Lessons #83 and 84
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Building in Corinth (1 Cor 3:10-15)
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Apostle Paul in this section of 1 Corinthians was still thinking about the church of God in Corinth in a metaphorical manner. This is because firstly there is no connective between verse 10 and verse 9 of 1 Corinthians 3. In the Greek text, the last sentence of the apostle in verse 9 is You are God’s building. We interpreted “building” as figurative way in which the apostle referred to the church in Corinth. If the apostle’s thought had shifted to something not related to the church in Corinth, he would have used a connective in verse 10 to convey that. Secondly, the apostle continued to use the language involved in building construction in this section. He speaks of foundation, skilled builder, and continuous activities of building based on an existing foundation. Thus, we are correct in stating that the apostle still had in his mind the building metaphor he used in verse 9 to describe the church in Corinth.
Be that as it may, the apostle was, no doubt, concerned with what takes place in the church in Corinth both in terms of the ministry of other workers among them and the activities of individual believers. Thus, using the metaphor of building that the apostle started in the preceding section, he made four major assertions in this section. A first major assertion is that the church in Corinth was established by him through the grace of God that was bestowed upon him that caused him to be a skilled preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ which is the foundation for the founding of the church. This first major assertion is the concern of the first two sentences of verse 10. A second major assertion of the apostle is that building activities in Corinth by others must involve the foundation that has already been laid. In other words, the work of others must be oriented to the gospel message he preached and that whatever activity that is to be carried out by others should never move away from the structure of the church as a building. This second assertion is given in the third sentence of verse 10. A third major assertion is that building activities related to the major building, that is, the church must proceed with caution. It is this caution that he considered in the fourth sentence of verse 10. This declaration of the necessity for caution led to the fourth major assertion of the apostle in this section. The fourth major assertion is that there are two major reasons for the caution he gave. The first reason is that there is no other foundation but Jesus Christ. This he gives in verse 11. A second major reason is that every building activity would be evaluated for reward or loss of reward but not loss of salvation. This second reason he ironed out in verses 12 to 15.
We have summarized the section in terms of four major assertions of the apostle. However, the single message he wanted to convey to the Corinthians is this: Corinthians should be careful on their activities related to the church because the foundation which is Christ is already laid and the various activities will be evaluated for reward or loss of reward but not loss of salvation. The message of the apostle to the Corinthians enables us to present the message we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to deliver to you based on this passage. The message is this: If you want your activities as a Christian to be rewarded in the future by God then they must be Christ-centered as you carry them out. When we use the term “Christ-centered” that is a broad term that involves being under the control of the Holy Spirit as one is guided by the word of God and as the individual focuses on the person of Jesus Christ. Following the fact that the apostle made four major assertions in the passage we are considering, then our message will also be expounded based on four major assertions of responsibilities that are derived from the apostle’s four major assertions of the passage we are considering.
A first major assertion of responsibility of the message we are expounding is that You must be sure you have responded to the gospel message, that is, that you are a member of the church of God in Christ. This assertion is based on Apostle Paul’s declaration to the Corinthians in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 3:10 I laid a foundation. How does this sentence mean that you should be sure you are member of the church of God in Christ, that is, that you have responded to the gospel message, you may ask? The answer lies in the consideration of the words the apostle used.
“Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
It is in the sense of laying that the word is used in the quotation from the OT Scripture regarding the stumbling stone laid in Zion that Apostle Paul cited in Romans 9:33:
As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
The word is used for Jesus Christ giving up His life for us in 1 John 3:16:
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
The word may mean “to appoint, assign” to some task or function, as Apostle Paul used it to describe his appointment or assignment regarding the gospel message in 2 Timothy 1:11:
And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.
The word may mean “to put aside, store up, deposit” as it is used in the instruction of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians regarding how to get ready for the contribution of money or gift that is to be delivered to believers in Judea by weekly putting aside an amount a person has determined, as we read in 1 Corinthians 16:2:
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
The word may mean “to make” in the sense of making someone something, as in the instruction of Apostle Paul in his farewell address to the elders of the church of Ephesus who have been put to their position of being overseers of believers in Ephesus by the Holy Spirit, as recorded in Acts 20:28:
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
The word may mean “to fix, set, establish” as the word is used in the response of the Lord Jesus to His disciples after His resurrection regarding the time God has set to restore the kingdom to Israel, as stated in Acts 1:7:
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:10, the word is used in the sense of to put something in place or “to found.” So, we consider the next key word of the sentence I laid a foundation.
The word “foundation” is translated from a Greek word (themelios) that may mean “foundation” as the structural base for a building as the word is used in Jesus’ parable in Luke 6:49:
But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
Figuratively, it may mean “foundation” as the basis for something taking place or coming into being. Thus, it is used in different ways. It is used of the founding of a congregation in Romans 15:20:
It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.
It is used of the indispensable prerequisites for something to come into being as it is used to describe the apostles and prophets in Ephesians 2:20:
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
The word is used of the elementary beginnings of a thing, as in Hebrews 6:1:
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,
It is in the figurative sense of founding a congregation that the apostle used it in our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:10.
Having considered the key words the apostle used in the sentence I laid a foundation, we understand that what he meant is that he founded the local church in Corinth through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For after all, the apostle had already indicated that he preached Christ crucified to the Corinthians to which they responded by believing in Him. Consequently, the local church the apostle founded consists of those who have responded to the gospel message and so have believed in the Lord Jesus. This being the case, the sentence we are considering speaks to belonging to the church of God in Christ. In other words, no one could belong to the church of God in Christ without having responded to the gospel preaching. Belonging to the church of God in Christ is an essential requirement to apply the message of the passage we are considering which is: If you want your activities as a Christian to be rewarded in the future by God then they must be Christ-centered as you carry them out. You cannot be Christ-centered if you first and foremost do not belong to the church of God in Christ, that is, if you have not responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ by believing in Him. At this point, you need to ask yourself the most important question: Am I saved? Do I have the assurance of the Holy Spirit that I am going to heaven? I mean do you have the assurance according to Romans 8:16:
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Belonging to the church of God in Christ is a matter of the grace of God in the sense that eternal life is His gift to the believer. Thus, the apostle recognized that his founding of the church in Corinth is because of God’s gift that is accompanied by divine enablement as in the first clause of 1 Corinthians 3:10 By the grace God has given me. There is the question of how we should understand this clause because of the possible meanings of the Greek words used. For this reason, we will consider the key words used in the clause.
The first key word is the preposition “by” of the NIV that is translated from a Greek preposition (kata) that has several meanings or usages, but we will consider only those that are possible candidates in our passage. The word may mean “with” as it is used regarding the authoritative teaching of Jesus Christ as perceived by the Jewish audience that listened to Him as stated in Mark 1:27:
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.”
The Greek preposition may mean “in” as it is used in Acts 19:20:
In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
The word may mean “because of, on the basis of, as a result of” as it is used to describe reasons for God’s judgment in Romans 2:5:
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
The word may mean “according to” as in Romans 8:4:
in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
It may mean “as, like, just as,” as it is used in Ephesians 4:24:
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
The phrase like God may literally be translated according to God. The word may mean “by” as it is used in Titus 1:3:
and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
The phrase by the command of God our Savior is more literally according to the command of God our Savior. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:10, the Greek preposition is used either in the sense of “by” or “because.” It is probably in the sense of “because” that the apostle used it to imply that the founding of the church in Corinth was the result of the gift and special enablement he received from God. This brings us to the second key word.
The second key word is “grace” that is translated from the Greek word (charis) that no doubt refers to God’s unmerited favor in some contexts but that is not a blanket meaning of the word. For example, the Greek word is used in Luke 2:40:
And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
Clearly, since the recipient of God’s grace is the Lord Jesus Christ, grace could not possibly mean God’s underserved favor to sinners. Here grace means “blessing” or “God’s favor” in a general sense of His beneficent disposition toward someone. It can also mean favored status indicating Jesus enjoyed favored status with God. In some context, the Greek word rendered “grace” when used of God means His “gracious care.” It is this meaning that is intended when the Greek word was used in connection with the ministry of Paul and Barnabas in what they did, reported in Acts 14:26:
From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.
In effect, the phrase committed to the grace of God means that Paul and Barnabas were entrusted to God to care for them or to show His goodness to them. Thus, the word “grace” has the meaning of “gracious care” in this passage in Acts.
Grace in the NT as a word used in relationship with a person, may refer to that which is attractive or appealing in someone that draws favorable reaction from others. It is in this meaning of grace that Apostle Paul used it in his instruction regarding believer’s speech or communication in Colossians 4:6:
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
The instruction let your conversation be always full of grace means that believer’s conversation should always be pleasant. Thus, the word “grace” here means “charming, pleasant, attractive.”
Another meaning of grace is that beneficent disposition toward someone, that is, favor, help or care, goodwill shown, or received by another. Grace as a favor that one grants to another without any obligation on the part of the one who grants the favor is reflected in 2 Timothy 1:9:
who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
Grace in this verse is that special favor that God granted us in Christ Jesus.
Another meaning of grace is exceptional effect produced by generosity. Thus, when God enabled the Macedonian believers to be generous towards their fellow believers, especially those in Jerusalem, then that enablement or action of God on them is described by Apostle Paul as His grace in 2 Corinthians 8:1:
And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.
The same enablement or action of God that caused the Corinthians to be generous towards others is described as grace in 2 Corinthians 9:14:
And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.
So, in both passages grace refers to enablement or God’s action on believers that causes them to be generous towards others. Of course, it is in this sense of enablement that results in power that the word “grace” is used by Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
The enablement that God gives that is also described as grace may in fact be understood as “gift.” It is in this sense of the meaning “gift” that the word grace is used in 1 Peter 4: 10:
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
Another general meaning of the Greek word rendered “grace” is a practical act of goodwill. It is in this sense that the word is used in James 4:6:
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
To say that God gives grace in this context means He shows kindness or favor. In other context, grace may mean “kindness” or “love.” This is the sense in John 1:14:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
To say that Jesus is full of grace means that He is full of love and kindness so that grace has the sense of “love” and “kindness.” By the way, to say that Jesus is full of truth means He is the true or complete revelation of God.
Still another meaning of the Greek word translated “grace” is “thanks, gratitude” that is a response to generosity or benevolence one receives. This is the meaning of the word as Apostle Paul used it in Romans 6:17:
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.
Our consideration of these various passages indicates that the Greek word translated “grace” has several meanings. The question is to determine in what sense the apostle used it in 1 Corinthians 3:10. Some take the meaning to be “privilege” as in the REB or kindness as in the Living Bible (LB) or simply “grace.” Nonetheless, it seems to me there are two possibilities in our passage. It could refer to apostle’s spiritual gift or it could refer to special enablement of God that he received. Either interpretation is well attested in the other epistles of the apostle. For example, the apostle refers to the gift God has given him to enable him to write boldly to the Roman believers in Romans 15:15:
I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me.
Grace here is understood differently by interpreters. Some understand it as “privilege” or “gift.” It seems to me that apostle was thinking of the gift he received that enabled him to do what he stated. The concept of special enablement of the apostle in his ministry is referred in Colossians 1:29:
To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
These examples notwithstanding, it is probably that the apostle had in mind both meanings of spiritual gift and the special enablement of God associated with the gift when he wrote the clause of 1 Corinthians 3:10 By the grace God has given me we are considering. In effect, he meant that because of the spiritual gift he has and the associated special enablement of God, he was able to found the church in Corinth. This interpretation is supported by two factors. The first is the word “given” in the clause of 1 Corinthians 3:10 in the NIV By the grace God has given me. It is translated from a Greek word (didōmi) that may mean “to give up” in the sense of dedicating oneself for a specific cause or even to sacrifice, as it is used to describe the sacrificial death of Christ for us in Titus 2:14:
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
The word may mean “to give” in the sense of to grant, as Apostle Paul used it to describe the authority the Lord gave him in 2 Corinthians 13:10:
This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.
The word may be used to describe what God grants or bestows on individuals. Thus, it is used for the gifts that Christ gave to believers following His ascension, as described in Ephesians 4:8:
This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”
It is in the same sense of granting something or someone that the word meaning “to give” is used regarding the Holy Spirit in 1 Thessalonians 4:8:
Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
The word may mean to “entrust”, that is, to put something or someone in the care of another. It is this sense that the word is used in John 6:39:
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
Although our Greek word is translated “given” in this passage of John, the sense of the word is that of “to entrust.” Hence, the Lord Jesus is saying that He would not lose any person the Father had entrusted to His care. It is in the sense of “to grant” that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:10. This meaning is applicable to the idea of the apostle having received spiritual gift that results in special enablement. Thus, this meaning of the word translated “given” in our passage supports our interpretation.
Another factor that supports the interpretation that the apostle in the clause By the grace God has given me meant the spiritual gift he received and the special enablement that goes with that gift, is the manner in which he carried out the founding of the church in Corinth and his qualification for doing it. It is this manner and qualification that he stated in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 3:10 as an expert builder.
We indicated that the phrase as an expert builder is concerned with the manner and qualification of the apostle in the founding of the church in Corinth because of the Greek words used. The phrase as an expert builder is literally from the Greek like a wise master builder. The word “as” in the NIV is translated from a Greek word (hōs) that has several meanings and usages. For example, it may mean “about, nearly, approximately” in the sense that it is used with numeral to describe a degree that approximates a point on a scale of extent, hence it is used to describe approximately the number of believers in the church at a certain point in time in Acts 4:4:
But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.
Although the Greek word has several meanings and usages, but we will consider only that which could be applicable in our passage. The word may mean “as, like” but used in several ways. For example, it may be used as a comparative particle, marking the manner in which something proceeds. Thus, it is used in the instruction of the manner in which husbands should love their wives in Ephesians 5:33:
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
The meaning “as, like” may also be used as conjunction to introduce an example, as it is used with Sarah as the example of a wife that respected and obeyed the husband that all believing wives should emulate, according to 1 Peter 3:6:
like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
The meaning “as” could be used as a marker of introduction to the perspective from which a person, thing, or activity is viewed or understood as to character, function, or role. So, it is in the sense of focus on quality or role that the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe how God evaluated or deemed him and others fit to be entrusted with the gospel, as we read in 1 Thessalonians 2:4:
On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.
It is in this later sense of focus on quality or role that the apostle used it in our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:10. In effect, he focused not only on how God qualified him to carry it out but also in the manner involved in his role in founding the church in Corinth.
The word “expert” of the NIV or “wise” of our literal translation is translated from a Greek adjective (sophos) that was primarily used in classical Greek for a clever person who knows how to do something or construct something, such as buildings, poems, and speeches. Thus, the word pertains to knowing how to do something in a skillful manner and so means “clever, skillful, experienced, expert.” It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used it in rebuking the Corinthians for engaging in lawsuits in the courts presided by unbelievers in 1 Corinthians 6:5:
I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?
The verbal phrase wise enough to judge a dispute between believers is to be understood as a question that inquires if there was no one among the Corinthians that is skillful in deciding dispute between individual believers. The Greek word may pertain to understanding that results in wise attitudes and conduct hence means “wise, prudent” so it can be used to describe being learned and so refers to an individual with intelligence and education above the average person, as that is the sense of the word in Romans 1:14:
I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
The meaning “wise” may refer to a state that is divine and originates from God reflected in one’s conduct, as it is used in Romans 16:19:
Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:10, it is in the sense of one who is skillful that the word is used hence the use of the word “expert” in the NIV although in doing this, it appears that the meaning of our Greek word is subsumed in the next Greek word the apostle used. This next Greek word (architektōn) the apostle used appears only here in the NT; it is from where we get our English word “architect” and it means “a master builder”, that is, one who is more skilled than other builders and so presides over other builders in the building of an edifice. This individual then has authority over other builders. The apostle used the word probably as the one who was initially involved in work of founding the church in Corinth and who is overall responsible for the local church.
The apostle in using the phrase as an expert builder intends to convey to the Corinthians that the Lord qualified him with the skill that was needed in founding the church. The qualification of the apostle by God included the fact that he received direct message of the gospel from the Lord that he preached to the Corinthians. In effect, he reminded the Corinthians that he was unlike the other ministers of the word that had come to them because of the special revelation of God to him so that he was qualified uniquely as he founded their local church. In short, what he wanted the Corinthians to recognize is similar to what the apostle said to the Ephesians regarding the special revelation of the Lord to him that enabled him to present the gospel of Christ, as we read in Ephesians 3:2–8:
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. 7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Furthermore, that apostle implies he stands above the crowd of ministers of the word of God in Corinth regarding the Corinthians since he was the apostle who founded their church. In fact, it is this reminder that the apostle implied later in 1 Corinthians 9:2:
Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
The implication of what we have said in the phrase as an expert builder does not mean that the apostle was boastful or arrogant. No! He stated what is true. He is the one the Lord qualified uniquely and sent to Corinth to found that church. So, while other ministers of the word of God were in Corinth after the apostle left, it is worth reminding the Corinthians that he was the founder of their local church.
The phrase as an expert builder has application to us. First, the phrase puts great responsibility on those who are ministers of the word of God. They should be skilled in the interpretation of the word of God. Being skillful in the interpretation of the word of God begins with being schooled in the word of God preferably through a seminary training so that the person would have the necessary tools to study the word of God. Technology has made it possible that a person could be trained in the seminary without going to a physical campus. He could learn through the internet. It is true that a person could be partially trained by being an understudy of a seasoned pastor but that has its limitation. When a young man studies under such a pastor he will be limited not only in his application of his spiritual gift but to the understanding of the pastor from which he learned unless in an unusual case where such a person could venture beyond the teaching of the pastor through other independent studies. The reason we advocate seminary training for pastors is that they get a foundational understanding of the languages of the Scripture and they receive an overview of the Bible and what it teaches. Attendance to a seminary is a beginning point since such education could hardly make a person an expert or skilled in the interpretation of the word of God. To become skillful in the interpretation of the word of God requires that one so trained should spend time on independent study of the Scripture. This requirement is in keeping with the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul to Timothy, a pastor, in 2 Timothy 2:15:
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
It is as a pastor labors in the study of the word of God that he becomes skilled in the exposition of the Scripture. A pastor who labors to study under the ministry of the Holy Spirit would be the kind of pastor that God uses to advance His word. So, it is important that every pastor becomes skilled in the interpretation of the Scripture. Of course, it is important that the one who has the gift of teaching the word of God should continuously ask for insight or wisdom from God that will enable him to become skilled in the interpretation of God’s word. God wants us to ask for wisdom from Him with the assurance He will grant it, as stated in James 1:5:
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Again, this passage tells us that God will grant wisdom to the one who asks, but we also have an example in the Scripture that indicates He is pleased when we ask for wisdom from Him. I am referring to the example of Solomon recorded in 1 Kings 3:9–12:
9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”10 The LORD was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
The prayer for spiritual insight to God’s word should be a continuous one. In other words, the pastor should continue in prayer, asking for spiritual insight into the word as he studies. Although he may be trained in the seminary, he must not rely on his training as the ultimate means of being skilled in the interpretation of the word of God but on the Holy Spirit who is the teacher of God’s word. I am saying that a pastor should remain conscious of the declaration of Proverbs 3:5:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
The point is that a pastor should study under the ministry of the Holy Spirit so that he will be skilled in the interpretation of the word as he studies. But that is not the only time he should rely on the Holy Spirit, he should also rely on the empowerment of the Spirit as he delivers the content of his study. Anyway, we have focused on the pastor in our application of the phrase of 1 Corinthians 3:10 as an expert builder but it has application to all other believers. This application is that every believer should strive to be under a pastor that is skilled in the teaching of the word of God. Many Christians are drawn to personality of a pastor and so that is their determining factor as to the local congregation they attend. That should not be the determining factor. The governing factor should be how skillful the pastor is in handling the word of God. Hence, you should ensure that you never settle for anything less than receiving proper instruction from a pastor skilled in the teaching of God’s word. In any event, a first major assertion of responsibility of the message we are expounding is that You must be sure you have responded to the gospel message, that is, that you are a member of the church of God in Christ. This responsibility is necessary because that is important in the overall message of our passage which again is this: If you want your activities as a Christian to be rewarded in the future by God then they must be Christ-centered.
10/12/18