3:16 — 1 Corinthians 3:16

Another famous 3:16 sits in 1 Corinthians 3:16 , where Paul asks the church a pointed question: don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst? The plural you reframes the verse as a call to corporate unity, not private piety. Using the earlier verses about Paul planting, Apollos watering, and God giving the growth, the teaching argues that unity is counterintuitive and costly because human nature defaults to self. Personal preferences, even something as small as a favorite seat, can quietly push people away from Christ. The application is concrete: lean into the role of one who plants the gospel through words, actions, and attitudes, and the role of one who waters through discipleship, while remembering that growth belongs to God alone.