Read & explore together
God’s Fellow Workers
Paul corrects a church that is dividing itself around different leaders. In these verses, he explains why jealousy and factions show spiritual immaturity, and he points the attention away from human workers and back to God.
Understanding the passage
The setting of these words
This part of the letter speaks directly to “brothers” in Corinth about their present behaviour. Paul says he has had to speak to them as babies in Christ because they are still marked by jealousy, strife, and factions. He then explains the proper place of Paul and Apollos in God’s work.
1 Corinthians 3:1–9Main takeaway
Believers should not divide around Christian leaders, because leaders are servants and God is the one who gives growth.
Follow the letter’s teaching
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Babies in ChristPaul says he could not speak to them as spiritual people, but as fleshly people, like babies in Christ.
Explanation
Paul says he could not speak to them as spiritual people, but as fleshly people, like babies in Christ. He uses the picture of infancy to show limited readiness. “Milk” and “solid food” describe different levels of teaching they were able to receive. Paul says they were not ready then, and are still not ready now.
02What shows their immaturityPaul gives clear evidence for his assessment: jealousy, strife, and factions. These behaviours show they are still fleshly and walking “in the ways of men”.
Explanation
Paul gives clear evidence for his assessment: jealousy, strife, and factions. These behaviours show they are still fleshly and walking “in the ways of men”. He is not discussing abstract spirituality only. He points to the way they are treating one another, especially in the way they are forming competing groups.
03Paul and Apollos are servantsPaul asks, “Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul?” His answer lowers the status people were giving them.
Explanation
Paul asks, “Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul?” His answer lowers the status people were giving them. They are servants through whom the Corinthians believed, and each received his role from the Lord. Their work mattered, yet their place was still that of servants, not rivals for loyalty.
04God gives the increasePaul describes the work with farming language: he planted and Apollos watered. Those are different tasks, but the decisive action belongs to God, who gave the increase.
Explanation
Paul describes the work with farming language: he planted and Apollos watered. Those are different tasks, but the decisive action belongs to God, who gave the increase. Because of that, neither planter nor waterer is the main focus. God is the one who brings the growth that matters.
05One work, one ownerThe planter and the waterer are “the same”, meaning they belong together in one work, even though each will receive a reward according to labour.
Explanation
The planter and the waterer are “the same”, meaning they belong together in one work, even though each will receive a reward according to labour. Paul then says, “we are God’s fellow workers” and calls the church “God’s farming, God’s building”. The repeated word “God’s” keeps ownership and honour centred on him.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What reasons does Paul give for saying the Corinthians are still like babies in Christ?
Look for both the images of milk and solid food and the behaviours Paul names, such as jealousy, strife, and factions.
02How does Paul describe himself and Apollos, and what does that correct in the church?
Notice that he calls them servants through whom the Corinthians believed, rather than leaders to divide around.
03In the planting and watering picture, who is responsible for growth?
Follow the repeated statement about who gives the increase, then connect it with the phrase “God’s farming, God’s building”.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
1 Corinthians 3:1–9
1Brothers, I couldn’t speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ.
2I fed you with milk, not with solid food, for you weren’t yet ready. Indeed, you aren’t ready even now,
3for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men?
4For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you fleshly?
5Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed, and each as the Lord gave to him?
6I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase.
7So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
8Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.