Scripture: 1
Corinthians 3:1-9
At the end of 1 Cor. 2 Paul spoke of the natural person who
does not accept the things of the Spirit of God and such a person’s inability
to understand what the Spirit teaches. In this reading he confronts the
Corinthians for not acting as spiritual people, and describes them as people of
the flesh, corresponding with the natural person. The evidenced of their sin is
the divisions in the church. God is the source of their life and growth. He
also states that God was at work in them. This reading moves us more deeply
into 1 Corinthians and furthers Paul’s proclamation that Christian unity is
found in God’s work in us.
Teaching
Paul uses the word flesh to refer to the sinful nature. He
is saying that the Corinthians were acting according to their sinful nature
rather than as people who are redeemed and forgiven in Christ. There is a
mystery here that we may find hard to understand but is seen in the Christian
life. It is this: that even with faith and forgiveness in Christ, we still sin,
and sin disrupts our unity with our fellow believers.
The spiritual person, on the other hand, receives the things
of God. When we receive God’s Word it matures us in faith. This new nature is
in conflict with our old sinful nature, and needs to be fed with the Word of
God. God gives growth as his Word is received. He does his work in the believer’s
life through the Word. This work includes the forgiveness of sins (called
justification) as well as shaping the believer to live a holy life (called
sanctification).
Life
When you consider your own life, do you feel more like a spiritual
person or a person of the flesh? This is a conflict that goes on in the heart
of every believer. One of the important places this conflict takes us is the
point where we despair of our own power so that we begin to rely fully on God’s
power at work in us. This will shape us to live humbly in his grace.
Ironically, it is often when we feel most fleshly and we call out to God for
forgiveness and relief that our spiritual life is seen most clearly.
When you think about what matters in your life, where does
God fall on the list? For Paul God is central to everything he does. This is
because God’s redemption through the cross of Christ gives us life, and without
life nothing happens. We are but servants, graciously enlivened by God in
Christ so that our lives are lived entirely in his service. How might you show
such a humble attitude in your life?
Prayer
Instruction,
Thanksgiving, Confession, Petition
God, you give the growth. You use your servants to plant and
water the seed of your Word in our lives, but you give the growth. Thank you
for being at work in our lives and the life of your Church and her
congregations. Forgive us for thinking and behaving like people of the flesh
and for our spiritually immature behaviors. Please keep working in us, grow us,
mature us, and unite us in Christ who gave his life on the cross to redeem us.
Amen.
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