ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 3 v16 - 17

OVERVIEW:

God the Spirit lives in his own temple: we ourselves (AMBROSIASTER). Those who have become spiritual according to their confession of faith may nevertheless still live as though they were carnal, thus becoming an insult to the Holy Spirit who dwells in them (THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA). Paul pricks the conscience of those who would treat God’s holy temple as a profane place (AMBROSIASTER), as in the case of fornication (CHRYSOSTOM).

3:16 | The Spirit Dwells in God’s Temple

THE SPIRIT LIVES IN US. AMBROSIASTER: It is necessarily the case that God lives in his own temple. Note that because he says that the Spirit of God lives in us, the word God must be taken to refer to the Holy Spirit [in this verse]. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

INSULTING THE SPIRIT. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: The one who believes in Christ receives the Holy Spirit, who dwells in him by the washing of rebirth, and thus he is spiritual. But if such people then turn around and serve worldly passions, in that respect they are carnal. Paul says that those who have become spiritual according to their confession of faith may nevertheless still live as though they were carnal so as to become an insult to the Holy Spirit who dwells in them. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

3:17 | You Are God’s Temple

GOD’S TEMPLE IS HOLY. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says this in order to prick the consciences of those who have corrupted their bodies through evil living, especially the man who was having an affair with his father’s wife. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

PROFANING GOD’S TEMPLE. CHRYSOSTOM: God’s temple is holy, but anyone who has committed fornication is profane. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 9.7.

THE UPSIDE-DOWN PERSON 1 CORINTHIANS 3:18-23

OVERVIEW: Whatever human beings think apart from God is foolishness (AMBROSIASTER). The faithful may look like fools to this world when they despise earthly wisdom, while the wise are caught in their craftiness when they imagine they can do without God (CHRYSOSTOM, THEODORET OF CYR). What the wise thought true has turned out to be false (AMBROSIASTER) and unable to save (PELAGIUS). Whatever the worldly wise may have, it may be stolen (ORIGEN). In this way Paul returns to his original theme (CHRYSOSTOM, AMBROSIASTER).

3:18 | Becoming a Fool to Become Wise

RECAPITULATION. AMBROSIASTER: Here Paul is returning to what he said [in the first chapter]. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

A WISDOM NOT LEARNED THROUGH STUDY. ISAAC OF NINEVEH: Not only those who are tiny of body, but also those who being wise in the world, abandon their knowledge and … become like babes of their own free will, learn that other wisdom which is not learned through study’s labours. ASCETICAL HOMILIES 72.

DEAD TO THE WORLD. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul asks us to become dead to the world, and this deadness is of benefit to us, because it is the beginning of new life. So also he bids us become foolish toward the world, thereby introducing us to true wisdom. You become a fool to this world when you despise earthly wisdom and are persuaded that it contributes nothing to your understanding of the faith. For Christians, everything is just the opposite of what it seems. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 10.2.

3:19 | Worldly Wisdom Is Folly with God

CATCHING THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS. CHRYSOSTOM: How does God catch the wise in their own craftiness? By showing them that while they imagined they can do without God, just then they would have all the more need of him. They are reduced to such a strait as to appear inferior to fishers and illiterates, whose wisdom they cannot now do without. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 10.3.

LACKING GRACE. THEODORET OF CYR: The wisdom of this world is that which lacks the grace of God. It is purely human in character. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 184.

3:20 | The Futility of Worldly Wisdom

WHAT THEY THOUGHT FALSE WAS TRUE. AMBROSIASTER: Knowing that their thoughts are vain, God rebukes their wisdom in order to prove that they are foolish, showing that what they thought was false is true and vice versa. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE THOUGHTS OF THE WISE. PELAGIUS: The thoughts of the wise contribute nothing to a person’s salvation. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3.

3:21 | No Boasting of Human Reason

ALL THINGS ARE YOURS. ORIGEN: The believer owns everything there is, but the unbeliever is effectively penniless. Anything he may have has been stolen. COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 2.17.12-14.

TRYING TO THINK APART FROM GOD. AMBROSIASTER: Human reasoning is unwise and weak, so one should not glory in man but in God, whose word cannot be altered. Whatever human beings think apart from God is foolishness. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

3:22 | All Things Are Yours

A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT. CHRYSOSTOM: Having criticized the Corinthians, Paul now turns to encourage them once more. He even puts down the pride of the teachers by implying that they ought to be grateful to the others, for whose sake they were made what they are. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 10.4.

3:23 | Belonging to Christ

YOU ARE CHRIST’S. AMBROSIASTER: We are Christ’s because we were made by him, both physically and spiritually. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

WE ARE CHRIST’S BY GRACE. CHRYSOSTOM: We are Christ’s because we have been made by him [by grace]. But Christ is God’s, not as a creature but as his own Son. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 10.4.