1 Corinthians 3:1
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly--as infants in Christ.
Brothers
The term "brothers" (Greek: ἀδελφοί, adelphoi) is a term of endearment and familial connection, indicating that Paul is addressing fellow believers in the Corinthian church. This word underscores the unity and equality among believers, as they are all part of the family of God. Historically, the early Christian communities were tightly knit, often facing external pressures, which made this familial bond even more significant. Paul’s use of "brothers" sets a tone of gentle correction rather than harsh rebuke.

I could not address you
This phrase indicates a limitation in communication. Paul is expressing a past inability to speak to the Corinthians in a certain way. The Greek verb "could not" (οὐκ ἠδυνήθην, ouk ēdynēthēn) suggests a lack of capacity or readiness on the part of the Corinthians to receive deeper spiritual truths. This reflects a pastoral concern, as Paul desires to lead them into greater maturity but recognizes their current state prevents this.

as spiritual
The word "spiritual" (πνευματικοῖς, pneumatikos) refers to those who are mature in their faith, guided by the Holy Spirit. In the context of 1 Corinthians, being spiritual is contrasted with being worldly or fleshly. The spiritual person is one who discerns and lives according to the Spirit’s leading. Paul’s lament here is that the Corinthians have not yet reached this level of maturity, which is the goal for every believer.

but as worldly
The term "worldly" (σαρκίνοις, sarkinois) is derived from the Greek word for flesh (σάρξ, sarx), indicating a life driven by human desires and instincts rather than by the Spirit. This word choice highlights the tension between living according to the flesh and living according to the Spirit, a common theme in Paul’s writings. The historical context of Corinth, a city known for its moral laxity and philosophical pride, provides a backdrop for understanding the challenges the Corinthian believers faced in overcoming worldly influences.

as infants in Christ
The phrase "infants in Christ" (νήπιοι ἐν Χριστῷ, nēpioi en Christō) uses the metaphor of infancy to describe the Corinthians’ spiritual state. Infants are characterized by their dependence and lack of understanding, which is appropriate for new believers but not for those who should have matured. This metaphor is both a rebuke and an encouragement, as it acknowledges their position in Christ while urging them to grow. Theologically, it reminds us that spiritual growth is a process, and maturity in Christ is the goal for every believer.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul
The apostle who wrote the letter to the Corinthians. He is addressing the church in Corinth with pastoral concern.

2. Corinth
A major city in ancient Greece known for its wealth and moral decadence. The church in Corinth was struggling with divisions and immaturity.

3. Corinthian Church
The recipients of Paul's letter, a community of believers who were experiencing spiritual immaturity and division.

4. Infants in Christ
A metaphor used by Paul to describe the spiritual immaturity of the Corinthian believers.

5. Worldly
A term used by Paul to describe the behavior of the Corinthians, indicating that they were influenced by secular values rather than spiritual ones.
Teaching Points
Spiritual Maturity
As believers, we are called to grow in our faith and understanding, moving beyond spiritual infancy to maturity in Christ.

Worldly vs. Spiritual
Evaluate areas in your life where worldly influences may be hindering your spiritual growth and seek to align more closely with the teachings of Christ.

Community and Accountability
Engage with your church community to foster spiritual growth and hold each other accountable in love.

Self-Examination
Regularly assess your spiritual progress and seek the Holy Spirit's guidance to overcome areas of immaturity.

Pursuit of Holiness
Strive to live a life that reflects the holiness and righteousness of Christ, resisting the temptations of the world.
Bible Study Questions
1. What are some characteristics of spiritual infancy, and how can we identify them in our own lives?

2. How does the metaphor of "infants in Christ" challenge us to pursue spiritual growth and maturity?

3. In what ways can worldly influences impact our spiritual journey, and how can we guard against them?

4. How can the church community support individuals in moving from spiritual infancy to maturity?

5. Reflect on a time when you experienced spiritual growth. What factors contributed to that growth, and how can you apply those lessons today?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Hebrews 5:12-14
This passage also discusses spiritual maturity, contrasting milk and solid food, similar to Paul's metaphor of infants in Christ.

Galatians 5:16-25
Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit, providing a deeper understanding of what it means to be worldly versus spiritual.

Ephesians 4:14-15
Paul encourages believers to grow up in their faith, moving from spiritual infancy to maturity.

1 Peter 2:2
Peter uses the metaphor of newborn babies craving pure spiritual milk, which aligns with Paul's imagery of spiritual infancy.

Romans 8:5-9
Paul discusses living according to the flesh versus living according to the Spirit, which relates to the worldly behavior of the Corinthians.
Carnal ChristiansE. Hurndall 1 Corinthians 3:1
The Carnal MindR. Tuck 1 Corinthians 3:1
Spiritual Condition of These Corinthian Partisans CharacterizedC. Lipscomb 1 Corinthians 3:1-4
Christian Teachers and Their WorkH. Bremner 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
CarnalityT. Binney.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
ContentionsA. Burgess.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
DiscordA. Burgess.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
EnvyingA. Burgess.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
Incapacity in HearersA. Burgess.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
Milk for BabesA. Burgess.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
Prod an Example to Christian MinistersJ. Lyth, D. D.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
Reflections for ChurchesD. Thomas, D. D.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
StF. W. Robertson, M. A.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
The Comparative Carnality of ChristiansJ. Leifchild, D. D.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
The Distinction Between Milk and MeatC. Hodge, D. D.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
The Doctrines of the Gospel the Food of ChristiansN. Emmons, D. D.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
The Ministerial OnceC. Hodge, D. D.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
The Remains of Corruption in the RegenerateA. Burgess.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
Walking as MenA. Burgess.1 Corinthians 3:1-12
People
Apollos, Cephas, Corinthians, Paul, Peter
Places
Corinth
Topics
Able, Address, Babes, Babies, Brethren, Brothers, Carnal, Christ, Couldn't, Flesh, Fleshly, Impossible, Infants, Mere, Myself, Speak, Spirit, Spiritual, Teaching, Worldlings, Worldly
Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Corinthians 3:1

     4030   world, behaviour in

1 Corinthians 3:1-2

     5652   babies
     8443   growth

1 Corinthians 3:1-3

     5864   futility
     5881   immaturity
     5904   maturity, spiritual
     6200   imperfection, influence
     8164   spirituality
     8205   childlikeness

Library
Twenty-Third Day. Holiness and the Body.
The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. The body is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you; therefore glorify God in your body.'--1 Cor. iii. 16, vi. 13, 19. 'She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit.'--1 Cor. vii. 34. 'Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.'--Rom. xii. 1. Coming into the world, our Blessed
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

November the Ninth the Holy Spirit as Emancipator
2 CORINTHIANS iii. 4-18. In the Holy Spirit I experience a large emancipation. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." I am delivered from all enslaving bondage--from the bondage of literalism, and legalism, and ritualism. I am not hampered by excessive harness, by multitudinous rules. The harness is fitting and congenial, and I have freedom of movement, and "my yoke is easy and my burden is light." And I am to use my emancipation of spirit in the ministry of contemplation. I am to
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Temples of God
'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?'--1 COR. iii. 16 The great purpose of Christianity is to make men like Jesus Christ. As He is the image of the invisible God we are to be the images of the unseen Christ. The Scripture is very bold and emphatic in attributing to Christ's followers likeness to Him, in nature, in character, in relation to the world, in office, and in ultimate destiny. Is He the anointed of God? We are anointed--Christs in Him. Is He the Son of God? We in Him receive the
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

God's Fellow-Workers
'Labourers together with God.'--1 COR. iii. 9. The characteristic Greek tendency to factions was threatening to rend the Corinthian Church, and each faction was swearing by a favourite teacher. Paul and his companion, Apollos, had been taken as the figureheads of two of these parties, and so he sets himself in the context, first of all to show that neither of the two was of any real importance in regard to the Church's life. They were like a couple of gardeners, one of whom did the planting, and
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Death, the Friend
'... All things are yours ... death.'--1 COR. iii. 21, 22. What Jesus Christ is to a man settles what everything else is to Him. Our relation to Jesus determines our relation to the universe. If we belong to Him, everything belongs to us. If we are His servants, all things are our servants. The household of Jesus, which is the whole Creation, is not divided against itself, and the fellow-servants do not beat one another. Two bodies moving in the same direction, and under the impulse of the same
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Servants and Lords
'All things are yours; 22. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23. And ye are Christ's.'--1 COR. iii. 21-23. The Corinthian Christians seem to have carried into the Church some of the worst vices of Greek--and English--political life. They were split up into wrangling factions, each swearing by the name of some person. Paul was the battle-cry of one set; Apollos of another. Paul and Apollos were very good friends,
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

Sanctified for Service.
"We are labourers together with God; ye are God's husbandry; ye are God's building."--1 COR. iii. 9. In this passage St. Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for that spirit of party which was dividing them into followers of this or that teacher and so destroying their unity in Christ. You do not belong, he says, to Paul or to Apollos; we have no claim upon you; ye are not to be called by our name: you are God's husbandry, and God's building, not ours; we are but labourers in His service and
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

On the Wisdom of this World
"The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."--I Cor. iii. 19. It is remarkable that about the time of our Saviour's coming into the world all kinds of learning flourished to a very great degree, insomuch that nothing is more frequent in the mouths of many men, even such who pretend to read and to know, than an extravagant praise and opinion of the wisdom and virtue of the Gentile sages of those days, and likewise of those ancient philosophers who went before them, whose doctrines are left
Jonathan Swift—Three Sermons, Three Prayers

On the Interpretation of Scripture
IT is a strange, though familiar fact, that great differences of opinion exist respecting the Interpretation of Scripture. All Christians receive the Old and New Testament as sacred writings, but they are not agreed about the meaning which they attribute to them. The book itself remains as at the first; the commentators seem rather to reflect the changing atmosphere of the world or of the Church. Different individuals or bodies of Christians have a different point of view, to which their interpretation
Frederick Temple—Essays and Reviews: The Education of the World

The Existence of Merit
1. HERETICAL ERRORS AND THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH.--a) The medieval Beguins and Beghards held that man is able to attain such a perfect state of holiness here below as no longer to require an increase of grace or good works.(1226) Luther, holding that justification consists in the covering up of sin and the external imputation of the justice of Christ, consistently though falsely asserted that "the just man sins in every good work,"(1227) that "a good work, no matter how well performed, is a venial
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

The Objects of Merit
After defining the existence of merit the Tridentine Council enumerates its objects as follows: "If anyone saith that the justified, by the good works which he performs, ... does not truly merit increase of grace, eternal life, and the attainment of that eternal life,--if it be so, however, that he depart in grace,--and also an increase of glory: let him be anathema."(1320) Hence merit calls for a threefold reward: (1) an increase of sanctifying grace; (2) heavenly glory; and (3) an increase of that
Joseph Pohle—Grace, Actual and Habitual

The Christian Church
Scriptures references: 1 Corinthians 3:11; 3:6-9; Colossians 1:18; Acts 2:47; Ephesians 5:23-27; Matthew 16:16,18; 18:17; Acts 5:11,12; 13:1,2; 14:23; 16:5; 1 Corinthians 11:18-34; 12:28-31; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:14; 1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 12:22,23; Revelation 1:4,11,20; 2:7,11; 22:16; 22:12-15,17. THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH What is the Christian Church?--One of the best definitions is as follows: "The church consists of all who acknowledge the Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, the blessed Saviour
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

Carnal Christians.
1 Corinthians 3:1.--And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal. The apostle here speaks of two stages of the Christian life, two types of Christians: "I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ." They were Christians, in Christ, but instead of being spiritual Christians, they were carnal. "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet are ye able, for ye are
Andrew Murray—The Master's Indwelling

The Indwelling Spirit Fully and Forever Satisfying.
The Holy Spirit takes up His abode in the one who is born of the Spirit. The Apostle Paul says to the believers in Corinth in 1 Cor. iii. 16, R. V., "Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" This passage refers, not so much to the individual believer, as to the whole body of believers, the Church. The Church as a body is indwelt by the Spirit of God. But in 1 Cor. vi. 19, R. V., we read, "Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

Dedicatory Letter.
To the respected and worthy NICOLAUS VON AMSDORF, Licentiate in the Holy Scriptures and Canon of Wittenberg, [14] My particular and affectionate friend. Dr. MARTIN LUTHER. The Grace and Peace of God be with you! Respected, worthy Sir and dear friend. The time for silence is gone and the time to speak has come, as we read in Ecclesiastes (iii. 7.) I have in conformity with our resolve put together some few points concerning the Reformation of the Christian Estate, with the intent of placing the same
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

Alcuin on True Missionary Labours.
THE cause of the first failure of the mission amongst the Saxons, may serve as a lesson and a warning to all times. It was this: that they sought to introduce from without what can only be effected from within; that worldly aims were blended with the diffusion of Christianity; that men did not follow the example of the Apostle Paul, who, in preaching the Gospel, allowed the Jews to remain Jews, and the Greeks, Greeks, and knew how to become to the Jews as a Jew, and to the Greeks as a Greek. The
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Certain it Is, Albeit all this Disputation Go from Side to Side...
38. Certain it is, albeit all this disputation go from side to side, some asserting that it is never right to lie, and to this effect reciting divine testimonies: others gainsaying, and even in the midst of the very words of the divine testimonies seeking place for a lie; yet no man can say, that he finds this either in example or in word of the Scriptures, that any lie should seem a thing to be loved, or not had in hatred; howbeit sometimes by telling a lie thou must do that thou hatest, that what
St. Augustine—On Lying

It Follows after Commendation of the Trinity, "The Holy Church. ...
14. It follows after commendation of the Trinity, "The Holy Church." God is pointed out, and His temple. "For the temple of God is holy," says the Apostle, "which (temple) are ye." [1801] This same is the holy Church, the one Church, the true Church, the catholic Church, fighting against all heresies: fight, it can: be fought down, it cannot. As for heresies, they went all out of it, like as unprofitable branches pruned from the vine: but itself abideth in its root, in its Vine, in its charity. "The
St. Augustine—On the Creeds

Now it Has Been My Wish on this Account to Say Something on This...
22. Now it has been my wish on this account to say something on this subject, by reason of certain of our brethren most friendly and dear to us, and without willful guilt indeed entangled in this error, but yet entangled; who think, that, when they exhort any to righteousness and piety, their exhortation will not have force, unless the whole of that, wherein they would work upon man that man should work, they set in the power of man, not helped by the grace of God, but put forth by the alone choice
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

Homilies on the Statues.
Abel, beloved of God, yet slain, [466]342; more blessed in his death than Cain, [467]374; died the first to instruct Adam, [468]414; his sacrifice good, [469]422. Abraham, rich but not covetous: entertaining angels, [470]349; tent of, stronger than Sodom, [471]456. Absolution, [472]356; at the altar, [473]443. Accused at Antioch, tortured, [474]474. Acrobats, [475]470. Actions, few, for their own sake, [476]379; end of, [477]459, n.; the proof of philosophy, [478]465. Adam, fell when idle, [479]353,
St. Chrysostom—On the Priesthood

Epistle Xlvi. To Isacius, Bishop of Jerusalem .
To Isacius, Bishop of Jerusalem [159] . Gregory to Isacius, &c. In keeping with the truth of history, what means the fact that at the time of the flood the human race outside the ark dies, but within the ark is preserved unto life, but what we see plainly now, namely that all the unfaithful perish under the wave of their sin, while the unity of holy Church, like the compactness of the ark, keeps her faithful ones in faith and in charity? And this ark in truth is compacted of incorruptible timber,
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Epistle Xlix. To Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch .
To Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch [35] . Gregory to Anastasius, &c. I received the letters of thy Fraternity, rightly holding fast the profession of the faith; and I returned great thanks to Almighty God, who, when the shepherds of His flock are changed, still, even after such change, guards the faith which He once delivered to the holy Fathers. Now the excellent preacher says, Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus (1 Cor. iii. 2). Whosoever, then, with love of
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

How the Wise and the Dull are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 7). Differently to be admonished are the wise of this world and the dull. For the wise are to be admonished that they leave off knowing what they know: the dull also are to be admonished that they seek to know what they know not. In the former this thing first, that they think themselves wise, is to be thrown down; in the latter whatsoever is already known of heavenly wisdom is to be built up; since, being in no wise proud, they have, as it were, prepared their hearts for supporting
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

First Sunday in Lent
Text: Second Corinthians 6, 1-10. 1 And working together with him we entreat also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain 2 (for he saith, At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee, and in a day of salvation did I succor thee: behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation): 3 giving no occasion of stumbling in anything, that our ministration be not blamed; 4 but in everything commending ourselves, as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities,
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

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