1 Corinthians 3:1

But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him... And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat... For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?... For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:1–11, condensed)

When grown believers still act like babies, the result isn't adorable—it's a tragedy God means to heal.

A Baby Acting Like a Baby—Versus an Adult Who Does

Two years ago, when I was given the opportunity to lead this fellowship as a senior pastor, my wife and I were expecting our first child. I've mentioned before that at the time I was more concerned about becoming a father than about becoming a pastor. Both are filled with responsibility, but fatherhood weighed heavily on me. Now Ethan is almost two, and Addison is six or seven months, and I can say without hesitation that I love being a dad. Children are a gift from the Lord. Amen? The Scriptures make that clear.

A baby that looks like a baby and acts like a baby is a wonderful joy. An adult who acts like a baby is a tragedy. The church at Corinth had exactly this problem. The adults there, in spiritual terms, were acting like babies. As we come to chapter 3, Paul addresses this very issue.

The Call to Maturity

It is the desire that every Christian grow to maturity. That is one of the primary missions of our church here at Calvary—that every believer would be equipped and grow to a mature place in their walk with the Lord. It ought to be the desire of every pastor, because it is part of the call of the minister. In Ephesians 4:11–12, Paul says God ordained apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."

Each of us is moved with compassion when we see someone handicapped by a mental or physical condition. But spiritual retardation should provoke a different response. It certainly did with Paul. When he heard of the carnal condition of the Corinthians, he was not moved with compassion—he was moved with concern and grief.

So he writes in verse 1, "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as spiritual." It implies Paul wanted to write a letter of encouragement to a spirit-filled group of disciples, but he couldn't. He had to write a letter of rebuke. Most of this letter is filled with rebuke to a church that, though showing evidence of the Spirit's working, was filled with carnality. Notice he is gracious—"And I, brethren"—recognizing they were brothers in the Lord, yet speaking forthrightly that they were not where they should have been.

Are We Where We Ought to Be?

The author of Hebrews says the same to the Hebrew Christians in Hebrews 5:12: when by reason of time they ought to be teachers, they still needed someone to teach them the first principles. The same problem was found at Corinth. This ought to make us consider whether we, sitting in this church in 2010, are where we ought to be in our walk with the Lord.

Years ago I was struggling with a basic form in martial arts, and my instructor said, "Miles, you are exactly where you should be for the amount of time and effort you put in." Though he meant martial arts, it rang true on a discipleship level. As you look at your life and I look at mine, we are exactly where we should be according to the time and effort we have put in. I emphasize effort, because some have been saved ten, twenty, even thirty years yet still struggle with the same life-dominating sins they struggled with the day before they prayed to receive Christ. They have put in time but not sought to walk as the Lord would call them. Essentially, they are still babes in Christ.

Natural, Spiritual, and Carnal

Back in 2:14–15, Paul described the different conditions of man. The natural man "receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him." That is the non-believer, not born again, without the indwelling Spirit—he doesn't even understand spiritual things. Then there is the spiritual man, renewed by the Holy Spirit, who has the mind of Christ (2:16). Because the Spirit dwells in him, he can do what God has called him to do, and as he walks in the Spirit, he glorifies the Lord.

Although the Corinthians had the indwelling Spirit, they were not walking in the Spirit. So Paul says, "Ye are carnal." They were cognizant of spiritual things, even dabbling in them, but they were dominated by the flesh. In a setting as large as ours, especially at second service, all three categories are present. Some are natural men—you don't know the Lord, much of Scripture confuses you. Some are spiritual—not because of amazing power but because of the indwelling Spirit. And unfortunately, some are carnal: babes in Christ who understand spiritual things yet remain dominated by the flesh.

The Danger of Staying a Babe

Every believer passes through a stage of being a babe in Christ—desiring to obey God yet finding the power of the flesh seems to dominate. But some stay there far too long. Many wonder if there's even such a thing as a "carnal Christian." I'll admit I don't like that label, because it provides a category where some feel content to stay. I've counseled people who confess, "I recognize I'm a carnal Christian, and I guess that's just how I'm going to be." God forbid that anyone be content there. I'd rather call such a person a babe in Christ—but we must not stay there.

Romans 8 says to be carnally minded is death; the carnal mind is at enmity with God, and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. We desire to please God, so if we continue in the flesh, we cannot. The result is a person who experiences some benefits of following Jesus, yet lives in a deflated, despairing Christian condition.

The Nature of Salvation and the Ongoing Struggle

This raises an important issue about the nature of salvation. Every Christian is thankful to be saved from the penalty of sin. Isaiah 53:6 says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." Each of us deserves judgment, but God laid upon Jesus all our guilt and shame on the cross, so we are justified, saved from sin's penalty. We are also looking forward to being saved from the presence of sin—when corruption puts on incorruption and we are glorified.

But being saved from sin's penalty and presence does not mean our struggle with sin has ended. It is the justified Christian who now recognizes the struggle. Sin no longer reigns in the Christian, but it remains and must be dealt with. Because of Christ's work, we now have the ability in Him to be victorious—more than conquerors (Romans 8)—yet in this life a battle rages between the world, the flesh, and the devil. The Book of Common Prayer petitions, "From fornication, and from all other deadly sin, and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil, spare us, good Lord."

If you do not experience that conflict, it is for one of two reasons: either you are not saved and don't realize the conflict exists, or you are carnal and have given in, figuring, "This is just how it's going to be." That is not the abundant life Jesus desires for us.

The Devil's Bargains and Our Choice

The devil cunningly uses the things of this world to tempt us at the level of the flesh. He says, "If you'd just lighten up on these Christian things, you could have a good life. If you weren't so scrupulous about honesty, I could make you rich. If you weren't so concerned about fidelity, I could give you relationships that would knock your socks off. If you weren't so concerned about purity, I could take you places you wouldn't believe." The devil isn't going away, and the world will be around a while longer. So if we're to be victorious, we must crucify our old wicked flesh and use the full armor of God in Ephesians 6—especially the shield of faith, which quenches the fiery darts of the wicked one.

The battle is real. Some of you are experiencing great victory; others are defeated in the flesh. But you cannot say, "The devil made me do it," because every sin is an inside job. That excuse is at least a cop-out and at most a lie. James 1:14 says, "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." When temptation is set before us, we make a choice whether to follow sin or to renounce it, reject the devil, draw near to God, and watch him flee.

The natural man, without the abiding Spirit, has no choice—he's a slave to sin. But you and I have a choice. Like Moses in Hebrews 11:25, who "chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." There is pleasure in sin—but it is temporary. We choose: enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, which draw us away from the Lord's fellowship, or suffer in the flesh and crucify it to enjoy the abundant life Christ gives. If you're not enjoying that abundant life today, it's not because He withholds it; it's because your sin hinders you.

Walk in the Spirit

Galatians 5:16 puts it plainly: "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh... that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law." It's that simple. Walk in the flesh and we sin; walk in the Spirit and we glorify God. By the power of God's Spirit we must daily—sometimes minute by minute—reject sin and walk in holiness. We are not saved by holiness, but because we are saved we ought to walk in it, so that the world might see what it really is to follow Jesus.

What's the most common complaint unbelievers have about the church? That it's full of hypocrites—and often rightly so. We speak against tobacco and alcohol while being filled with gluttony, greed, and all kinds of things.

Milk and Meat

Paul continues in verse 2: "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able." It is right to give the new believer the milk of the Word. Peter says in 1 Peter 2:2 to "desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." But Paul distinguishes milk from meat. Meat is not new doctrine—it is a fuller, deeper understanding of already-established doctrine.

Here's an example. The week after you became a Christian, you tried to tell a friend or coworker, and all you could stumble out was, "I once was lost, and now I see." That's true—you were lost and blind, but now you're found and you see. But after walking with the Lord and sitting under the Word, you recognize salvation is far deeper—it speaks of justification, sanctification, and glorification: saved from the penalty of sin, being saved from its power, and one day saved from its presence. Meat is where we dig more deeply into God's Word.

Paul says, in effect, "When I first came, I fed you milk, and that was right. But I want to take you on to meat, and you're not able to bear it." At least four, probably six, years had passed since he first shared the gospel at Corinth, and he says, "You're still not ready."

The Evidence of Carnality

Some at Corinth might have objected: "What evidence do you give? We're leading church services, having communion, experiencing the gifts, speaking in tongues, prophesying. How can you say we're not ready for solid food?" Paul answers in verse 3: "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?"

All sorts of good things were going on, but they were spiritual baby Hueys. For all intents and purposes, they were playing church—getting drunk at communion, coveting one another's positions and gifts, full of envy, division, and strife. Babies in the nursery are adorable; an adult in diapers with a pacifier is a tragedy. Elapsing time does not equal maturity. Occupying a seat for ten or twenty years does not make you an elder or mature in Christ.

The word Paul uses for carnal is the Greek sarkikos—fleshly, characterized by the flesh. It speaks of one who ought to walk differently but does not, who, though Spirit-filled, is controlled by the instinctive animal appetites of the natural man. We who can discern spiritual things recognize that God created man distinct from animals, in His image, breathing into him the breath of life and giving him a spirit to commune with God. The natural man thinks man is merely the highest evolved creature, and so he just fulfills instinctive, fleshly appetites. When someone cuts him off on the freeway, he instinctively reacts. When someone cuts off a Christian—well, I won't go further.

More Than Mere Men

Notice Paul says "ye walk as men," not "ye are mere men." The implication is that they were not mere men. The Christian is born again by the Spirit of God, has the indwelling Spirit, has the mind of Christ and God's Word written on his heart, with God's power flowing through his life so that he can and should do what pleases God. When we don't, it's because we've decided not to—not because we're unable.

The problems at Corinth weren't from lack of understanding, ability, or good teaching. Paul was a master builder and laid a strong foundation. It was a spiritual problem: they allowed fleshly things to remain instead of reckoning them dead, and the spiritual things were crowded out.

Remove the Trash First

Paul's counsel is the same pattern seen throughout the New Testament: remove the trash so new life can come. When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, torn down by Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century B.C., he found a city full of trash. The first thing was to clean it out and rebuild the walls before new growth could come.

James 1:19–21 shows the same pattern: "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." When you're yelling out the car window, none of God's righteousness is there—it's all you. "Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." Underline souls. You must remove the trash before you can receive the implanted Word that saves your soul.

This is a put-off, put-on passage, just as in Ephesians 4. Paul speaks to justified believers on their way to glory, but right now we need to be saved at the soul level. That's what Romans 12:2 means—"be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Our minds must be transformed so we can display to the world what God intends. And we must be doers, not hearers only. Hearing the Word taught is not the same as doing it.

Growth Is Your Responsibility

If you think you'll become a spiritually mature adult in Christ by coming here an hour and a half a week, it will not happen. You cannot imbibe the world's mentality day after day, flirt with the devil, dilly-dally with moral filth all week, and expect a single worship hour to undo it. Peter says the same in 1 Peter 2:1–2: "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." Lay aside the junk first, then desire the milk. If you don't do the weeding by the power of God's Spirit and a decision of your will, you can't plant the good seed and you won't see growth. Fill yourself with the world's trash all week, and welcome to adult spiritual diapers and the disappointed Christian life.

Are you experiencing the abundant life Christ promised in John 10, or are you being robbed by the enemy, who comes to steal, kill, and destroy? The pastors here can labor all week to prepare a great meal of the Word, but if you think you'll grow to maturity by being spoon-fed, it won't happen. Hopefully the Word taught here will stir you, like it did the Bereans, to search these things out yourself. Growth is your deal. I can't make you grow—Pastor Richard, Pastor Mark, Pastor Josh can't make you grow—just as a farmer can't make the seed grow. He provides good conditions, but it must be good seed on good soil.

In our society we blame teachers when students fail; a child brings home a D, and parents call the school rather than chastise the child. But Philippians 2:12 says we must "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." On the day of Christ Jesus you won't be able to say, "It's Pastor Miles' fault."

Correcting the Perspective

Verse 4: "For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?" Here Paul defines the problem—they were still worldly, filled with jealous divisions that led to contention. The inward heart attitude was jealousy; the outward manifestation was quarreling. The life of an infant is almost totally self-centered—and these were spiritual infants. They had the wrong focus, so Paul gives them the right perspective.

Verses 5–11: "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed... I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase... For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building... I have laid the foundation... but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

Division in the church always stems from wrong preoccupations—focus on yourself or on others. Gain the right perspective—the Lord—and things come into line. Whatever any of us is enabled to do in the church is an undeserved gift from God's hand: the one teaching from this pulpit, the one in youth or children's ministry, the one sweeping the parking lot. They have received grace from God and been gifted to do it. Paul says he and Apollos are ministers "by whom you believed," not "in whom you believed." All they did was point to Jesus, and God gave the increase. The work is God's; He gives the work and fashions the gifts. Different workers receive different gifts for different tasks, but it's all God's work, and we are one in Christ.

Instruments in God's Hands

The workers are merely instruments. When Yo-Yo Ma plays a wonderful concert and receives a standing ovation, no one carries his cello out for everyone to applaud the instrument. If I took his cello, I'd struggle to hold it or sustain a single note. It's not the instrument. Paul and Apollos were united in God's work, so the Corinthians ought not to be divided over the workers.

"Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." Notice: You are God's—His possession. This is not my church. You are not my disciples—thank God. This is not my pulpit. This is God's church, and you are disciples of Christ; He is our focus. God has graciously allowed me to serve in this capacity for now, but it's His work, and being able to do it is according to His grace—the same grace by which Paul, Apollos, Pastor Mark, Eric, Richard, and all our leaders serve. Every one of us serves at the pleasure of the Lord because of His grace.

A Demonstration the World Can See

God has called us to be examples of Him in this world. If our lives are dominated by trash and sin, the world rightly looks at those labeled Christians—Christ-like—and calls us hypocrites. So we must change. The world needs to see a proper demonstration of the power of God in God's people, especially in Southern California, where God's Word and churches are abundant. As Richard would say, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a church in Escondido, and you can't drive without seeing a fish on the back of a car.

But when was the last time your unbelieving family, coworkers, and friends saw a proper demonstration of honesty, integrity, self-control, joy, and love—the fruit of the Spirit—and said, "I don't see that anywhere else"? Would to God that would be the testimony of our lives. And it will only happen if we do what Scripture says: crucify the flesh.

Paul boils it down in Ephesians 4. If you have a problem with lying, stop lying and tell the truth. If you have a problem with anger, don't do that. If you have a problem with stealing, stop, get a job, and give to those in need. "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying." If you speak in a dirty way, apply the theology of Thumper: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Even a fool is thought wise when he keeps his mouth shut, says Proverbs. Would to God that the people of this city and county would see a demonstration of the power of God in and through His followers. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Father, I know that Your Word can be hard sometimes. Your Word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword; it cuts deep and divides between joint and marrow, soul and spirit, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. I know that even now the enemy is sowing discord in the hearts of some here, whispering, "I didn't like that message. It ticked me off." Lord, I pray that You would bind the work of the enemy, and that we would receive with meekness Your implanted Word, which is able to transform our thinking. Transform us, I pray, Lord, that people would see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.