Verses 1-4
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If we are often quarreling and envying each other, as believers, we can know that we are immature—spiritual babies.
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And immature believers must be taught more simple truths of the Word—the milk of the Word (Hebrews 5:12-13, 1 Peter 2:2).
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The milk of the Word includes the teachings that are called “elementary principles” (Hebrews 6:1-3). Understand these elementary principles, and be in agreement on them with your fellow believers, before you move on to other matters.
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Verses 5-8
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Even though we all come to Christ through the influence of different people, God has saved us all through His Word and His Spirit.
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Some people preached the Word to us for the first time, and some people watered us by reinforcing what we've already heard, but in the end, it's the Word of God that saved us.
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Therefore, God gets the glory for our salvation. As such, do not consider yourself a follower of any man's message. Be a follower of Jesus and His Word.
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Every believer who works to reach others will play a different role in leading a person to salvation.
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You do your part by reaching people however you know how, and know that God will reward your efforts.
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Verses 9-15
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The foundation of our faith is the person and work of Jesus Christ communicated through the gospel. Communities of believers are built on that foundation (Matthew 16:17-18).
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It is not a church of Jesus Christ that does not stand on the true gospel message.
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Every person builds on their own foundation of faith, and builds on the foundation of others, as more is taught, learned, and applied.
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In the end, when Christ returns, the whole earth will be cleansed with fire and all of the world's infrastructure will be destroyed. The only things that will survive this fire are human spirits, as souls live forever.
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So, anything in your life that you gained, taught, learned, and applied, whether for yourself or for others, that helped to save more souls, is good work that has results and a reward in the kingdom. But anything in your life that you gained, taught, learned, and applied, that did not help to save more souls, is bad work that was useless for the kingdom and will have no reward; and anything that you did gain will be destroyed.
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So, make sure that what you are doing is beneficial for the growth of God's kingdom—for making you more like Jesus and helping the lost get saved.
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Focus on learning and doing what the Bible says. The Word will build upon your foundation well, and what you learn and apply will be productive for the kingdom.
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Verse 15. Notice where Paul says, “...He himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” Notice that we are saved “through fire”.
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This means that believers themselves will have to endure a purification by fire.
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See teaching on Mark 9 for details on this.
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Verses 16-17
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Verse 16. The Spirit of God dwells with His church as His temple, and individual believers each have the Holy Spirit dwelling in their body as His temple (1 Corinthians 6:19).
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Verse 17. God values believers—His temple—so much that anyone who defiles/destroys His temple He will destroy. There are multiple meanings to this, each for a different situation:
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God desires unbelievers to be His temple, but as they misuse their bodies in sin, they will be judged or “destroyed” for it (Romans 1:24, 2 Thessalonians 1:9).
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God will bring a certain judgment on unbelievers who hurt believers (2 Thessalonians 1:6, Revelation 6:10), repaying them with tribulation.
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If a believer misuses their own body for fornication and adultery, which hurts their own body and hurts another believer, there will be a form of vengeance (1 Corinthians 6:18-19, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6).
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Definitely do not misuse your body, do not hurt other believers! This is a direct offense to God!
Verses 18-20
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Don't try to be known as intelligent by the world, and consider it a warning if people in this world consider you so.
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Don't rely on human intelligence, humble yourself, and instead focus on the simple gospel and keeping that gospel simple for others.
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It's a good thing if unbelievers consider you a fool for what you believe. Becoming a fool, to keep the simplicity of the gospel, will make you truly wise in God's eyes.
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Verses 21-23
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If your interest is in sounding intelligent, you will pick and choose leaders according to your liking, and you will narrow your faith to what certain leaders teach. This is wrong.
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Instead, understand that all of God's servants—all teachers and leaders—exist for your benefit. Receive from all of God's people.
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And remember that, at the end of the day, you belong to Christ, and you are accountable to Christ. As such, focus on being faithful to Christ and His message, not to another person and their message.
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