Today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 3:9-17) gives us insights into our relationship with our brethren, which is one of fraternal love.
As God’s children, we are brethren to one another, and so should love each other. But it is not just about our personal relationship as children of God, but equally important is our relationship as the instruments that God intends to use for His purposes. We are to do God’s very own work. “For we are God’s co-workers” (v.9a).
As such, we are built up not only as the body of Christ, but as an edifice to be used by God, as “you are God’s field, God’s building” (v.9b). Such an edifice has very distinct characteristics.
Its foundation is Jesus Christ himself (v.11).
All God’s co-workers participate in building up the edifice (v.10), continually enhancing and strengthening it, so that it can accomplish the Father’s will in the world. Different people have different gifts and contributions, some more “precious” than that of others (v.12), but what is important is what we put into the work, the quality of our effort (v.13).
All God’s co-workers are temples of the Holy Spirit (v.16), and we look to the Spirit of God for guidance, wisdom, anointing, empowerment, strength, endurance and perseverance.
We are under God’s protection, and whoever seeks to destroy us and our work will have to contend with God Himself (v.17a).
Wow! The above is a measure of how important God’s work is, and how important we are in being God’s instruments for the work. Our call is of such importance that our very own salvation is at stake. If our work stands, then we will be rewarded by God (v.14). If not, we will suffer loss (v.15a).
Finally, Paul reminds us that we are all called to be holy (v.17b). We belong to God, we are to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we are to be set apart and used by the Holy Spirit.
For all the above to happen, it is necessary to love one another. If we fail in loving one another:
We fail in holiness.
We will not be able to build a solid and stable edifice but will rather weaken it and eventually destroy it.
We will not be effective in pursuing God’s call to us for the life of the world.
We endanger our entry into heaven, which is our eternal reward.
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