The Problem Of Spiritual Immaturity

INTRO

MacArthur begins his commentary on 1 Corinthians 3 this way: “The cause of problems in the church was more than external, worldly influence. It was also internal carnality. The pressures of the world were combined with the weakness of the flesh.”¹ Corinth was the center for travelers to come from all over the known world, going to and from Rome, Athens, and Ephesus. With all that was going on in the city around them, the Corinthian church was beginning to cave to the immorality that was prevalent there.

Wiersbe describes two groups from chapter 2—unbelievers who do not welcome God’s Spirit and can be understood as the “natural,” because they prefer to live in nature without God, and believers who can be understood as the “spiritual,” because they are open to the Holy Spirit² (vv. 14–15). These two are divided as the unsaved and the saved.

Wiersbe points out another division covered in chapter 3—believers who are mature or immature. The mature are “spiritual” while the immature are “carnal” or living in the flesh.³ Based on these divisions, Wiersbe breaks the chapter down into 3 sections: The Family, the Field, and the Temple.

TEACHING

1 Corinthians 3:1-4: Wiersbe describes this section as “The Family—Maturity.”⁴ Paul pointed out he couldn’t speak to the Corinthians as spiritual people because they were babies in Christ . . . they had a carnal mentality (v. 1). MacArthur points out the babies in the faith “had no excuse for not being mature, since Paul implied that he should have been able to write to them as mature, in light of all he had taught them.”⁵

Paul said he had given them milk instead of solid food because they weren’t ready spiritually—they were still fleshly and were living like unbelievers with envy, strife, and selfishness (vv. 2–3). Milk was “not a reference to certain doctrines, but to the more easily digestible truths of doctrine that were given to new believers,” while solid food included “the deeper features of the doctrines of Scripture.”⁶ That doesn’t mean the truths are different, only that the teachings could go deeper into those truths (Hebrews 5:11–14). Therefore, choosing one leading disciple over another is a sign of being unspiritual (v. 4). Maturity comes not from the pastor or the leader but from Christ through the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:5–9a: Wiersbe describes this section as “The Field—Quantity.”⁷ Paul pointed out he and Apollos were servants doing what God had called each of them to do, and each had been given different roles to fill (vv. 5–7). God gave the growth and received the glory. Further, God calls each of us to work together as coworkers “as one in purpose” in God’s field (vv. 8–9a). Wiersbe points out there is “diversity in ministry,” “unity in purpose,” and “humility of spirit.”⁸

1 Corinthians 3:9b–23: Wiersbe describes this section as “The Temple—Quality.”⁹ Believers are also God’s building, built upon the foundation that Christ created (vv. 9b–11). The temple is built with the best—what is most valuable and what cannot be destroyed (vv. 12–13). No one should boast about what men do but instead realize everything comes from God (vv. 21–23).

CLOSING

So you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. It is a powerful picture that Paul paints. He tells the Corinthian church he wants to see growth, maturity, quantity of fruit and quality in the family, the field, and the temple.