For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you fleshly?For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?For when one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men?
4 sermons cite this verse
… how are you not centered on yourselves and acting like any other merely human person? Because when one of you says, I follow Paul, and another says, I follow Apollos, are you not being merely human? What is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants, through whom you believed, through whom you trusted in Christ, each as the Lord assigned a role. I planted, Apollos watered, but God is the one who continually gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters counts for anything, but only the one who gives the growth. God, the one who plants and the one who waters are one in the same, and each will receive his reward according to his labor because we are fellow workers who belong to God and you are the field that belongs to God. You are the building that belongs to God. And I, according to the grace of God given to me, like an expert builder, I laid a foundation and now others are building upon it. …
… Verse 3, you are still fleshly, for since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not mere men? What then is Apollos, and what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Paul sowed the seed originally. Apollos watered, following Paul. But God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor." We are God's fellow workers. You are God's field and God's building. So we are fellow workers. We are not to be compared to each other, and some kind of a hierarchy that sets one above the other. In the end of chapter 3, Paul says in verse 21, all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. …
… And are you not walking like mere men?" And then he describes what he means, for when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor." In other words, God is the one who knows the truth and is keeping a record that relates to heavenly reward. This is divisiveness in the Corinthian church to the degree that Paul says, I can't even write to you as to mature believers. Your immaturity is showing up in all these factions built about the worship of one or another of the preachers. …
… are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, I follow Paul and another, I follow Apollos, are you not being merely human? That's such a great phrase. He goes, what are you doing? You guys are acting like humans. This is what humans do. That's not what we do. Okay. They go, oh, I love this guy, Paul. I love this guy, Paul's. I like them more. He goes, that's human talk. He goes, when you start doing that and compare this speaker to that speaker, this band to that band, you know, and there's these divisions among you, you're acting like the rest of the world. You're acting like mere humans. And God says, that's not what we do. You understand as a church, he says, I want you to be holy because you're not just humans. Man, I hear that phrase. Sometimes some of you in the church, you may have said this. What do you expect from me? I'm just a man. I'm just a woman. I'm human. …