The Foundation of Christian Growth

MEMORY VERSE: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” —I Corinthians 3:11

I CORINTHIANS 3:3-11

ONE of the essentials to Christian growth in grace and knowledge is faith in the invisible things of God. The brethren in Corinth were failing to make proper progress along spiritual lines. Paul says that they were “carnal”; that is, earthly, or human, in their viewpoints. The evidence of this was that they were putting too much dependence on human leaders. They could not see God, and Jesus was not with them in the flesh, so they attached themselves to their favorite servants in the church, one saying, “I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos.”

The brethren could see Paul, and Apollos, and Peter, and others to whom they attached themselves, and this seemingly made it easier for them. But it was an unhealthy situation to have in the church, because it promoted the spirit of rivalry and division. The only way to have unity in the church is for all the brethren to recognize the headship of Christ.

Other servants in the church have their place. Certainly the apostles did, and Paul was one of these. But because Paul was mature in Christian growth he discerned the immaturity of the position taken by the brethren in Corinth, and admonished them to correct it. He said, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”

“We are laborers together with God:” Paul wrote, “ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” Here two illustrations are used—“husbandry” and “building.” The language of our memory text fits more particularly with the building illustration, emphasizing that Jesus Christ is the great foundation of this spiritual structure which each of the Lord’s consecrated people is building.

II CORINTHIANS 5:14-17

PAUL wrote that if any man be in Christ he is a new creature. How does one come into Christ? First we must know about Christ, and of his fundamental part in God’s plan of salvation. We must recognize that as an expression of the love of his Heavenly Father, and of his own love, Jesus laid down his life as a substitute for the forfeited life of Adam and the race that was condemned through Adam. This means the recognition of Jesus as our Redeemer.

To recognize what Christ has done for us, and to believe it with our whole heart, results in a tremendous change of viewpoint. Paul explains it this way: “For the love of Christ constraineth us: because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”

This means a complete dedication of ourselves to the will of God as expressed through Christ. Thus “all things become new,” while old things pass away. The “old things” include all our former earthly hopes, and aims, and ambitions. We still must live as humans, but we are not to set our affections on earthly things. (Col. 3:1-5) We have a new prospect, a new hope, a new aim. Our great desire is to please the Lord, and to attain to the prize he has offered for faithfulness in doing his will.—Phil. 3:14; Rev. 2:10

Being “in Christ,” as members of his body, we are “new creatures.” This does not refer merely to the putting away of the sins of the flesh. It means that we have been begotten by God’s Holy Spirit and as individuals are growing in a new creation. Paul wrote, “Ye are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works”; that is, the future good works of blessing all the families of the earth.—Eph. 2:10

QUESTIONS

What is one of the essentials to Christian growth?

Why did Paul refer to the brethren in Corinth as being carnal?

Who is the foundation of the church?

What is a new creature?

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