1 Coríntios 3
Bob Utley · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 Coríntios 3
Utley add that this "assumes the reality of unspiritual believers (leaders or the factions) damaging the work of the church. Here the emphasis is on the actions of the individual believer. This does not affect their salvation (v. 15) but their longevity and reward. The supreme tragedy of believers living selfish, fruitless lives is the potential of the resources at their disposal. They know the gospel, they have the Spirit, yet they and the church are damaged by their actions. This is where Luke 12:48 speaks loudest! Is it speaking to you?" Jack Arnold - there are some so-called ministers who seek to destroy God’s temple, the church. Apparently there were some who were trying to do this at Corinth. Those ministers who wanted to follow Greek philosophy were trying to destroy that local church. There were also some Judaizers in that assembly who were intent on destroying that body of believers through the false doctrine of salvation by good works. Paul taught that belief in Jesus Christ alone is sufficient for salvation and any other formula is another gospel, and salvation by works is building rotten material on the solid foundation of Christ. The modern day counterpart to these false builders would be the liberal ministers in our churches who deny the deity of Christ, reject an inspired Bible, see Christ’s death as that of a martyr or merely an example of love, accept no literal hell and a hundred other heretical teachings. Another modern counterpart would be the so-called evangelicals who have watered down the gospel to make it acceptable to people so as to gain numbers, success, power and money; the result is no real gospel. If any man destroys (phtheiro in present tense) the temple (naos) of God, (now he gives a "prophetic promise" so to speak) God will destroy (phtheiro) him - Many commentaries suggest things like false doctrine, false teachers, Jewish legalism, "moral corruption (see Wuest's paraphrase above)," (and we know there was some of that defilement but that comes later in the letter in chapters 5-6), etc, and of course each of those things can destroy a church. However what has Paul mentioned specifically as that which would be destructive to the church in Corinth? Here is a prime example of the rule that context is king in interpretation and the corollary axiom - Read the text in context before you read the comments in the commentaries! In context, Paul is speaking of the church and the deadly effect of internal strife and division on the Body (1 Cor 1:11+, 1 Cor 3:3+) (See Ralph Earle below). Division between saints can easily progress to division of (split of) a Church (and if you have been a Christian a few decades, you have likely witnessed this tragic scenario of an established church splitting). To be sure fleshly saints (1 Cor 3:1-2, 3+) are the primary instruments by which a church is divided, the ultimate author of that division is Satan, whose very name devil is the Greek word diabolos, which in turn is from dia (through or between) and ballo (thow). This etymology of diabolos gives us a perfect word picture of Satan's cunning as he wages ceaseless attacks seeking to devour and divide God's spiritual entities, be they a Christian church, a Christian marriage, a Christian ministry, etc. THOUGHT - Let's be brutally honest. We all have had times when we have strongly disagreed with something in the politics of a church we were attending. Now do not misunderstand, I am not referring to teaching which is questionable or even false, because we are called to disagree with such teaching. I am speaking of opinions (color of the rug in the sanctuary, who should do the most preaching, etc, etc). So Paul's solemn warning applies to every man or woman who would dare to incite division in the church, whether by gossip, innuendo, accusations, etc. Paul's strong warning to be a cause to pause for all of us! If it becomes intolerable and you cannot hold your tongue, you should seek godly counsel with the elders or pastor and if you are still unresolved in your heart, it may be time to move on to another church. As sad as that would be, it would be better to mover on than to destroy the church and in turn be destroyed! Deffinbaugh: Don’t Tamper with the Temple --A person can “defile the temple of God” by doing the things for which Paul rebukes the Corinthians. One can defile the temple by dividing it up into little groups and factions. One can defile the temple by forsaking the simplicity of the gospel and seeking wisdom elsewhere. He can defile the temple of God by sexual immorality (chapter 5) or by taking a brother to the law court (chapter 6). God’s temple can be defiled by divorce (chapter 7) or by causing a weaker brother to sin through the insensitive use of your rights as a Christian (chapters 8-10). One can defile the temple of God by misconduct at the Lord’s Supper and the meeting of the church (chapters 11-14). One can also defile the temple by false teaching (chapter 15). Ralph Earle has a reminder which helps understand the contextual meaning of this passage - It must be remembered that this passage is a part of Paul's discussion of the problem of division in the church at Corinth. He devotes the first four chapters of the Epistle to this subject. What he means here, then, is that those who are dividing the church are destroying it. This is because the church of Jesus Christ is a living organism, not just an organization. You can divide a pie into 6 pieces without destroying it; you are just preparing to serve it. This is because a pie is an organization. But if you divide a dog in two, you have destroyed him, because he is an organism. The Corinthian church was being divided into four cliques or parties (1 Cor 1:12+). Thus it was in danger of being destroyed. (Word Meanings in the New Testament) THOUGHT (Similar to above thought but worth repeating) - This passage sounds a solemn warning against those who would do anything to bring about a church quarrel, leading to a church split. In God's sight they have murdered a living organism. The time to take care of problems is in the earliest stage, when they are small. At first in a personal quarrel only two people are involved, and that is all the pastor has to deal with. But if he ignores the problem and lets the quarrel continue, others get involved, and a church fuss is in the making. The problem is much more difficult to handle, because relatives and close friends have formed strong feelings about the situation. The pastor will have to straighten out two groups of people.We could illustrate it this way. When a lion is a little cub, a man might play around with it freely. But when the lion is a year or two old, it isn't as safe to handle! Problems are like that; they get out of hand. And the pastor who tries to handle a church split is likely to get hurt in the process. (Earle) D A Carson is similar to Ralph Earle writing that "1 Corinthians 3, is part of one sustained argument that runs from 1 Cor 1:10 to 1 Cor 4:21 (cf esp 1 Cor 4:6+). Primarily, Paul addresses the deep divisiveness, the wretched factionalism, that plagues the church at Corinth." (The Cross and Christian Ministry - Lessons in Leadership from 1 Corinthians). Jack Arnold - One cannot set out to destroy the church of God without serious repercussions. To destroy God’s holy temple, the Church, is to invite God’s eternal destruction. At the judgment day, the false teachers will fall under the eternal judgment of almighty God and face His wrath for all eternity. God’s judgment will show the false builder what he really is, a Christ-rejecting, God-hating apostate and heretic who is lost forever and will be damned forever. An unwise builder may have a little reward because he is a true Christian, but a false builder will not have any reward because he is not saved. He will face only the judgment of a holy, wrathful God. Now, Christian, can you see how serious one should take the ministry? To be a minister of God is a high and holy calling and an awesome responsibility. If you really desire to be in the fulltime ministry, then sit down and count the cost, for with this high calling comes great responsibility and accountability. Regarding the phrase God will destroy him, Henry Morris (Defender's Study Bible) feels "This destruction must be physical death, not spiritual, for the apostle has just assured us that all in whom the Spirit dwells are eternally saved (1 Corinthians 3:15; 5:5)." Stedman on God will destroy him sees this "destruction" as related to 1 Cor 3:15+ writing "I tried to point out then that what happens is: We come to an awareness that all the effort we have been putting out to impress people with our godliness, our piety, our abilities, etc., come to nothing. They are a waste of time."
1 Coríntios 3
Utley - The term phtheirō (destroy) has several uses in the NT. (1) spoil or corrupt physically (rotting fruit or decaying meat, even metaphorically of spoiling financially) (2) spoil or corrupt morally (breaking the rules of an athletic contest or seducing someone sexually) (3) destroy - physically spiritually eternally. Only the immediate context can determine its meaning. This term in context is referring to saved, but immature, believers who are causing a factious spirit to develop in the church at Corinth. It is hard to define what “destroy” means in this context (cf. Matt. 18:6; Luke 17:1–2; Rom. 14:15; 1 Cor. 5:5; 8:11; 1 Tim. 1:20). While I am on this subject, I personally do not believe this term (and related terms) can legitimately be used to prove the physical annihilation of lost persons but rather their conscious, eternal separation from God (hell). It is even possible that what Paul is referring to here relates to 1 Cor. 5:5 and 1 Tim. 1:20, where the church disciplines one out of their fellowship (but always with the hope and prayer of restoration following repentance). Temple (sanctuary) (3485)(naos) in the Greek culture denoted the "abode of the gods" and was used to refer to a literal structure or building associated with, dedicated to and set apart to be a dwelling place for a deity. either pagan gods (Acts 17:24) or the true God (Mt 23:16). Naos describes the place where a deity was worshipped (cp Zacharias ministering to God in Lk 1:9). Figuratively a believer's body = 1Co 3:16,17 6:19 2Co 6:16 Ep 2:21. Naos in Corinthians - 1 Co. 3:16; 1 Co. 3:17; 1 Co. 6:19; 2 Co. 6:16 Naos referred to the temple proper, including the inner sanctuary, composed of the outer room, the Holy of Holies and the innermost Holy Place. When our Lord taught in the temple, He taught in the hieron, in one of the temple porches. He expelled the money-changers from the hieron, the court of the Gentiles. When the veil of the temple was rent at the time of the death of our Lord (Mt 27:52), it was the veil of the naos, the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. When Zacharias entered the temple to burn incense (Lk 1:9), he entered the naos, the Holy Place where the altar of incense stood while the multitude were in prayer outside he people were “without,” in the hieron (Lk 1:10). Jesus used naos in a figurative to refer to His body as a temple (Jn 2:19, 20, 21). Paul extends this meaning to the individual believer's body as the dwelling place or inner sanctuary of the Holy Spirit (1Co 6:19), the inner sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. Hieron (2413) means holy, hallowed, consecrated and is derived from hieros [2413] which is an adjective meaning sacred, consecrated or belonging to or connected with the gods. The word Hieros or Hieron is distinct from Naos because the former words refer to the complex which is set apart and dedicated to the worship and service of Yahweh. In other words hieron designates the entire sacred enclosure, with its porticos, courts, and other subordinate buildings. Note that Hieron is closely related to hieros (2413) which is the word the NAS translates "Temple." For (gar) - term of explanation. Always begs question "What is being explained?" The temple (naos) of God is holy (hagios), and that is what you are (present tense = continually are) - Paul had used hagios earlier in 1 Cor 1:2+ describing the Corinthians as saints by calling (set apart from the world, the profane and unto God). So here Paul explains his warning in the previous clause by emphasizing one would not want to destroy that which is holy, set apart and to be reverenced. A holy Temple deserves holy behavior, not destructive, divisive behavior. This Bride, the church, is jealously (in a fiercely protective, possessive way) watched over by the Bridegroom, Christ Jesus (cf 2 Cor 11:2 = Paul say "I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy"). Recall that in the OT, if a priest entered the Holy of holies in an "unholy" manner, God would strike him down (cf Ex 28:33-35+). Compare Nadab and Abihu who offered strange fire (Lev 10:1-2+) Kistemaker (NTC-1Cor) writes that "Despite their sins, these believers have been sanctified in Christ and have been called to be holy (1:2). The church is holy because God is holy. A seventeenth-century confession of faith declares: This church has existed from the beginning of the world and will last until the end. That appears from the fact that Christ is the eternal King, from which it follows that he cannot be without subjects. And this holy church is preserved by God against the rage of the whole world. It shall never be destroyed even though for a while it may appear very small and may even seem to be snuffed out. Cornerstone Bible Commentary - this Corinthian building (was) “holy,” a sacred shrine, and desecrating it in any way (was) a sacrilege. Expositor's Bible Commentary - God in His justice and holiness cannot allow part of His holy work to be damaged without bringing retribution. Here is a fitting warning to every Christian minister and worker! Holy (40)(hagios or here from hagos = an "awful thing" in the sense of religious awe or possibly from hazo = to venerate) is literally set apart and thus distinct, holy, different (NOT WEIRD but DIFFERENT!). Hagios is the very word used to describe the Eternal God (1 Pe 1:16+). It means separated from sin and unto the sacred! Uses in Corinthians - 1 Co. 1:2; 1 Co. 3:17; 1 Co. 6:1; 1 Co. 6:2; 1 Co. 6:19; 1 Co. 7:14; 1 Co. 7:34; 1 Co. 12:3; 1 Co. 14:33; 1 Co. 16:1; 1 Co. 16:15; 1 Co. 16:20; 2 Co. 1:1; 2 Co. 6:6; 2 Co. 8:4; 2 Co. 9:1; 2 Co. 9:12; 2 Co. 13:12; 2 Co. 13:13; 2 Co. 13:14; Mark Copeland: I. HOW MIGHT ONE DESTROY THE TEMPLE OF GOD? A. THROUGH RELIGIOUS STRIFE... 1. This was the problem that existed at Corinth - 1 Co 1:10-13 2. It prevented many members from receiving spiritual meat - 1 Co 3:1-2 3. It left such members in a state of carnality - 1 Co 3:3-4 4. Paul warned the churches of Galatia of the dangers of strife - Ga 5:15 -- Where religious strife exists, the temple of God is being destroyed! B. THROUGH DESTRUCTIVE DOCTRINES... 1. Peter warned of the destructive influence of false teachers - 2 Pe 2:1 2. Causing many to follow their destructive ways - 2 Pe 2:2-3 3. Paul also warned of those who lead many astray - Ac 20:29-30 4. The Spirit also expressly warned of such an apostasy - 1 Ti 4:1-3 -- Where false teaching occurs, the temple of God is being destroyed! C. THROUGH SLOTHFUL SERVICE... 1. The slothful person is a brother to one who is a great destroyer - Pro 18:9 2. The devastating effect of sloth can be vividly illustrated a. By Solomon, in the book of Proverbs - Pro 24:30-34 b. By the illustrating the church as a wagon, where some help by pulling or pushing, while others simply go along for the ride, making travel difficult through their dead weight 3. Thus the need for diligent, fervent service to the Lord - Ro 12:11 4. Instead of sluggishness, we ought to serve with faith and patience - He 6:12 -- Where slothful service is found, the temple of God is being destroyed! Stedman on HOW TO DESTROY A CHURCH says destroy is not best translated as destroy (see phtheiro below) for "The word is really not "destroy." We usually think that word means "to eliminate or break apart." But the word is everywhere else translated in the Scriptures "corrupt." It means to damage, to injure, to harm the temple of God.) Nothing can destroy that temple. Jesus said, "On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," (Matthew 16:18KJV). No matter what force is brought against the church, how powerful may be its adversaries, nothing can destroy the temple of God in that sense. But it can be damaged, it can be injured, and that is what Paul is talking about here. He says it is a dangerous thing to destroy or corrupt the temple (the church of God), and God takes a very dim view of anyone who does so, and he will do something about it. (ILLUSTRATION) - We have a very dramatic example of that in the fifth chapter of Acts, where Ananias and Sapphira indulged in a little personal hypocrisy. They pretended to a level of dedication and commitment which they really did not fulfill, and when they came before Peter by the insight of the Spirit he pronounced them guilty, and instantly they both fell dead at Peter's feet (Acts 5:1-10+). That was not intended to be a model of what the Spirit is going to do every time there is hypocrisy in the church because he has never done it since. But It is intended to be a message from God as to what happens spiritually in a church when hypocrisy is allowed to pervade the thinking of the congregation. Something dies; something is damaged; some injury occurs, and God takes it very seriously. Well, how do you damage the church? How do you corrupt the congregation? I think the answer is clear from the context -- we have been looking at this all along. Corruption takes place when someone introduces the wisdom of the world into the life style and the practice of a congregation (ED: WHILE I COULD NOT ARGUE WITH THAT, IT STILL SEEMS THAT THE MAIN ISSUE IN THIS CONTEXT IS DIVISION OF THE MEMBERS). If someone individually chooses to begin to live according to the wisdom and the practice of the world, he begins to corrupt and damage the church. He is building with shoddy material, with wood, hay and stubble which will not stand the test of the fire and therefore he is marring the building of the church. When someone seeks to make the church impressive and powerful by the methods and the standards of the world, he is fulfilling this very thing -- corrupting and damaging the church. So whoever suggests a compromise with the spirit of the age is fulfilling this dangerous thing, especially when he does so at the expense of the teachings of our Lord himself This happens when a church insists on having a hierarchy in the government of a congregation -- someone at the top, someone in authority over everyone else. This is wrong, as our Lord said. "Among the Gentiles they are in authority over one another, but it shall not be so among you," he said {cf, Matt 20:25-26}. Yet how widely that has been ignored and how many churches still today have brought in the hierarchical structure of the world's government into the church. As a result the church is severely damaged by it. This happens when a church permits the lax moral standards of the world to go unjudged within the congregation. (Paul is going to deal more with this as he comes into the next chapters.) It is happening all around us today. Sexual practices widely tolerated in the world are admitted into the church and Christians allow themselves to practice these kinds of things. This damages the church and tears it apart; it destroys and mars what God is doing. This happens when you substitute secular insights and secular authority for guidance in the matter of counseling and discipline problems in a church. This is happening widely in our day. Much of secular counseling is designed to build up the flesh, to make people self-confident. This whole business of Transactional Analysis and Transcendental Meditation is based on the secular view of life, and the church forgets that the secular viewpoint is narrow and limited. It does not take in the whole factor of human life and make-up as God has made man to be. Apart from that understanding, operating only on that very narrow, limited viewpoint, severe damage is done to people in counseling. Although there may be momentary or temporary help, they are locked into a plateau from which they cannot emerge, and this is a way of damaging the church. I think one widespread way of damaging the church today is to allow a congregation to drift into a "mechanical" worship. Perhaps nothing is more deadly than to permit people a kind of outward compliance with the matters of worship and service without any inward, heartfelt commitment to it. That will destroy a church. When Paul wrote to the church at Colossae he saw them severely threatened by three things that were coming into the Church in their worship together: 1. One was formalism. They were going through ceremonies and rituals in a set way as though that was what God was after and not the change of heart that these things represented. That formalistic pattern of worship is a destructive thing to the life of the church that God is seeking to build. 2. The second thing was emotionalism. Many of the Colossians were caught up in a kind of a mystical experience. They were talking about these things and they had forsaken, therefore, clinging to the Head of the body, which is Jesus himself. That was destroying the church, as it does in many places today. 3. And the third thing was an asceticism, a legalistic spirit that was taking pride in its dedicated heart and its willingness to give up so many things, to go in for fasting and beating the body, and not touching certain things. They were glorying in that fact. The apostle saw the church being threatened, choked and sabotaged by these kinds of practices. (1 Corinthians 3:16-23 How To Destroy A Church) Doug Goins - How do we damage or corrupt the church? Looking back at the context to this point, the Corinthians had introduced the wisdom of the world into their decision-making and their teaching. It was hard to tell what was Biblical and what was the secular philosophy of Corinth in that church. They had allowed fleshly competition to defile their fellowship. And they ended up treating each other no differently than any nonbelievers in pagan institutions would. We're going to see in the chapters ahead that there were ugly legal battles between members of the church. There were power struggles in leadership, with teachers and prophets battling for preeminence, position, and influence in the church. The church had permitted lax moral standards to go unjudged within the community; they were living with serious immorality and nobody was saying a word. Their corporate worship life was out of control. Personal experience had become the most important thing in worship, and self-indulgence was the rule. But the good news, the logic of the appeal that Paul is making, is that they don't have to continue living out these destructive attitudes and behaviors. Paul's motive in writing this is to remind the Corinthian Christians of who they are. They don't have to live in contradiction to their true identity as God's holy ones. I believe that one of our desperate needs in the church is to recapture this vision of what God intends us to be. Most of us tend to take our life together too lightly. Seldom do we sense that our church can be an experience of community that is so powerfully indwelt by the Spirit that it is a genuine alternative to the pagan world that surrounds us. In closing, let me ask you three important questions, going back through this passage. The first one has to do with the issue of foundation. Jesus Christ is the foundation. Are you committed to Jesus Christ alone and to his apostolic word as the only foundation for our church? Or do we need Christ crucified plus other foundational issues on which to build our church? Let me ask you about this issue of the process of building the superstructure. What kind of workmanship and materials are you building into your brothers and sisters in this church? Have you become invested in building materials that won't stand the test? I remembered last week as I was studying this, the wasted effort that I put into several human systems based on worldly wisdom, especially in my earlier years in ministry. These were philosophical, managerial, and psychological systems that became far more important to me than the gospel itself. They were relational wood, hay and stubble. The ironic thing is that I've seen all that modern wisdom swept away by newer combustible materials. The last question concerns this issue of the nature of the church, our identity. Do you take the church and your identity as a saint, a holy, set-apart one in this holy temple of God, as seriously as he does? The good news is that we don't have to go on living with the Corinthian casualness Paul has exposed here. We must examine our hearts and see what is Corinthian and what is Christian, what is from below and what is from above. ILLUSTRATIONS - We had a wedding yesterday. What a mess. The families were seated. The groom and his attendants were in their places. I was waiting at the front, Bible in hand. The bridesmaids and flower girl had come down the aisle. Ruth began to play the organ, and everyone stood. We could not believe our eyes. The birde came limping down the aisle. Her gown was ripped and covered with mud. One eye was purple and swollen. Her hair was a mess. She had been fighting with her sisters and brothers again. We all thought to ourselves, "Doesn't the groom deserve better than this?"This didn't really happen, of course. It is but a parable of what happens when Christ's bride, the church, has fights and quarrels and divisions. A church so divided brings shame upon the Lord. A church so divided, wounds and destroys the body. Did you know that when a group of thorough-bred horses face attack, they stand in a circle facing each other and, with their back legs, kick out at the enemy. Donkeys do just the opposite; they face the enemy and kick each other! How often the church does just that – acting like donkeys by attacking fellow believers. Nikita Khrushchev once boasted that he would exhibit the last Soviet Christian on television by 1965. Khrushchev has since gone to give account of himself to the Judge of all mankind, and his deadline for the extinction of Christianity in Russia has also passed. Throughout history, so-called big men and little men have strutted across the stages of life defying God and attacking the church. But as with Khrushchev they too have failed and have been called to appear before the Judge of the living and the dead. - Adrian Dieleman ILLUSTRATION OF GOD WILL DESTROY HIM - Steven
1 Coríntios 3
Utley - Many of the leaders of the factions at Corinth thought they were mature and wise, but they were self-deceived.
1 Coríntios 3
Utley adds it is foolish "because it is based on limited, worldly, finite, fallen knowledge." Paul is speaking of course of spiritual things, not things like how to solve a math problem, how to build a warm house, etc. Human wisdom is fine for the secular activities everyone must pursue (although even there is good to always seek the Lord's wisdom, will and way). In the context of the spiritual division in the Corinthian church, only God's wisdom would correct the problem. Men's ways were (and are) foolishness before God. Hodge on the wisdom of this world - “Even truth or true knowledge becomes folly, if employed to accomplish an end for which it is not adapted.” As