If you would like to download and print this transcript, please click here.
Babies in the Church
1 Cor. 3:1-9
Have you noticed that it is more demanding to live the Christian life than it is to simply live as the world does? Why is it this way?
As a believer we are to resist temptation. Those without Christ are pursuing their temptations.
Paul has been addressing those temptations here in his letter to the Corinthians. For the Christian, we have two sources of temptation. The first is from the world. It is the external source of temptation for us.
This is what Paul has been addressing in 1 Cor. 1:18-2:16 as he spoke of those pursuing the wisdom of man.
The second source of temptation is our flesh; this is the internal temptations we experience. Just as the worldly temptations created division in the church so does our fleshly temptations.
The promise in the new covenant tells us we have a new spirit and a new heart. We have a new nature as we are now a new creation.
We see this in:
2 Peter 1:4, “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
As new creatures we should reject worldliness, that is buying into the philosophies of the world which are based on human wisdom. Today we see this in how the world views and justifies abortion, same sex marriage, human sexuality and the like.
Our fleshly desires are the bridge that the world uses to reach us. We have the promise of glorification which will happen to us upon death or the return of Jesus. Until then we battle against our fleshly desires.
Paul, the author of 1 Corinthians, describes his own battle with the flesh in his letter to the Romans.
Romans 7:15, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”
Romans 7:22-23, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”
With this battle in mind, Paul moves on in his letter to the Corinthians, showing them how the flesh causes divisions in the church.
- The cause of division.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3a, “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly.”
Paul is being pretty blunt here but still loving. He is speaking not as a judge, but as a brother.
The Corinthians are positionally saved, that is not the problem. But they are practically ‘men of flesh’ or maybe the better term is ‘carnal’.
Here is the process for all of us. When we come to Christ, at that very moment we are justified. Declared righteous. But that doesn’t mean we are now sinless.
That perfection comes upon death or rapture when God glorifies us in glorification.
Justification and glorification are two theological terms describing our state before God. There is one other term that links these two events and that is sanctification.
Sanctification is the process of being made holy that we begin at salvation and continues until we are glorified.
Paul’s issue with the Corinthians is that since they came to Christ and began the growth process in sanctification they haven’t grown. They continue to be babies.
Parents, if you had a child and 10 years later, they are still spouting gibberish, crawling on the floor and haven’t started on solid food yet…not to mention anything about potty training…wouldn’t you be concerned?
That is Paul’s concern with the Corinthians. They should have grown up in their faith by now, but they remain babes.
You see, yes? Let’s move on.
- The symptoms of division: Jealousy & Strife
1 Corinthians 3:3b-4, “For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?”
Jealousy and strife are always found in an immature congregation. Jealousy is the attitude and strife is the action that comes from it.
These result in carnality in the believer. It will corrupt your morals, weaken relationships and produce doubt in God and His Word.
Selfishness is one of the most obvious characteristics of babyhood. How are you doing with that?
Here is the key: division can only occur where there is selfishness.
- The cure for divisions: Glorifying God!
1 Corinthians 3:5-9, “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
Paul, of all people, could have taken the praise for the fruit of his ministry, but he doesn’t. He is pointing back to God; it is God who saves. It isn’t Paul, it isn’t Apollos. It is God!
We all can play a part in someone coming to Christ, but the growth, the transformation, the life all comes from God.
Paul is directing all of us to bring our focus, our gaze back to the one who saves us, the one who redeems us, the one who gave all for us. He is the one who deserves all the glory and all the praise.
Each one of us then is a fellow worker in God’s plan. Co-laborers with Him.
Each one of us is different, with uniquely given skills. None of us is better than any other, but in jealousy we attribute greater worth to some gifts, skills or characteristics. We become respecters of persons rather than worshippers of God.
God gives some more opportunities to shine, but with the opportunity comes greater expectations. So, it can be a blessing and a burden to be so gifted.
As a fellow worker in God’s plan, we are only asked to do what God is directing us to do. But ultimately all the glory needs to go back to the one who made us the way we are, to serve Him.
Reflection:
Since coming to Christ how much have you grown?
- Do you spend time in prayer every day?
- Do you spend time in God’s word every day?
- Do you tell others what God is doing in your life so that they have the chance to ask God into their life?
- Are you growing in your faith or are you still drinking milk?