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

Maybe you have never considered what I am about to tell you but it is important to know. According to Paul’s own words, this epistle which we refer to as 1 Corinthians, is spiritual milk and not meat. When I consider this in view of the theological gymnastics that some folks employ to discredit the spiritual gifts which Paul expounds on in 1 Corinthians 12-14, it truly is telling of the state of carnality within the modern day church. 

I recently watched a clip of a well known minister that some of you would recognize if I mentioned his name. He claimed that when Paul says, “he that speaks in an unknown tongue, speaks not unto men, but unto God” that Paul is referring to pagan false gods that the Corinthians once worshipped.

This is disturbing because there is absolutely nothing within the context of 1 Corinthians 12-14 that would lead any reader to reach such a conclusion. Even though 1 Corinthians 12-14 (which expounds on the gifts of the Spirit) is written in such an elementary way, this minister chooses to read it through the lens of his reformed theological indoctrination.

If your reformed theology won’t allow you to understand and receive the milk of God’s Word, your reformed theology needs reforming. If I sound a little perturbed, it’s because I am. I am sick of all the efforts by some to “expose” others while they themselves get away with embalming their listeners with unbelief.

This same minister refers to the gifts of the Spirit as apostlic sign gifts, which authenticated the ministry of the apostles. Yet, Paul explains the gifts of the Spirit as gifts that are distributed within the body of Christ to each member as the Spirit wills, and he does so in very simplistic terms, like that of feeding milk to a baby.

There is absolutely no excuse for any minister (who ought to be spiritual) to make such confusion of what is said in such simplistic terms in the New Testament. An unbeliever with good reading and comprehension skills could tell you that Paul is addressing the proper use of the gifts within the body of Christ (the church) and correcting the misuse and abuses of the same, especially tongues.

The Corinthians were carnal believers with envy, strife, and divisions among them and we ought to understand that if carnal believers in Paul’s time could misuse the gifts so can carnal believers in our day. There is a bigger problem within the Western church than false teachers, and that problem is carnality. Such carnality runs rampant among those who believe in the gifts, but it also seems to run rampant among many who want to expose the errors of others.