1 Corinthians 3:5-6, God Gave the Increase

1 Corinthians 3:5-6 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

The Apostle Paul explains to the believers in Corinth that God’s is in charge of advancing His work of saving souls and speeding them on in the journey of faith. It is God who by His mercy called him to this work. It was not on his own volition. It is God who directed and bring about spiritual progress in the work of the gospel. He, like Apollos, are God’s instruments, like gardeners or farmers, involve in the process of seeding and cultivating their plants or crops through diligent care. Ultimately, it is God who will bring the needful weather condition to bring about the final harvest. He would like them to see God’s hand deciding the outcome. As such, the farmer and gardener cannot claim credit to the harvest even though humanly speaking, it was their efforts.

As such, he urges the believers in Corinth to always give all glory to God and His ministers are but instruments in God’s hand for good as John the baptizer rightly puts it that Christ must increase, and he must decrease. There is a tendency for the human ego to rob God of His glory. This is spiritual immaturity and unwise as the prophet Isaiah said in  Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another…“

To give God all the glory must be the spiritual demeanour of God’s servants. He advises the believers in Corinth to be careful not to look to men but rather always only exalt the name of God in Christ Jesus. Amen.