“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for 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? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not being merely human?
“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.” (1 Corinthians 3:1-9 ESV)
Questions:
• What does it mean if we are “spiritual people”?
• What is meant by “infants in Christ”?
• What is intended by references to milk and solid food?
• How are we to view those who are servants of Christ?
In the 1st chapter of 1st Corinthians, we were presented with some of which Paul is again referring to here. The people were divided because they were being followers of man. They were each giving their loyalty to one specific man over another, even though all these men, as far as I know, were godly men who were serving the Lord with their lives. They all had different assignments (gifts and ministries) from the Lord, but they were all the Lord’s servants. So he was cautioning them against showing such favoritism.
Now Paul said that their behaviors revealed that they were spiritually immature, like they had just believed in Jesus and did not yet have the maturity level of someone who had been walking by faith in the Lord over a period of time. But he didn’t just say that they were spiritually immature. He referred to them as people of the flesh, not as spiritual people. Although they had professed faith in Jesus Christ, they were still living fleshly lives, and they were not growing in maturity in their walks of faith.
Now what did Paul mean by the term “spiritual”? It definitely would mean that they were of the Spirit by genuine faith in the Lord, and that their lives were giving evidence that they truly were of the Spirit. But what else?
Here is one definition from Bible Study Tools: “In the New Testament and general use "spiritual" thus indicates man regenerated, indwelt, enlightened, endued, empowered, guided by the Holy Spirit; conformed to the will of God, having the mind of Christ, living in and led by the Spirit.”
That does not describe these people, does it? But that is the message Paul regularly taught. And what did Paul teach in Romans 8 on this subject?
He said that God, “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:3-8 ESV)
And.. “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Romans 8:12-14 ESV)
So, were some of them just those who were giving lip service to the Lord but who never were truly born again of the Spirit of God? Entirely possible! Others may have been of genuine faith, but they didn’t seem to have even the desire to want to grow to spiritual maturity, and Paul said that they were still of the flesh. Now was he saying this to them only because of certain behaviors that they were exemplifying? I don’t know. Or was this the overall picture of how they were living their lives?
If we read on in 1 Corinthians, I believe we will see that their fleshliness went beyond just choosing one man over another, and beyond their jealousy and strife, but it included sexual immorality, lawsuits against one another, and wronging and defrauding one another, etc. And so in chapter 6 Paul warned them against being deceived: “neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (vv. 9-10).
But then he said, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
The indication here, then, is that some of them still were in that condition while others of them were not, since all of us, outside of faith in Jesus Christ, were born into sin with sin natures. So we really need to read all of 1st Corinthians to get the full context of the message here before we make judgments that may not be biblical. For the Scriptures are clear that we cannot walk in sin and still have eternal life with God.
So, we need to get past the elementary truths of the gospel (the milk) and move on to maturity (the meat). But in our day and time it is more of an issue of not buying into these diluted gospel presentations which deliberately leave out the full gospel message, and only feed us part of it, so that many people are believing that they can continue to live in the flesh and still have eternity with God. Paul’s teachings definitely squelch that notion!
And then we need to be careful that we don’t end up making other humans our “gods” to where we believe them without question, and to where we give our loyalties and devotion to them above God or in place of God and without question or prayer inquiring of God as to who these people really are. In America this is a year for voting in a new leader for our nation, so those of you who vote in these elections, please seek God’s face regarding the true character of the people you want to lead you, and let God be your God.
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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