Fathers

1 Corinthians 3

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And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your's; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

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What the Fathers say

1 Corinthians 3:9

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"For we are God's fellow-workers: ye are God's husbandry, God's building." Seest thou how to them also he hath assigned no small work, having before laid it down that the whole is of God? For since he is always persuading them to obey those that have the rule over them, on this account he abstains from making very light of their teachers. "Ye are God's husbandry." For because he had said, "I planted," he kept to the metaphor. …

Homily on 1 Corinthians 8 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

Having said above: "I planted," he continues the comparison, and calls them a field. If you are a field and a building, then you should be called by the name of the Master, and not of the plowmen or builders, and, as a field, you should be enclosed by a wall of unanimity, and as a building, you should be in unity among yourselves, and not in division.

Commentary on 1 Corinthians ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, You are God's, he assigns the reason for what he had said: first, he gives the reason; secondly, he applies a simile (v. 9). He says, therefore: It is only right that each of us shall receive a reward, for we are fellow workers for God, namely, by their labors. But this seems to be contradicted by Jb (26:2): "Whose helper are you? Is it of him that is weak?" And by Ps 40 (v. 3): "Who has helped the Spirit of the Lord?" The answer is that one helps another in two ways: in one way by increasing his strength. …

Commentary on 1 Corinthians ↗