1 Corinthians 3:21 Commentary and Bible Study

What is it that makes anyone glory in men? It is their assessment that men possess true riches, what is of real value; that they are the ones who have knowledge, influence, and power. In short, they have glory and therefore they are the ones to associate with, to identify with, to boast in. ‘We admire them’, say those whom Paul is correcting here, ‘because their ideas are well thought out, their purposes are going to succeed, and they have achieved greatness in this world. We by contrast have little, and therefore we aspire to be like them. We glory in them.’This, says Paul, could not be further from the truth. It is not they who possess all things, but you who belong to Christ. It would therefore be a great mistake to envy mere men, to admire them, or to aspire to have what they have, for all that they imagine they have is about to be taken from them. Their value system and their outlook on life are out of step with God’s values, and that is all that matters. The meek shall inherit the earth. All that they have will be taken from them at death, and they will find that they have paid with their souls for a world they cannot keep. But the believer possesses all things. He or she may own little in this life, and may be regarded as insignificant, or even like the apostles as the offscouring of all things (4:13), but it is they who are God’s children who will be blessed, not the unbelieving world. Indeed, what the believer will receive in the world to come is an inheritance not under the power of the curse as everything in this world is. The situation calls for patience. Do not transfer your confidence, says Paul, to things that in reality have no glory at all. Maintain faith and judge what has value on the basis of God’s word and his wisdom, which is hidden from the eyes of the world.Let no one talk up, praise, or glorify men. Truth belongs to you. Truth is your possession, but truth is not with them. Who are we? Lost sinners, nothing at all, but in Christ all things are ours. How inappropriate then is envy of the people of this world? If they were enlightened, it would be they who are envying you. But they judge by sight, not by faith, and therefore miscalculate.This is true of possessions, of knowledge, and even of the preachers about whom the Corinthians are vying with each other. All sound teachers – we don’t revere or hero worship them – they are our property we own them. God has given them all to the church for the benefit they bring to God’s people. This understanding should bring about a transformation in the thinking of the Corinthians. God has not held back his gifts to the church; he has poured out gifts that we only begin to understand. The world is ours – it will be given to us in a renewed and glorified form. Life is our – we have eternal life. Death is our – Christ has taken its sting away and made us triumph over it. Things present are our – all thing now work for our future good, however hard the world tries to deprive us. Things present are our – our inheritance is reserved for us in heaven. All things are ours.‘And ye are Christ’s.’ You are safe in him for he will allow no harm to come to what is his and what he has treasured up for his eternal possession. He has purchased us with his own blood, not with something he owns external to himself, but with his own life. How can he then let us go? How can he allow any disadvantage to come to us if we associate with him and glory in him?‘And Christ is God’s.’ This is so encouraging and yet it troubles people. Is the Son subordinate to the Father? Is the Father greater than the Son? ‘God’s’ means the entire Trinity’s. Christ is the property of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. As the God Man, he was sent forth to be the agent for salvation, but he is one with the other members of the Godhead. They are all three equal in power and glory. He is God and God’s representative, and his connection with the Godhead is utterly secure. So if we are his then we are secure in the Trinity. Our position is as unassailable as Christ’s part in the Godhead.