The Journey: Part 9 - The Babes in Corinth and the Children of Galatia

Start here at the Introduction: The Journey Begins

The Journey: Part 9 - The Babes of Corinth and the Children of Galatia

What is sanctification? It is the life-long progressive growth of your knowledge of the written Word of God and the subsequent and inevitable changes that this knowledge brings to your life after salvation. Most believers, however, stop right there at salvation. After the initial revelation of justification through the cross of Christ, there is not much growth after this. They never push on to studying the Word and seeking the deeper things of God. It always reminds me of the parable of the Sower in Matthew 13.

Paul starts off the book of Romans with the statement, "The just shall live by faith" (Rom.1:17). It's a simple statement, but one that many misunderstand. Most people read this verse and think it is that small voice in their head. They think walking by faith is obeying that little voice, perceiving and doing its bidding. This is NOT what the verse is saying! The operative word is "faith". Where does faith come from?

Rom.10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

1 Thess.2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Faith comes from hearing the Word. The amount of faith you have is directly in proportion to the amount of the written Word of God in you. The Word of God is what is effectually working within you, creating faith that brings you to an awareness of God, that generates that substance of things hoped for, that produces within you the evidence of things not seen. The written Word of God is the source of faith by which we live. The written Word of God is what leads you and guides you. Your knowledge of the Word is what moves you by faith, not any little voice in your head!

Col.1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Now, why am I hammering away on this? The reason is because it is at this time in our lives, after justification, that we need to develop a walk of faith. We need to grow in faith. To do this, we need to go to the source of faith, and get it inside of us. The Words of God need to stabilize us, nourish us, strengthen us, mature us. If we allow this process to happen over time, experiencing a progressive increase of exposure to the Word, and gaining a deep knowledge of the indwelling Christ, then we will most certainly remain on the road of grace. We will not veer left or right into the ditches of the flesh or the law. The road of grace is not an easy road to travel when you are in the flesh or under the law. You are heading for the ditch if you are not full of faith, full of the written Word of God. Is there proof? Absolutely! Let's look at what happened to the babes in Corinth, and the children of Galatia.

The Babes in Corinth (The ditch on the left)

Paul provides us with insights into these 'ditches' in Romans 6. The first part is focused on the battle of the sins of the flesh against grace. The second part of the chapter, and into chapter 7, is focused on the battle of the law against grace.

In Romans 6, from verses 1 to 14, Paul provides us with insights in trying to walk in the grace of sanctification by the flesh, or in this body of sin. Let's learn what Paul is saying here,

1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

The flesh, the carnal mind and body, is infected by sin. It is of the seed of Adam. This was the problem facing the Corinthians. The general theme of 1 Corinthians is the carnal state of this young church. They were trying to live in grace and by faith, but it was all coming from the power of the flesh. They were saints, but they were babes in faith, and mature in carnal things.

1 Cor.1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,

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

When Paul wrote to them, he said that their faith was still caught up in the wisdom of men,

1 Cor.2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Then Paul laid it all out on the table, not holding any truth back. He said to them,

1 Cor.3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 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. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 

He told them, that their motives were still in glorying in the flesh, relying on the wisdom of men. 

1 Cor.3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. 21 Therefore let no man glory in men. 

In further summary of these Corinthians, Paul deals with a multitude of carnal issues regarding fornication, divisions, wrong conception of doctrine, issues around moral and ethical disorders, laxity, lawsuits, sexual immorality, glorying in spiritual gifts without the motive of love, and general discipline.

These are the fruits of the flesh. Paul longed to speak to them about the deeper things of God, but they had no Word in them, they had no substance in them, no evidence of spiritual (unseen) things. The lack of the written Word of God in them meant that they knew only carnal things and could not comprehend the spiritual truths. This is why Paul also mentioned to them,

1 Cor.2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. ... 14 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 Corinthians fell into the ditch of the flesh. They tried living the spiritual life by the flesh. They tried to walk the road of grace by their own wisdom and abilities. They were not equipped to walk by faith and their understanding could only process the milk of the Word. 

Friends, if you are to grow past this stage in your walk with God, you have to put your nose into the Book. The only way to gain the knowledge of God, His will, His plans for you, His inheritance for you, is to fill yourself with His Word, those words that are soaked in His Spirit and in Truth.

The children of Galatia (the ditch on the right)

In Romans 6, from verses 15, Paul provides us with insights in trying to walk in the grace of sanctification by the law. 

Rom.6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Rom.7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. 

This is the second ditch into which believers fall. It often happens that when a believer learns the lessons of the Corinthians, in their haste to correct their motions of living in the flesh, they create for themselves rules and observances to try and be more spiritual, but they end up over-correcting and they veer off to the right and fall headlong into the ditch of the law. 

The law in reference here is the creation of all manner of rules and helps to try to appear spiritual, irrespective of the genuine motives driving this. The problem is that laws serve the flesh. They are not able to change the heart. Only the Word of God can change the heart. The law says, I must pray for 2 hours starting at 4:30am. I must go to church and attend both the morning and evening services. I must quit smoking and swearing, I must be more patient and give more money to the poor and appear respectable and this and that....!! The problem here is that you start well but then you fail in one thing and then a second and you end up in misery with a load of condemnation upon your shoulders. 

This was the problem with the saints at Galatia. They did not heap up all those rules and observances you've probably tried, but they were weak in faith, and they were led astray by Judaizes who sowed a corrupt gospel. They told the Galatians that in order to be saved one had to be circumcised in the flesh. They were led astray and believed these lies because of the lack of faith in them. They were childlike in faith and did not have a solid foundation of doctrine by the knowledge of the Word of God, thus they were tossed to and fro by any winds of doctrine. Paul said to them in his letter to Galatians,

Gal.1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

Paul had to reestablish them in the faith by reminding them of the following,

Gal.2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. ... 19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Then, just like the Corinthians, Paul lays all the facts on the table, saying,

Gal.3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

Paul reminds them that the law helped to bring them to salvation, but AFTER justification, the law is of no power to mature them in the things of God,

Gal.3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Finally, Paul reminds them that faith is the only way to serve God and grow up in Christ. He says,

Gal.5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Just like the Corinthians had to learn that walking by faith and a life dedicated to God cannot be lived in the flesh, so the Galatians had to come to the truth that the law was not designed for faith. It was powerless to please God. Only faith pleases God and the life that honours His Son is one of faith and one of trust in Him, His grace and His Word working effectually in you.

In Summary

Friends, I know I have been rambling on in quite a long post, but the contents of it is a valuable lesson. These two ditches of the flesh and the law are things that babes and children fall to. If your faith is weak, corresponding to the lack of the written Word of God in the mind of your spirit, you will certainly fall into these roadside traps. It is as practical has looking at the Corinthians and Galatians. For us, who have the completed word of God in our hands, we can see so clearly how Paul lays the foundation of our faith in Romans. Then the very next letters, Corinthians and Galatians, show how a weak foundation, a weak faith, will lead us so easily into the flesh and the law. Serving God from these positions is not possible. We serve God by His grace. We serve God with the faith we gain by studying His Word and obeying that living faith that wells up in our hearts, energized by the Spirit of God in His words.

There is one more lesson to learn from Romans 7. It is about being widowed and then married to another. It is a very informative analogy that Paul uses to continue understanding this point of being dead to the flesh and the law and walking in faith by the grace of God. Remember, these are the lessons we HAVE TO learn in this early part of growing up in Christ. We are on our way to sonship in Christ. We are learning these things to mature in God's Word and in spirit. I trust that you will continue with me in this journey of study and growth.

God bless.