Message Notes

Senior Sunday School 19 October 2025

Text: 1 Corinthians 3

Subject: “Are you not carnal?”

Lesson #15

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;

3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

1 Corinthians 3:1-4

1. Assessment of the Corinthian Church

a) They were not spiritual people

b) They were in fact “carnal”

c) Some were still “babes in Christ”

2. The beginning of our Spiritual Journey

a) We are first “born again” (John 3:3)

b) We are “newborn babes” (1 Peter 2:2)

c) But growth is expected!

3. The problem at Corinth

a) Many had remained “babes in Christ”

b) Paul still had to feed them with milk

c) They still could not take solid food

d) They have not been able to feed on solid food all the while

4. The problem of “carnality”

a) Carnality refers to “the flesh”

b) It is the opposite of “the spirit”

5. Some expressions of carnality

For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

1 Corinthians 3:3

a) Envy

b) Strife

c) Divisions

d) Behaving like “mere men” (i.e. men of the flesh)

6. Division in the Church

a) “I am of Paul”

b) “I am of Apollos”

c) Factions indicate the influence of carnality on the church