Tonight’s Bible study looked at 1 Cor 3:10-15, where Paul talks about laying a foundation as a master builder. Everything he does is by the grace God has given him (see 1 Cor 15:9-11, Rom 12:5-7); we too need to realise that everything we have and are comes from God and that who we are and all we do is through grace. God’s grace worked powerfully among the first apostles (see Acts 4:32-34) and continues to work today; we need to remember that anything we achieve is by grace.
So often, we compare ourselves to other people and covet their gifts and achievements, but we need to remember that whether God has given us many gifts or only a few (we may feel we are a ‘one-trick pony’ like the character played by Sigourney Weaver in the science-fiction spoof ‘Galaxy Quest’, whose one role on the spaceship was to talk to the computer), what He is looking for is our faithfulness in using those gifts to His glory.
Paul was a master builder, having the knowledge, skill and experience to lay foundations. All building, he declared, must be on the foundation of Jesus Christ. Others (such as church leaders like Apollos) may build on this foundation, but we too have a responsibility to build ourselves up (see Phil 2:12-13, fashioning our lives into the mould of Christ.) Teachers and leaders are important, but there needs to be a ‘body ministry’ in the church (see Eph 4:11-15) where we are becoming mature and growing in faith and love (see 1 Pet 2:2, 2 Thess 1:3-4). We have to learn to control our own bodies (see 1 Thess 4:3-8) and work towards eternal goals, being prepared to build our lives as God wants us to, recognising the durability of some things (likened to building with gold, silver and precious stones) and rejecting things which have no eternal value (likened to wood, hay and straw.) God promises rewards to us for our faithful service (even though this is entirely down to His grace in the first place!), but we need to remember that He is interested in our building ourselves up in the most holy faith, developing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, not just in doing ‘good works’ to earn His favour. We build on the foundation of Christ, living by faith even as we received Christ by faith (see Gal 3:1-14 for how easy it is to start by faith and fall back into reliance on works.) All building needs to be on the firm foundation of Christ, for the goal is to become conformed to the image of Christ. (Rom 8:29)