BABES IN CHRIST OR LABORERS WITH GOD?

[Ezra]

Christians have to make choices daily, whether to be babes in Christ or laborers with God (1 Corinthians 3: 1-19).

BABES ARE CARNAL
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

BABES PREFER MILK

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.

BABES PREFER THE FLESH

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?

BABES HAVE A PARTY SPIRIT

4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

MINISTERS ARE ONLY SERVANTS

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

EACH ONE HAS A JOB TO DO IN THE HARVEST FIELD

6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

GOD IS THE ONE WHO GIVES THE HARVEST INCREASE

7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

ALL LABORERS ARE ONE AND WILL RECEIVE REWARDS

8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

WE ARE LABORERS TOGETHER WITH GOD

9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye areGod's building.

WE ARE ALL BUILDERS TOGETHER WITH GOD

10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

THERE IS ONLY ONE FOUNDATION -- CHRIST

11For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

YOU CAN BUILD FOR ETERNITY OR LOSE REWARDS

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

ALL OUR WORKS WILL BE TESTED BY DIVINE FIRE

13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

EXCELLENT WORK WILL RECEIVE A REWARD

14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

SHODDY WORK WILL MEAN NO REWARD

15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

EVERY CHRISTIAN IS A TEMPLE OF GOD

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

GOD’S TEMPLE MUST NOT BE DEFILED

17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

WORLDLY WISDOM IS FOOLISHNESS

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.

WE MUST NOT GLORY IN MEN

21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

CHRISTIANS POSSESS ALL THINGS IN CHRIST

22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

 

[Remnantrob]

Not sure that anyone has an answer but how long should a person be a babe in Christ?  Everyone is excited about new babes but if you've been a babe for 20 years how do you start becoming a laborer and is it necessary?

[OneLight]

We mature in Him one decision at a time.  There is no "time limits" set in scripture, only a clarification between being a babe in Christ and being mature in Him.  I am sure that if you took the pulse of a maturing Christian, in the light of the above scripture, we will find that the overwhelming majority, if not all, are still in the growing process.  There is a process God allows for, and we need to accept this process and not hurry it along.

[Remnantrob]

11 minutes ago, OneLight said:

We mature in Him one decision at a time.  There is no "time limits" set in scripture, only a clarification between being a babe in Christ and being mature in Him.  I am sure that if you took the pulse of a maturing Christian, in the light of the above scripture, we will find that the overwhelming majority, if not all, are still in the growing process.  There is a process God allows for, and we need to accept this process and not hurry it along.

Amen. So are there decisions that can reverse the process of maturity?(one step forward and 2 steps back) Does God expect us to mature in Christ to become a laborer?  I'm asking because I was reading Hebrews 5:12-14

 

Quote

 

¹² For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

¹³ For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

¹⁴ But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

 

I'm not where I want to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be.  I know a lot of people that are comfortable with being given milk every week.  What I'm thinking though is that literally as a baby grows, as good as milk is, it can't sustain and strengthen the child as meat can.  If you've been "saved" for 20+ years and never witnessed to anyone (Matt. 28) or keep slipping up on the same habits without a real yearning for a transformation...do you just accept that you haven't completed the process?  Is it the teacher's responsibility to start introducing meat?

[Sister]

30 minutes ago, Remnantrob said:

Not sure that anyone has an answer but how long should a person be a babe in Christ?  Everyone is excited about new babes but if you've been a babe for 20 years how do you start becoming a laborer and is it necessary?

Hi Remnantrob

If you have been a babe for 20 years then your spiritual growth is severely stunted.  To become a laborer you must seek God with all your heart by reading the scriptures and letting him feed you.

 John 6:27   Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Seek the Word of the Lord, the spiritual food,....it's this meat that Jesus is telling us to labour for.  Keep reading all your days, and go over things again and again, for here is where your treasure lies. Explore parts of the bible you never read before, you'd be surprised at what you will find.  The OT is very valuable also for it contains many prophesies relating to end times, and many lessons to learn from each story.   Search for the whole truth, not just parts, and the holy spirit will help you to understand and grow.  Hunger for the knowledge that only Christ can give, and your faith can be substantiated as he will show you the purpose on why God does everything, and how he puts his plan into action, and knowledge will be your stability.

[Remnantrob]

1 minute ago, Sister said:

Hi Remnantrob

If you have been a babe for 20 years then your spiritual growth is severely stunted.  To become a laborer you must seek God with all your heart by reading the scriptures and letting him feed you.

 John 6:27   Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Seek the Word of the Lord, the spiritual food,....it's this meat that Jesus is telling us to labour for.  Keep reading all your days, and go over things again and again, for here is where your treasure lies. Explore parts of the bible you never read before, you'd be surprised at what you will find.  The OT is very valuable also for it contains many prophesies relating to end times, and many lessons to learn from each story.   Search for the whole truth, not just parts, and the holy spirit will help you to understand and grow.  Hunger for the knowledge that only Christ can give, and your faith can be substantiated as he will show you the purpose on why God does everything, and how he puts his plan into action, and knowledge will be your stability.

Amen!  I think that meat is the word of God.  But bible study is not what it once was. How do you get a generation that's not interested in reading into the necessary meat for eternal life?

[OneLight]

2 hours ago, Remnantrob said:

Amen. So are there decisions that can reverse the process of maturity?(one step forward and 2 steps back) Does God expect us to mature in Christ to become a laborer?  I'm asking because I was reading Hebrews 5:12-14

 

I'm not where I want to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be.  I know a lot of people that are comfortable with being given milk every week.  What I'm thinking though is that literally as a baby grows, as good as milk is, it can't sustain and strengthen the child as meat can.  If you've been "saved" for 20+ years and never witnessed to anyone (Matt. 28) or keep slipping up on the same habits without a real yearning for a transformation...do you just accept that you haven't completed the process?  Is it the teacher's responsibility to start introducing meat?

You will have all sorts of answers.  I personally depend on the Holy Spirit to show me what scripture means, and scripture always backs itself up, so to protect against false understanding.  That is the theory in general, but we do have to contend with our natural self, which is at odds with Gods word most of the time, so accountability is important. 

If, as you say, there is one step forward and two steps back, this is a dedication issue ... how dedicated are you to follow God? 

1 hour ago, Remnantrob said:

Amen!  I think that meat is the word of God.  But bible study is not what it once was. How do you get a generation that's not interested in reading into the necessary meat for eternal life?

Though a case can be made that we are responsible to teach His words to the world, I find nowhere in scripture indicating we are responsible for their interest.  If the Holy Spirit cannot turn them, what makes man think they can?  Remember, we are only tools the Master can use.

[Ezra]

7 hours ago, Remnantrob said:

Not sure that anyone has an answer but how long should a person be a babe in Christ?  Everyone is excited about new babes but if you've been a babe for 20 years how do you start becoming a laborer and is it necessary?

Well if you study the life of the apostle Paul, he began to preach Christ within days of his conversion. So all babes can begin to share Christ almost immediately (study some of those who were healed by Christ, or even the Samaritan woman who brought a large number of her countrymen to Christ).  And that makes them laborers in the harvest field.

[Ezra]

6 hours ago, Remnantrob said:

How do you get a generation that's not interested in reading into the necessary meat for eternal life?

You can begin with pictures, and there are several publications which present the Gospel and Bible truth in graphic format. But we can pray that God will create a hunger for Christ and for the written Word in those we are communicating with.