Lessons #65 and 66
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Worldliness hampers communication of God’s word (1 Cor 3:1-4)
1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
Have you ever wondered why in our time there is no sustained teaching of the word of God in our local churches? Have you wondered why in many local churches the only thing that is preached Sunday after Sunday is the gospel message at best? If you have, the passage before us supplies one answer to both questions. Apostle Paul was ready to teach to the Corinthians the word of God that he has received from the Lord but, according to this passage, he was unable to do so because of the worldliness that was dominant in that local church. Thus, the message the apostle intended to convey to the Corinthians is that he was unable to communicate God’s word to them because of their worldliness.
The message the apostle communicated to the Corinthians leads to a general message we believe the Holy Spirit wants to communicate to us who are believers in Christ. This message is simply that A local church where there is no advance teaching of the word of God is one that is worldly. We will expound on this message with two propositions, followed by your responsibility as a believer considering the general message we have. But before we do, we should make four observations that are necessary in expounding on the message of our passage.
A first observation is that this section of 1 Corinthians has connection with the previous major section of this epistle, that is, 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16, that is concerned with Paul’s preaching at Corinth, especially, the consideration of spiritual things in 1 Corinthians 2:13-16. We say there is a connection between the passage we are considering and the previous section because verse 1 of the third chapter begins with a Greek conjunction (kai) that is often translated “and” in our English versions although it has several other usages. It may be used to indicate that there is continuity between clauses or narratives so that it may be translated “and” or left untranslated as it is done here in the NIV and many of our English versions. The Greek conjunction may be used to introduce a result that comes from what precedes with the meaning “and so, and then.” It appears that it is this interpretation that is adopted by the NET that began the verse with the word “so” or by the NRSV that began the verse with the expression “and so.” If this usage is meant by the translators of these two English versions, then it is probably that Apostle Paul reflected on what he stated in verse 15 of the second chapter where he indicated that spiritual individuals would understand spiritual truths. Since this was not the case with the Corinthians, the apostle could be saying that because of what he stated earlier he could not speak to them as spiritual individuals. Our Greek conjunction may also be used to state contrast between clauses or narrative in which case it may be translated “but” as reflected in the ESV and the REB. This approach would imply that the apostle is implying that because the spiritual state of the Corinthians were not what they should be then he could not speak to them as spiritual. Any of these interpretations of the Greek conjunction makes sense in the context although it is probably that the apostle used the conjunction to indicate there is continuity between the present section of 1 Corinthians and the previous major section that was concerned with the apostle’s preaching that began in verse 1 of the first chapter and ended in verse 16 of the second chapter. Anyway, regardless of the translation of the Greek conjunction that begins verse 1 of the third chapter of 1 Corinthians, there is the implication that the previous major section of the epistle relates to the present section. Another indication of the connection of our present passage and the one that preceded it is the word “spiritual” that was featured prominently in the previous section. Therefore, as we study this passage we should remember that the apostle is still concerned with teaching of spiritual truths.
A second observation is that the apostle switched from the use of the plural “we” of the previous section to “I”. In fact, the apostle was being emphatic in his use of the pronoun “I” in verse 1 as indicated by his independent usage of the Greek pronoun that translates “I” that is not necessary since the Greek verb used conveys the concept of first person singular. The apostle put emphasis on himself since he wanted to draw a contrast between the Corinthians and himself regarding spiritual status. To capture this emphasis and the change from “we” to “I”, verse 1 may begin with the phrase “as for me” or “for my part” as in the CSB (Christian Standard Bible) and the NEB.
A third observation is that the apostle was still concerned with his fellow believers, male and females, in Corinth, regardless of their spiritual condition or spiritual status. We say this because of the very first word brothers of the NIV. The word “brothers” is translated from a Greek word (adelphos) that has several meanings in the Greek. It could mean brother in the sense of a male person from the same mother as the reference person. It is in this sense that the word is used by the apostle to reference James from the same mother as Jesus in His humanity in Galatians 1:19:
I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
The word may mean a neighbor as that is the sense of the Greek word in Jesus’ statement during His sermon on the mount, as given in Matthew 5:22:
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
The phrase his brother refers to one’s neighbor. The Greek word may refer to a fellow country man or a compatriot as the apostle used it to refer to a fellow Jew in Romans 9:3:
For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race,
The word “brothers” here is used for Jews, male and females. By the way, the phrase those of my own race can be misleading since there is not a Greek word that is equivalent to the word “race” as it is used by many people to differentiate one group from another. Truly, the word “race” is a meaningless term in differentiating one human being from another since it is a word that may be used to differentiate humans from animals as belonging to a different species. Thus, the phrase of my own race is better translated “kinsmen” as in the NASB or “my people” as in the NCV since it is translated from a Greek word (syngenēs) that may mean “a relative” or “a fellow countryman,” in the sense of belonging to the same people group. That aside, the Greek word translated “brothers” in 1 Corinthians 3:1 may also be used to describe one who has the same beliefs with the one that uses the word, irrespective of gender. It is in this sense that the word is used in the apostle’s instruction to slaves regarding their treatment of slave masters who are also believers in 1 Timothy 6:2:
Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them.
It is in this sense of one who shares the same faith and so belongs to the Christian community that the apostle used the word to describe Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25:
But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
It is in this same sense of those who belong to the same family of God and so with the same beliefs that the apostle used the Greek word in our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:1. This means that the apostle considered both the Jews and Gentiles in the church in Corinth to be related to him because they all belong to the same family of God in Christ. Such an acknowledgment is huge considering Jewish attitudes towards Gentiles. The apostle understood that those who are believers are related in ways that the world cannot understand. The Jews of his time would have been very upset that a Jew could call a Gentile his brother and mean it. It is not difficult to understand this point in this country. Those immersed in ethnicity in this country would certainly be upset that a member of their ethnicity calls a person of different ethnicity his or her brother and mean it. They cannot understand this because they do not know that in Christ all believers are brothers. Unfortunately, they are not alone. Many of us Christians have not come to understand what the apostle understood that a fellow believer is a brother or a relative that belongs together because of the common bond in Christ Jesus. Anyway, the Greek word translated “brothers” in our passage is used to refer to believers in Corinth regardless of their gender. It is to indicate that the word is inclusive of male and female believers that the 2011 edition of the NIV and many of our English versions used the phrase brothers and sisters to translate the Greek word used in our passage. But that is not all, the word is used without distinction of the spiritual status of believers since the apostle described them as “worldly” as we will consider shortly.
A fourth observation is that the apostle was concerned not with ordinary speaking to another or casual conversation but with communication of spiritual truths. This is implied not only using the word “milk” in verse 2 that we will get to later but the word “address” in verse 1.
The word “address” is translated from a Greek verb (laleō) that may mean “to make a sound” by inanimate objects, as it is used for the blood of Jesus Christ that speaks more effectively than that of Abel in Hebrews 12:24:
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Literal blood does not speak, so that the sense here is that blood communicates or makes a sound. Of course, the human author of Hebrews indicates that the death of Christ communicates truth that is more effective than the death of Abel. The word may mean “to speak” with various nuances. To speak may mean “to express oneself” as that is the sense of the word in the instruction of 1 Corinthians 14:34:
women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.
The standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG suggests that the sentence They are not allowed to speak may be translated they are not permitted to express themselves. To speak in some context may mean “to preach” as the word is used by Apostle Paul in describing the effort of the Jews to keep him and others from preaching the gospel to the Gentiles as he stated in 1 Thessalonians 2:16:
in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
Speaking to the Gentiles is not merely chatting with them but presenting the gospel to them so it may mean “to preach.” It is also in the sense of preaching or proclaiming that Apostle Paul used our Greek word in his prayer request to the Colossians in Colossians 4:3:
And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
The sentence we may proclaim the mystery of Christ is more literally to speak the mystery of Christ. The meaning “to preach” or “to proclaim” associated with our Greek word is reflected in its use for Jesus’ activity in Mark 2:2:
So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.
The sentence he preached the word to them is more literally he was speaking to them the word. When our Greek word is used with the ears, it may mean “to whisper” as in Luke 12:3:
What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
The sentence you have whispered in the ear is literally you have spoken to the ear. Thus, our Greek word is used for communication of God’s word. It is probably in the sense of “teaching” instead of “preaching” that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:1. In effect, the word is used not for regular speech but communication of God’s word. With these observations out of the way, we proceed to consider the first proposition derived from the passage we are studying.
A first proposition is that the spiritual condition and status of a local church affect a pastor’s communication of the word of God. When we speak of spiritual condition we are concerned with a believer’s relationship with the Holy Spirit and when we speak of spiritual status we are concerned with spiritual maturity. Both concepts are given in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 3:1 I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ.
The sentence I could not address you as spiritual may give the impression to an English reader that the apostle is concerned with his present epistle but that is not the case. This is because the word “could” is translated from a Greek tense (aorist) that in our passage refers to an action that occurred in the past. The implication is that the apostle was referring to the time when he first visited Corinth or even to a previous letter to them that we do not have. Thus, his point was he could not have spoken to the Corinthians at that time as spiritual in the sense of those who are in the right relationship with the Holy Spirit and as those who are matured spiritually. This is implied in the phrase as spiritual. We mean that the word “spiritual” is used to describe both a person who is controlled by the Holy Spirit and who is also spiritually matured. All believers are expected to be under the control of the Holy Spirit but that does not determine their level of spiritual maturity. In effect, an infant believer is filled of the Holy Spirit as a matured believer. Hence, it is necessary to recognize that the word “spiritual” may be used in two ways – to describe all believers under the control of the Holy Spirit and those who are spiritually matured under the control of the Holy Spirit. This explanation is implied in the word “spiritual” in its use in the Greek.
The word “spiritual” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (pneumatikos) that as an adjective pertains to being derived from or being about the Spirit or it pertains to the spiritual nature or being of a person hence means “spiritual, from the Spirit, of the spirit, on a spiritual basis, in a spiritual manner.” The adjective is usually used to describe impersonal things so that it is used to describe the law in Romans 7:14:
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.
It is used to describe resurrection body in 1 Corinthians 15:44:
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
It is used to describe the kind of blessing that believers have in Christ in Ephesians 1:3:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
It is in the sense of nature of a thing that the word is used to describe the kind of song sung by believers that is to be a result of the filling of the Spirit in Ephesians 5:19:
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,
The word is used by implication to differentiate the wisdom from God and the one that belongs to this world in Colossians 1:9:
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
The word used as a noun may refer to “spirit-filled” persons as that is the sense of the word in Apostle Paul’s use of it in the instruction that concerns restoration ministry directed towards believers who have sinned, as recorded in Galatians 6:1:
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
On the one hand, the believer caught in sin is one that is under the control of sinful nature and so manifests the sins listed in Galatians 5:19–21:
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
On the other hand, the spiritual in Galatians 6:1 is one under the control of the Spirit that manifests the various facets of the fruit of the Holy Spirit specified in Galatians 5:22–23:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Anyway, in our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:1, the word is used of a person characterized by the presence of the Holy Spirit in that the person is controlled or filled of the Spirit and of a Christian who is spiritually matured. In effect, the apostle is not merely concerned with a believer that is controlled by the Holy Spirit but that believer who is spiritually matured. This should not surprise us if we recall that the apostle had indicated that his teaching of truth is directed to the matured in 1 Corinthians 2:6:
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
If the apostle’s teaching is among the mature then there is the implication that the spiritual condition and status of believers in a local church affect a pastor’s communication of God’s word. That aside, there is another reason we know the phrase of 1 Corinthians 3:1 as spiritual refers both to a believer controlled by the Holy Spirit and one that is matured spiritually. It is because of the two words “worldly” and “infants” the apostle used.
The word “worldly” is translated from a Greek word (sarkinos) that means “material, physical, human, fleshy” in the sense of that which pertains to being material or belonging to the physical realm. Thus, it is used to describe hearts of humans in 2 Corinthians 3:3:
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
The phrase human hearts is literally hearts of flesh. The word may mean “physical” as in its use to indicate that Jesus’ high priesthood is not in accordance with physical requirements, as recorded in Hebrews 7:16:
one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.
The phrase a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry is literally a priest not according to a law of physical requirement. The Greek word may mean “human” as it pertains behavior or character that is focused on its weakness, sinfulness or transitoriness in contrast to that which is spiritual. Of course, there is a sense that the word may then mean “worldly” as in 2 Corinthians 1:12:
Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace.
It is in the sense of “worldly”, that is, characteristic of this world and its attributes in contrast to that which is spiritual that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 3:1. In effect, it is used to describe a person totally under the control of sinful nature. This meaning is evident in characteristics of the sinful nature mentioned in verse 3 of the passage we are considering. Anyway, the fact our Greek word is used in contrast to the one who is spiritual implies that the word is used to describe a person that is not controlled by the Spirit. Therefore, we contend that the word “spiritual” would first refer to a believer that is controlled by the Holy Spirit, regardless of the individual’s spiritual maturity level. This brings us to the consideration of the concept of spiritual status because of the word “infants” used in our passage.
The word “infants” is translated from a Greek word (nēpios) that in general Greek usage means “immature,” “foolish” and refers to beings ranging from fetal status to puberty. However, in Greek NT, it is used firstly in a literal sense of a very young child hence means “child, infant” as it is used in Matthew 21:16:
“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?”
Secondly, it is used figuratively to describe an immature Christian in Ephesians 4:14:
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
The word may be used to describe one who is unspoiled by learning hence means “child-like, innocent” as it is used in the description of the disciples by the Lord as recorded in Luke 10:21:
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
The word may refer to one who is not yet of legal age hence means “minor, not yet of age”, as it is used to describe a child in Galatians 4:1:
What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:1, the word is used in the sense of one that is immature spiritually. In other words, it is used to describe the spiritual status of the Christian that does not understand much regarding the spiritual life. Such a person does not know much of the Christian doctrines as one who is spiritually matured. Consequently, the conduct of such a person would be different from the spiritually matured.
We are confident that the apostle used our Greek word to describe an immature Christian because of the phrase in Christ that in our passage refers to the Christian faith. The phrase in Christ when used with an individual implies that the person is a Christian or a believer in Christ. This we can learn from the apostle’s use of the phrase in Romans 16:7:
Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
The sentence they were in Christ before I was means those mentioned became Christians before the apostle so that when the phrase in Christ is used in some contexts to describe individuals, it refers to the fact of being a Christian.
It is true that in our passage of study, the apostle used it to describe the Corinthians in the phrase mere infants in Christ, but we should recognize that not all Corinthians were immature spiritually. Furthermore, to be an infant in Christ is better than being an unbeliever because of the many implications of the phrase in Christ. To support this point, let me give you five facts associated with this phrase that makes us declare that while being an infant in Christ is not desirable for any believer, but it is better than being an unbeliever.
First, the phrase in Christ Jesus is associated with forgiveness of sins. Thus, those who are in Christ have their sins forgiven, as stated in Ephesians 4:32:
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
It is a glorious thing that anyone’s sins have been forgiven since that has enormous implications with the person’s relationship with the God of the universe. People live in guilt and suffer because they do not know that their sins, no matter how awful they are, can be forgiven in Christ when they trust in Him. In fact, the offer the Holy Spirit made to Israel through Prophet Isaiah is available to us today. I am referring to the offer of God in Isaiah 1:18:
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul informs us that forgiveness is only available through Jesus Christ, during his sermon in Pisidian Antioch, as we read in Acts 13:38–39:
38 “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.
Forgiveness of sins results in peace with God. Consequently, anyone who has come to true realization of peace because of the individual’s sins being forgiven knows it is a great blessing. No wonder the psalmist declared the blessedness of one’s sins being forgiven in Psalm 32:1–2:
1 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.
This being the case, the Holy Spirit wants you to know how blessed you are because you are in Christ, implying that your sins have been forgiven.
Second, related to the forgiveness of sins, the phrase in Christ conveys the truth that those associated with the phrase, are no longer going to face eternal judgment of the type that will result in eternal condemnation. This truth is evident in what the Holy Spirit stated through Apostle Paul in Romans 8:1:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
When man fell into sin, God pronounced him guilty of sin, hence he came under condemnation with the ensuing punishment. That God’s pronouncement of guilt on man brought condemnation is stated in Romans 5:16:
Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
The condemnation that is the result of the fall was not only on Adam and Eve, the first sinners of human history, but on all their descendants, that is, entire humanity, as stated in Romans 5:18:
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
As humans, we stand under condemnation that means loss of eternal relationship with God and consequently, loss of the kind of life that is suited to be with God for ever. There is more, this condemnation means that a person is under God’s wrath. But when a person is in Christ that person escapes condemnation and so the wrath of God, as the Holy Spirit reminds us through the pen of Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1:10:
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
You will never face God’s eternal wrath because you are no longer under His condemnation as the rest of humanity that do not believe in Christ. Hence, the phrase in Christ is one that assures you that you will never be under God’s condemnation. This truth is confirmed by the third truth we consider.
Third, the phrase in Christ means that those associated with it have received eternal life. Eternal life is a gift that is offered through Jesus Christ, according to Romans 6:23:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Holy Spirit informs us that eternal life is only available in Christ not only through the pen of Apostle Paul but also through the pen of Apostle John in 1 John 5:11–12:
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Those who are in Christ share His life, eternal life. It is the possession of eternal life that ensures we are never going to be under God’s wrath in the eternal state. We know that every human being will live eternally but the issue is where one will live eternally. Those who are in Christ will live eternally with Him but those who are not will live eternally in the place described as lake of fire. We know that everyone will live eternally because everyone will experience resurrection, as indicated in Daniel 12:2:
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
The Lord Jesus restated this truth in John 5:28–29:
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
Thus, those who are in Christ are those who will have the good resurrection that is described as living with God. Of course, those who are in Christ are already alive so that the Holy Spirit could command us to consider ourselves alive in Christ, as we read in Romans 6:11:
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The point is that because you are in Christ, you have eternal life in your union with Christ and will live with God forever.
Fourth, the phrase in Christ means that those associated with it are a new being. It is this truth that is conveyed in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
This verse is subject to two different interpretations as reflected by the fact that we have two major different translations in our English versions. The sentence he is a new creation of the NIV is translated there is a new creation in some English versions such as the NRSV, the NJB, and REB. The reason for different translations is that there is no verb in the Greek so that the clause of the NIV if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation is literally from the Greek if anyone in Christ, a new creation. Since there is no verb or pronoun in the Greek, translators filled in both. The Greek phrase implies we should supply the verb “is” so the question is whether to supply the pronoun “he” or “there” in the translation. Some English versions supplied “he is” as in the NIV while others supplied “there is” as in the NRSV. The implication of the translation he is a new creation is that the one who is in Christ is a new being while the translation there is a new creation implies that not just that the person in Christ has been made new but also that a new situation has been created. It is probably the case that the apostle implied both interpretations so that the person in Christ is a new being that is part of the new creation since the apostle in his epistle to the Ephesians conveyed that there is a new humanity in Christ he described as the “new man” in Ephesians 2:15:
by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,
In effect, we mean that when a person is in Christ, he is not only a new being but a part of the new creation that includes the new humanity that exists in Christ. It is probably this understanding of the Greek phrase that is reflected in the CEB that translated the literal Greek a new creation of 2 Corinthians 5:17 as that person is part of the new creation. That aside, the point is that the phrase in Christ implies that the believer is a new being that is a part of the new humanity in Christ as part of the new order that is established through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Fifth, the phrase in Christ means that those associated with it although still on this planet are already in heaven as a citizen of heaven. This assertion is one that, like being in Christ, is difficult to grasp but should be accepted in faith. A person who is in Christ by such a position is already in heaven. This is because Christ is in heaven. Therefore, if a person is in Him then that person is already in heaven as implied in Ephesians 2:6:
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Of course, when the apostle wrote seated us with him in the heavenly realms the Holy Spirit meant to convey to us that we are guaranteed of future exaltation in heaven with Christ. Put it in another way, the Holy Spirit gives the assurance to those who are in Christ that they are guaranteed to be in heaven no matter what Satan and his agents do. A person in Christ will be in heaven as that is where Christ resides. Thus, the sentence you are in Christ Jesus is one that should give assurance of salvation to the believer in that such an individual will be in heaven with Jesus Christ.
Be that as it may, we have given reasons that being described as infants in Christ in the sense of being immature in the Christian faith is better than being an unbeliever, but we should realize that it is not desirable for a believer to be one that is described as an infant unless as it relates to doing evil, as the apostle stated in 1 Corinthians 14:20:
Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.
The goal of every believer should be that of maturing spiritually and not to remain as infant in the spiritual life. This is firstly because an infant believer is unstable regarding Christian doctrine in that such a person wavers about Christian doctrines, not knowing what to believe, as implied in Ephesians 4:14:
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
Secondly, a believer should not want to be an infant spiritually because of the first major proposition we have stated, which is, that your spiritual condition and status affect a pastor’s communication of the word of God.
08/10/18