1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Bible Study

These notes are for the Wednesday 10am Bible Study at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, Orlando FL

3 And so, brothers and sisters,^[a] I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. ² I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, ³ for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? ⁴ For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?

As Paul has opened his letter, he has referred to the readers several times as “brothers and sisters.”  He even uses this phrase here. 

Brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people…

He says this because the people in Corinth have not behaved in a way that corresponds to them as having the Holy Spirit in their lives. 

Paul talks about maturity and immaturity. 

Solid Food verses Baby Formula.

The problem with the Corinthians is not their desire to grow in knowledge and in wisdom. The problem is that they have been seeking the wrong kind of wisdom from the wrong sources.

Who in your life was a spiritual giant?  What made that person spiritually mature?

Is the spiritually mature able to quote Scripture?

Is the spiritually mature able to quote the Westminster Confession of Faith, sing hymns without looking at the words? 

Is the spiritually mature one who has read Barth, Calvin, or other theologians?

What is it that makes a person spiritually mature?

What is the sign of one who is spiritually mature in the faith?

Paul has already described those in whom the Spirit dwells as those who have “the mind of Christ” (2:16).

The most essential part of this spiritual maturity is strangely simple – love. 

When Christ was asked about the greatest commandment, the answer was love – love for God and love for neighbor.

This is a startling teaching for modern Christians.  We are very much like the people of Corinth in that we place great value on technical skill in our preachers and teachers.

We look for knowledge of Hebrew and Greek, literary knowledge, knowledge of Bible history and geography – but as useful as such skills may be, the most spiritually mature person is the one who loves.

If we love God, we will also love our neighbours. It was this truth that the nineteenth-century poet Leigh Hunt took from an old eastern tale and enshrined in his poem ‘Abou Ben Adhem’: 

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,

And saw, within the moonlight in his room,

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

An angel writing in a book of gold:—

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,

And to the presence in the room he said,

"What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head,

And with a look made of all sweet accord,

Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."

"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"

Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,

But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then,

Write me as one that loves his fellow men."

         The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night

It came again with a great wakening light,

And showed the names whom love of God had blest,

And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.

⁵ What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. ⁹ For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Footnotes:

1. 1 Corinthians 3:1 Gk brothers

Here Paul steps back to an earlier issue – the division of the church in Corinth.  Some were saying they belonged to one group – that of Apollos, others saying they belonged to other groups – that of Paul, Peter, etc.  Paul rebuked them for their divisions and called them on the carpet, reminding them, and us, that the body of Christ is not divided. 

Here Paul is affirming the value of each group.  He moves onto talk about what it means to be a servant – it is to be part of a team effort.

One person plants, the next waters, we each build on the work of others.

In school we see our children’s teachers – 1^st grade, 3^rd grade, 12^th grade – each building on the work of the previous teachers.

And that is the church.   It is one of the primary doctrines for Paul.  We are the body of Christ, working together. 

In the church, we see this with the photos of past ministers in the hallway.  Each one gave this church something – moved it ahead in some new ways. 

Here Paul uses the image not of the body, but of agriculture. In a garden, one person may plant a seed and another may water it.  Neither can claim to have made the seed grow. That claim belongs to God and to God alone.

The one who plants and the one who waters are on the same level.

Tell me how you see this in the life of our congregation? 

How can we work together better as a united congregation?