Overview
First Corinthians 3 uses two pictures to correct misplaced glory. In the agricultural analogy, ministers plant and water, but God gives the increase. In the construction analogy, Jesus Christ is the only foundation. Rev. Rico Magnelli shows how these truths remove pressure, prevent personality-centered Christianity, and help believers work together as servants without boasting in people.
Transcript
Two Analogies: God’s Field and God’s Building
Please turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. I’d like to take a little bit of time and consider, let no man glory in men. Here in this chapter of 1 Corinthians 3, Paul handles two analogies. The first one is agricultural and the second one is constructional.
The point with the agricultural is simple. God gives the increase, not men. The second analogy is constructional.
There is only one point there as well, and that is there’s only one foundation, that’s Jesus Christ, not men. First one is agricultural and the second one is constructional. It’s summed up in chapter 3 verse 21, therefore let no man glory in men.
That’s it. We’re going to read this through. I think you’re going to get really blessed.
Carnality, Division, and Personality-Centered Faith
Verse 1 of chapter 3, and I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. Those are infants. The Corinthians were carnal Christians.
They were born again, but they were carnal in their approach. They were dominated. They were born again, but they were dominated by natural knowledge, not spiritual knowledge.
They were infants in Christ. I 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, dominated by their natural knowledge.
For where there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as men? That was the fruit, envy, strife, and divisions, and these envies and strifes and divisions were based on different groups. They were based on groups according to men. Look at the next verse.
For while one saith, I am of Paul, another, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal? There was the Paul group. There was the Apollos group, and keep your finger here and look at chapter 1. Let me show you how the book opens. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, it says in verse 11, For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
Now this I say, that every one of you said, I am of Paul, I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, that’s Peter, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Back to chapter 3. It really helps to set things straight, because the whole point here is that no man should glory in men. Now he’s going to go into two different analogies.
Ministers Plant and Water, but God Gives the Increase
The first agricultural, verse 5. Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos? But ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted. We know that can’t be literal.
It’s a figure of speech. It’s an agricultural analogy. I have planted.
Apollos watered. When you plant something, you follow with water. But here’s the whole point.
But God giveth the increase. God makes things grow. We plant, we water.
As ministers, we plant, we water. That’s part of what we’ve been called to do. But we never forget the point.
Who gives the increase? God. It’s so simple, it’s amazing. Now he that planted, and he that watereth are one.
That means they’re one in purpose. They work together, the planting and the watering. Sometimes I water, sometimes I plant.
Sometimes I follow after you, and I water what you planted, and so forth. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. Absolutely.
And we’ll find out more about that in a minute. For we are laborers together with God. You’re God’s husbandry.
We Are Laborers Together With God
You’re God’s building. This is where the analogy switches. You’re God’s husbandry.
Husbandry is a field. What do you do in a field? You till it, you plant, and you water. Right? Simple.
But what is the whole point? God gives the increase. Now he’s going to switch. You’re God’s building.
Now he’s going to move to a constructional analogy. For according to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon.
For other foundation can no man lay that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So now moving to this analogy, what is he saying? He’s saying there’s one point here. When it comes to our building, there’s only one foundation.
It’s not built on any man. It’s not built on any person. Because like I said, the whole point of this third chapter is, therefore, let no man glory in men.
This is quite revealing. This is exceptional for our understanding. Because we want to be wise master builders.
We want to build on the proper foundation. Whenever we build in a conversation or a relationship or anything that we do, we’re building something. And we want it to be on the right foundation.
And that right foundation is the accomplished work of Jesus Christ given to us by the grace of God. That’s the proper foundation. Then our interactions amongst ourselves, no problem.
Terrific. Fantastic. Now, does that mean that we have no role whatsoever? No.
Look at chapter 11, please. Look at chapter 11, verse 1. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Paul is not saying that I’m invisible.
I don’t do anything. Don’t listen to me. I have nothing valuable.
The Gospel Comes in Word and Power
That’s not what he’s saying. These verses bring it back in balance. God is the one that gives the increase.
There’s only one foundation, Jesus Christ. But yes, we minister that word. And the word followers is imitators.
So someone has got to model what Christ was like. That’s the mentoring. That’s the teaching.
That’s the example. Someone’s got to model it. Paul’s dead.
The squirrels are not going to model Christ. The whales are not going to model Christ. The chickens are not going to model Christ.
Somebody with Christ in them has got to model Christ. But it doesn’t mean it stops with that person. Does that make sense? It doesn’t stop there, because we are followers of Christ, as I am of Christ.
That’s what Paul is saying. So be an imitator. Imitate what Paul was doing that led them to Christ, not to Paul, to Christ.
Now, it’s interesting that Paul says this here, because the Corinthians hadn’t really reached that level of the victory that they had in Christ. He could only preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Remember that? Now look at 1 Thessalonians, please, chapter 1. This is a different scenario.
This church, the Thessalonian church, had already accepted the crucifixion and the resurrection power. They needed someone to model the Lord for them. They needed someone to model the Lord for them.
And that’s exactly what happens. Look at this. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse 5. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit.
And in much assurance, as you know, what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers, imitators. Somebody’s got to model it though.
Look, of us and of the Lord. It doesn’t say Christ. This church was already on a higher level than the Corinthian church.
They moved very quickly and accepted the full package of Jesus Christ and were ready to move into that relationship, that Lordship. Having received the word in much affliction with joy, the Holy Spirit, so that you were in samples, all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. You couldn’t say the Corinthian church were examples.
They weren’t. The Thessalonians were. Back to 1 Corinthians.
So why is this so significant? Because we consistently plant in water, but we never, never are one thought away from forgetting we don’t give the increase. It takes all the pressure off. We increase nothing.
Only God takes all the pressure off. And then when it comes to building we’re always endeavoring to bring people back to the foundation, which is Jesus Christ, not ourselves. We preach Christ Jesus the Lord and not ourselves.
Jesus Christ Is the Only Foundation
Back to 1 Corinthians. 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, but because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. Fire is used as a cleansing at times in the word.
It’s like a purifying. If it passes through the fire, it’s good. See, the point here is not what is the gold, the silver, the precious stones, the wood, the hay, the stubble.
That’s not the point. It’s like it’s not the point about planting and watering. The point is simple.
God gives the increase in the agricultural analogy and the foundation in building anything of worth in this life is Jesus Christ. So the materials are all figurative. He’s just continuing with the building analogy.
If the foundation is right, then there’s going to be profit. That’s the point. If any man’s work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
Any man’s work shall be burned, shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. In other words, it doesn’t affect the individual. It’s just the labor.
If it’s off that foundation, won’t work. Know ye not that you 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. It’s not talking about the person.
It’s talking about the work that was not built on the right foundation. 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. What is this talking about? Glorying in men. People glory in men all the time.
Now we saw that you still can be a follower and not glory in men because someone has to model Christ. Someone has to model what it is to walk in the Lord. Absolutely.
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. That’s why we don’t glory in men.
We bring everybody back to Jesus Christ every time without exception. Now can I model Christ for people? Absolutely. Can you model Christ for people? Absolutely.
Let No Man Glory in Men
Can you model what it’s like to be in the Lord? Absolutely. But that doesn’t stop with me and it doesn’t stop with you. It’s got to be the full course, if you will.
Now the key verse. Therefore, verse 21, let no man glory in men. That’s the point.
That’s what Paul is trying to teach the Corinthians. He uses an agricultural analogy, then he uses a constructional analogy. With the agricultural, the point is simple.
We can do all this labor, no problem, but only God gives the increase. With the constructional, we can build, be as a wise master builder, but the key to our building is there’s only one foundation, there’s only one man you can build anything of value on, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, let no man glory in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours.
Why? Because we’re sons of God and ye are Christ and Christ is God. So let no man glory in men. The world will endeavor to encroach in our minds.
Work Together Without Taking God’s Place
The world will endeavor to break us down so we start glorying in men. No, we don’t glory in men. We don’t break off into groups, you know, the Paul group, the Apollos group, the Cephas group.
That’s not what it is. There’s one foundation, Jesus Christ, and when we plant and water, we can work as a team, like it says, as one, but we still remember that God gives the increase. So I think this is important and significant to go over as we continue to build and as we continue to work together as a team, that the influences of the world of the wisdom of men, which is vain, does not come in.
Don’t entertain it, don’t allow it. We work together to plant and water. We understand that God gives the increase, takes all the pressure off, and we understand that as we build, there’s only one foundation to lay it on, and that is the accomplished work of Jesus Christ.
It’s finished, it’s done, and we move in that grace.
Key Takeaways
- Ministers are servants through whom people believe; God alone gives the increase.
- Personality-centered Christianity produces carnality, comparison, and division.
- Jesus Christ is the only foundation for anything of lasting spiritual value.
- Believers can work together as one team without glorifying individual people.
- Recognizing God’s role removes pressure from service and allows believers to move in grace.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to let no man glory in men?
It means refusing to place spiritual confidence, identity, or ultimate credit in human leaders instead of God and Jesus Christ.
Who gives the increase in Christian service?
People may plant and water by teaching and serving, but God gives the increase.
What is the only foundation of the Christian life?
Jesus Christ is the only foundation on which believers can build anything of lasting spiritual value.
Scripture References
- 1 Corinthians 3:1–23
- 1 Corinthians 1:10–31
- 1 Thessalonians 1:5
- 1 Thessalonians 2:1–13
Verification note: This page was prepared from a machine-generated transcript. Transcript wording, names, and Scripture quotations should be checked against the original audio and the intended Bible translation before publication.
