Article from the East Main Messenger, dated 4/13/2025.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6
Since one of the causes of division within the church at Corinth was their misplaced adulation of the preachers who had taught and baptized them (1 Cor. 1:10-17), one of the ways God inspired Paul to correct the problem was to instruct the Corinthians about the proper way to view preachers and teachers of the gospel.
He starts with a rhetorical question: “What then is Apollos? What is Paul?” (1 Cor. 3:5a). The apostle Paul has always been considered a model of Christianity, second only to Christ himself in the eyes of many. Apollos was described by Luke as “an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures…instructed in the way of the Lord…fervent in spirit,” and one who spoke “boldly” (Acts 18:24-26), traits which clearly factored into the Corinthians’ undue exaltation of him as seen by Paul’s emphasis on how public speaking ability was not as important as they thought it was (1 Cor. 1:12, 17; 1 Cor. 2:1-5). Even today many in the church place homiletic ability and its potential to entertain on a higher level of importance than biblical instruction, a failure committed by many religious people throughout time (Ezek. 33:30-32). Many also view the preacher as the final or sole authority concerning all theological doctrine, eschewing the noble Berean example of “examining the Scriptures daily” to see for themselves whether what was taught to them is true (Acts 17:11; Ps. 1:1-3; cf. 1 Kings 13:1-24).
God wants us to look at preachers the way God views them. We see God’s perspective of preachers in part through Paul’s divinely inspired answer to his rhetorical question of just what he and Apollos really were: “Servants through whom you believed…” (1 Cor. 3:5b). Paul uses the Greek term diakonos in this verse, which is translated here and elsewhere to refer to preachers and Christians in general as “servants” or “ministers” (cf. Mk. 9:35; 1 Tim. 4:6). The term is also used to refer to the office of “deacon” (1 Tim. 3:8) and is even used to describe governing authorities as “servants” of God (Rom. 13:4). Paul is emphasizing to the Corinthians that the preachers who converted them such as himself and Apollos should not be put on a pedestal by them. In reality, they are nothing more than God’s servants who had taught them about Jesus (“through whom you believed”). Instead of adulating the preachers who taught them, the Corinthians should have been thanking the God who had providentially brought into their lives the man who had shared the gospel with them. This is the meaning behind the clarification in verse 5: “…as the Lord assigned to each” (ESV), or “…as the Lord gave opportunity to each one” (NASB). Ultimately, it was God who opened doors for Paul, Apollos, or Cephas (Peter) to make a difference in the lives of each individual member of the church of Corinth.
Paul then elaborates by stating, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor” (1 Cor. 3:6-8). Paul was the first to preach the gospel at Corinth (“I planted”), and Apollos came afterwards and built upon the teaching Paul had already given (“Apollos watered”). However, the growth that occurred because of their teaching – the conversion of the Corinthians – was not because of them. God deserved all the credit (“but God gave the growth”). Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand that servants like he and Apollos are nothing when it comes to the actual salvation of their souls because only God can do that (1 Cor. 3:7). Paul and Apollos were the same in the sight of God in that they were serving him (“He who plants and he who waters are one”), and they would be rewarded with eternal life for their service (“and each will receive his wages according to his labor”).
Wayne Jackson in his comments on this passage put it best.
“Ministers, even the best of them, are mere vehicles through whom the gospel is conveyed, and different men have different abilities. One is not to be exalted above the other. One may plant, another may water – it is God who gives the increase. Honor him!”
–Jon
To read Jon’s series on 1 Corinthians from the beginning and many other articles, visit https://predenominationalchristianity.com.