In Romans 14, Paul says, “Why are you judging?  Don’t you know (verse 12) that every one of us will give an account of himself to God?  Don’t judge one another anymore, but judge this, that you don’t put a stumbling block before your brothers.”  And then he gets into his argument of the clean and the unclean, and the real principle, the real meat of this particular passage is to have hearts of compassion, to work out your own salvation, and then realize that that time is coming when we will give an account.  1 Corinthians 3 speaks toward this in a very clear way, as he’s referencing the church, and he says down here in verse 9, “We’re all laborers together with God, and according to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon.”  And then, here’s a very powerful statement, “But let every man take heed how he builds thereon.”  

Now, the immediate context, and what we’re making reference to here, is the divisiveness within the church: “I’m of Paul, I’m of Apollos, I’m of Cephas.”  “Is Paul anything,” he says, and he’s wanting to point to God and to… One central truth, though, that this foundation that was laid, Christ, cannot be in any way tampered with, and listen, this is for you and me as Christian workers, and we are all to take heed how we build on this foundation.  We will be judged in the judgment seat of Christ for how we build upon the foundation of the central gospel of the lordship of Jesus Christ.

The messages that were clear from Paul as he was bringing “his gospel”— “according to my gospel” —lives of holiness, lives of obedience.  We’re talking about the two major errors that were taking place in the church at that day; the Judaizers and the Gnostics.  We’ve heard the phrase used in our day and time, “Well, my Jesus would never do that.”  You are epistles read of men.  Is the Jesus in you what’s being represented in our daily lives?  When men see us, have they seen Jesus, the One who has sent us?  What are we doing to compromise the Word?  What a fearful statement He made, “If you deny Me and My Word, I will deny you in the time of judgment.”  He’s talking about those who have gone to the place of defecting, those who have gotten so far off course that they become a Judas, a Demas, and Alexander or a Hymmaneas.  That takes you over into the other judgment of the great white throne.  Take heed how you build on this foundation.