Verse 17
If any servant of the Lord tears down the church instead of building it up, God will tear him or her down (Acts 9:1-4). He usually does this by sending temporal discipline in one form or another (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:5). The Greek word translated "destroys" (phtheiro) also means "defiles." It is a very serious thing to destroy or defile a holy temple, and that is what the local church is (cf. Matthew 16:18). [Note: See James Sweeney, "Jesus, Paul, and the Temple: An Exploration of Some Patterns of Continuity," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 46:4 (December 2003):605-31.] In the ancient world destroying a temple was a capital offense. The church is holy in that God has set it aside to glorify Himself even though it is not always as holy in its conduct as it is in its calling. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 anticipate the discussion of church discipline in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13. [Note: Brian S. Rosner, "Temple and Holiness in 1 Corinthians 5," Tyndale Bulletin 42 (1991):137-45.]
"There are three types of builders-the wise man (1 Corinthians 3:12; 1 Corinthians 3:14), the unwise (1 Corinthians 3:15), and the foolish, who injures the building (1 Corinthians 3:17)." [Note: Johnson, pp. 1234-35. Cf. Lowery, p. 511.]
Paul ended his discussion of the local church (1 Corinthians 3:5-17) as he did to stress the importance of the work that all God’s servants were doing at Corinth. He also did so to stress the need for unity of viewpoint in the congregation.
". . . this is one of the few texts in the NT where we are exposed both to an understanding of the nature of the local church (God’s temple indwelt by his Spirit) and where the warning of 1 Corinthians 3:17 makes it clear how important the local church is to God himself." [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 149.]
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