God’s Word for You
1 Corinthians 3:3 Mere men
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, November 22, 2022
3 You are still fleshly. For since there are jealousy, quarreling, and divisions among you, are you not fleshly? Are you not acting like mere men?
As we saw in verse 1, there is a difference between what I have translated “worldly” there (σαρκίνοις) and “fleshly” here (σαρκικοί). To be worldly is to be subject to the fallen human nature. To be fleshly is to choose the selfish desires of the human experience, although it would be wise to point out that “fleshly” does not necessarily imply sexual sins. It is more about selfishness, self-centeredness, and rejecting God in favor of one’s own opinion or the world’s twisted values.
This “me first” rather that “God first” attitude is at the root of the jealousy, quarreling, and divisions among the Corinthians. Some readers may wonder that “divisions” here is not in all other translations. This is because it is not in all Greek copies of 1 Corinthians. This is a kind of variation in the text that causes the translator to chart all of the differences and then gauge whether what one document says is to be preferred over another. The reading I have chosen is present in every region in ancient times, and is cited as early as the third and even the second century AD. This more than qualifies as an ancient and widespread variant reading. The question of whether a copyist would be more likely to add such a word (perhaps based on Galatians 5:20?) or to remove it (by accident) does not tip the scales one way or the other. I have included it; it will not change any doctrine of the Bible and, indeed, is an important part of this letter (1 Corinthians 1:10, 11:18).
Backsliding of this kind is almost to be expected of brand-new Christians. Devotion to former sins and worldly judgments are just the kind of childish behaviors that sinful man is inclined toward doing. When I left my mission congregation for the call that I have now (this was more than twenty years ago), I started to get calls from one of the members after a new pastor was assigned there. “You have to come back!” he would say. “This new guy just isn’t you!” Part of me was flattered, I suppose, but mostly I was concerned. The success of the gospel should never be subject to the personality or the abilities of any one man. It was good that a new man replaced me there. It taught that little group to love the word and to praise God. And if they appreciated the servant, that was God-pleasing, too.
But getting back to Paul’s words: a mature congregation, several years along and with much truly spiritual teaching, should not show the kind of sinful selfishness that the Corinthians were showing. It’s the greatest concern to a pastor to see infighting and factions from people who should, spiritually speaking, know better. We have no choice but to point all of our people to the cross, to the whole work of Christ on our behalf. When people drift away from this heart of the Scriptures, they begin to think only of God’s glory, of the invisible God’s invisible work in visible nature. I sometimes call this a “first article” faith, a faith that wants to contemplate only the work of God the Father. But the Bible proclaims the second article as key (and the third article, the work of the Holy Spirit, truly only points back to Christ crucified for our sins). It is the cross, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus for our sin, that saves. Knowing about all the intricate workings of the Father will only lead us to despair of being imperfect. It doesn’t save anybody. But the cross! There our God was punished for the guilt of all our sins. There satisfaction was made on our account. There each one of us can point and say: “There was I myself saved.”
At the end of his letter to the Romans, Paul urged Christians to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in our way. “Keep away from them,” he says, “for such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites” (Romans 16:17-18). When this includes someone, or a group of “someones” in our midst, they must be confronted and taught, and if they will not yield or stop their work, then Paul says in another place: “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them” (Titus 3:10).
Run to the cross, and fall down there at its foot. It is there, beneath our bleeding, suffering and dying Jesus that we learn that God’s way is to kill in order to make alive. Our God may seem cruel to unbelieving eyes, but in truth he is acting as a surgeon to cut away the infections of sinfulness, worldliness, and fleshliness, so that we no longer look to anything in the creation to rescue us, but to God alone. In his arms we find love, forgiveness, compassion, and peace. Pray for the peace of God’s holy Church. May those who love the Lord Jesus be secure.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.