Babes in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1)
2023-10-15
In 1 Corinthians 2, we read that the natural man cannot receive spiritual wisdom. These things are discerned by the spiritual man who has the Holy Spirit. We also read that we have the mind of Christ. Of the Corinthians, we then come to this:
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:1)
These men were still developing factions because of who led them to Christ. They may have the mind of Christ because of the Holy Spirit, but they are clearly stumbling on how this works out in their lives. They are “babes in Christ.” They are still learning what it means to be in Christ. Most of us are here to a degree. I am here.
There are babes in Christ, and there are those who have grown a bit. To puff myself up because I am in such and such faction, or seeing how I measure up to others is to operate under the principle of law and the old man. I know I am saved by grace, but somehow I think that my fleshy old man is redeemed and regenerated when it never can be.
Now, I am the new creature, which is regenerated and redeemed. The old man is condemned. My spiritual growth is just as much by grace as was my rebirth. I must operate in the realm of grace because I was born again into that realm. It is no longer me as doing great or doing poorly. It is not a matter of any performance being monitored at all because it will always be failure. I fade away until everything is Jesus Christ.