Lessons #73 and 74

 

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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?

 

We continue with our examination of the doctrine of baptisms that we began in our last study as part of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith that Apostle Paul would have communicated to the Corinthians because of the sentence I gave you milk, not solid food of 1 Corinthians 3:2 and because the human author of Hebrews added the doctrine as part of the elementary teaching of the Christian faith because of the phrase in Hebrews 6:2 about baptisms

      In our last study, we indicated that it is important that new converts be taught the significance of water baptism. But, before getting to that we should again emphasize that water baptism has nothing whatsoever to do with salvation. In other words, a person is not saved because the individual is baptized or that a person who is saved is lost because the individual is not baptized. The examples of water baptisms that we considered in our last study should convince a person that water baptism has nothing to do with salvation. Cornelius and those assembled with him were saved as indicated by the receiving of the Holy Spirit. It was after their salvation and their receiving of the Holy Spirit that they were baptized in the passage we cited in our last study, that is, Acts 10:47-48:

47 "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

 

Apostle Paul was saved and filled of the Spirit before he was baptized, as recorded in the passage we also cited in our previous study, that is, Acts 9: 17-19:

17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord-Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here — has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

 

Hence, there should not be any reason to teach otherwise. Nonetheless, there are those who teach that water baptism is necessary for salvation.

      The teaching that asserts that water baptism is necessary for salvation is often based on misunderstanding of Jesus’ declaration in John 3:5:

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

 

The problem is with the verbal phrase born of water and the Spirit specifically, the phrase born of water.  But before we deal with this phrase, let us provide the implications of the teaching that salvation is not possible without water baptism. It implies that no one was ever saved before the time of John the Baptist. This means that Abraham, Moses, David and all the OT saints who were not baptized were not saved. Such a notion is unthinkable and contrary to what is revealed in the Scripture. There are some Christian groups, like the Quakers, who do not believe in water baptism and so if water baptism is essential for salvation then all believers who belong to the group known as Quakers and many others would be lost.  Another implication is that an unbeliever could receive the Holy Spirit, something there is no basis for in the Scripture. We state this implication because Cornelius and those that responded to the gospel message preached by Peter received the Holy Spirit before they were baptized. If water baptism is necessary for salvation then we have to conclude that unbelievers received the Holy Spirit, something unthinkable in the Scripture. Another implication is that Jesus does not know what it takes to be saved or that He was being deceptive on the cross, both are unthinkable. This implication is because Jesus promised salvation to the criminal who died on the cross with Him. This criminal believed in Jesus Christ but was never baptized. Therefore, either he was saved and so makes Jesus’ offer of salvation true or he was not saved so makes Jesus’ offer false. It is inconceivable that Jesus would offer salvation to a person and that individual will not be saved. Even before the cross, the Lord Jesus offered salvation to certain individuals. Zacchaeus was offered salvation when the Lord Jesus visited his house (Luke 19:5-9). The Samaritan woman was also saved but there was no record of the Lord Jesus demanding for her and those in her city that believed to be baptized in water.  Still, another implication of the teaching that water baptism is necessary for salvation is that those passages in the Scripture that indicate that salvation is by grace through faith are meaningless. A good example of this passage is Ephesians 2:8:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

 

Added to these implications is the surprise one gets from the encounter of Apostle Paul and the jailer in Philippi. He asked the apostle how to be saved. The apostle’s answer in no way contained the word baptism, as we read in Acts 16:30-31:

30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household."

 

It is true that the man was later baptized but that came after his conversion. These implications and the fact that all that were baptized in the records of Acts were all saved prior to water baptism, should cause a person to accept that water baptism is not necessary for salvation and by implication that the verbal phrase born of water in John 3:5 has nothing whatsoever to do with water baptism.

      How then should we understand the verbal phrase born of water and the Spirit in John 3:5? To begin with, it should be immediately understood that water cannot be understood in a literal sense but figuratively. This is because the result of being born of water and the Spirit is spiritual as stated in the next verse, that is, John 3:6:

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

 

The word “flesh” is translated from a Greek word (sarx) that also means “physical in nature.” Since water is a physical entity and the result of being born of water and Spirit is that which is spiritual then water cannot in any way be that which is literal. Furthermore, in several usages of water in the gospel of John, the meaning could not possibly be literal water. Take for example. Jesus offered eternal life to the Samaritan woman figuratively using the word water in John 4:14:

but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

 

The phrase a spring of water does not refer to literal water, but it is used figuratively for that which leads to eternal life. At any rate, there are two possible ways of understanding the verbal phrase born of water and the Spirit of John 3:5. It could be understood as a hendiadys, in which water is explained to be the Spirit so that Jesus meant that unless one is born of the Spirit he will not enter the kingdom of God. This interpretation is supported by two facts. The word “and” is translated from a Greek particle (kai) that can be used in an explicative manner, that is, to provide explanation, so means “that is.” Thus, it is likely that Jesus used water as figure for the Spirit and to avoid any confusion He added the word Spirit to show that water was used metaphorically. Another fact is that water is associated with the Spirit in the regeneration work of God promised to Israel through Prophet Ezekiel as he recorded in Ezekiel 36:25–27:

 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

 

It is likely that Jesus had this passage in mind when He uttered the words recorded in John 3:5 so He used water figuratively but to remove any doubt He explained what He meant by “water,” using the word “Spirit.” In addition, later in the gospel, we see there is a connection between living water and the Holy Spirit in John 7:37–39:

37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

 

A second possible interpretation of the verbal phrase born of water and the Spirit is to take water to be distinct from the Spirit in which case water is to be understood as a reference to the word of God or the gospel. There are at least three passages that support this interpretation. Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians that they were saved through the gospel message he preached to them, according to 1 Corinthians 4:15:

Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

 

James asserted that rebirth was through the word of God in James 1:18:

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

    

Apostle Peter indicates that it is through the word of God that one is born again in 1 Peter 1:23:

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

 

Although the second interpretation of taking water to mean the word of God is possible but it seems to me that the first interpretation is probably what the Lord had in mind. This is because the Greek of the three passages cited indicates that “the word” is the instrument or means of rebirth as indicated by the Greek preposition (dia) used in two of the passages and the dative in the third while the Greek of John 3:5 indicates that water is the source of rebirth since the Greek preposition (ek) used can denote source; so it is better to take water to be a metaphor for the Spirit as the producer of rebirth.  This notwithstanding, what is clear is that water in no way represents water baptism.

     Be that as it may, it should be clear that water baptism is not in any way connected with being saved; instead, the ritual of water baptism is primarily intended to convey spiritual truths.  Therefore, the first truth to communicate to a new convert about water baptism is that it symbolizes cleansing from sins. Just as water was used to cleanse the body in ritual purification so baptism symbolizes the cleansing from sin. It is this symbolism that is implied in Apostle Paul’s assertion as he narrated his conversion and water baptism that followed in Acts 22:16:

And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'

 

Washing here is a reference to the OT practice of ablutions, but in this passage, it is used to represent the spiritual cleansing of our sins in Christ. Again, the first truth about water baptism is that it symbolizes cleansing for sins.

     A second truth water baptism symbolizes is union with Christ. When a person is saved the individual is in Christ or in union with Christ. Water baptism is a powerful visual portrayal of this truth.  Because the believer is in union with Christ he/she shares in His burial and resurrection. As the believer goes under water during baptism that signifies death that is brought about by drowning and process of burial but as the person comes out of the water that signifies coming out of death or resurrection. Thus, water baptism conveys to the believer that he/she has shared in the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is the portrayal of this truth that Apostle Paul described in Romans 6:3-4:

3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

 

     A third truth conveyed by water baptism is that of breaking off the power of sinful nature and becoming like Christ or taking up His qualities. Both truths are given figuratively in terms of putting off the sinful nature and being clothed with Christ. Logically, one should put off something before putting on another. However, let us begin by substantiating the latter truth of being clothed with Christ because the passage that substantiates the truth of putting off the sinful nature contains other truths that water baptism represents so we defer for the moment citing the passage that substantiates this truth of putting off the sinful nature. That water baptism symbolizes putting on Christ is stated in Galatians 3:26-27:

26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

 

To clothe oneself with Christ means to become like Christ or to take on the character of Christ. Therefore, a convert who has been baptized should be taught that his/her baptism meant that the person had become like Christ in the sense that he/she has by union with Christ has put on the qualities of Christ. The implication, of course, is that one who has become baptized is expected to live a lifestyle that is patterned after the Lord Jesus Christ whose qualities he/she has put on. It is important to stress then to the new convert that the only way for him/her to display the qualities of Christ is if he/she is under the control of the Holy Spirit because the virtues that the Spirit produces characterize Christ. These virtues are described as fruit of the Spirit 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.

 

     Now that we have substantiated the truth that water baptism symbolized that the one baptized has become like Christ or has taken on His qualities, we proceed to substantiate the truth that water baptism symbolized the breaking off the power of the sinful nature given figuratively as putting off the sinful nature in Colossians 2:11-12:

11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

 

This passage connects water baptism with circumcision and so presents further truths about the significance of water baptism. But before we get to the other truths, we should note that circumcision is a physical ritual that involves the removal of flesh or foreskin from the male genitalia. Circumcision that Christ performs that is linked with water baptism involves the putting off the sinful nature so that water baptism symbolizes that the power of the sinful nature over the believer has been broken. The implication is that the new convert who is baptized should be inculcated with the truth that the power of the sinful nature over him/her has been broken so that he/she does not have to live his/her life in defeat or enslaved by sin, according to Romans 6:6:

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin

 

This truth that the power of the sinful nature has been broken implies that the believer should be taught that he must put off his old habits that are contrary to the word of God.  There are some who think that such a teaching will make a Christian to become legalistic and so do not teach the necessity for putting off old habits and they say that when the believer matures he/she will through the power of the Spirit do that. This sounds quite pious except that it is harmful and contrary to the pattern we find in the Scripture. Apostle Paul spent some time in Ephesus teaching the new converts truth that included teaching them the necessity of putting off sinful habits, as we can infer from his letter to them at a later date in Ephesians 4:22-24:

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

 

The Ephesians were taught to change their manner of life they used to live and replace it with a lifestyle that is consistent with righteousness and holiness. This truth is not only for new converts, but also for adult believers who should constantly be reminded that the sin nature has no power over them. We are to constantly remind ourselves that we are dead to sin and alive in Christ as the Holy Spirit reminds us through the pen of Apostle Paul in Romans 6:11:

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

 

Anyway, the passage (Colossians 2:11-12) that we cited to substantiate that water baptism conveys the truth that the power of sinful nature has been broken enables us to derive other truths related to significance of water baptism because circumcision is linked with water baptism.

     A fourth truth that water baptism teaches is that the believer is in a covenant relationship with God through the death of Christ on the cross as well as a sign that such a person is regenerated.  Jesus Christ indicated that His death was to establish a new covenant. This, He taught while He instituted the Lord’s Supper, according to Luke 22:20:

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

 

Following this teaching of our Lord, the Holy Spirit through the author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant, according to Hebrews 9:15:

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance — now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

 

Thus, a new convert that has been baptized should be taught that his/her water baptism symbolized that he/she is in a new covenant with God as symbolized by water baptism. This truth is because the Holy Spirit through the pen of Apostle Paul linked baptism and circumcision in Colossians 2:11-12. Someone may say that this link does not necessarily mean that water baptism portrays membership in a new covenant relationship with God. Well, it does. This is because such teaching is based on the significance of circumcision when God originally gave that rite to Abraham. Circumcision as originally given to Abraham was a sign of the covenant between him and God, as recorded in Genesis 17:11:

You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.

 

Since one must be spiritually alive to be in a covenant relationship with God, who is Spirit, then circumcision is a sign that Abraham was regenerated and belonged to the Lord. Consequently, when the Holy Spirit says that Christ circumcised believers; that is a way to state that believers have been regenerated by Christ through the Holy Spirit. We are certain of this assertion because the Holy Spirit through Moses had indicated this, as we read in Deuteronomy 30:6:

The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

 

The Lord in question is the Lord Jesus Christ who appeared several times to Abraham. He would circumcise not the physical heart, but the inner man, the soul. When Moses spoke of loving God with all the heart, he was referring to the fact that only after regeneration, which is the work of God the Holy Spirit, could an individual love God truly. This is because no one is capable of true love without the work of God the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that pours the love of God into our souls. The Holy Spirit does not operate in a person in the fashion whereby they could love God without first regenerating the individual. 

     The truths that we have emphasized are the ones that should be conveyed to new converts about baptisms with focus on water baptism. In other words, the doctrine of baptisms should be focused primarily on water baptism as part of the elementary doctrines of the Christian faith. There is the tendency for including Spirit baptism among the truth that is to be conveyed to new converts. This is not wrong but in keeping with the two meanings of the Greek word (baptismos) used in Hebrews 6:2 it is better not to introduce the doctrine of Spirit baptism as part of elementary teachings of the Christian faith since Spirit baptism has nothing to do with rituals. With this, we end our consideration of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith and so we return to the consideration of the second major proposition of the message of 1 Corinthians 3:1-4.

      The second major proposition we stated concerning the message of the passage we are considering, if you recall, is that a pastor can only communicate basic but not advanced doctrine when certain conditions are true of his congregation. So, what are the conditions that would keep a pastor from communicating advanced doctrines to his congregation? There are two major answers to this question in our passage. A first answer is when the congregation is not ready for such doctrines. A second answer is when the congregation is worldly. Both answers need further exposition.

      A congregation is said not to be ready for advanced doctrine when two situations are true of them. A first situation is when the congregation is composed of new converts who are prepared only to receive basic doctrines of the Christian faith. This situation is derived from the clause of 1 Corinthians 3:2 for you were not yet ready for it. This clause for certain provides us a reason Apostle Paul could not communicate advance doctrines to the Corinthians. We say this because the word “for” is translated from a Greek conjunction (gar) that has several usages. For example, it can be used as a marker of explanation of a preceding clause so that it may be translated “you see, for” or it can be used as a marker of inference with the meaning “so, then, by all means.” But in our context, it is used as a marker of reason. In other words, it used to supply a first major reason consisting of two factors the apostle could not teach advance doctrines to the Corinthians and by implication a first general reason a pastor would not teach advance doctrine to his congregation. This general reason consists of two situations we are considering.

      We indicated that the first situation a pastor would be unable to teach advanced doctrine to his congregation is that it is composed of new converts. This situation, as we have stated, is derived from a reason Apostle Paul gave for not teaching advanced doctrines to the Corinthians in the clause of 1 Corinthians 3:2 for you were not yet ready for it. This clause indicates that the Corinthians did not have the ability for advanced doctrine or they were not yet up to advanced doctrine. This is because the expression “you were...ready” is translated from the Greek word (dynamai) that means to possess capability (whether because of personal or external factors) for experiencing or doing something hence means “can, am able, be capable.” It is in the sense of being able to do something that the word is used to describe the inability of Jesus’ mother and His brothers to get to Him on one occasion that the crowd surrounded Him as He taught them, according to Luke 8:19:

Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd.

 

It is in the sense of being capable to do something that the word is used to indicate God does not permit Satan to tempt believers beyond their capability in 1 Corinthians 10:13:

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

 

It is the sense of not having the capability for advanced doctrine that the apostle used it in giving his reason for not teaching advanced doctrine to the Corinthians. In other words, the apostle described the inability of the Corinthians to receive advanced doctrine when he first brought the gospel to them. They were at that time in a state where it would only be proper to teach them basic doctrines as indicated metaphorically by him giving them milk. It is because milk is for babies that we can state that the apostle did not teach advanced doctrines to the Corinthians when he first brought the gospel to them because they were new converts. This being the case, we are correct to state that a condition that makes it difficult for a pastor to teach advanced doctrines to his congregation is if the congregation consists of new converts. Many congregations today can be described as consisting of new converts in the sense that although some may have been converted for some time but because they have not even received adequate teaching on the basic doctrines of the Christian faith they are no different from new converts who have not received much of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. Anyway, a first situation that hampers the teaching of advanced doctrine to a congregation is if the congregation indeed consists of true new converts or the congregation consists of believers who have been converted for some time but without having received basic doctrines of the Christian faith.

      A second situation a congregation is said not to be ready for advanced doctrines is when there is no spiritual growth despite the teaching of basic doctrines to the congregation. In effect, if a pastor has taught basic doctrines to the congregation but there is no spiritual growth then such a pastor could not teach advanced doctrines to that congregation. This was apparently the case with the Corinthians who had received basic doctrines from Apostle Paul but showed no evidence of spiritual growth. We say this because of the last clause of 1 Corinthians 3:2 Indeed, you are still not ready.

      The apostle made clear his conviction and feelings to the Corinthians when he wrote Indeed, you are still not ready. The apostle was certainly not pleased with the Corinthians and, no doubt, was in a kind of pain about this group of believers of the type not many Christians know. The situation of the Corinthians is part of what he described as part of his pressure in his concern for the churches in 2 Corinthians 11:28:

Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

 

Pastors who are seriously concerned about the spiritual welfare of their congregations would understand what the apostle felt when he penned the clause we are considering. Most of you would not know the kind of pain I experience when I get a negative report concerning any member of this congregation that has resemblance of truth to it. I know that people criticize others and even say things that are false. Furthermore, I recognize that others may criticize a believer out of envy or bitterness but that is not what I am speaking about in my statement. I mean when something is said that indicates a member of our local congregation is not living up to what he or she has been taught. When I hear such a thing I experience a kind of pain that is comparable to that of any parent whose child does something that embarrasses the family. It is a pain that is difficult to describe. It is this kind of pain that Apostle Paul felt regarding the Corinthians when he wrote the clause Indeed, you are still not ready

     The apostle was emphatic in his declaration of the state of the Corinthians that makes it difficult to teach them advanced doctrine. The emphasis is given in the NIV with the word “indeed” that is an excellent way of translating the Greek phrase that begins the clause. The Greek phrase that begins the clause in question reads but not even. This is because of two Greek conjunctions the apostle used. The first conjunction is a Greek word (alla) that may be used to indicate a transition from one clause to something different or contrasted so that the usage has the meaning “the other side of a matter or issue, but, yet” as the word is used in John 8:37:

I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word.

 

In the first sentence, the Lord acknowledged the Jews as descendants of Abraham, but He transitioned to making a statement about killing Him that is not directly related to His first statement except by way of contrast since Abraham believed in Him. After a negative clause or sentence, our Greek word may be used to express a contrast and so means “on the contrary, but, yet, rather” as Apostle Paul used it to convey that Christians are not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer because of Him, according to Philippians 1:29:

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,

 

The word may be used to indicate that what preceded it is to be regarded as a settled matter, thus forming a transition to something new and so may mean “additional consideration, but” as Apostle Paul used the word to indicate in an emphatic manner his feeling about things that were once profitable to him but now as a believer he considered nothing for the sake of Christ, as in Philippians 3:8:

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

 

The expression What is more is literally But on the contrary. In this specific usage, the word may have the sense of “indeed, surely.”  In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:2, it has the sense of emphasis although it may be translated with the word “but.”

      The second conjunction the apostle used to begin the last clause of 1 Corinthians 3:2 is a Greek word (oude) that is a negative conjunction that is a combination of two Greek conjunctions that mean “not” and “but, and.” The conjunction may mean “neither” as it was used by Pilate to indicate that Herod also did not find any basis for crucifying Jesus, as stated in Luke 23:15:

Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.

 

The word may mean “not even” as Apostle Paul used it to indicate that Titus was not compelled to be circumcised in Galatians 2:3:

Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.

 

In 1 Corinthians 3:2, our verse of study, it has the meaning of “not even.”

      Examination of these two Greek conjunctions indicates the Greek phrase that begins the last clause of our verse may be translated “but not even.” However, this phrase in the context, is used for emphasis hence any word that conveys emphasis such as “indeed, in fact” may be used to translate the phrase. Hence, the apostle was emphatic in what he stated about the Corinthians that made it difficult to teach them advance doctrine, which is the same condition that would make it difficult for a pastor to teach advanced doctrines to his congregation.

      The second situation, as we have stated, a congregation is said not to be ready for advanced doctrines is when there is no spiritual growth despite the teaching of basic doctrines to the congregation. This situation is derived from the last clause of 1 Corinthians 3:2 Indeed, you are still not ready. The translators of the NIV probably felt the Greek clause has words that are redundant that they translated it the way they did since the Greek literally translates but not even yet now are you able. We have already indicated that the phrase but not even may be replaced with a word that conveys emphasis such as “indeed, in fact” but the literal translation contains an adverb now that is omitted in the NIV. The word “now” is translated from a Greek adverb (nyn) that means “now.” However, there are several nuances conveyed in the word “now” in the Greek. It could refer to time coextensive with the event of the narrative with focus on the immediate present, designating both a point of time as well as its extent hence means “now, at the present time.” It is with this meaning Apostle Paul used it at the time of the writing of his second epistle to the Corinthians to repeat a warning he gave them while he was with them, as stated in 2 Corinthians 13:2:

I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others,

 

The meaning “now” may be used as a temporal marker with focus not so much on the present time as the situation pertains at a given moment and so means “as it is, now.” This meaning is reflected in the translation of the NIV of James 4:16:

As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

 

The expression As it is, is literally but now. In our passage, the Greek adverb is used in the sense of “at the present.” Hence Apostle Paul was referring to the time of his writing of this epistle. It is this adverb “now” that enables us to recognize that the apostle perceived there was no spiritual progress with the Corinthians. He taught them basic doctrines when he first evangelized them. He would expect there would be spiritual growth to warrant advanced doctrine but that was not the case. It is for this reason the apostle stated the Corinthians were not ready for advance doctrine. Of course, he taught to an extent, advanced doctrine in this epistle. This notwithstanding, the point is that if the spiritual status of the Corinthians is the same as after the apostle first evangelized them, then we are right to state there was no spiritual growth. Thus, we are correct to state the second situation, as we have stated, a congregation is said not to be ready for advanced doctrines is when there is no spiritual growth despite the teaching of basic doctrines to the congregation. The state of the Corinthians was similar to that of the recipients of the epistle of Hebrews since the human author described similar situation in Hebrews 5:11–12:

11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!

 

 Pastors today cannot teach advanced doctrines if majority of the congregation show no evidence of spiritual growth after being taught basic doctrines of the Christian faith. Believers in that kind of congregation are unable to receive advanced doctrine so that they would be in a state similar to that of the disciples that Jesus said they were unable to bear some of the truths He would have wanted to convey to them but that that will change with the coming of the Holy Spirit, as stated in John 16:12–13:

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

 

In any event, a pastor would not be able to teach advance doctrine to his congregation when it consists of new converts or when there is no spiritual growth in a congregation that has received basic doctrines of the Christian faith.

09/07/18