1 Corinthians 3:1

The context

First Corinthians 3 follows the argument of chapter 2 about the wisdom of the Spirit, which the natural person cannot receive. Paul then turns to the congregation itself. The divisions of 1:10-12 are still in view, and the slogans naming Paul and Apollos have not been resolved. Verse 1 is the application of the previous chapter's contrast.

What it establishes

The verse establishes that the problem is not the content of the teaching but the condition of the hearers. Paul says he could not address them as spiritual, so he fed them milk. The measure is what they were able to hear; the evidence is the strife of verse 3.

What it does not establish

It does not describe two classes of Christians. The word rendered fleshly here means immature and partisan in this context, and the same letter calls these people sanctified in 1:2. Nor does the verse set up an elite spirituality; Paul's point is that they should have grown and have not.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• Job is described as “righteous” and “blameless.” Can these descriptions be taken seriously if the Bible is said to teach the universal sinfulness of mankind?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.