1 Corinthians 3:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For we are God 's fellow workers. You are God 's field, God 's building.

NIV: For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

NASB: For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

CSB: For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

NLT: For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

KJV: For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

NKJV: For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.

Paul concludes his agricultural metaphor and begins a new one within the space of a few words in this verse. He is showing the Corinthians their divisive loyalty to one Christian leader over another is misplaced. Paul wants them to be unified, and not divided, so he is showing how pointless their bickering really is.

Instead of being important pillars of the movement of the Christian church, Paul has described the work he and Apollos do as it really is. They serve in God's field, with one spreading the seed and the other following with the water bucket. They are co-workers, each performing a necessary task. They are also only common laborers doing the dirty work of establishing a crop. They might have different styles, or unique approach, but they are in fundamental agreement about the gospel. There is no reason for people to align themselves under the banner of Paul, or Apollos, or Peter, in opposition to others who "follow" some different teacher.

In short, God is the one who grows the crops, and they both work for Him. Paul is saying, "Don't follow the field workers; follow the owner of the field." Paul describes the Corinthians as the field itself. They are the ones in which the gospel was planted. God is the one who caused that gospel to take root and grow in them, bringing them to faith in Christ and eternal life.

Paul immediately also calls the Corinthians God's building or construction project, introducing a new metaphor he will build on in the following verses.

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.