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1 Corinthians 3:1–9
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (vv. 6–7).
Continuing our look at the sure spread of the Word of God throughout the entire world, we come today to an important passage regarding how the Lord works through His church to establish His revelation in the hearts of people and to cause it to flourish. As we saw in Mark 4:1–20, the gospel cannot take root in people and save them unless their hearts are good soil—unless the Lord has granted them new hearts to believe His truth (see also Ezek. 36:26; John 3:1–8). Regeneration—God’s granting of a new heart—is the work of the Lord alone (a truth known as monergism), but that does not mean that His servants play absolutely no role in the Lord’s transformation of people by His Word.
The context of 1 Corinthians 3:1–9 is factionalism in the first-century church of Corinth. Church members were rallying behind their favorite Christian leaders and getting into arguments with one another, thinking that they had to side with particular teachers against others. There is no evidence that these leaders actually countenanced this behavior, but immature believers engaged in it nevertheless. Paul addressed this issue by saying that as useful as he, Apollos, and other ministers are, in the end they are not responsible for the spiritual awakening and growth of the Christian community. They are but servants; the harvest and yield of spiritual growth come from God alone.
Paul relativizes the importance of Christian ministers to point us to the Lord as the source, sustainer, and consummator of spiritual life by His Word. Yet we should not think that he makes the servants of God unimportant in doing so. As we see in verse 6, with respect to the Corinthians, Paul planted and Apollos watered. Paul preached the gospel to the Corinthians initially, delivering to them the Word of God (Acts 18:1–11). Apollos came later and provided further instruction in the Scriptures (19:1). These activities were important and the means by which our Creator communicated His saving truth to the Corinthians and built them up in the faith. In fact, the ordinary way that the Lord saves and builds people up is through the work of the church in teaching people to obey all that Christ has commanded (Matt. 28:18–20).
Nevertheless, while God uses His people to take His Word to the ends of the earth, He alone gives life through the Word. As Paul says, “Only God . . . gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
As servants of God, we have the high privilege and responsibility of taking His Word to the nations. At the same time, we are but servants and cannot take credit for how His Word does its work. Let us be faithful to help people know Scripture, discipling others where God has placed us, but let us also remember that the Lord blesses our efforts as He sees fit.
For further study
- Psalm 119:25
- Isaiah 52:10
- Micah 4:1–5
- Luke 17:7–10
The bible in a year
- 2 Chronicles 1–3
- John 12:1–19