“Hence let no one be boasting in men; for all things belong to you,

1 Cor. 3:21-23.

Similarly at 2 Corinthians 4:15 the apostle wrote: “All things are for your sakes.” Here Paul was speaking of all the labors and sufferings he and his companions had undergone in behalf of the Corinthian congregation.

The situation at Corinth was that some of the Christians there had become fleshly in their thinking, not spiritual. (1 Cor. 3:1-4) They had begun to favor certain leading men such as Apollos, Cephas (Peter) or Paul, and to feel that they were followers of these men, or belonged to them. This brought dissension. (1 Cor. 1:10-13) The congregation should realize that all these men were “one,” that is, all working at unity to the same end, to build up the congregation as a whole, spiritually. Actually, all these men belonged to the congregation, as a gift of God for their welfare.​—1 Cor. 3:5-8; Eph. 4:8-12.

Paul emphasized that the congregation constituted a temple of the living God, in which God dwells by spirit. Therefore boasting in prominent men was foolishness and those doing so were degrading their own position as members of that temple of God.​—1 Cor. 3:16-19.