1 Corinthians 3: 1-15According to verses 1-4, when we have envy, strife, and divisions we are being carnally minded.
As in verse 4, ‘one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos,’ we must remember we have not come to convert the people of La Ciudad to Baptist or even Southern Baptist, but are here to present to them the ‘good news’, praying the Spirit of God will convict them of sin, grant them repentance, and regenerate them to become followers of Christ. To think otherwise is to be carnally minded.
Verse 6 says, ‘I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.’
As Christians we are to be about witnessing and spreading the gospel message to those around us. As the parable of the sewer (or the seed) the seed may indeed fall upon various grounds, but how then shall the seed find the good ground unless we are willing to plant and water with the abilities God has given us? We shouldn’t choose by outward appearance to where or whom to plant and water, but obey the moving of the Holy Spirit.
Verse 9 says, ‘For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.’
As Christians we must remember that
by grace through faith we have been converted – by God – ‘
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.’ For it is Christ who is the ‘
author and finisher of our faith’ knowing
He which hath begun the a good work in us continues to
work in us to do His good pleasure.
For this cause, we see in verse 7, ‘So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.’ This does not mean our service to God means nothing, for Romans 10 shows God uses men to further the gospel in that it ask ‘how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?’ And here in 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 13 it declares, ‘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,’ and so shall there be reward and loss based on our honest deeds toward God and the spreading of His gospel message. Honest deeds means our heart also, not just what we see each other do on the outside, for the Pharisees appear good on the outside but were corrupt within.
What this does mean is that we are not the focal point, nor is it us or our ideas which save the lost. God and His gospel of Jesus Christ is the focal point, and He is the one who saves sinners. I mean, what is it that we plant and water? We must choose to plant and water that which God has provided, for if not, we will sin in planting and watering with man-made ideas and quick ‘easy believism’ schemes which may show numbers, but not truly converted hearts. Verse 11 states, ‘For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’
The only way that we can be ‘labourers together with God’ is to preach and teach the same gospel message He has already declared through Jesus Christ. We must humbly submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to work through us, using that which He has given us through Scripture, so that souls will be saved, lives changed, and He receives all of the glory. We do not glory in ourselves when a soul comes to Christ, but glory in the One who has opened our eyes to see and our ears to hear, the One who has given us the seed and the water and works in us to plant and water wherever His Spirit shall lead us, that others may come to know Him also.
The initial trip of our church in 2006 was but a few people. Joining the missionary in Mexico, they prayed that God would lead them to a place we could share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was then that La Ciudad was laid upon their hearts.
