Building The House
By Jonathan Mitchell
Comments on 1 Cor. 3:8-17
8. Now the one continually planting and the one continually irrigating are one (exist being a unit), yet each one will receive his own wage (pay; compensation) corresponding to his own labor (toil).
9. For we are God's fellow-workers (or: we are co-workers of, and from, God, and are people who work together with God; we exist being workings-together who belong to God, synergies of God; attending deeds which are God). You folks are God's farm (or: field under cultivation), God's building (or: construction project from God; structure which is God; or: an act of building pertaining to God).
So we should conclude that, since Paul, Apollos and Cephas "are one," there should be no division within the community. They "exist being a unit," but we see that they had different functions. Thus, they were not necessarily saying the same things (planting is different from watering), nor was it needful for them to theologically or ontologically agree or have the same spiritual perceptions. The sent-forth folks are laborers in God's vineyard, and God says and does different things to different people, and at different times. Both the Seed and the Water have Life, but they are not existentially identical. Even their "labor" is different. Still, they are all "fellow-workers," not one being above or more important than another. The called-out, covenant communities comprised "God's farm."
Notice that those who "labor" in God's field/farm/vineyard will receive compensation, a "salary." God is fair. He does not treat us as slaves, even though He owns us (6:20; 7:23, below; Mat. 13:46). The word "labor" in vs. 8 is synonymous with the term "work," in vs. 13, below. Paul speaks of "hard work" in 15:10 and 16:16, below, as well as in 1 Thes. 3:5; Gal. 4:11; Rom. 16:12. This is an important concept for Paul.
These folks are "God's fellow-workers." What a statement! What a privilege. What a vocation! Consider the other options that are on offer:
a) we are co-workers of, and from, God, and are people who work together with God;
b) we exist being workings-together who belong to God;
c) we are synergies of God;
d) we are attending deeds which are God.
Notice the semantic range between being a "worker," and being a "working/synergy/deed" that is "of" and "belongs to" God. The options b, c and d picture them as embodiments, or incarnations, of the workings of God. We (both individually and corporately) are the vessel that He has formed; we are God's opus - cf Jer.1:9; 12:14-14; 18:2-6; 24:6 - God's new creation (or, "God's construction project" - vs. 9). But being a "fellow-worker," or "a co-worker of, and from, God" puts them, and us, right alongside God: people working in the same field where God is working, laboring on the same farm, right alongside Him, where He is LABORING. Yes, God is still here, working among us. Recall what Jesus said, in Jn. 5:17,
"My Father is continuously working and keeps on being in action until the present moment (or: up to right now); I, Myself, also am continually working (or: and so I Myself continue active, regularly performing in [His] trade)."
Then there is Phil. 2:13,
"for you see, God is the One habitually operating with inward activity, repeatedly working within, constantly causing function and progressively producing effects within, among and in union with you folks - both the [condition] to be habitually willing (intending; purposing; resolving) and the [situation] to be continuously effecting the action, repeatedly operating to cause function and habitually setting at work so as to produce - for the sake of and over the pleasing good form and the thinking of goodness in delightful imagination."
Now the last phrase,
"God's building (etc.),"
changes the metaphor, but the subject remains the same: Paul, Apollos, Cephas - or whoever God would send forth to continue building His temple. Have you ever thought of yourself as "God's construction project"? It's the same as being the pot that is being molded, on His potter's wheel (Jer. 18:2-6). Note here that the Greek oikodomè can also be rendered "act of building," and so answers to "attending deeds, etc.," of 9a, above. The two pictures fit well together. Cf 2 Cor. 6:1; Phil. 4:3; 1 Thes. 3:2; Philemon 24.
The genitive/ablative form of the term "God" offer's these rendering which could modify either of the terms "farm" or "building." For simplicity I only applied them to the second word: "construction project from God (the ablative); structure which is God (apposition); or: an act of building pertaining to God (genitive of relationship)." Each rendering is worthy of our consideration and meditation. Regarding of his work among them, in 2 Cor. 10:8 Paul spoke,
"concerning our privilege from out of Being (or: right and authority) - which the Lord [= Christ or Yahweh] gives us with a view unto edification and up-building (construction into being a house)..."
Then in 2 Cor. 12:19b we read:
"Down [here] in God's stead and place, we are constantly speaking within Christ and in union with [the] Anointing. And the whole (all [these] things), beloved ones, [is (are)] over (on behalf of) your edification (your upbuilding; the construction of your house)."
10. Corresponding to, in accord with, and to the level of, God's grace and favor [which are] being given to (or: by) me, as [being] a skillful master-carpenter (wise chief-builder; clever head-artisan; learned, insightful leading-stonemason; like a wise architect, engineer, foreman or director of works) I lay [other MSS: have laid] a foundation (or: laid a foundation [Stone]), yet another is progressively building a house upon [it]. Now let each one continue watching to observe (= take care) how he keeps on building the house upon [it] (or: upon the house),
11. for you see (or: For it follows that) no one can (or: continues able to; is having power to) lay another foundation (or: to place or set another foundation [Stone] of the same kind) beside (or: in addition to and distinct from) the One lying (or: continuing being laid): which is (continues being) Jesus Christ (Jesus [the] Anointed One; = Jesus, [the] Messiah).
In the first clause of vs. 10, I conflated three ways of rendering the preposition kata, which lead us to ponder the fact that Paul worked among them:
a) Corresponding to God's grace and favor; -- all that he did in presenting Christ crucified to them corresponded to God' grace and favor; laying the Foundation among them was not in relation to the Law, but to grace;
b) In accord with God's grace; -- there was an accord between the grace of God and the work of Jesus Christ;
c) To the level of, God's grace and favor; -- this calls to mind Rom. 8:38-39,
"For you see, I have been persuaded and now stand convinced that neither death, nor life (or: living existence), nor agents (or: messengers), nor sovereignties (rulers; those in prime position; or: beginnings), nor things being now here (being placed within, at present), nor things about to be (impending, or about to consecutively come), nor powers (or: capabilities), nor height (effect of being high), nor depth (or: deep places), nor any other or different created thing (or: founded thing; institution; = the Law; = old covenant; = adversaries) will be having power or be able to separate, divide or part us from God's Love (or: from the acceptance from God; from the urge toward reunion, which is God; God's full giving of Himself to us) which is within Christ Jesus, our Owner (Lord; Master; Possessor)."
The level of His Grace is the level of His Love - both aspect of Him are what we call "infinite."
The indirect object "me," which follows the verb "being given" (i.e., by God - the divine passive) is in the dative case which can be rendered "to me," signifying that Paul is the recipient of this gift of grace, or, it can function as instrumental, "by me," indicating that Paul is the "dispenser" of the Grace-and-Favor from God, or which is God. The next word that introduces Paul's building metaphor can be rendered as a simile, "as [being]," or as a metaphor, "like," as given in the parenthetical expansion. I owe this observation to Conzelmann (ibid p 75).
Either makes sense, and the difference is a fine point: had he acted "like a wise architect, etc.," and all the detail-oriented considerations which that would imply, or had he more existentially worked with them "as [being]" God's "skillful master-carpenter, etc."? Probably both. But just consider all that these terms (in their expressions of the semantic range of the word architektòn) imply. This is so much more than simply preaching a little sermon. And here, Paul is speaking only about "laying a foundation" of the Christ community in Corinth. Following his work among them, "another is progressively building a house upon [it]." Specifically, Apollos.
The first clause of vs. 11 is likely an allusion to Isa. 28:16-17,
"Behold, I am laying a foundation stone in Zion, a choice stone, a precious corner, a well-formed foundation.... And I will make right judgment the measuring tape, and righteousness the plummet..." (CVOT). Cf Ps. 118:22; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:6-8
Now keep in mind the subject of Paul's discussion is still speaking of Apollos, Cephas and himself (or; others like them, i.e., sent-forth emissaries, teachers, community leaders, etc.; in other words, God's fellow-workers), in vs. 10, not about the Corinthians, themselves. The Corinthian community was the building UPON which these folks were working. Paul recognizes that the work that he does among the called-out groups is "skilled" work, because of the "level of God's" grace that was being given through him. He had laid the foundation for their community - which vs. 11 identifies as being Jesus Christ - and now he is speaking to, and about, other "builders" and "artisans" that had, and still would, come among them. But as with the agriculture metaphor, above, where the increase comes from God, so too here, the progressive building of His house was a work of God's Spirit within, and among, the people. Jesus identified Himself as doing this, in Mat. 16:18,
"I will progressively be constructing and building up My house - the called-out, covenant community."
Paul said it this way, in Eph. 2:
19. Consequently then, you folks no longer continuously exist being strangers (foreigners) and sojourners, but in contrast, you continually exist being fellow-citizens of those set apart to be sacred people (or: folks residing together in a City belonging to, and composed of, the holy ones): even God's family (members of God's household),
20. being fully built as a house upon the foundation from the sent-forth representatives and prophets, Jesus Christ continuously being a corner-foundation [stone] of it,
21. within, and in union with, Whom all the home-building, being continuously fitted [and] progressively framed together (closely and harmoniously joined together; made a common joint by a word), is continuously and progressively growing into a set-apart temple within [the] Lord.
So Paul continues by giving a warning admonition:
"let each one continue watching to observe (= take care) how he keeps on building."
They are not to try to lay some other foundation (vs. 11). The continued building of the communities should not be based upon either philosophies or on past traditions, such as those of the old covenant. This was not a continuation of the Law and the Prophets. Recall what God said to Peter, Jacob and John when Moses (a figure of the Law) and Elijah (a figure of the Prophets) had appeared with Jesus on the mount:
"This Man continues existing being My Son!... Make it a habit to listen, to continue paying attention, and then to [really] hear Him (implies: obey Him)!" (Mat. 17:5)
Now look at Mat. 17:8,
"Now, upon lifting up their eyes, they saw no one (or: not even one person) except Him - only Jesus."
They were no longer to be listening to either the Law, or the Prophets. We have a second witness to this in Heb. 1:1-2,
"Long ago, in many parts and in (or: with; by) much-traveled ways consisting of many turns and directions, God, having spoken to the fathers - in the prophets - yet upon [the] last of these days He spoke to (or: speaks for and concerning; discourses in; makes conversation with) us in a Son whom He placed [as; to be] Heir of all (or: One who receives all humanity as an allotment)."
Considering the letters which Paul wrote to Galatia, and then would later write to Rome, we suspect that Paul was referring to the Judaizers, who desired to bring the Corinthians under the Law of Moses. But there were also Jewish strains of Gnosticism developing in areas such as Alexandria, and Paul may have had concerns about these. Much of his secret/mystery language may have been aimed at reaching folks in those religions, as well. The admonition, here, would apply to any sort of building that folks might do, but this one aspect of other teachers seems to have been Paul's immediate concern. They were not to construct another religion, or even form a new sect of Judaism.
Furthermore, if they were attempting to build upon the Christ,
"no one can (or: continues able to; is having power to) lay another foundation (or: to place or set another foundation [Stone] of the same kind)."
If they were to do so, it would not be a body of Christ. It may have truth in it, but it would be someone else's building - even perhaps Moses', again (Heb. 3:2)? To what might Heb. 6:1b-2 refer?
"not again repeatedly conceiving (or: laying; casting down; putting down) a foundation which involves a change of mind with a turning away from dead works (or: observances), and of faith and trust upon God; of teachings of immersions (baptisms), besides a placing-on of hands; and then of resurrection of dead ones - as well as of the results of an eonian decision (or: the effects of an unspecified separation, or a judgment which pertains to and has the quality of an age)!"
Would this describe the baptism of John the immerser? His movement carried on, after him (Acts 18:25). Since that is what Apollos had known, could Paul be referring to that movement as a different foundation? Whichever, even on the true Foundation, they were to take care how they built. So...
12. Now if anyone proceeds building a house (a superstructure) upon the [other MSS: this] Foundation - gold and silver [with] precious (valuable) stones; wood [and] thatching: herbage (or: grass; hay) [or] stalk (or: straw; stubble) -
13. each one's work will make itself to be visible in clear light (or: will become apparent), for the Day will continue making [it] evident (showing [it] plainly). Because it is being progressively unveiled (continually revealed) within the midst of Fire, and the Fire, Itself, will progressively test, examine and put to the proof what sort of work each one's exists being.
The "clear light" come from "the midst of the Fire." The Fire comes to
"progressively test, examine and put to the proof what sort of work each one's exists being."This may be an allusion to Mal. 3:
"[The] Lord, whom you folks seek, will suddenly come to His temple.... for He [is] like a refiner's Fire... and He will sit [as] a refiner and purifier of silver the sons of Levi [= those of the priesthood] and will purify them as gold and silver" (vss. 1-3).
Correct translation of the verb "unveiled (revealed)," in the third clause, is vital for understanding the proper context and time frame of vss. 12-13. The NIV, ESV, NRSV all render the verb as being in the future tense. The NASV renders it properly, as the present tense that it is, but then they add "to be" (in italics), "is to be revealed." These versions reflect biased translating that fits into an interpretation that assumes Paul to be speaking of a future event, rather than an ongoing process, as the Greek text clearly shows. Because it is an ongoing process, Paul uses future tense in the other verbs,
"will make itself to be visible,.. will continue making [it] evident... will progressively test..."
But the Fire of God is always at work, and our ongoing, or completed, work
"is being progressively unveiled (continually revealed) within the midst of Fire."
This is not speaking about some future, so-called "End Time" event. It is "continually revealed" as to what sort of work it is. Building inspectors check the progress being made by the workmen, as a building is being constructed. When they find that errors have been made, they issue a "stop work" order, until corrections are made. They do not wait until the project is finished to order corrections, if they see that inferior or improper material is being used. The work is repeatedly checked against the plans and the appropriate building codes. God does not wait until "the end of time" or some theoretical return of Christ to institute corrective measure.
Fire was a time-honored figure for "testing" the quality of work, the purity of the materials or the honesty of the workmen/builders. Notice that Paul says exactly is:
"the Fire, Itself, will progressively test, examine and put to the proof what sort of work each one's exists being."
In Scripture, Fire is a symbol for God in His creative or corrective work within His creation, and among the people that He has made. In Paul's metaphor, the "building" is His people (vs. 9, above). Specifically here, it is the corporate community in Corinth, for in vs. 17, below, he affirms to them (regarding the building of which he is speaking in vss. 12-17) that it is:
"God's Temple - which you folks, yourselves, are (exist being)."
A literal fulfillment of this symbolic Fire came upon the Judean leadership in AD 70, and the temple was burned, along with the city. That was a "Day" of the Lord. But the term "Day" also symbolized the time of the Messiah - which came with Jesus, and continued on into our present time. It was a Day of deliverance (6:2, below), and they were
"sons of (from; associated with and having the qualities of; or: which are) Light and sons of (from; associated with and having qualities of; or: which are [the]) Day!" (1 Thes. 5:5).
The work of the Spirit, among them, was shining the Light on the works of the people at that very time - and this is why Paul was able to see the wood, hay and stubble that had been placed among them causing division and other maladies. Paul was "the Light of the world" for them (Mat. 5:14a), and the City of Corinth (which was symbolically on Mt. Zion - Heb. 12:22) could not be hidden from him (Mat. 5:14b). Before his eyes, they were standing at the "judgment seat of Christ" (5:3, below; cf Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10).
Now do not miss or confuse the purpose of the Fire: it is not to burn the person, but rather, quoting this again, it is to "test, examine and put to the proof what sort of work each one's exists being." Paul was observing that the divisive adherence to one teacher against another was the result of building with inappropriate materials (selfish, dividing attitudes that lacked love for one another). His words to them here were like what we read of God's witnesses, in Rev. 11:5,
"Fire [the Spirit of God] was proceeding out of [his] mouth."
We read about another example of this in Acts 16:18. These are just examples of Christ's ongoing evaluations and decisions among humans. Consider this context with his words in 6:3, below:
"Have you not seen so as to know that we shall continue sifting, separating, evaluating and making decisions about agents (or: will continue judging messengers) - why not, indeed, the affairs and business matters of everyday life?"
Also, observe what he says to the entire community, below, in ch. 14:
30. Yet if it may (or: should) be unveiled (revealed; disclosed) to another being seated, let the first hush, and keep silent,
31. for you all continue able (constantly have power) to be repeatedly prophesying, one by one, to the end that everyone (all) can be learning, and everyone (all) can be called alongside to receive relief, aid, comfort and encouragement (may receive the benefits of the Paraclete).
Their "decision" should be burning out wood, hay and stubble - immediately! Someone may be adding junk to the Corinthian community - and that would need to cease at once. We are seeing Paul as bringing a Fire to that situation (via this letter, etc.). Just as Jesus confronted Saul on the road to Damascus, so now Paul here confronts the community leaders to renounce these divisions and center on "Christ crucified." More and more we are seeing the "judgment seat of God/Christ" as being here and now, through the Anointing of His witnesses and "workers."
Why would the Lord wait until some future time to make the correction of getting rid of the "wood, hay and stubble"? His Fire is here with us now (as it was on the Day of Pentecost, which made the covenant communities to be Lampstands (Rev. 1:20b) -- the Light/Fire of the world). God's judgment is not "punishment," but correction and adjustment. We need to rid ourselves of thinking in terms of some far off "end of time" mentality. Paul was not giving the Corinthians eschatology that would have no benefit to them. He was speaking to his and their present time. They needed to immediately let God's Fire burn out all that wood, hay and stubble. Notice that the One constantly walking among the communities (Rev. 2:1) had
"feet like white brass (or: bronze; fine copper) as having been set on fire in a furnace" (Rev. 1:15).
And His words to them, in those two chapters (Rev. 2 & 3), were words of judgment and adjustment -- for right then and there, in Asia Minor.
Here, the gold, silver and jewels (or: valuable stones - as in Rev. 21:11-12, 18-21) - were people within the community who had been tested by God's Fire, and could now be trusted to speak God's wisdom and revelation/teaching. The New, heavenly Jerusalem of Rev. 21 is a composite City that is made up of all the "buildings" such as the one being described here, in 1 Cor. 3. These metaphors describe those who are "joined to the Lord," as described in 6:17, below.
14. If anyone's work which he or she built upon [it] will remain, he or she will proceed in receiving wages (pay; compensation).
15. If anyone's work will be burned down, he or she will proceed in incurring a loss (sustaining the damage; forfeiting), yet he himself or she herself will be saved (rescued and delivered; healed; restored; made whole; kept safe), and as in this way - through Fire!
Observe that in vss. 14 and 15 he is speaking about a person's WORK, not about the person himself/herself, yet the Fire has a direct relationship with the workman. There may be here an allusion to the passage from the Prophets, where Amos speaks to Israel on behalf of Yahweh,
"I overturn among you like Elohim's overturning of Sodom and Gomorrah, and you are becoming like a wooden poker rescued from the burning, yet you do not return unto Me, averring is Yahweh" (Amos 4:11; CVOT).
Then there is Zech. 3:2,
"And Yahweh says... [even] Yahweh Who is choosing Jerusalem... Is not this wooden poker being rescued from the fire?" (CVOT)
In Judah (Jude) we read:
"be continuously delivering (or: repeatedly rescuing and saving, restoring to health and wholeness) others, snatching them from out of the midst of the Fire; be repeatedly extending compassionate mercy in reverent fear, while hating and radically detaching from even the garment having been stained (or: spotted) from the flesh" (vs. 23).Take note that in vs. 14 Paul is speaking of "wages, pay and compensation." We saw a parallel to this in Jesus' kingdom parable in Mat. 20:1-15, about the laborers in the vineyard. Cf Mat. 9:37-38. So this is not speaking about "works-righteousness" or "works-salvation," but about functioning in God's field, or working on His building. God is a fair Employer; He does not expect work for free. One can never lose by working on His projects - even if one is not aware of it. Remember the parable of the "sheep and the kids," in Mat. 25?
35. "You see, I was hungry (or: I hunger) and you folks gave (or: give) to Me [something] to eat; I was thirsty (or: I thirst), and you folks gave [something for] (or: cause) Me to drink; I was existing being a foreigner (or: stranger), and you people gathered Me together [with you] (= showed Me hospitality and oneness with your group);
36. "[I was/am] naked, and you people clothed (or: clothe) Me; I fell sick (or: become weak), and you folks carefully looked upon (or: = visit and look out for; took oversight of) Me; [I was/am] in prison (or: jail), and you came to Me (or: come and set your face on Me).
Read vss. 37-40 for His explanation of how they had lovingly served Him. But let this compensation, stated in vs. 34, sink in.
Jesus' parable of "the talents" (Mat. 25:14-30) gives us another picture of what Paul lays out here in vss. 14-15. In that parable there were both rewards (compensation by advancement in the business, etc.) and loss. The loss was the losing of a job for the "unprofitable servant." The "outer darkness" was being without employment, which, as in the parable of the vineyard workers (Mat. 20) meant that an unemployed person might not have the basics of food and shelter (they were day-laborers, next to being destitute) - definitely a situation for "weeping and regret" (Mat. 25:30). Those parables spoke to the same situation (the kingdom/reign; the work of building Christ's called-out communities - His vineyard; His temple) that Paul addresses here in vss. 12-17.
But notice the grace involved in this arrangement:
"yet he himself or she herself will be saved (rescued and delivered; healed; restored; made whole; kept safe), and as in this way - through Fire!"
Let us see a parallel case of "judgment" that we find in 5:5, below:
"hand over such a man, with the adversarial [spirit] (or: in the adversary; by the opponent; or: to satan), into a loss of the flesh (or: an undoing and destruction of this [distorted human nature]; a loss of [his "dominated existence" - Walter Wink]) - to the end that the spirit may be saved (rescued; delivered; restored to health, wholeness): within the midst of and in union with the Day of (or: in this day from, or, which is) the Lord [= Christ or Yahweh; other MSS add: Jesus; others read: our Lord, Jesus Christ]." [cf 1 Tim. 1:20; Job 2:6, LXX]
Notice that the "Fire" only destroyed the sub-standard work. Recall the purpose of God's Fire in the quote of Mal. 3, above. It was the loss that "saved" him. The
"wood, hay and stubble"
of 3:12, 15a, above, correspond to the "flesh" of 5:5, quoted here. And now, let us meditate on the expanded semantic range of the word rendered saved: rescued and delivered; healed; restored; made whole; kept safe. This is very much like Rom. 11:32,
"You see, God encloses, shuts up and locks all mankind (everyone; the entire lot of folks) into incompliance (disobedience; stubbornness; lack of being convinced), to the end that He could (or: would; should) mercy all mankind (may make everyone, the all, recipients of mercy)!"
He treats everyone the same. And everyone eventually enters into His Mercy (Christ). All the worthless building that was added to the foundation of Christ, over the centuries, will be (and much has already been) burned up - in His time, and in the appropriate season. Another agricultural picture is given in Heb. 6:7-8, where the good field was burned off, to remove the "thorns and briers" that had overgrown it. That prepares the field to receive good Seed again.
In regard to the quality of the work done, 11:31 shines a Light (from His Fire) on how the Fire continues disclosing its value: "The God and Father of the Lord Jesus... has seen and thus knows." And now Paul brings this metaphor of farm workers and builders to an explanation and a conclusion:
16. Have you folks not seen, to now know, that you people continuously exist being God's Temple (Divine habitation; holy place and holy of holies; inner sanctuary), and God's Spirit is constantly dwelling (God's Breath is making Its home; the Wind which is God is housing Himself; the Attitude from God is progressively co-habiting) within the midst of (in union with) you folks?
17. If anyone habitually spoils, ruins, wrecks or corrupts God's Temple, God will spoil, ruin, wreck and corrupt this person; for you see, God's Temple - which you folks, yourselves, are (exist being) - is set-apart (holy; sacred; different from the common).
Already, before the destruction of the physical temple in Jerusalem, Paul asserts that a called-out community now exists being "God's Temple (Divine habitation; holy place and holy of holies; inner sanctuary)." This is revolutionary. We suppose that it was an unheard-of idea. It eliminates physical sacrifices, as well as the need for a priesthood to perform rituals in a physical building. We suggest that it eliminates rituals in any formal system. Jesus prophesied of this situation in Jn. 4:21, 24.
"an hour is progressively coming when neither within this mountain nor within Jerusalem will you folks continue giving worship to the Father.... God [is] spirit (or: [is the] Spirit; [gives] Breath; [becomes] Wind; [is] a Breath-effect and Attitude), and it is binding (or: necessary) for the ones continuously worshiping Him to be constantly worshiping in union with spirit and Truth (in Breath- effect and Reality; within the midst of [the] Spirit and [the] Fact; centered in [life]-attitude, as well as non-concealed genuineness and open actuality)."
The fact of the Corinthians being God's Temple answers to Rev. 3:12,
"The one habitually conquering (repeatedly overcoming so as to be the victor) - I will continue making (forming; constructing; creating; producing) him [to be] a pillar (or: column) in the Temple that is My God."
And what is a temple? The HOME of a Deity. Paul is saying that they should realize that because of the Spirit indwelling them, that they are where God lives:
"God's Spirit is constantly dwelling (God's Breath is making Its home; the Wind which is God is housing Himself; the Attitude from God is progressively co-habiting) within the midst of"
THEM!
The preposition of this last phrase can also be rendered "in union with." Union speaks of marriage, as Paul suggests in 6:17, below. We co-habit with the Spirit, and thus produce the "fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5:22-23), and in Gal. 5:25 Paul puts it this way:
"Since (or: If) we continue living in and by spirit (or: for [the] Spirit; to Breath-effect; or: with attitude)..."
Living IN, and BY the Breath-effect! Paul would call this being "spiritual," as opposed to being "soulish" or "fleshly." With the Spirit of God living within us, we are enabled to be led by this same Spirit (Rom. 8:14). We are God's sons and daughters.
Verse 16 is a corporate statement, but each "cell" (individual) of the corporate body must live in, and be saturated with, the Spirit, or it will be like a branch that is not dwelling within the Vine (Jn. 15:1ff). In order not to build with "combustible materials" when building on the Christ Foundation, they needed
"to buy from [Him] gold having been refined (set ablaze) forth from out of fire" (Rev. 3:18a).
Again, the temple metaphor here is seen in the metaphor of a City, in Rev. 21:10-27. Notice the gold and precious stones in the New Jerusalem's description in that passage. Gold was a symbol of deity, or the divine nature. The physical elements of gold, silver and precious stones were the most precious and valuable materials known in Paul's day. Peter describes our present passage in 1 Cor. 3 in this way:
"you yourselves are, as living stones, continuously being erected (or: progressively constructed and built up), [being] a spiritual house (a building with its source being the Spirit, with the characteristics of a Breath-effect), into a set-apart (or: holy; sacred; different-from-the-ordinary) priesthood to bear up spiritual sacrifices (or: offerings) well (or: most) acceptable in God (or: by God; to God; with God), through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5).
Now vs. 17 moves to his previous thread of thought, concerning INDIVIDUALS (anyone) who might
"habitually spoils, ruins, wrecks or corrupts God's Temple."
This has been repeatedly done, all down through history, to our present day. We should keep in mind the immediate context of this verse: Paul is still focused on those who build with their faulty teaching. He brings up himself, Apollos and Cephas again, in vs. 22, below. Also note that the temple (the members of the community of Corinth) was not spoiling or corrupting itself, it was those who brought "wood, hay and stubble." This has been done through political leaders introducing systems of control, teachers introducing pagan philosophies and cosmologies, and even well-meaning individuals who read the Scriptures with carnal understanding instead of illumination from the Spirit.
Daughters of Jerusalem mounted another beast of human reasoning, human political structures, us-and-them exclusionary theories, soulish and "fleshly" returns to old-covenant-type cultus, rules and domination systems. And the "church" became darkness, rather than light - for the lampstand had been removed (Rev. 2:5). As in first century Corinth, the historical church became divided - and mostly as the result of decisions about what doctrines were "orthodox," and which ones were "heretical." But progress is still being made, for He periodically brings in Fire to burn the wood, hay and stubble. God does not wait "until the end of time" to do this. He works throughout the ages.
A stern warning was given concerning those who might spoil or corrupt His Temple. Paul said,
"God will spoil, ruin, wreck and corrupt this person."
He had explained this in metaphorical terms, in vs. 15, above. The Fire of God will bring this person into ruin. Yet, we see that this spoiling and ruining of the person refers to the works that he or she had done, and the result is deliverance and salvation of that person. God sends the Physician to heal the sick and bind-up the wounded. He sends the Good Shepherd to find the "spoiled sheep" that goes its own way. He puts Incorruption upon corruption (15:53, below). He plants them, they die, and then they are resurrected as a new plant, for 15:42, below, instructs us:
"It is habitually (repeatedly; presently; one after another) being sown within corruption (or: in union with decay and ruin; in perishability); it is being habitually (or: presently; repeatedly; one after another) awakened and raised up within incorruption (non-decayability; imperishableness)."
Robert Farrar Capon makes an interesting observation about the parable of the "Good Samaritan" (Lu. 10:30-36):
"The defining character - the one to who the other three respond by being non-neighbor or neighbor - is the man who fell among thieves" (Kingdom, Grace, Judgment; Paradox, Outrage and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus, Wm B Eerdmans Pub., 2002, p 212).
This man had been ruined and wrecked. But despite the hindrances of the current religious system (the reasons for why the priest and the Levite would not help), the story has the ruined person cared for and healed. The prodigal son (Lu. 15) had a self-centered attitude, and the father made it possible for him to go off into ruin and death. But that was his path to deliverance and salvation. If we read Paul correctly, concerning his struggles with those who were actually building upon (adding things to) the covenant communities - but with inappropriate materials - it is those who were adding the old covenant Law and religious cultus onto the backs of these folks. Using the term "circumcision" as a code word for the Law, Paul informs the Galatians in ch. 5:
3. Now I continue solemnly asserting (attesting; affirming; witnessing), again, to every person (or: human) proceeding to be circumcised, that he is, and continues being, a debtor (one under obligation) to do (to perform; to produce) the whole Law [= the entire Torah]!
4. You people who in union with (or: centered in; [remaining] within) Law continue being "liberated, rightwised and placed in covenant," were at once discharged (made inactive, idle, useless, unproductive and without effect; or: voided, nullified, exempted) away from Christ (or: [the] Anointing) - you folks fell out from the grace (or: fall from the midst of the favor)!
What does "falling out from the grace" mean? He gives us the answer by the common agricultural metaphor in Gal. 6:
7. Do not be continually led astray (or: Stop being caused to wander and being deceived); God is not one to be sneered at (to have a nose turned up at; to be scorned, mocked or treated like a fool), for "whatever a person is in the habit of sowing, this also he will reap,"
8. because the person continually sowing into the flesh of himself (= his estranged inner being), will progressively reap corruption (spoil; ruin; decay) forth from out of the flesh (= the estranged inner being); (or: the one habitually sowing into the flesh [system], of himself will continue to reap decay from out of the flesh [system]).
Adding rules and purity codes from the Law into the lives of the called-out folks (those who were called out and away from religious identity markers) was sowing into their flesh, with a system of flesh rituals.
Paul ends this section by a positive re-statement of the Truth of who they were:
"God's Temple - which you folks, yourselves, are (exist being) - is set-apart (holy; sacred; different from the common)."
They were not like the domination systems of religion, or the beast-systems of empire; they were "set-apart" from both. They were "different from the common." In 1 Time. 3:15, we read of,
"God's household (or: to be treated, conducted or caused to behave in God's HOUSE), which is (or: exists being) a called-out community of [the] Living God (or: whose source is a living God; which has the qualities and character of [the] living God; or: which is a living god), a pillar and foundational seat of The Truth (or: a base from and an effect of a settling of reality)."
God's House was another term for God's Temple. The opening line, in vs. 17,
"If anyone habitually spoils, ruins, wrecks or corrupts God's Temple,"
is parallel to, and explains,
"Now if anyone proceeds building a house... [with] wood [and] thatching: herbage (or: grass; hay) [or] stalk (or: straw; stubble),"
of vs. 12, above. But Paul now returns to the topic of wisdom...
To be continued...
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