1 Corinthians 3:8

Now he that plants and he that waters are one; and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.

Paul here repeats his chief complaint against the Corinthian Christians, that of yielding to party spirit and forming factions: For whenever anyone says, I belong to the party of Paul; but another, I to that of Apollos, are you not mere men? Paul refers to only two parties in this instance, because they are sufficient to illustrate his point. And his accusation is that those of his readers that are guilty are following the example of the average man of the world, who is not governed by considerations of the will of God. The mind of Christ is unalterably opposed to disharmony and schism. Such party spirit is especially foolish in the Christian Church: What, then, is Apollos? What, on the other hand, is Paul? To make such questions a matter of quarrel, as though Apollos and Paul, in their own persons, were anything! Ministers they are, not the authors of your faith, but servants and instruments of God to bring you to faith. The Master and Lord of the work is Jesus Christ, and those that have the benefit of the work are the members of the congregation. But as for Apollos and Paul, they have no higher ambition than to be servants, each one with his own specific gifts, as the Lord has bestowed upon him. It is the Lord's business entirely, and He furnishes the ability for the work as well as the opportunity to be active in His service, as He thinks best for the welfare of His Church. Both facts thus preclude all disposition to boast.

The apostle shows in just what way the Lord arranged matters in Corinth and made use of the talents of these two servants: I planted, Apollos watered, but God produced the growth; all the while, during the work of both men, God was giving the increase. The work in Corinth was that of obtaining a spiritual crop. To Paul's lot it fell to break the ground and to plant the seed of the Word; God caused the seed to strike root and to spring up. Then came Apollos and tended the young plants by developing the life of faith, by confirming the believers in their Christian knowledge; God's merciful power accompanied his efforts and caused the plants to bring forth fruit. It follows, then, that neither he that plants nor he that irrigates is anything; they are mere instruments in the hand of God, the Lord of the harvest, who alone gives the growth, and to whom, therefore, all glory must be given: He is everything, He alone remains, all others are excluded. This is brought out still more strongly by the thought: But the planter and the waterer are one thing; they are as one, as a single instrument in the hands of God, and they have only one interest and aim, the growth of the Church. They are not rivals, but co-laborers in the same cause; their work is not competitive, but complementary. But each will get his own wage according to his own labor. If works are done with the object of meriting anything in the sight of God, of obtaining everlasting salvation through their performance, they are useless and worse than useless. But if they are performed in simple faith and love, in the service of the Lord, for His honor and glory, then God Himself will bring forth the final reward of mercy; for the sake of Jesus He will look upon them as deserving of a wage, and He will act accordingly, Luke 19:15; Matthew 19:28; 1 Peter 5:4; Daniel 12:3. And it is especially consoling that the reward is proportioned to the work, not to its success, so that unremitting faithfulness, rather than brilliant achievement, is the standard followed by God. "We also confess what we have often testified, that, although justification and eternal life pertain to faith, nevertheless good works merit other bodily and spiritual rewards and degrees of rewards."