September 22, 2024|Infants in Christ|1 Corinthians 3:1-9
John-Daniel Cutler
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This morning we will be continuing our study of 1 Corinthians by looking at the first 9 verses of Chapter 3. As a quick reminder Paul has so far has told the Church at Corinth who they are in Christ and that their identity comes from Him. Then he pleads with them to stop corrupting their identity through flat out silly divisions. Divisions over which minister was going to give them the highest standing or the most upward mobility in the Church. They tried running their church through the lens of the world, or in their own natural wisdom, and what they thought would make them grow Spiritually. They failed spectacularly because they were using the wisdom of the world. Paul in chapter 2 explained to the believers in Corinth that wisdom only comes from God, and only by God giving us this wisdom can we understand who He is and why we are here. That apart from the Spirit we could never understand the spiritual wisdom of God. Paul clearly tells us this in verse 16 “for who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. Understand it is only by an act of the Spirit that we can understand the wisdom of God.
Now this brings us to chapter 3 where Paul connects his teaching on the wisdom being given to us by the spirit and applying it to the church at Corinth. The sting of what Paul is about to tell the church is a little lost on us as we know from reading the whole letter that the church at Corinth was not in a good standing, but to those at the time standing there listening to the letter being read aloud this must have been a very hard pill to swallow. Through their natural, or own, wisdom they thought they were growing and maturing spiritually. So, to be called infants in Christ would have been a harsh blow to their pride and how far they thought they had grown in Christ.
The people of Corinth were not all that much different than us here today. They lived in a society that was always seeking upward mobility. They sought to climb the ladders of society and wealth so it was only natural to them that they would seek out the form of Christianity that would best serve their “aspirational pursuits” as one commentary I was reading put it. Like most Americans the Corinthians in their church looked to those that they thought had the most knowledge, or was the most engaging speaker. They looked to ministers not to teach them the simple truth of the Gospel, of Christ crucified; instead they attached themselves to what they thought was the wisest, most mature, or most progressive leader that would elevate their standing amongst their peers. Sadly we like to think ourselves beyond this in the church today but we also fall into this trap of seeking to align ourselves with this preacher or that one, this new way of doing Church or this other way of doing Church. We seek to mold the church into our own image or wisdom of what we think will make us wise or cause the most growth in our lives, so we seek churches whose pastor’s style fits what we like, or plays the worship songs or style of music we like. Rather than being conformed to the image of Christ, we seek to conform Christ into what we think our image of Him should be. Like the Corinthians we think so highly of ourselves and of our own wisdom that surely Paul is going to be so proud of how far we have come as followers of Christ. But instead they and sadly the American church now will feel the bitter sting of being called infants in Christ, a crushing blow to the church’s sense of pride in all this growth they think they have made.
Just like a baby being born, those that God through the Spirit gives wisdom to understand and be born again we are all new creations in Christ, or infants in the Spirit. It was Christ Himself that introduced this idea when instructing Nicodemus that a person must be born twice, once of the flesh and once of the spirit. In John 3:3 He says Truly, Truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Being an infant in Christ is not inherently a bad thing, to be an infant is to know you have been a new creation in Christ. A time of infancy is normal for a baby, I would know with having 7 of them, but what is not normal is for a baby to stay an infant. If a baby were not to grow we would know that something has gone terribly wrong, in the same way Paul is addressing these Spiritual infants at Corinth who for the past 4 to 7 years are still found to be infants in Christ.
This brings us to our first point that infancy is normal but prolonged infancy is abnormal.
Infancy is normal but prolonged infancy is abnormal
If you are not already there please open your bibles and turn to 1 Corinthians 3 starting at verse 1.
1 Corinthians 3:1-2a1But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it.
So what does Paul mean he could not address them as spiritual people?
To answer this question I think we first have to ask what does Paul mean by the term spiritual people?
One thing is for sure he does not mean people who call themselves “spiritual”. I am sure you have heard someone say something like “I don’t need organized religion because I am spiritual.” This is a clear example of what Paul would call natural wisdom as it has nothing to do with God and everything to do with self. This worldly answer might not be too far from what Paul might have encountered in the church at Corinth. So, simply put, a spiritual person is someone that is a Christian. Someone who has the Holy Spirit indwelling in them.
Look back at Romans 8:9-10 9You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Paul makes it so clear that being a spiritual person is not this garbage that the world has made it out to be. This idea of somehow being in touch with spiritual things or some kind of self professed spiritual enlightenment nonsense.
Remember Paul has just got done explaining to the Corinthians those that have the Spirit are now able to have access to the wisdom of God and all the truths about Himself. That spiritual people reap the benefit of God’s divine wisdom.
But is Paul able to talk to those at Corinth as spiritual people? Look at the rest of verse 1 he tells them that he has to speak to them as what, “people of the flesh”. Paul sees that they are so far off the mark he can not address them as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, but as people that are still in the flesh. When Paul uses the term flesh it always carries the idea of being worldly or simply put an unbeliever, those that do not have the Spirit indwelling in them.
Church, we must understand, to be called worldly or of the flesh by Paul would have been utterly devastating to all listening standing there in their pride and natural wisdom. To be there and listen to one of the apostles say that he could not talk to you as a fellow heir of Christ but as one that belongs to the world would have been a great offense to the Corinthians.
Understand that the Corinthians were stuck in this infantile way of living even though years had passed since Paul had left them. Trying to grow in their own wisdom after all this time produced nothing but divisions such as fighting over the being of Paul or Apollos instead of growing in their knowledge and understanding of God through the wisdom of Christ crucified. That all growth, like our salvation, is not done by human works, wisdom, or understanding. It is all of God and Him alone, but we will look more at this when we get to verse 7.
So what are we to do with this forceful statement made by Paul that they are still being addressed as still those belonging to the flesh?
Is Paul telling us that to stay in a prolonged state as an infant in Christ is to not be saved? Well, we see Paul here soften the blow to them by calling them infants in Christ, meaning that Paul is not ready to heap condemnation on their heads, instead he is chastising them for their prolonged state in infancy.
Thomas Schreiner says this “since Paul shocks the Corinthians by calling them worldly or fleshly, the category here should not be reified as if one can live as a “carnal Christian”- a worldly Christian all one's life.”
In other words Paul has not created the idea of being a backslidden Christian or a carnal Christian. This spiritual stronghold of being a backslidden Christian or carnal Christian is one that needs to be utterly dismantled in the American Church. This idea that we have manifested in the American Church that well you know they prayed a prayer one time, walked an aisle that one time, or they were dunked in some water once so they are going to heaven. Church to be backslidden would mean at some point the person actually front slid or grew in Christ, but how can one claim to love Christ but live an entire life that opposed every single one of His teachings. This idea or teaching would have been unthinkable to Paul as to be a carnal Christian is an oxymoron. Paul does not teach that one can quote “backslide” for their whole life. This idea of going from a maturing growing believer back to an infant in Christ is not a biblical doctrine and is complete and utter nonsense. Paul is not making that case, as these believers at Corinth had shown signs of their identity in Christ, as seen in the spiritual gifts they had been given. What Paul is telling them is that they have so badly corrupted this new identity that they had stunted their growth and remained as babies. Paul is calling them to repent of their corruption and shed this foolish inward wisdom that produces only strife and jealousy and come back to the wisdom of God. Wisdom that causes growth and maturity in the believer.
You might be asking, well what does that look like? It looks like the letter that is written to the church at Ephesus, a letter not full of correction and chastisement, but of doctrine and encouragement. A letter for believers that are able to be addressed not as babies in Christ, but as maturing believers.
Paul understands that the Corinthians have a desire to grow and while he was with them he fed them with milk and not solid food.
Why? Because they were not ready for it then. He knew that they were proud of their wisdom and so he fed them only milk. Paul uses the imagery of feeding only with milk is one that is easy for me to see and understand. Barbara only feeds little Luci milk now. Why, because she is a baby and doesn’t even have teeth to chew solid food, much less swallow and digest it. In that same manner Paul while with them in planting the church understood that they were babies in Christ and only gave them the milk of the gospel. Teaching them the simple truth of Christ crucified for the redemption of their sins. Like watching little Luci grow and gain weight off a diet of only milk is something I see everyday, but still don’t fully understand. But God in His sovereignty has made her to not only grow but thrive on a diet of only milk. In that same manner Paul fully expected that the Corinthians will not only grow but should thrive on only the spiritual milk that he has fed them with while he was there ministering to them.
The problem is that they had never digested the milk with which Paul had given them. They turned to their own wisdom for growth and remained as spiritual babies. They thought highly of themselves and their perceived growth only to find that worldly food or worldly wisdom they were seeking was not giving them the spiritual growth they were seeking; it was actually hindering their growth. Growth is a natural, Biblical, and spiritual reality. The problem occurs when growth is not just desired but is corrupted. Like the Corinthians, the American Church thinks it is growing spiritually by attaching itself to this teacher or that teacher and it is these teachers who are making us grow and mature in Christ right? Sadly they are finding out that all this growth they think they are experiencing is for nothing. Paul has woken them up from their delusions of grandeur only to have them realize that their worst fears have come true. That what they thought was good solid spiritual food was nothing more than emptiness leading to no spiritual growth. That apart from the real spiritual food found only in God we corrupt our spiritual growth. It's like if you knew you had to run a marathon. You know that you cannot just crawl out of bed and run 26 miles. You know that you have to prepare for it, and one way is by eating good solid healthy food consistently that is going to give your body the fuel it needs to run the race, only to turn to a diet of nothing but junk food.
This brings us to our next point that lack of spiritual food corrupts our growth.
Lack of spiritual food corrupts our growth
Let's read now 2b-41 Corinthians 3:2b-4And even now you are not yet ready, 3for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
Paul makes it clear that the believers in Corinth had fully corrupted their spiritual growth in his absence as he tells them they are still not yet ready for solid spiritual food. In their pride they must have been deeply hurt as Paul consistently breaks the all important 11th commandment of thou shall be nice above all else. Not only does Paul tell them they still aren’t ready for solid food but he goes a step further implying that they have yet to fully digest the milk that he has already given them. So a question we have to ask ourselves here is what does Paul mean by milk and solid food? Some might point to the teaching in the book of Hebrews in chapter 5 where milk is taught as the elementary truths of God’s word and infants are those that don’t understand or know the teachings about righteousness. Solid food is only for the mature and the author of Hebrews wants to move past the milk and turn believers attention to repentance, faith, the resurrection, and the final judgment see Hebrews 6:1-2. On the surface it would seem what Paul is teaching the Corinthians here about milk and solid food would line up with the author of Hebrews. The other way of looking at it Paul always taught about Christ as the crucified one, as the gospel of our salvation coming through Christ’s death and resurrection. 1 Corinthians 2:2 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
1 Corinthians 5:1-41Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures
In this second view those who drink milk are unable to understand or digest what Paul teaches as solid food. Schreiner says it this way “on this view, milk does not denote the content of the teaching but the receptiveness of the hearers. Deciding between these two options is not easy, but perhaps the second one in this context is closer to the mark, since preaching Christ crucified and risen cannot be relegated to mere milk.”
Whichever view you hold, one thing that is clear here is that the Corinthians were still operating in their flesh, as Paul tells us in verse 3, and not by the spirit. And because they lacked spiritual food they were still unable to grow in the spirit of God. That after all this time they have made no advancement in the faith and still act according to the world. They are still letting the culture around them form their identity. The gospel has not yet hit home for them.
So, we must ask ourselves, are we here a EBC still allowing the world to corrupt our identity in Christ as the Corinthians have? Sure the divisions might look different but the root cause of pride of needing to have felt needs met are still alive and well.
The Church at large has turned its heart away from God and looks to our culture to dictate how we must grow or evolve. This has led us down the road of easy believism and where membership ceases to matter because me and my bible are enough. A culture that says there is no truth and as long as you are true to yourself and are somewhere that makes you happy is all that matters. So instead of submitting ourselves under the headship of a local shepherd we opt for the preacher that holds the same opinions as us on TV, youtube, or the radio and sow seeds of division amongst ourselves. And if our local Sunday morning social club gets too serious or desires to bring its members back to the truth of scripture in a healthy biblical way, well then we will just move to another Sunday morning social club that won't take this Jesus thing too seriously.
So, what evidence does Paul have to make this charge against the Corinthians?
Look at the second part of verse 3, For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
They have become known by Paul not for the love that they show each other that John talks about, no they are known by factionalism, jealousy, and strife inside the church. These things are happening amongst the body.
Turn with me over to Galatians 5 and lets see what Paul has to say about these works of the flesh…
Galatians 5:19-2119Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Did you catch that church? Paul put jealousy and strife right there in the same breath as idolatry, sorcery, and sexual immorality. All works of the flesh which are in direct conflict with what the Corintians and us here today should be known by. Let's look at what they should be known for instead…
5:22-2422 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.But instead of crucifying their passions and desires for which minister they prefer or like, they have instead pitted them against each other.
Paul put jealousy and strife right there in the same breath as idolatry, sorcery, and sexual immorality.
Somehow they had taken what was for their good and turned it into something to cause division and disunity. The problem was that the Corinithians took their eyes off of God and put them on men. They started looking for spiritual growth in all the wrong places.
Church, this reality is one we all too often share with the Corinthians. We look to the culture of self help and rugged individualism to move us forward to be our “best selves”. Not only do we look to our worldly culture for the answers on how to grow we take it a step further and document this all on social media for the world to see just how good we are. Like the Corinthians we look to other people, to our relationships, to political and industry leaders, books, celebrities, and even big name pastors and teachers help provide us with a sense of progress in our growth.
This is the heart of the matter Paul is getting at in verse 3 when he asks “are you not in the flesh and behaving in only a human way?” And in verse 4 he picks up again with the strife over which teacher is better himself or Apollos? He then asks the question in a different way, are you not being merely human?
Now that word human is translated in the greek as “carnal”. Simply put he is asking them to take a long hard diagnostic look at themselves. Are you acting according to your sinful nature or are you acting according to the spirit? Paul is seeking to get them to see that all these issues have come about because they have sought growth in all the wrong things. What he is really saying is look, you have looked inward for your spiritual growth and the only person you really trust, the only person that you put any hope in for growth is yourself. Paul illuminates that we all think we know best and are the only ones capable of knowing what spiritual growth looks like and how it is to be accomplished. That we have no need to submit ourselves to be spirit taught through the ministry of the church. What do we do instead? We seat ourselves at the head of our table as the ultimate authority. So, when we encounter something difficult or challenging from the ministry of the word, we should not immediately reject it or spit it out, because we don't like it or it doesn't fit our theology, but genuinely ask, is this what the Bible teaches? We should ask ourselves, do I not like this teaching because it goes against scripture or do I not like it because it challenges me to conform to the biblical image of Christ rather than the image I have created of Christ or the world's image of Christ?
One of the things that the Army makes you do as a leader is constantly evaluate yourself and your performance during training events. We call this the after action report where we are asked by higher leadership to point out things that went well and things that didn’t go well or things that could be improved. It is usually easy to point out things you do well, but it's hard to point out your mistakes.
This is what Paul is trying to get not just the Corinthians to do, but us as well, to take a long hard look inside and ask am I living by the spirit or by the flesh? Am I being conformed to the biblical image or Christ or my own image of Christ?
He is telling the Corinthians that their preferred minister is your source of growth right now, and this has corrupted their growth. This has kept you as babies, but Paul desperately wants them to go back to the only true source of growth that is found in God.
Paul wants them to go back to their true identity that is only found in God through Christ. To remember that it is only because of God that they are in Christ in the first place, so why would we look to anything or anyone but God for spiritual growth?
This brings us to our last point that only God can give us spiritual growth.
Only God can give us spiritual growth
Let's pick up in verse 5-9.
1 Corinthians 5-9
5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
So, here it is Paul is finally going to tell the Corinthians which minister is what and what part they had to play in the spiritual growth of the church right?
Nope, notice Paul doesn’t ask who is Apollos or who is Paul, instead he asks what is Apollos and what is Paul? He takes the pedestal that the Corinthians had put ministers on and kicks it over. Like come guys, what am I or Apollos supposed to do to make you grow. Remember what Paul told them in chapter 1:2, he called them the Church of God…that was sanctified in who, Paul, Apollos…no, sanctified in Christ Jesus! He wants them to understand that they are both just servants that God used to bring the gospel to the people of Corinth. That neither of them could even choose their assignment so how in the world would either one of us make you grow? Church understand if we put any two faithful bible teachers or preachers here and the outcome is the same. Only true spiritual growth comes from God.
Now, this does not minimize the importance of the work that either man had done. Verse 6 Paul plants and Apollos waters, but he takes no credit for either their salvation or growth. Instead Paul points them back to what they had been looking for this whole time. He points them back to God, “but God gave the growth”. Remember in the book of Ephesians where Paul told the Church Ephesus their new identity came from? It sounds a lot like what he is telling the Corinthians where their growth comes from BUT GOD, being rich in mercy; but God gave the growth. It is God who saves and it is God who gives the growth. Paul is imploring us to get our eyes back on God and off the servants He used to deliver His message to us. This is why you are still drinking milk, this is why you are still babies because you are more worried about the servant than the master who sent them!
If a man is lost and wandering through the desert with no water to drink, do you think he cares how he gets a drink of water? It could be the cleanest, coldest, most filtered water in the world, or a nasty mud puddle. His only concern is what? Being able to get a drink of water, why because the water is the source of life! This is the issue that Paul is addressing here. They had clung to men to servants to messengers instead of the giver of life, the source of life, God! They had completely missed God because in their flesh they thought the messengers they held to would give them the most growth.
So, what does this truth mean to us here today? The first truth is that we don’t have to work to produce our own growth. Once we digest this milk we can throw out all the self help books, scrap all the self work projects we were going to undertake. Why? Because Paul tells us in Eph 2:8-9 that our salvation is through faith alone so that no man may boast, Amen! Not only that but in Eph 2:10 Pauls tell us that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.God has already worked out and planned out how He was going to grow us. That all we need to do is walk by the spirit into these good works! Peter also tells us in 1 Peter that God is going to test our faith by various trails, why? So that the genuineness of our faith will be more precious to us than gold. God already has a plan to grow you that was set before the foundation of the world! God declares that growth comes by faith in Christ alone through God’s grace.
Understand that spiritual growth is not accomplished by mere human understanding, or found in some spiritual regime, or in buying the right book, or following the right preacher. These things while not bad unto themselves and very could be things that are used by God just like Paul and Apollos they are never the source of where growth comes from, that belongs to God and God alone.
The 2nd truth for us is that we are all equal workers in God’s field. God sets no man above another. Just as Paul taught in Eph that we all make up the body and each part is equally important, the same truth applies here. If no one plants then no one could water, and if no one tilled the soil then no one could plant. This is why belonging to a local body of believers matters so much. God has gifted us all differently for the work of the gospel and called each one of us in unity to his or her right place in this community of believers. Paul tells us in verse 8 that he who plants and he who waters are one, because they are united in God through Christ. The Corinithians had gone out of their way to create division over what Paul had called one. So, when we understand that it is all of God that He alone gives the growth, we are able to function properly in unity.
The third truth is that God has claimed final authority for our growth. We can obey God all day long and if He doesn’t give growth then there is no growth. And on the other hand we can fall into disobedience and run from the job God has given you and in spite of our failure He can still cause growth, this is what it means to be sovereign ruler. This truth gives us freedom to labor in the field, understanding that success or failure is not dependent on my human means, but wholly rests on God. Find rest in comfort in the fact that the harvest and growth are His and His alone. Please don’t hear what I am not saying, I am not saying we are to sit on our hands stagnating because God will either grow us or He won't. We still have a responsibility to seek Him in His word,to sit under biblical preaching, and not forsake the gathering, but yes it is ultimately God who gives the growth. Church we must understand that God ordains the means not just the ends. But the means He has given us is not finding the right teacher or solemn spiritual retreats, it's not moving to Africa to be a missionary, it is the everyday common means of grace that God has ordained for our growth. Prayer, Bible Study, Community, the Ordinances. No, maybe they are not exciting but they are the prescribed and ordained means for God to grow us by and through!
Even though all growth comes from God, the work of ministers is not meaningless in the sight of God. Saying that all growth belongs to God does not mean there is no need or responsibility for the work of ministry. God as in all things will judge each colaborer according to his labor and reward them as He deems appropriate.
This morning as we close I want to do something a little different. As we reflect on what it means to spiritually grow in Christ and that it is all a work of God I would like to read what Jesus has to say about growing and abiding in Him in John 15. My prayer is that both individually and collectively that we would abide in Christ alone.
John 15:1-11
1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
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