1 Corinthians 3:1-4
“Grow Up!”
Date: 25-Jul-10
Required Resources: Whiteboard
Introduction
Review:
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¿: Give a brief outline of what this letter has covered to date.
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A. Salutations & Reminders (v1:1-1:9)
B. Divisions within the church (v1:10-4:21)
1. The manifestation of the problem (v1:10-17)
A question of: “Which group is most spiritual?” leads to emptying the cross of Christ of its power
2. The gospel contradicts human wisdom (v1:18-2:5)
Your understanding of “spirituality” is a contradiction to the gospel
3. God’s wisdom is through the Spirit (v2:6-16)
This gospel is revealed through the Spirit
Ü 4. You’re “baby” Christians (v3:1-4)
Your works reveal your childishness
a. You are not acting your age (v1-4)
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Homework review:
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¿: If you were to call someone a baby, what does that mean?
Ü Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
Ü Is there anything wrong with being a “baby” Christian?
Up to this point Paul has discussed the wisdom of God and how His wisdom is revealed, now he reprimands the church in Corinth for HAVING NOT tapped that wisdom!
The Text
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Scripture
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Observation
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When Paul first visited Corinth, he had fed the believers with the elementary things (milk) of the word because they were weak and young in the faith. The teaching which had been given to them was suitable to their condition. They could not receive deeply spiritual instruction because they were new believers. (Believer’s Bible Commentary, MacDonald, 1995)
¿: What happens when you give a newborn solid food?
The draw of the world and the flesh
We often think of worldliness only in terms of dancing, alcoholic drinking, drugs and the like. But worldliness is much deeper than bad habits; it is an orientation, a way of thinking and believing. Basically buying the world’s philosophies, buying human wisdom. It is looking to the world – to human leaders, to influential and popular people, to neighbors, associates, and fellow students – for our standards, attitudes, and meaning. Worldliness is accepting the world’s definitions, the world’s measuring sticks, the world’s goals. (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary 1 Corinthians, MacArthur, 1984, pg 68)
The flesh is in us until we receive our resurrected body. It continually resists and opposes the new heart God places in us as believers. With salvation God broke the bondage to sin – but the tendency to evil remains. Our flesh is selfish.
Our ultimate triumph over the world and the flesh is certain – but so is our struggle with both in this life.
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V1-4
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You are babies!
¿: The Gospel is an elementary teaching. Name a central part of the Gospel, which allowed the Corinthians to move from their sinful state to right standing before God.
[Christ crucified]
Christ crucified was a message concerned not only w/justification but also sanctification.
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1
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“I couldn’t” – Paul addresses his experience in Corinth, again (cf. 2:1 & 2:3)
¿: Why could Paul only address them as worldly?
¿: What should we expect of a new believer?
To be worldly means to be an infant in Christ.
Paul speaks to them as fellow believers – he loved them. They were still saved – their inexcusable sin did not take that away.
Paul was their spiritual father. He would expect growth, like any father.
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2
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Their condition was determined by their diet – their diet determined their condition.
Contrast this with 1 Peter 2:2 (“…newborn babies crave spiritual milk…”)
¿: What is solid food, spiritually vs. milk?
So what then is the solid food and what is the milk? Milk is teaching that is uniquely designed to get a proud sinner started on the path of humility and hope, mainly the word of the cross, the message of Christ crucified. There is something about the word of the cross that can get into the hard and narrow esophagus of self-reliance and bring life-giving hope and humility without choking a person to death. Not that the milk of the gospel saves everybody. “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing” (1:18). A person’s spiritual throat can be so swollen with pride and self-reliance that they even gag on milk.
What then is solid food? Notice that it is not something that takes more intellect to grasp. What it takes is less jealousy and strife, less pride and self-assertion. The solid food is not for smart people. It’s for humble people — people who have stopped pursuing the pleasures of self-confidence and self-exaltation and self-determination — people who now want only to boast in the Lord and give him all the glory for whatever good there is in the world and in their lives.
An example of solid food is Romans 9-11. These are the doctrines that go down hardest in a throat that’s accustomed to jealousy and strife. If you want to feed these to new Christians you have to grind them up and stir them into the milk (John Piper, 1997)
Read Hebrews 5:11-6:3
¿: What are the elementary truths?
¿: What good is solid food?
¿: How is it used?
Solid food: It’s not that we’re learning more doctrine but that we’re learning more about what we’ve known and as the Spirit opens our eyes we’re living it.
Distinguishing good and evil can ONLY be done with constant use of solid food (cf. Heb 5:14)
Maturity = Growth is work (neither just happens it takes work!)
¿: When a child grows up what effort must be put in for him/her to grow:
Ü Emotionally? [sharing, demanding own way, confessing wrongdoing]
Ü Physically? [strong muscles take exercise]
Ü Intellectually? [learning – tests, study]
Ü Spiritually?
Examples of areas of change: Work ethic, family and friends relationships, heart for all men, things of God, stewardship of spare time and money.
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3-4
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“worldly” = “fleshly” – Paul was not saying they were of the world, he says they are acting like the world.
They were guided by secular norms
Divisions/quarrelling is a sign of worldliness
¿: Tell me what divisions & quarrelling look like.
They were succumbing to the pressures and enticements of the flesh
*Jealousy and self-rightness are often considered petty as compared to sins like adultery, murder, etc. But these “petty” sins are the ones that split Christs’ body faster than other types of sin.
¿: Why does Paul call them babies?
Paul was likely writing 1 Corinthians about 5 years after his 18 month stay in which he founded the church… You’d think there would be some sign of spiritual growth in 5 years.
¿: Do we expect maturity of a child?
Ü What do we expect?
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Whiteboard
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Draw a spirituality scale
¿: Where does EVERYONE start on this scale?
¿: How long should someone remain at the “baby” stage? [how long do infants remain at a “stage”? – CONSTANT GROWTH]
¿: How can I know if I am growing?
[doing things more out of love and humility vs. doing out of duty – motivation of heart.
Search my own heart for its “real” motivation AND since the flesh is wicked seek God’s revelation of my motivation. “Lord, what do YOU see in my heart”]
Ü It’s not so important WHERE you are today but whether you’re moving. Staying in one place = “being stuck”
Spiritual maturity IS NOT knowledge, it’s action. It’s action not motivated by duty, but action that comes from the inside.
When you advance in spiritual maturity, it is impossible to think better of yourself than others. It is impossible to be jealous and quarrel because humility is inherent in the maturity process.
*Divisiveness is a sure sign of immaturity while unity in diversity is a sign of maturity.
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Conclusion
Personal Application:
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It’s about application. Study w/o application shows lack of growth. The fruit is not something you put on, it’s something that grows out of your roots.
Bickering is fruit. Talking about another behind their back is a fruit. Dishonestly in my dealings is a fruit. Holding onto thoughts of myself has having better ideas is a fruit.
Philippians 2:14-16 “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure…”
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¿: What is the cure for division? [rejecting selfishness and looking to God]
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Homework:
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