<p>3:10 <i>According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder- </i>The gift &quot;grace&quot; of God, the Spirit gift, was Paul's 'wisdom'. For he has explained in chapter 1 that spiritual wisdom is a Spirit gift from God.</p><p><i>I laid a foundation, and another builds upon it</i>- The foundation was in converting unbelievers to the cross of Christ (:11). The rejected stone of Christ becomes the foundation stone &quot;corner stone&quot; for the faith of every individual and every true church. Paul saw himself as called to break new ground, to lay the foundation of Christian belief where it had not been laid before (Rom. 15:20); but he depended upon others to build upon it. This is in line with the terms of the great commission- to preach the simple news of the Lord's death and resurrection, to baptize people into it, and then afterwards to &quot;teach them all things that I have commanded&quot; (Mt. 28:20).</p><p><i>But let each man take care how he builds upon it</i>- The allusion is surely to the parable of the wise and foolish builders; for Paul has just claimed that he is a <i>wise</i> builder, laying a firm foundation. And the tension between wise and foolish is often played upon in these early chapters of 1 Corinthians. His take on the parable is interesting, in that he seems to be arguing that it refers to the work we do in building up others, rather than in laying a personal foundation and building as it were our own house.</p><p>Paul&rsquo;s reasoning in 1 Cor. 3:10-12 is that &ldquo;every man&rdquo; will make a convert, and he should ensure they are firm in the faith, lest he lose them at judgment day. These assumptions of Paul reflect his positive way of thought, in a brotherhood that abounded in weakness and failure to live up to its potential. Likewise he writes of marriage as if marriage within the faith was and is the only model of marriage which he knows, even though there must have been many failures to live up to this ideal, as there are today. Paul seems to have assumed that all of us would preach and make converts (not leave it to just some of our community): he speaks of how &quot;every man&quot; in the ecclesia builds upon the foundation of Christ, but how he builds will be judged by fire. If what he has built is burnt up at the judgment, he himself will be saved, but not what he has built. I would suggest that the 'building' refers to our converts and work with other believers. If they fail of the Kingdom, we ourselves will be saved, but our work will have been in vain. This parable also suggests that the salvation of others, their passing through the fire at the judgment, is dependent upon how we build. This may be hyperbole to make a point, but it is a powerful encouragement that we are <i>all</i> elders and preachers, and we <i>all</i> have a deep effect on others' spirituality. We have responsibilities to those who respond to our preaching.</p>