THE SPIRITUAL DESCRIPTION OF THE
CONDITION OF THIS CHURCH
1 Cor. 3:1-3
This church was characterized by carnality, immaturity, and humanism.
lb. This church was not spiritual. It was carnal. That is, it was living after the flesh that is, giving free reign to the sinful appetites. This very fact made it impossible for the apostle to write to them of the higher and nobler things of the Spirit. Though they were claiming to be spiritual, they were far from that. Spirituality is not to be measured by how much of the Bible one knows, but how much of the Bible to which one is subject.
2b. This church was immature. They conducted themselves like babes. This word does not mean an infant. The word means immature, that is, between the ages of 3 and seventeen. At this age they were unable to handle firm substance in food. So a soft food such as milk was fed to them which required no use of mandibles to masticate for the purpose of ingestion. At this level of development the Apostle could not write to them about those truths of the spirit that require careful and diligent study if they are to be put into practice in conduct. He had to write to them such things that required no effort on their part to understand.
3b. This church was marked by humanism. They were walking as men. They were living on the level of men in general who were solely interested in matters of the purely intellectual and physical. Just like children, who are characterized by envy, strife, and divisions, they were conducting themselves within the church. They did not lift their eyes above the human and natural level to the divine and spiritual level. They had no interest in God and the application of spiritual principles in their lives. Within a context like this the desecrations of the Lord's Table took place.
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