1 Cor. 2:10-16 - Our personal salvation involves all three persons in the Godhead (Eph. 1:3-14; 1 Peter 1:2). You can not be saved apart from the Father's electing grace, the Son's loving sacrifice, and the Spirit's ministry of conviction and regeneration.

The triune God is a god of order and oneness. Many people get confused or frightened when they hear about election and predestination. As far as the Father is concerned, I was saved when He chose me in Christ before the foundations of the world (Eph. 1:4). Reality is that I knew nothing about that truth the day I was saved. As far as the Son is concerned, I was saved when He died for me on the cross. He died for the sins of the whole world, yet the whole world is not saved. As far as the Spirit is concerned, I was saved in October of 1985. That is when I genuinely repented of my sins, placed my faith in Jesus Christ, and believed with my heart in the Lord Jesus. I had prayed prayers before that, I had played games of
"Let's Make a Deal" with God before that, "I'll do this God, if you'll do that". But it was not until faith and repentance took place because of understanding God's marvelous grace at that time (understanding still limited), that I was truly converted.

Verse 12 - the Spirit fills or indwells believers. The very moment I trusted Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God entered my body and made me God's temple (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
Verses 10-11 - The Spirit searches all things. The Holy Spirit knows the deep things of God and reveals them to us as we grow in our relationship with Him.
Verse 13 - The Spirit teaches. Jesus promised that the Spirit would teach us (John 14:26) and guide us into all truth (John 16:13).
Verses 14-16 - The Spirit matures us. The contrast here is between the saved person called spiritual (because he is indwelled by the Spirit) and the unsaved person called natural because he does not have the Spirit within him.

In 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 Paul will introduce the third kind of person, the carnal man. He is the immature Christian; the one who lives on a childhood level because he will not feed on the Word and grow.

At one time every Christian was natural - (spiritually dead). When we trusted Jesus Christ, the Spirit came in and we moved into the realm of spiritual - able to live in the realm with the Spirit. Since this has happened, it's time to grow. God desires, inspires, and requires that every person grow. One of the marks of maturity is being able to discern. That is the ability to penetrate beneath the surface of life and see things as they really are. Unsaved people walk by sight and thus do not see anything in the spiritual realm. They are blind. The maturing Christian grows in his spiritual discernment and develops the ability to understand more and more the mind and the will of God. The Corinthians that we are reading about here lack this discernment. They were spiritually ignorant.

The Bible teaches us in Philippians 2 that we have the mind of Christ. This does not mean that we are infallible or that we can play God in the lives of others. To have the mind of Christ means looking at life from the Saviors point of view and having His values and desires in mind.

** The unsaved person does not understand the Christian; they live in two different worlds. But the Christian can understand the unsaved person.

1 Corinthians 3 - Wisdom regarding the local church. In 1 Cor. 3 the apostle Paul paints three pictures:
1. The church is a family and the goal is maturity (vs. 1-4).
2. The church is a field and the gold is quantity (vs. 5-9a).
3. The church is a temple and the gold is quality (vs. 9b-23).

1. The family (1-4). There are two kinds of saved people, mature and immature (carnal). A Christian matures by allowing the Spirit to teach him and direct him by feeding on the Word. The immature Christian lives for the things of the flesh. Flesh also means carnal. It has little interest in the things of the Spirit. Of course, some believers are immature because they have only been saved for a short period of time. That is not what Paul is discussing in this chapter. Paul was the spiritual father who brought the Corinthians the Gospel (1 Cor. 4:15). During his 18 months in Corinth, Paul tried to feed his spiritual children and help them mature in faith. What are some of the marks of maturity? Some believe that you can tell the mature person by his diet. The Word of God is our spiritual foodit is milk (1 Peter 2:2), bread (Mt. 4:4), meat (Heb. 5:11-14), and even honey (Ps. 119:103). Just as the physical man needs a balanced diet in his body to be healthy, the inner man needs a balanced diet of inner food. God desires for us to mature. This takes place through the preaching and teaching of His Word under the inspiration of His Holy Spirit. I love to hang out with guys who want to be enlightened, edified, and educated, not just entertained. It is important that we preach the Gospel to the lost, but it is also very important that we interpret and teach the Gospel to the saved. Another mark of maturity is that mature Christians practice love and they seek to get along with others. Children love to disagree and fuss. We all know that! Children like to identify with heroes, whether it be sports, etc. The babes in Corinth were fighting over which preacher was the greatestwas it Paul, Apollos, or Peter. It sounded like children on the monkey bars arguing over their greatest hero. When immature Christians without spiritual discernment get into places of leadership, the results will be disastrous. That is what Paul is addressing in this chapter.

2. The field (5-9a). The local church is a field that ought to bear fruit. The task of ministering is the sowing of the seed, the cultivating of the soil, the watering of the plants, and the harvesting of the fruit. The emphasis of this paragraph, verses 5-9, is on increase or growth. Why compare preachers or statistics? God is the source of the growth; no man can take credit. No man can do all the necessary work. Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God is the only one capable of making things grow. Three thoughts regarding this passage on the field:

A. Diversity is important in ministry; one plows, one sows, one waters. We are all called to the task, but our tasks vary.

B. There is a unity of purpose. No matter what a person is doing for the Lord, he is still part of the harvest. Many churches lose focus of the purpose.

C. There is a humility of spirit. It is not the human laborers that produce the harvest, but it is the Lord of the harvest. God gave the increase. The sower and reaper not only work together, but one day they will rejoice together and receive their own rewards. Reality is that over the years I have had the privilege of leading many people to Christ who were total strangers to me. Others had sown the seed and watered it with their love and prayers. 1 Corinthians 3:8 says, "Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." Our reward must be done, not for the praise of me, but for the King of kings, Lord of lordsthe Lord of the harvest.

God wants to see increase in His field. He wants each local body of believers to produce the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), holiness (Romans 6:22), giving (Romans 15:26), good works (Colossians 1:10), praise to the Lord (Hebrews 13:15), and souls won to Christ (Romans 1:13). Fruit has in it the seed for more fruit. If the fruit of our ministry is genuine, it will eventually produce more fruitmuch fruit all to the glory of God (John 15:1-8). Also read Proverbs 24:30-34.

3. The temple (vs. 9b-23). We all build on Christ. Some people use good materials while others use poor materials. The kind of material you use determines the kind of reward you get. In this paragraph, Paul is discussing the building of the local body, the temple of God. Verse 13 says, "The fire will test the quality of each man's work." God is concerned that we build with quality. The church does not belong to the preacher or to the congregation; it is God's church.

A. We must build on the right foundation (verses 10-11). That foundation is Jesus Christ. When Paul came to Corinth, he had determined only to preach Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:1-2). He laid the only foundation that would last. The Corinthians were emphasizing personalities, Paul, Apollos, Peter, when they should have been glorifying in Christ and Him alone. The foundation is laid by the proclaiming of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The foundation is the most important part of the building. It will determine the size, shape, and strength of the structure. A ministry may seem to be successful for a time, but if it not founded on Christ, it will eventually collapse and disappear.

B. We must build with the right materials. Paul described two different types of materials.

Gold, Silver, Precious Stones Wood, Hay, Stubble
Permanent Passing
Beautiful Temporary
Hard to obtain Ordinary
Cheap
Easy to obtain

What did Paul want to symbolize by his choice of materials? He is not talking about people, because Christians are the living stones that make up God's temple (1 Peter 2:5). I believe what Paul is talking about is the importance of proper doctrine. Right doctrine provides right direction. Correct creed produces correct conduct.
For some reading on your own, read Proverbs 3:13-15; Proverbs 2:1-5; and Proverbs 8:10-11.

RememberPaul has been writing about wisdom in these first 3 chapters. The Corinthians were trying to build their church by man's wisdom, the wisdom of this world when they should have been depending on the wisdom of God, as found in God's Word. Verses 16 and 17 warn us that if we destroy God's temple by using cheap materials, we will suffer great loss. This does not mean eternal condemnation, but could it mean potential, limited celebration from your part. I believe this is where much of the confusion lies. Finite fools constantly trying to grasp the infinite mind of Almighty God. Does God desire for us to grow? Does He desire for us to obey Him? Will God reward each believer for what he has done in his own body on this planet? How does God reward? As I read the entire counsel of God's Word, I am still limited in my understanding of what will all take place.

C. We must build according to the right plan (vs. 18 & 20). The world depends on promotion, prestige, and the influence of money and important people. The church depends on prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit, humility, sacrifice, and service. The church that imitates the world may seem to succeed in time, but it will turn to ashes in eternity. God has a specific plan for each local church. Each pastor and church leader must seek the mind of God for His wisdom.
1 Corinthians 3:19 warns that man's wisdom will only trap him. (* Job 5:13).

D. We must build with the right motive. The motive is always to be to the glory of God. The members of the Corinthian church were glorifying in man, and this was wrong. They were comparing men and dividing the church by such carnal deeds (1 Cor. 4:6). Bottom line is that each one of God's servant's belongs to each believer. No member of the church should say, "I belong to 'whomever.'" We should all boast that we belong to Jesus Christ because He has rescued us, redeemed us, and reconciled us to the Father. Get your eyes off of man! Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. (Hebrews 12)

Verses 11-15 - The warning: "though the workers cannot lay a foundation other than Christ"is important for us to visit. It teaches us that we should be careful how we build on Him. Any defects in our work will be the result of our own fault. Christ cannot be blamed for it. Since valuable metals and precious stones (Rev. 21:18-21) were used to adorn ancient temples, Paul seems to have taken his imagery from Herod's temple in Jerusalem (Mt. 24:1-2) or from the beautiful public and religious buildings in Athens (Acts 17:23). Such imagery would be sufficient to convey the thought of pure doctrine. The frames of ordinary homes and buildings were built of wood, hay, or dried grass, mixed with mud (used for the walls) and roofs (which were oftentimes thatched with straw or stalks). So this kind of teaching in life represented by these lesser things will also have to face the test of the pure fire of God, His justice and judgment, and it will be consumed.

The day is not a day of calamity or hardship brought by man, but rather, it is the day of the Lord (1 Thes. 5:2-9), the day of the Second Coming of Christ (2 Thes. 2:2). The fire is the fire of God's judgment. Fire in the scripture is usually used in 2 ways:
(1) It is a purifying agent (Mt. 3:11; Mk. 9:49).
(2) It is used as that which consumes (Mt. 3:12; 2 Thess. 1:7-8; Hebrews 12:28,29).
It is a fitting symbol here for God's judgment, as God will test the quality of the Christians work.

Those Christians whose works stand the test of fire, will be rewarded (1 Peter 1:7; Mt. 25:14-30; Lk. 19:11-27). Those whose works are consumed by fire, will themselves escape the flames as if they were to jump out of a burning wooden structure they had built, but they will be saved alone without any works of praise to present to Christ.