1 Corinthians 2:14--3:4

2:14 The unbeliever ¹  does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 2:15 The one who is spiritual discerns ²  all things, yet he himself is understood ³  by no one. 2:16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? ⁴  But we have the mind of Christ.

Immaturity and Self-deception

3:1 So, brothers and sisters, ⁵  I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh, ⁶  as infants in Christ. 3:2 I fed you milk, ⁷  not solid food, for you were not yet ready. In fact, you are still not ready, 3:3 for you are still influenced by the flesh. ⁸  For since there is still jealousy and dissension among you, are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people? ⁹  3:4 For whenever someone says, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” are you not merely human? ¹⁰ 

[2:14]  ¹ tn Grk “natural person.” Cf. BDAG 1100 s.v. ψυχικός a, “an unspiritual pers., one who merely functions bodily, without being touched by the Spirit of God.”

[2:15]  ² tn Or “evaluates.”

[2:15]  ³ tn Or “is evaluated” (i.e., “is subject to evaluation”); Grk “he himself is discerned,” that is, the person without the Spirit does not understand the person with the Spirit, particularly in relation to the life of faith.

[2:16]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 40:13.

[3:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[3:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “fleshly [people]”; the Greek term here is σαρκινός (BDAG 914 s.v. 1).

[3:2]  ⁷ sn Milk refers figuratively to basic or elementary Christian teaching. Paul’s point was that the Corinthian believers he was writing to here were not mature enough to receive more advanced teaching. This was not a problem at the time, when they were recent converts, but the problem now is that they are still not ready.

[3:3]  ⁸ tn Or “are still merely human”; Grk “fleshly.” Cf. BDAG 914 s.v. σαρκικός 2, “pert. to being human at a disappointing level of behavior or characteristics, (merely) human.” The same phrase occurs again later in this verse.

[3:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “and walking in accordance with man,” i.e., living like (fallen) humanity without the Spirit’s influence; hence, “unregenerate people.”

[3:4]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “are you not men,” i.e., (fallen) humanity without the Spirit’s influence. Here Paul does not say “walking in accordance with” as in the previous verse; he actually states the Corinthians are this. However, this is almost certainly rhetorical hyperbole.