No Mere Men-4--Sec. 1, Part 4 Series

NO MERE MEN-IV—1Corinthians 3:1-9

Paul reveals the traits of unspiritual men.

Unspiritual men are unable to exist in harmony.

Why are the unspiritual unable to live in harmony?

Because...No mere men can Overcome...

And as we discovered previously—No mere men can Overcome...

1. IMMATURITY(:1)

2. DIET(:2-3a)Sustenance

3. ENVY(:3bi)

4. STRIFE(:3bii)

5. DIVISIVENESS(:3biii)

6—No mere men can Overcome

BEHAVIORS(:3b)

Explanation:(:3b)Self-help

:3b—“...For where there are envy, strife, & divisions among you, are you not carnal & behaving like mere men?”

Examples of willful immaturity are “envy, strife & divisions.” These maladies which oppose God’s work exist “among” the constituency/membership/congregation of the church itself. These are openly brought before the church as evidence against them. These maladies should not even exist among them, much less be accepted & unnoticed as part of the fabric of church life.

Paul rhetorically point blank asks them to put two & two together. To recognize for themselves that “envy, strife & divisions”(which are present “among” them) go hand in hand with fleshly, immature Christian living!

Such behaviors in the church are in effect the behaviors of “mere men” unchanged by the Gospel of Christ! Thus they are “behaving” as if they had not experienced the blessing of new birth & are in fact unregenerate.

The unregenerate can never rise above their own abilities as they trust themselves over & above Jesus. Being without Christ Jesus, these never attain to the advantage of God’s supernatural power.

?What does this say to those in Christ?

**!All behaviors are a product of belief!

Behaviors are the way we relate to one another. God is the determiner of the way we are intended to relate to one another.

There is a heresy which supposes behavior is irrelevant because we are body, soul, & spirit. These envision a total independence of the functions of these parts. However the reality is that these parts all function together to make us who we are. Whereas if they do not, such theorizing makes it possible to so separate behavior(in the body) from soul & spirit, that we cannot be held accountable for our actions with behaviors thus having no bearing upon our relationship with God in Christ. Only God can bring about the separation of these components.

*Behaviors are not the determiners of your relation to God, but they are the evidence of your relation to God.

“Carnal/Worldly/of Flesh”(See :3a, 4)—sarkikov—Adj.—1) Fleshly, carnal—1a) Having the nature of flesh, i.e. under the control of the animal appetites—1a1) Governed by mere human nature not by the Spirit of God, 1a2) Having its seat in the animal nature or aroused by the animal nature, 1a3) Human: with the included idea of depravity, 1b) Pertaining to the flesh—1b1) To the body: related to birth, linage, etc. Sarkikov means fleshly, that which is controlled by the wrong desires which rule in the flesh, flesh often being understood in its broad sense, see sarx. It describes a man who gives the flesh the dominion in his life, a place which does not belong to it by right. It means distinctly opposed to the Spirit of God, anti-spiritual. Strong—Pertaining to flesh, i.e. (by extension)--Bodily, temporal, or (by implication)--Animal, unregenerate. Used 11X.

“Behaving/Walk/Acting/Living”—peripatew—1) To walk—1a) To make one's way, progress; to make due use of opportunities, 1b) Hebrew for, to live—1b1) To regulate one's life, 1b2) To conduct one's self, 1b3) To pass one's life. Strong—To tread all around, i.e. Walk at large(especially as proof of ability); figuratively--To live, deport oneself, follow(as a companion or votary).

Argumentation:

Gal. 5:16-17, 25—I say then: Walk in the Spirit, & you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, & the Spirit against the flesh; & these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”…..“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Rom. 13:10-14—“Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, & let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry & drunkenness, not in lewdness & lust, not in strife & envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, & make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

1Cor. 13:4-7—“Love suffers long & is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”