Little Lambs that Spoil the Vine

1 Corinthians 2:14 – 3:4

The Monstera Deliciosa is a unique fruit. When fully ripe, it offers a sweet flavor of pineapple, banana, mango, guava, passion fruit, coconut, and even strawberry. To those who’ve tried it, it’s the world’s most delicious complex fruit. But before it’s ripe, it’s full of oxalic acid, the substance used to bleach wood and strip rust. Those who make bite into an unripe fruit experience severe throat and skin irritation. Dangerous when unripe; delicious when ripe. Mushrooms are used in many world cuisines. Straw mushrooms are especially popular in Chinese cuisine. But there’s a deadly lookalike. The Death Cap mushroom is one of the most poisonous mushrooms in the world. And it looks almost exactly like the edible straw mushroom. Once ingested, the Death Cap kills in 6-10 hours. That’s why foragers need much training to identify the difference. Both look alike; but where one kills, the other sustains. We move from agriculture to livestock.

Newborn goats and lambs are almost identical to the untrained eye. They’re both frisky. But when they grow up, they’re quite different in behavior and appearance. Goats have hair, are independent, and can fend for themselves. Sheep have wool, are dependent, and need a shepherd. Jesus used these two animals to distinguish believers from unbelievers. The unbeliever is called the natural man in our passage. The believer is called the spiritual man. They’re different. One’s destined for life, the other for judgment. When the believer grows and ripens - he’s a sweet savor. But if he doesn’t, he remains a babe. He may even be indistinguishable from the unbeliever, and as dangerous and deadly. He may even be the little lamb that spoils the vine, that hurts the church. In this passage Paul continues to describe, compare and contrast the natural and spiritual man, and he also describes the immature Christian. We will see this in three propositions. Firstly, the unbeliever rejects spiritual things and continues in sin. Secondly, the believer receives spiritual things and is mysterious. Thirdly, the immature believer doesn’t receive all spiritual things and is dangerous.

Firstly, the unbeliever rejects spiritual things and continues in sin. Verse 14 introduces him. It calls him a biological creature. It says, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The word “natural” comes from the Greek word used to refer to animal life. This word tells us that human beings, at a fundamental level, are no different from animals – we eat, sleep, do our business, fight, love, bear children, have nursing instincts, and set up home. The unbeliever or natural man is merely a biological creature – he doesn’t have the Spirit of God in him. Yes, he has a soul, but his soul is dead. He’s not spiritually alive. He’s not born again of the Spirit. As Jesus said in John 3:6 - “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” And so, if he doesn’t have the Spirit of God, he’s an unbeliever. Simply a biological creature.

As such, he rejects spiritual things. From the phrase – “but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him”, we learn that the unbeliever as a purely biological creature doesn’t welcome spiritual things. Why? Because they’re foolish to him! The Greek word for “foolish” is where we get the English word “moron.” This means that spiritual matters are moronic to the unbeliever. He’s either not interested in them, or he despises them. We see this in the response when we talk to people about God – either they’re not interested and they show their disinterest, or they’re hostile to the message of the Gospel. When Paul was in Athens, preaching at Mars’ Hill, we learn in Act 17:32 that the learned philosophers, once hearing about the resurrection of the dead, some mocked him, ridiculing and laughing in contempt. But the reason why the unbeliever rejects spiritual things is because he is perishing. The things of the Spirit of God are foolishness to him. This word “foolishness” was used by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:18 to speak about the preaching of the cross. It’s foolish to those who are perishing. So we learn that the unbeliever as a purely biological man is perishing. Dead in sins, he rejects spiritual things because they’re foolish to him.

But not only does he reject it, he can’t know it. Verse 14, the second part, “neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” He has no desire to know and he has no ability to know. He’s not spiritually equipped to receive spiritual things. You know, sometimes we receive attachments in emails, which have a software extension that we’re unable to open. We either don’t have the software, or the codec is outdated. Spiritually, the unbeliever requires a new heart. He must be born again. In John 1, we’re told that when Jesus came as the light of men and shone in the darkness, the darkness understood him not.

It’s because he’s dead in his sins and trespasses. John 3:19 - “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” He’s dying - 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.” But not just perishing, he’s dead. Ephesians 2:1 says that before believing in Christ, we’re dead in our sins and trespasses. Now, what are the sins of the natural man? Galatians 5:19-21 gives us a clue - “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Now, we can’t forget the context of why Paul also spoke of the natural man. The Corinthians were divisive. They divided over men. This was a characteristic of natural, sinful men - wrath, strife, seditions or divisions, heresies or schism, envy. One reason why there are divisions in church is because of unbelievers. There are yet unconverted, natural men in church. They reject spiritual things and continue in their sins.

But in contrast, the believer receives spiritual things and is mysterious. That’s the second proposition. Verse 15 says, “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” What kind of a man is the believer? The spiritual man? He’s completely opposite from the natural man. “But he that is spiritual!” The word “but” tells us that whatever we’ve learned about the natural man, the spiritual man is a completely opposite creature. If the unbeliever doesn’t want to understand spiritual things, the believer wants to understand and know about spiritual things. If the unbeliever can’t understand spiritual things, the spiritual man can understand spiritual things. If the unbeliever is perishing, the spiritual man is growing in life. If the strictly biological man is already spiritually dead, the spiritual man has been made spiritually alive. And if the natural man persists in sins and is dead in sins, the believer has victory over his sins. If the works of the flesh are present in him, the fruit of the Spirit is present in the believer. Whereas the unbeliever is monstera; the believer should and must be deliciosa. Whereas the unbeliever imparts death, the believer nourishes. Galatians 5:22-24 - “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”These are the characteristics that promote unity, because they are the characteristics of those who are spiritual - those filled with the Spirit.

And that’s why the believer receives spiritual things. Verse 15 tells us that he judges or understands all things. The word “judgeth” is the same word found in verse 14, where it’s translated “discerned.” Just as the natural and purely biological man is clueless to spiritual things, because spiritual things need to be spiritually understood; the spiritual man can discern all spiritual things because he has the Spirit. To the believer, he doesn’t find spiritual things foolish. You had Mary, who listened to Jesus teach. She knew that the time was coming. And she took an alabaster box full of spikenard oil, and she anointed the head and feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. Very different from natural Judas - such a waste of money. Why? It’s because she sat at Jesus’ feet learning. There was Anna the Prophetess and Simeon, who were waiting for the coming of the Messiah. They had studied the Scriptures. It was revealed unto them. They were not elite, but they understood and believed. As believers, we can understand the doctrine of the Trinity. It makes sense to us. We accept and believe it. It doesn’t make sense mathematically. But we are able to accept, embrace, defend, and apply it.

And this is why the spiritual man is judged of no one - verse 15 -“he himself is judged of no one.” He’s an enigma. No one, no natural man, can understand the believer. He’s a mystery to people. Dear brethren, if we are living out our Christianity, and if we listen to the Spirit, and read the Scriptures, and pray, and love God, and be obedient to him, we will change, we will mature. As Paul says in verse 6, the spiritual man is perfect, complete. The Christian parent will say - of course we worship Christ on the Lord’s Day; of course our child should spend much time with Christian friends in church; of course we desire him more to be elect than elite. Not because of rules and commandments but because they know that Christ came to give us life and that we’d have it more abundantly. Those offended will say - I must forgive because the Lord forgave; I will not wait for them to seek forgiveness before I show kindness to melt their hardness; I’ll go the extra mile and bear wrong. And they forgive not because of rules, but because they’ve been changed by their Savior to surrender to him, flight flesh, and die to self. Even as the Lord Jesus was on the cross, he cried out to God for the Roman soldiers - “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” And this was what Stephen did. When he was being stoned, he cried out to God in Acts 7 - “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Why? He learned it from Christ. Christ was an enigma, so is the believer. Those who offend will seek forgiveness. “Lord, depart from me, for I’m a sinful man!” In fact, we are an enigma because we’re like God; and understand our need to be reconciled with God, as singers thirsting after righteousness. We understand deep gospel realities that unbelievers don’t. Verse 16 gives an analogy. “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” This is a quotation of Isaiah 40:13 - which compares man to God. Who can know God’s mind? Can anyone fathom who God is? And the answer here is - yes, the believer. Why? Because we have the mind of Christ. Meaning, just as unbelievers can’t understand God, they can’t understand believers; but believers can understand God because they have Christ. They’re mature.

But here, we must come to terms with a reality. Believers don’t always live out the gospel. We aren’t always mature. We aren’t Spirit-filled. We’re unripe. And because we’re unripe, we’re also more monstera than deliciosa. Thirdly, we consider how the immature believer doesn’t receive all spiritual things and is dangerous. In 3:1, after comparing the natural, only biological, unbeliever with the spiritual, Christ-minded believer, Paul brings up the Corinthian Christians who were not unbelievers, but neither were they spiritual. He said, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.” He called them carnal babes in Christ. And he couldn’t interact with them as if they were spiritually mature. Now, to be clear, these are babes in Christ. They’re believers. Christians. They’re not the natural man, the unbeliever. Therefore, as believers, they possess the Holy Spirit. But because they were babes, they’d not yet fully matured. They had resembled unbelievers. They may have been straw mushrooms, but they were dangerous. They may have been lambs, but they were little lambs that spoiled the vine, instead of sheep who heard their master’s voice.

And we see that they couldn’t understand all spiritual things. Verse 2 says – “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” As babes, immature Christians, they were like those only taking milk, but not meat. They were immature. They couldn’t understand. Now, what does this mean? Did it mean they couldn’t understand doctrine? Was it really deeper doctrine he was talking about? Remember, they were well-taught. Paul spent 18 months with them. They had Priscilla and Aquila, and Apollos and others. They were enriched in all utterance and all knowledge, 1 Corinthians 1:5. No, they were doctrinal experts. So why were they babes? Babes receive a lot of nourishment - milk is good; very healthy. But babies can’t take meat because they’re not full-grown. And we learn the reason why they weren’t full grown - not because they didn’t have doctrine, but because they were carnal. They hadn’t matured spiritually. And because they hadn’t matured spiritually, they were still divisive. A young Christian can be very mature because he has applied what he has learned. He’s growing in spiritual fruit. He’s displaying love, joy peace, gentleness, etc. Old Christians can have a lot of doctrinal knowledge, but can be very immature. So be sure, milk doesn’t mean less doctrine and meat more doctrine; it has to do with spiritual and character growth. But as babes with lots of doctrinal knowledge, they thought they could handle deeper things. Beloved, smarts don’t make us understand more; holiness makes us understand more. That’s what we saw in Proverbs - it’s the fear of the Lord that’s the beginning of wisdom. But fools despise wisdom. Many immature believers with lots of knowledge biting and devouring one another over that knowledge. And what’s scary was this. According to verse 2, they were like this when Paul was with them, and they were like this now. I have fed you - already. They hadn’t progressed. And in verse 3 - you are yet, still carnal.

Yes, they were dangerous. They were believers - sheep. But they were babes - lambs. Little dangerous lambs in the church, spoiling the vine. And the word Paul used was “carnal.” They behaved in a fleshly way. And it led to dangerous results in the church. We see in verse 3 there was envying, strife, and divisions. These same words were see in Galatians 5:20, 21 as the works of the flesh. Meaning, immature believers may act no different from uninhibited unbelievers. That’s why Paul asked in verse 3 that such behavior from them showed their carnality, that they walked or lived like unbelieving people. The word “envyings” means to be jealous for one’s rights or opinions. And it led to rivalry - to strife and quarreling. They were especially contending over the apostles - having a party spirit. That’s why there were divisions.

You know, anytime there is trouble in church, you can be sure at least a little lamb in Christ is involved. But they don’t think so - because they may be older, have more doctrinal knowledge, but they haven’t grown up yet. And with babes, they don’t see they’re wrong. And Paul used this letter to teach them, to mature them in holiness. Consider what he had to teach them in this letter. Here’s a summary. He had to deal with their party spirit, they compared apostles - who’s better, who’s more fruitful or successful in serving God; and he had to deal with their softness towards sin in their midst - not willing to discipline wayward believers. He had to deal with lawsuits, sexual immorality, divorce, desertion, loneliness, paying pastors, exercising or restraining their liberty, not confusing their liberty with licentiousness, seeing their equality at the Lord’s Supper, loving one another and not trying to one up each another in spiritual gifts. Many things. He told them in the end to grow up.

Dearly beloved, as we go through this book, we’ll be confronted with many things as Paul confronted the Corinthians. Will it be for the accumulation of knowledge, or for the growing in humility and repentance? Will we move from milk to meat, and grow spiritually in character? In church, we hope that most people are straw mushrooms and not death caps; that we’re monstera deliciosa - ripening to be a sweet savor sacrifice; that we’re all sheep following a shepherd. But it’s inevitable that in the church of God, there’ll be natural men and babes in Christ. We pray for conversions. We also know that being a babe is not a permanent thing. Let us look to Christ, our wisdom, and to be shepherded by him.

1. Can you think of some things that Christians exalt more than Christ today, and divide over them just as the Corinthians did over the apostles?

2. “You can tell a man’s relationship with God by looking at his relationships with his fellow men.” Do you think this is a true statement? Why or why not? Are you one who is frequently involved in disputes with others?

3. What is the church’s response and responsibility to a Christian who continues in carnality and divisiveness? How do we help them grow? Or should we?