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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:5-10

Here the apostle instructs them how to cure this humour, and rectify what was amiss among them upon this head, I. By reminding them that the ministers about whom they contended were but ministers: Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed? Even as the Lord gave to every man, 1 Cor. 3:5. They are but ministers, mere instruments used by the God of all grace. Some of the factious people in Corinth seem to have made more of them, as if they were lords of their faith,... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

3:1-9 And I, brothers, could not talk to you as I would to spiritual men, but I had to talk to you as to those who had not yet got beyond merely human things, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food. But now not even yet can you digest solid food, because you are still under the sway of human passions. Where there is envy and strife among you, are you not under the sway of human passions and is not your behaviour on a purely human level? For when anyone says, "I... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:6

I have planted ,.... That is, ministerially; otherwise the planting of souls in Christ, and the implanting of grace in them, are things purely divine, and peculiar to God, and the power of his grace; but his meaning is, that he was at Corinth, as in other places, the first that preached the Gospel to them; and was an instrument of the conversion of many souls, and of laying the foundation, and of raising and forming a Gospel church state, and of planting them in it; Apollos watered ; he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:7

So then, neither is he that planteth anything ,.... Not that he is the happy instrument of beginning the good work: neither he that watereth ; who is the means of carrying of it on: not that they are simply and absolutely nothing, without any restriction and limitation; they are men, they are Christians, they are ministers, and useful ones, by whom others believe; they are labourers together with God, ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God, and so to be accounted of;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:8

Now he that planteth, and he that watereth are one ,.... Not in every respect so; they were different as men, they were not the same individual persons, nor in the same office; Paul was an apostle, Apollos only a preacher of the Gospel; nor had they the same measure of gifts, nor did they labour alike, or were of the same usefulness; but they had one and the same commission to preach the Gospel; and the Gospel they preached was the same; and so were their views, aims, and ends, which were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:9

For we are labourers together with God ,.... The ministers of the Gospel are labourers in the Lord's vineyard, and not loiterers; their work is a laborious work, both to body and mind; which lies in close study and meditation, in diligent reading and constant prayer, in frequent ministration of the word, and administration of ordinances; besides reproofs, admonitions, and exhortations, counsels, and instructions, which are often necessary: it is a work, which no man is sufficient for of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 3:6

I have planted - I first sowed the seed of the Gospel at Corinth, and in the region of Achaia. Apollos watered - Apollos came after me, and, by his preachings and exhortations, watered the seed which I had sowed; but God gave the increase. The seed has taken root, has sprung up, and borne much fruit; but this was by the especial blessing of God. As in the natural so in the spiritual world; it is by the especial blessing of God that the grain which is sown in the ground brings forth... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 3:7

So then, neither is he that planteth any thing - God alone should have all the glory, as the seed is his, the ground is his, the laborers are his, and the produce all comes from himself. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 3:8

He that planteth and he that watereth are one - Both Paul and Apollos have received the same doctrine, preach the same doctrine, and labor to promote the glory of God in the salvation of your souls. Why should you be divided with respect to Paul and Apollos, while these apostles are intimately One in spirit, design, and operation? According to his own labor - God does not reward his servants according to the success of their labor, because that depends on himself; but he rewards them... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 3:9

For we are laborers together with God - We do nothing of ourselves, nor in reference to ourselves; we labor together in that work which God has given us to do, expect all our success from him, and refer the whole to his glory. It would perhaps be more correct to translate Θεου γαρ εσμεν συνεργοι , we are fellow laborers of God; for, as the preposition συν may express the joint labor of the teachers one with another, and not with God, I had rather, with Bishop Pearce, translate as above:... read more

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