(1 Corinthians 3:5-11)…..Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Whether we are called to plant, or to water, neither is more important than the other. Because as Christ’s Church we are “one.”
1. We are to pray for each other
- Read: (1 Thessalonians 1:2-4) (2 Timothy 1:3
2. We are to minister to each other
- Physically – (Galations 6:10)
- Spiritually – (Galations 6:1-2) (Romans 15:1-2)
3. We are to serve one another with humility
- Read: (Philippians 2:3-4)
4. We are to love one another
- Read: (1 John 3:16-18)
Even though we are unified in purpose as believer’s in Jesus Christ, we will be rewarded for our own labor within the body. This implies that each of us is responsible to be laboring in God’s work. Those whom we have had part in their salvation will even be our reward (1 Thessalonians 2:17-20).
We are God’s fellow workers. Think about those words for a second. God has given us the amazing opportunity to work along side Him. We cannot work without Him (John 15:5), and yet by His choosing, God wants you as His working partner! When you consider all the ways God could have done His work, it is even more amazing to know He wants our participation.
You are God’s field, you are God’s building. The work Paul did (and we will do) with God is to work “on” God’s people. People are His “field” (using the picture of a farmer planting and watering), people are His “building” (using the picture of a builder). There isn’t anything in us that makes us worthy to be His fellow worker, it is only according to the grace of God that we are allowed to be part to it.
Be careful how you build on His building! There is only one foundation for the church (1 Corinthians 3:4-15) (1 Peter 2:4-12). If what you build isn’t founded on Jesus Christ it is for not.