In Christ, We Possess Everything
1 Corinthians 3:18-23 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” 21 So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, 22 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, 23 and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.
There is great resolve in Paul’s voice in vv. 18-20: “Let no one deceive himself.” The deception Paul wants us to avoid is that wisdom apart from God (worldly philosophy and psychology) is foolishness, and no one who seeks it ought to think he is wise. True, divine wisdom is found only in what the world calls foolish: Christ crucified. This means there is an eternal God who became flesh, lived man’s life, and died to pay the penalty for our sins. Then He rose from the dead, lives even today, and will return to reign forever on the earth.
To make the point that wisdom from the world is foolishness to God, Paul quotes from Job 5:13 and Psalm 94:11 in vv. 19-20. The Job passage is in the context of a crafty hunter attempting to capture his prey. The irony here is that it is God doing the hunting, and He is catching His prey (unbelievers) in their own worldly schemes. Likewise, the Psalm shows how futile the “reasonings” (dialogismos) of the wise are, for God knows the futility of their thinking.
The conclusion in v. 21 is that no one should boast of Paul, Apollos, or Cephas since they are mere men. Placing one’s pride in men is to take one’s focus off of God who is to be man’s focus. Now in saying “all things belong to you” the “you” is plural, referring to the believers in Corinth. Their slogans were “I am of Paul,” but he changes it by saying “you (plural) are of God.” To be of Paul, Apollos, or Cephas was narrow-minded, reflecting their immaturity. These three men belonged to them because “all things belong to you.” The “all things” here, per v. 22, include “the world, life, death, present things, and future things.” These entities belong to the Church. They are the enemies of unbelievers. But though all Christians die, life cannot be taken from them. The present belongs to them along with the future. Gordon Fee says, “This is the glorious freedom of the children of God. They are the lords of all things, not bound to the whims of chance and exigencies of life and death. The future is no cause for panic; it is already theirs.”
Christians thus have no need to boast of belonging to one man or preacher, for Ephesians 1:10 says that God will bring all things under heaven and earth under one Head, that is Jesus Christ. So then, there are to be no divisions within the local church since all things belong to us.
Verses 22-23 do not teach that one can take possession of all things, as the Stoics believed. They believed they owned everything and were, as such, self-sufficient. Consequently, they were independent and selfish. All things belong to those who are in Christ simply because all things belong to Christ (v. 23). So, only in Christ does a believer possess all things. The fact that “Christ belongs to God” and yet “God is One” (Deut. 6:4) is the ultimate statement of victory.
Food For Thought
We tend to side with our denominations today: I’m Baptist; I’m Presbyterian; I’m Catholic, etc. Denominations suit our worship preferences, but they must not divide the universal Church of Jesus Christ. We must not let our petty differences about baptism and church polity divide us. We can agree to disagree about gray matters, but we must be united in Christ through the careful study of Scripture. Scripture keeps us on the same page, theologically. Let us therefore come together in our love for Christ and our reverence for His word. No more divisions!
There is great resolve in Paul’s voice in vv. 18-20: “Let no one deceive himself.” The deception Paul wants us to avoid is that wisdom apart from God (worldly philosophy and psychology) is foolishness, and no one who seeks it ought to think he is wise. True, divine wisdom is found only in what the world calls foolish: Christ crucified. This means there is an eternal God who became flesh, lived man’s life, and died to pay the penalty for our sins. Then He rose from the dead, lives even today, and will return to reign forever on the earth.
To make the point that wisdom from the world is foolishness to God, Paul quotes from Job 5:13 and Psalm 94:11 in vv. 19-20. The Job passage is in the context of a crafty hunter attempting to capture his prey. The irony here is that it is God doing the hunting, and He is catching His prey (unbelievers) in their own worldly schemes. Likewise, the Psalm shows how futile the “reasonings” (dialogismos) of the wise are, for God knows the futility of their thinking.
The conclusion in v. 21 is that no one should boast of Paul, Apollos, or Cephas since they are mere men. Placing one’s pride in men is to take one’s focus off of God who is to be man’s focus. Now in saying “all things belong to you” the “you” is plural, referring to the believers in Corinth. Their slogans were “I am of Paul,” but he changes it by saying “you (plural) are of God.” To be of Paul, Apollos, or Cephas was narrow-minded, reflecting their immaturity. These three men belonged to them because “all things belong to you.” The “all things” here, per v. 22, include “the world, life, death, present things, and future things.” These entities belong to the Church. They are the enemies of unbelievers. But though all Christians die, life cannot be taken from them. The present belongs to them along with the future. Gordon Fee says, “This is the glorious freedom of the children of God. They are the lords of all things, not bound to the whims of chance and exigencies of life and death. The future is no cause for panic; it is already theirs.”
Christians thus have no need to boast of belonging to one man or preacher, for Ephesians 1:10 says that God will bring all things under heaven and earth under one Head, that is Jesus Christ. So then, there are to be no divisions within the local church since all things belong to us.
Verses 22-23 do not teach that one can take possession of all things, as the Stoics believed. They believed they owned everything and were, as such, self-sufficient. Consequently, they were independent and selfish. All things belong to those who are in Christ simply because all things belong to Christ (v. 23). So, only in Christ does a believer possess all things. The fact that “Christ belongs to God” and yet “God is One” (Deut. 6:4) is the ultimate statement of victory.
Food For Thought
We tend to side with our denominations today: I’m Baptist; I’m Presbyterian; I’m Catholic, etc. Denominations suit our worship preferences, but they must not divide the universal Church of Jesus Christ. We must not let our petty differences about baptism and church polity divide us. We can agree to disagree about gray matters, but we must be united in Christ through the careful study of Scripture. Scripture keeps us on the same page, theologically. Let us therefore come together in our love for Christ and our reverence for His word. No more divisions!
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Our mailing address is:
Harvest Bible Church
14954 Mueschke Road
Cypress, TX 77433
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