, pp. 330, 331).
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