1Cor 3:1 And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshy, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. But neither yet now are you able, 3 For you are still fleshly. For if there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and do you not walk according to the manner of man? 4 For when someone says, I am of Paul, and another, I of Apollos, are you not men of flesh?
In 3:1 Paul refers to the believers at Corinth as infants in Christ. Although they had received all the initial gifts in life and were lacking in none of them (1:7), they had not grown in life after receiving them, but rather remained as infants in Christ, not spiritual but fleshy. The apostle here points out their deficiency and indicates their need, that is, to grow in life to maturity, to be full grown (2:6; Col. 1:28). In verse 2, to give milk to drink or food to eat is to feed others. Feeding refers to the matter of life. This differs from teaching, which refers to knowledge. What the apostle ministered to the Corinthian believers seemed to be knowledge. Actually it was milk (not yet solid food), and it should have nourished them. Milk is mainly for infants, whereas solid food is for the mature (Heb. 5:12). The fact that the Corinthian believers could not receive solid food indicates that they were not growing in life. In verse 3, jealousy and strife are expressions, characteristics, of the nature of the flesh. Hence, they characterize those who are in the flesh, those who are fleshly. Every fallen human being is the flesh (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16). Therefore, to walk according to man is to walk according to the flesh. In verse 4, the word men here refers to men of the flesh, to fallen natural men, to men in the world. Instead of walking according to the natural man, we should walk according to the mingled spirit [The Spirit of God in our spirit] . However, in saying that they were of Paul or of Apollos, the Corinthians were walking according to the fallen natural man. They were not living and behaving according to the Spirit in their regenerated human spirit. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 212-213. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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