The Undercover Adventist

  Spiritual Immaturity in Corinth Scripture: "For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal?" — 1 Corinthians 3:3–4 (NKJV) One of the saddest realities in the Christian life is that a person can spend years in the church and still remain spiritually immature. In 1 Corinthians 3:1–4 , Paul lovingly but firmly confronts the believers in Corinth because they had failed to grow in their faith. Although they had accepted Christ, their attitudes and actions revealed that they were still thinking and behaving like spiritual infants. Paul tells them he could not speak to them as spiritually mature believers but as "babes in Christ." Instead of being ready for the "solid food" of deeper spiritual truths, they still needed the "milk" of basic instruction. Their lack ...

  First and Second Corinthians  Unity in Christ Lesson 3 - Tuesday Growing Beyond Disappointment Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:1–4 When Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth, he spoke to them with loving honesty. Although they had accepted Christ, they had not grown spiritually as they should have. Instead of calling them spiritually mature, Paul described them as "infants in Christ." They still needed spiritual milk because they were not ready for the deeper truths of God's Word. What revealed their immaturity? It was not a lack of knowledge or talent. It was their attitudes toward one another. Jealousy, strife, and division had taken root in the church. Some proudly declared, "I follow Paul," while others insisted, "I follow Apollos." By placing human leaders on pedestals, they demonstrated that they were thinking like the world rather than like followers of Christ. Spiritual maturity is measured less by what we know and more by how we love, f...