Worldly or Spiritual

Study: # 644 –Church in the Houses From: July 13 – 19, 2010 TOPIC: “Worldly or Spiritual” 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Everything has a beginning in life. We are born, then we go to school, later to the University, we get a job, get married, have children, later grandchildren, great grandchildren, and if possible great great grandchildren. And we arrive at the end of that beginning. If we don’t learn to read in school, later we will fail in math, because we’re still at the beginning and we can’t make it to the next phase. If you don’t come out of the beginning you cannot go to the next phase which is to learn in order to reach the objective with the necessary maturity. This happens in the gospel also, but we must learn more each day in order to arrive at the end approved and not disapproved. At the beginning when Paul arrives at Corinth he knew he was going to have to feed the brothers and sisters in Christ with spiritual milk. They were weak and young in the faith so he gave them the elementary milk of the word. Due to the condition in which Paul found them it was appropriate to teach them with spiritual milk. They could not receive deep spiritual instructions because they were new believers. They were only children in Christ. But, they could not remain in this phase of beginners and they did. They remained in the elementary truth, as in mathematics of 1 + 1. They had to decide immediately, to grow. There is a great difference between the worldly person who has remained in the elementary things of the truth of God and the spiritual person that has grown. Since the spiritual person has grown, he is prepared to receive and to understand more of the gospel. The worldly person remains in the material things and is therefore incapable to grasp the spiritual truth. This is why Paul accuses the Corinthians who have remained in a physical phase, earthly. When Paul speaks of the spiritual milk he meant that they stayed behind, they did not advance. They could not have solid food because of their inmaturity. They were worldly. We should not agree to remain that way. We cannot be dominated by the flesh as some of the Corinthians. For Paul the flesh was more than a physical substance, it is nature separated from God; this is how a worldly person is, separated from God! The flesh is that part of the person, mental as well as physical, which offers itself to sin. We understand that we are all flesh and bones, but the evil is there when we say that our inferior nature dominates all our attitudes and actions. The Corinthians had not improved sufficiently in order to receive the deepest truths of the apostle. They were still worldly. What can be seen of their carnality? There was jealousy and quarrels among them . They had disputes and small groups. We can see how a person’s relationship is with God when we see their relationship with others. If the person is never in agreement with others and is always fighting and arguing with others, creating problems, even if the person assists regularly to church and occupies a position,this person is not a man of God. Notice the person who gets along well with others and whose relationship is inspired by love, in unity and agreement, this person is on the right road to become a man of God. Everyone has their own value, when you love you have in great esteem the welfare of others. After all, we are all useful in the hands of the Creator, we are all servants. We are created by God. Can you imagine a house divided because of those who have been created as equally as everyone else? In agriculture one person plants and the other waters, but God makes it grow. Only the Lord can bring salvation to man, although one preaches, prays, etc. Only God performs the work in men. Neither the person who plants or the person who waters has the power to produce life. Then, why the rivalry and envy, or why choose who preaches better or does the best, if God is the only one who can moves the power? Each person should carry out the task that has been entrusted to them, but if they don’t because of their canality, then, it is because they want to have preference so that others will do and not them and receive everything in their hands. That is why they say: "I belong to Paul, I belong to pastor Edith". In the court of Christ each one will have his reward, if he does well. We are all collaborators and we should work together in God’s farm. We are collaborators who belong to God and we work with one another. Imagine this scene: There’s a worldly person. Since the pastor is not present the person does not

attend church and visits another worldy person and says: “You know, this person sinned. This other one is getting married and didn’t invite me, I wonder why. This other person left, I already knew it…etc.” Well, the person from this example is a worldly person, and has remained in elementary things. The spiritual person is very different, he struggles, comes to church, prays, worries, he walks working with God, not conveniently sitting in the chair of the devil, but in the Father’s farm. This is the way we should be. We learn from the experiences of others. The Corinthians had to be corrected by Paul. We must learn from them so that we will not fall in the same things. Let us stand as God expects of us in these times, let us be spiritual and not worldly, loving God and his work, loving our brothers and sisters in Christ and everything for us will go very well. Amen.