Carnal Christians and Godly Ministers

The sermon opens with Paul directly confronting the carnal condition of the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 3:1–4). Although these people were brothers and sisters in the faith, they were still thinking and living according to the flesh rather than the Spirit. Paul distinguishes three categories of people: the natural, unregenerate person; the spiritually mature person; and the carnal person — a saved Christian who is still significantly dominated by the flesh in many areas of life.

The clearest evidence of carnality was the envy, strife, and divisions present in the church. Rather than glorifying God, the Corinthians were glorifying leaders such as Paul and Apollos. Paul reminds them that ministers are merely instruments — one plants, another waters — but God alone gives the increase. Each worker will receive a reward according to their own labor, not according to gifts, popularity, or apparent success.

Paul uses the metaphors of a building and a temple to describe the work of constructing the church. The only foundation is Jesus Christ, and every minister must take care how they build upon it. On the Day of judgment, fire will test each person's work — gold, silver, and precious stones will endure, while wood, hay, and straw will be burned up. Some will be saved, but their life's work will be lost, as one escaping through fire.

The church is the temple of God because the Spirit of God dwells within it. Paul gives a stern warning: anyone who defiles the temple of God will be destroyed by God, for His temple is holy. This applies both to individuals and to the community of believers as a whole.

The sermon concludes with a call to glorify God through true wisdom. Those who consider themselves wise by worldly standards must be willing to become fools in the world's eyes in order to receive true wisdom from God. Rather than boasting in human leaders, Christians must recognize that all things belong to them in Christ — and they belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.