“Are ye not carnal?”
The full verse · 1 Corinthians 3:4 · KJV
, of ; , am of ; ye ?
Asked by
Paul: the apostle who first planted the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 3:6, 10), now writing to correct its divisions
Asked to
Corinthians: believers at Corinth whom Paul calls "babes in Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:1), split into parties around their teachers (1 Corinthians 1:11-12)
The Scene
Paul has just told the Corinthians that he could feed them only "with milk, and not with meat," because envying, strife, and divisions showed they were still carnal (1 Corinthians 3:1-3).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionPaul is pointing to the evidence for the charge he has just made. Their slogans, "I am of Paul" and "I am of Apollos," are the same ones Paul named after hearing of contentions from "them which are of the house of Chloe" (1 Corinthians 1:11-12). Gill says this verse "shows what their envying and strife, and divisions were about," and so it strengthens the charge of carnality. The question expects a yes. Barnes explains that their strifes showed they were still "under the influence of the principles which govern the people of this world" (his note on 1 Corinthians 3:3). Lining up behind favorite teachers was the world's way of acting, not the Spirit's.
The Response
What Scripture recordsPaul answers by showing what he and Apollos really are: "ministers by whom ye believed" (1 Corinthians 3:5). "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:6). So "neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth" (1 Corinthians 3:7). He closes the argument with a plain command: "let no man glory in men" (1 Corinthians 3:21).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsPaul first brought the gospel to Corinth (Acts 18:1). Later Apollos, "an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures," came to Achaia and "helped them much which had believed through grace" (Acts 18:24, 27); Acts 19:1 places him "at Corinth." So both men had served the same church, one after the other. The word "carnal" translates the Greek sarkikoi, fleshly. Barnes describes the carnal as those who "still evinced the feelings and views which pertain to the flesh." Here the Textus Receptus (the Greek text behind the KJV) reads sarkikoi, while later critical editions read anthropoi, "men," which is why the ESV says "merely human."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyPaul is not saying the Corinthians are unbelievers. He calls them "babes in Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:1). The problem is that they are not growing. Matthew Henry puts it simply: "Contentions and quarrels about religion are sad evidences of remaining carnality." Their party slogans looked like loyalty, but they were really a sign of arrested growth.
The surrounding chapter shows why the slogans were so small. The church is "God's husbandry" and "God's building" (1 Corinthians 3:9), and God alone gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:7). Paul even turns the slogans upside down: "all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas... And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's" (1 Corinthians 3:21-23). By claiming one teacher, they had made their inheritance smaller than God meant it to be.
Look Closer
What evidence does Paul give that the Corinthians are still carnal?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, where have I made a person's name more important to me than the growth only You can give?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Why is it tempting to line up behind a favorite teacher or leader, and what might that show about what you are really looking for?
- Tell about someone God used to help you grow. How did they point you past themselves to Him?
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
You can be deeply grateful for the people who taught you the faith without turning their names into a team banner. When believers rank leaders against each other, Paul does not call it zeal. He calls it a sign of being spiritually young (1 Corinthians 3:1-4).
This does not mean every teacher is the same or that you cannot learn more from one than another. Paul says "every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour" (1 Corinthians 3:8). The problem comes when appreciation turns into rivalry. When you notice that happening, go back to the bigger truth: all of God's servants are yours, and you are Christ's. Scripture's own application: 1 Corinthians 3:21-23
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”
“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?”
“Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?”
“For who maketh thee to differ from another? What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”