1 Corinthians 3:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human?

NIV: For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere human beings?

NASB: For when one person says, 'I am with Paul,' and another, 'I am with Apollos,' are you not ordinary people?

CSB: For whenever someone says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not acting like mere humans?

NLT: 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?

KJV: For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

NKJV: For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

Paul now directly addresses the source of quarreling and division among the Christians in Corinth, first introduced in chapter 1. There he wrote that the church in Corinth had divided itself into groups based on whether a person claimed loyalty to Paul, Apollos, Peter, or Christ (1 Corinthians 1:12). There may have been even more groups, but Paul's point was that the church was being split according to those loyalties.

Some of this division may have been about personality. Paul has described himself as weak, fearful, and trembling when he was with the Corinthians, not presenting the gospel in an impressive way (1 Corinthians 2:1–5). We know from Acts 18:24–19:1 that Apollos was an "eloquent" man, who taught the Scriptures fervently, boldly, and powerfully. He came to Corinth after being trained in Ephesus by Paul's co-workers Priscilla and Aquila.

Perhaps some of the division was about ethnicity. Both Paul and Apollos were Jewish, but it's possible some of the Jewish Christians were more comfortable with Peter's or Apollos's approach to the issues of Jewish tradition and heritage than with the others. It's not clear that Peter ever visited Corinth, however.

For Paul, the subtle nuances behind these divisions don't matter. The problem is that they exist at all. These squabbles are evidence that the Corinthian Christians are behaving like unbelievers, or immature Christians, demanding their own way, rather than as Holy Spirit-empowered believers learning to express God's sacrificial love to each other.

First Corinthians 3:1–9 describes Paul's rebuke of the Corinthian Christians as infants in Christ. As a contrast to a spiritually-indwelt believer, Paul uses the concept of being ''merely human.'' Such persons are not ready for solid food, still behaving as immature, undeveloped believers. Instead of following Paul or Apollos, or some other human being, they should follow God, the master of all. Different leaders might be called to different tasks in God's will, but none are ultimately more important than others.

Paul cannot call the Corinthian Christians ''spiritual'' people. Though they are in Christ, they continue to live to the flesh. They are spiritual infants, not ready for solid food. Divisions among them prove they are still serving themselves, picking sides in a senseless debate between Christian teachers. Paul insists that both he and Apollos are mere servants of the Lord and co-workers. They are not in competition. Those who lead the Corinthians must build carefully because their work will be tested on the day of the Lord. Christian leaders who build the church will have their work judged by Christ to see if they have built on the foundation of Christ. All human wisdom will be shown to be futile and worthless.

First Corinthians 3 follows Paul's teaching that only spiritual people can understand the wisdom of God. Paul cannot fully call the Corinthian Christians spiritual people, though, because they continue to live of the flesh, as if they were still infants trapped in an immature condition. Evidence includes the divisions among them. Paul insist that he and Apollos are both servants of the same master. The Corinthians should follow God, not them. Those whose work is worthless will suffer loss, but they will be saved. After this, Paul will expound on the idea that believers ought to set Christ as their example, rather than being defined in terms of their earthly leaders.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.