THE GROWTH-STUNTING POWER OF A FLESHLY FOCUS – 1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 8, 2018 under 2018 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday message; July 8, 2018 from 1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Theme: The redeemed man or woman in Christ has the mind of Christ, and can thus discern spiritual truth.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

If you go to bookstores enough times, you’re bound to overhear some interesting ‘intellectual’ conversations in the aisles.

I don’t ever mean to eavesdrop on other people’s discussions while I’m book shopping. But you really can’t help hearing the conversations that are going on right next to you. And I’m always very interested in what books other people are looking at, and what they’re saying about them. I was browsing through the theology section of a bookstore one evening; and I’ll never forget the short conversation going on between a couple just a few shelves down from me.

I had been noticing which books they were taking down off the shelves and talking about; and I could tell that they were looking at some pretty ‘brainy’ works on theology. It seemed to me that the fella was trying to coach the young woman in what books he thought she ought to get. And then, he took a particular book down from the shelf, handed it to her, and said, “Here. This is one that you ought to get. It’ll put you miles ahead of the average person in the pew.”

I strolled on down the aisle and started thinking about what I had just heard. “What did that really mean?” I wondered; “to be ‘miles ahead of the average person in the pew’? By what standard is the direction ‘ahead’ being defined? And is that really a desirable thing anyway?—to be ‘ahead’ of others in church pews? Would the Lord Jesus want us to have that as our goal—to be ‘ahead’ of other professing Christians in that way? What does that say about our thoughts toward those who are not ‘miles ahead’?” I even wondered if it could be that, in trying to get ‘miles ahead’ of others ‘in the pew’ in that way—paradoxically—someone might actually end up putting themselves ‘behind’ in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Though I had only heard just that little fragment of the interesting conversation that these two folks were having, that one particular statement bothered me a great deal. It happened years ago; but I have thought about it ever since. And what’s more, I wonder how many times I have been guilty of having the same attitude toward my brothers and sisters in Christ—looking down a bit on those that I didn’t consider ‘miles ahead’; where I though that I was.

I tell that story because I believe it illustrates the kind of attitude that the apostle Paul was addressing in the first few chapters of 1 Corinthians. The believers in the ancient city of Corinth had many problems in their fellowship; and one of them was that they were overly concerned about being—if I may put it this way—’miles ahead’ of one another. They were measuring things, and evaluating one another, on the basis of human standards of wisdom. Some were aligning themselves under this favorite teacher; others were aligning themselves under that favorite evangelist; and pretty soon, they were becoming divided from this class of Christian or that class of Christian. The desire to get ahead of one another was actually putting them behind in the kind of unity of love that the Lord Jesus wants His followers to have with one another.

Paul gave his analysis of this problem in our passage this morning—in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4. He wrote,

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? (1 Corinthians 3:1-4).

In their effort to get ‘miles ahead’ of one another, they were falling ‘miles behind’ in true spiritual maturity.

* * * * * * * * * *

You’ll notice, in this passage, that Paul speaks of these believers as being ‘carnal’. I think of it as unfortunate that—to many folks today—this word has taken on a sort of ‘sexually immoral’ connotation. That obscures its real meaning. The word that Paul uses in the original language actually means means ‘fleshly’ or ‘made of flesh’. And as Paul was using it in this passage, it meant to have a ‘fleshly focus’—that is, to be oriented toward ‘fleshly’ or merely ‘human’ principles or capabilities.

In fact, in this passage, Paul likens it to ‘behaving like mere men’ who do not consider the spiritual things of God. And that’s what these Corinthian believers were doing. They were genuine believers—truly redeemed people—because Paul calls them ‘brethren’. But sadly, they were believers who were deficient in their spiritual life. They were embracing a ‘fleshly focus’. In their thoughts and actions and values, they were living in contradiction to who they really were in Christ. They were behaving as carnal—that is to say, ‘fleshly focused’—Christians.

I was thinking about this the other day as I was preparing to preach. I wonder if you can relate at all to my experience. It has been remarkable to me the way that I can prepare a sermon very carefully, and use all of my ‘fleshly’ skills; and end up thinking that the sermon I am preparing to preach is going to be a big hit—only for it to turn out to be a real dud. And yet, by contrast, there are sermons that I just can’t seem to get together properly in preparation, and that leaves me feeling so short-fallen in my efforts that I almost dread Sunday coming! And yet, those supposedly weak and poor efforts often turn out to be the sermons that God blesses most. I sincerely don’t understand how that happens—except that there is a spiritual reality to our walk and our service to the Lord Jesus that we must always take into account. It’s a spiritual reality that does not, in any way, depend on human capabilities. I must constantly trust the Holy Spirit; and remember that He works in ways that I cannot see, or predict, or can ever make happen on the basis of my own fleshly powers.

Well; the whole of our lives in Christ is truly that way. There is a spiritual reality to our lives in Christ—one that is made effective in us by the indwelling Holy Spirit. But to be ‘fleshly focused’—to be ‘carnal’—is to ignore that reality. It is to behave as mere human beings—as if the only reality that exists is the one we can see with our own eyes; as if the only wisdom that there is is the one that comes from our human capabilities of thought; and as if the only power to do things is the power that we possess by the strength of our own doing.

And Paul is letting us know in these four verses that to operate on such an attitude does not put us ‘miles ahead’ in the kingdom of Christ. Quite the opposite! Rather, it puts us behind. Paul’s analysis of the situation teaches us that a fleshly focus among believers stunts their spiritual growth in Christ.

And the cure for it all is to get our eyes off ourselves and back on a complete dependency upon Jesus Christ.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; let’s look a little closer at Paul’s analysis of the situation. In verses 1-2, we see how he looks back at his earliest time with the Corinthian believers; and recalls …

1. THE IMMATURE BEGINNING.

He tells them, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food …”

I believe that he is looking back to the time when he first came to them as a missionary. They had been living in a culture that was enamored with the human, ‘fleshly’ wisdom that characterized the celebrity teachers and popular philosophers of the day. And when Paul first came to them—in order to make certain that the message of the gospel was clear to them—he intentionally avoided the style of those teachers and philosophers.

In 2:1-5, he told them;

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

I believe that he continued to teach them in this way even after they had believed the gospel. In his most foundational times of teaching and training them, he was careful to speak to them in a plain, clear, simple, almost ‘child-like’ style. It was not that he didn’t speak true wisdom. He did do so—but particularly to those who were mature in the faith. But when it came to these young Corinthian believers, in the earliest stages of their growth in the faith, Paul could not speak to them as if they were ‘spiritually focused’ Christians. He could only speak to them as ‘carnal’—as ‘fleshly-focused’—as ‘babes in Christ’.

You’ll notice that he said that he fed them with “milk”, and not with “solid food”. And we need to understand that this did not refer to a difference in the basic content of his teaching. It was only a difference in method. The truths that he passed on to them as ‘milk’ were the same fundamental truths as would constitute ‘solid food’. It’s just that one method of teaching these basic truths was suited to babes in Christ who were still ‘carnal’; while another method would only be suitable for those who were spiritually mature—to those who are able to grasp the profound wisdom of God in the things they learned.

I think a good illustration of this might be found in thinking of the Westminster Standards. In Reformed churches, brand new Christians or young children are often taught from the Westminster Shorter Catechism. That’s a good place to start them off in the basics of the Christian faith. But as they mature, they begin to be taught from the Westminster Larger Catechism. In both cases, it’s the exact same fundamental truths. But one catechism gives those truths with ‘milk-like’ simplicity; and the other expounds on those same truths with ‘solid-food-like’ depth. The Corinthians may have been a little insulted that they were initially taught in simple terms—as if they were ‘babes’. But that was the method of teaching that they needed at that stage in their growth in Christ.

And that’s what Paul gave them. He adjusted the mode of his teaching to the capacity of his students. He truly was a masterful teacher—having learned from the Master/Teacher Himself.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; it’s okay to be in that ‘babe in Christ’ stage for a while. But it’s not good to stay there. The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews once put the matter in words that sound very much like those of Paul. He wanted to teach his readers some deep theology concerning the Lord Jesus. He wanted to pass on some insights about Jesus’ priestly ministry that were drawn from the Old Testament priest named Melchizedek;

… of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing (Hebrews 5:11).

The writer of Hebrews was frustrated in his desire to take his readers deeper into the truths of Christ. They couldn’t hear such truths. And why? He goes on to say;

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Hebrews 5:11-14).

You see; you can come to a time in your Christian life when you really should be out of the ‘milk’ stage and well into the ‘solid food’ stage; and yet not actually be where you should be in your capacity for the deeper truths of the faith. And that, I believe was the case with these Corinthian believers. Paul goes on to talk about …

2. THE IMPEDED PROGRESS

He said, in verses 2-3, that he could not feed them the solid food of the deeper truths of God’s word, “for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal.” They were genuinely redeemed believers—they were in Christ—they were ‘brethren’; but they were still stuck in a ‘fleshly-focused’ state. And this fleshly, ‘carnal’ state impeded their growth. This constrained them in their spiritual progress in Christ.

This is a terrible place to be in one’s relationship with Jesus. There is so much that our Lord would want to give us—so much truth that He would want to share with us—so many different ways that He would want to use us. But sadly, He often cannot do as He wishes because we’re not walking in, or thinking in, or operating in the realm of the Holy Spirit as we should be. Instead, we’re operating in the realm of ‘carnality’. We’re being too ‘fleshly-focused’; and are choosing to live as if our fleshly capabilities in the realms of life and thought are all that there really is.

The apostle Paul wrote much about this in Romans 8. He sets before us a higher standard that should truly excite us. First, he explained in verses 5-8;

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, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:5-8).

But to live ‘according to the flesh’ would be to live contrary to who we truly are in Christ. We don’t have to live that way because we’re not that way. Paul went on to write;

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (vv. 9-11).

What wonderful power it is that’s available to us if we will only avail ourselves—by faith—to the work of the Holy Spirit in us! He is the One who, by indwelling us, lives the very life of Jesus in and through us! And so; Paul wrote,

Therefore, brethren, 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 as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (Romans 8:5-14).

My wife has told me (and has given me permission to tell you) that she came to a certain place in her Christian life when she felt that God spoke rather sternly to her. She had been fussing and fighting with the problems of life; and He spoke in a quiet, gentle, kind voice—but He was firm in what He said. And what He told her was, “Grow up.” And that’s what God is telling us in this passage. That’s what we need to do. We need to grow up. I don’t want to live as a ‘carnal’ man anymore; do you?. I don’t want to live under the ‘carnal’ principle—as a fleshly focused man—any longer. I don’t want to have to be fed the spiritual version of ‘Gerber Mashed Peas’ anymore. I want the capacity to feed on the ‘rib-eye steak and potatoes’ of good solid truth.

* * * * * * * * * *

Well; the Corinthians were not yet able to do so. They were still immature. Their growth had been stunted. Their spiritual development had been constrained. Their capacity for solid food had been impeded. Paul had analyzed the problem; and in verses 3-4, he declared …

3. THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE.

Their fleshly focus on human wisdom—and the divisions between them that such a focus had brought about—was what caused their stunted growth. He told them;

For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? (vv. 3b-4).

Their inordinate alignment to human teachers—good and godly teachers, by the way—was a product of their sinful desire to be ‘miles ahead’ of one another. And that desire was an expression of a fleshly focus—a carnal attitude of heart—an expression of thinking themselves to be ‘mere men’. And it was that fleshly focus that was horribly stunting their growth in Christ.

A good doctor makes a diagnosis on the basis of clear symptoms. And for these stunted Christians, the symptoms that Paul saw had to do with their divisiveness. They were envious of one another—or, as it is in the original language, ‘zealous’ or ‘jealous’ over one another’s position or standing. And they were striving with one another—getting into contentions with one another. And these are not products of the Holy Spirit. They are not what the Lord Jesus Christ calls His people to exhibit toward one another. They are clear indications of a fleshly focus.

The presence of such symptoms is a very serious thing to find in the midst of followers of Jesus. It is by no means an indication of wisdom. The good Pastor James—also a great doctor of the soul—put it this way in James 3;

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there (James 3:13-16).

Instead, he wrote;

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace (vv. 17-18).

That’s what it looks like to be ‘miles ahead’ in our walk with Jesus Christ. And we would not really be doing it ‘miles ahead’ of each other at all. We would be doing it together—with Him.

* * * * * * * * * * *

So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; this is a call to grow up. It’s a call to put away that fleshly focus that so dreadfully stunts our progress together in Jesus. It’s a call—most specifically—to set aside all of the envy and strife toward one another that comes from that fleshly focus.

How do we set aside that fleshly focus? I believe we do so by replacing it. We focus instead on our complete dependency upon Jesus Christ Himself through submitting to the enabling help of the Holy Spirit. We walk in the Spirit—putting our feet where He says to place them—as He leads us to live like Jesus as His redeemed people.

Paul gives us great advice on this in Galatians 5:

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another (Galatians 5:16-26).

That’s how we cease to be immature, fleshly focused, carnal Christians—and grow instead to be spiritual believers who are ready for solid food!

AE