1 Corinthians 3:1-3 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. (2) 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; (3) for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”
We have stated thus far that all believers come into the kingdom of God as babes in Christ and they are meant to grow into spiritual maturity from there. In the passage of scripture quoted above the apostle Paul highlights the contrast between these two types of believers, i.e. baby believers and mature believers. In this passage we see that the Holy Spirit refers to baby believers as being carnal, and that He refers to mature believers as being spiritual. The apostle Paul goes on to explain to us what He means by the term carnal, when he tells us that those who are carnal behave like mere men. In other words carnal believers display behaviour that is very similar to those in the world. In this passage Paul goes on to list some examples of the behaviour of carnal believers, i.e. envy, strife and divisions, to show us just how worldly their behaviour is. Spiritual believers on the other hand display the fruit of the spirit in their behaviour, i.e. love, peace and unity, which is completely opposite to the carnal behaviour of the world. And so we can see that one of the most telling ways to determine whether a believer is either mature or still a babe in Christ, is to observe their behaviour. Another contrast that the apostle Paul highlights between the two types of believers is the spiritual food that their minds are able to absorb, and he uses the analogy of babies being able to only digest milk and not solid food, to illustrate this point to us. In other words Paul is telling us that baby believers are limited in their understanding of God’s word, and if exposed to certain spiritual truths in God’s word they would not be able to comprehend them. Spiritual believers on the other hand have no problem in this area, and are able to comprehend all spiritual truths revealed to them by the Lord’s ministers. And so we can see that another way of determining whether a believer is either mature or still a babe in Christ, is their ability or inability to understand certain spiritual truths in God’s word. In this passage Paul reveals another aspect regarding spiritual growth, which is the length of time it should take for believers to transition from being babes in Christ to reaching some degree of spiritual maturity. In this passage Paul makes the following comment to the church at Corinth “even now you are still not able”, implying that by that time they should have been able to receive the solid food of God’s word. The apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church at Corinth approximately six years after he planted that church, and so we can see that the Lord deems six years to be sufficient time for His servants to transition from being babes in Christ to becoming spiritually mature. Nevertheless it is plainly evident that the saints in Corinth had not matured after six years, and were still babes in Christ. Sadly the lack of progress in spiritual growth among the saints in Corinth is indicative of most of the church today, for many saints never progress beyond being babes in Christ even after many years in the kingdom, and that is evidenced both in their carnal behaviour and their lack of spiritual understanding of God’s word.
Michael E.B. Maher
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