{"id":201,"date":"2022-10-15T14:41:42","date_gmt":"2022-10-15T19:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/the-road-map-to-maturity-1-corinthians-214-31-bible-study\/"},"modified":"2022-10-15T14:41:42","modified_gmt":"2022-10-15T19:41:42","slug":"the-road-map-to-maturity-1-corinthians-214-31-bible-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/the-road-map-to-maturity-1-corinthians-214-31-bible-study\/","title":{"rendered":"The Road Map To Maturity – 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:1 – Bible study"},"content":{"rendered":"
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1 Cor. 2:14-3:1 THE ROAD MAP TO MATURITY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Intro: Ill. We are all the time categorizing people. We label them according to <\/p>\n

economics, careers, etc. The Bible is a book that also categorizes men. It groups <\/p>\n

into three categories: Natural, Spiritual, and Carnal. Everyone in this building <\/p>\n

today falls into one of these three categories. You are in one of the three.<\/p>\n

The primary purpose of the Bible is that God desires to reveal Himself to <\/p>\n

fallen men so that He might enter into a relationship with them. His desire is that <\/p>\n

men will come to know Him through His Son Jesus Christ, and that after they are <\/p>\n

saved, they will grow up in him into mature Christians. Sadly, not everyone is <\/p>\n

saved, and not all saved people are growing in Christ. Now, as I said, the Bible <\/p>\n

offers a plan for growing into maturity. However, you must know where you are <\/p>\n

before you can ever hope to go farther.<\/p>\n

My desire in this message is to help you see which of these 3 Biblical <\/p>\n

categories you fit into, and to help you grow from there. Notice with me the Road <\/p>\n

Map To Maturity.<\/p>\n

I. 2:14 THE NATURAL MAN (Lives Naturally)<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. He Is Depraved<\/strong> – Ill. Psa. 58:3; Isa. 48:8; John 8:44a (Ill. Eph. 2:3a)<\/p>\n

The natural man is prone to sin. There is a bent in his nature toward evil.<\/p>\n

(Ill. Water and electricity – The course of least resistance!) (Ill no good – <\/p>\n

Rom. 3:10-12)<\/p>\n

B. He Is Directed<\/strong> – Eph. 2:1-3 The natural mans life is out of his hands. He is <\/p>\n

under the control of Satan and like a mindless puppet he carries out every <\/p>\n

whim of the flesh and the devil! (Ill. John 8:44b)<\/p>\n

C. He Is In Darkness<\/strong> – 2 Cor. 4:4 (Ill. Nicodemus – A teacher among the Jews, <\/p>\n

but in the depths of darkness.) The natural man does not see his problem, <\/p>\n

nor does he understand the things of God. (Ill. Receiveth = to welcome <\/p>\n

He may appreciate some things about the church and worship, but spiritual <\/p>\n

things will be pure foolishness to him – Ill. 1 Cor. 1:18.) (Ill. He doesnt <\/p>\n

understand the people of God and he will criticize the things he doesnt <\/p>\n

understand because they bother him and he doesnt know why!) (Ill. Like a <\/p>\n

deaf man criticizing music or a blind man ridiculing art!) He is in the dark, <\/p>\n

but Jesus can change all that – Ill. John 9:25!<\/p>\n

D. He Is Doomed<\/strong> – Hell is his certain future! Psa. 9:17 (Ill. Born 1 die 2)<\/p>\n

E. He Is Dead<\/strong> – While he lives and breathes, the natural man is in a perpetual <\/p>\n

state of death. (Ill. What death is!) (Ill. A car with no battery!)<\/p>\n

II. v.15-16 THE SPIRITUAL MAN (Lives Supernaturally)<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Ill. There is a vast difference between the natural man and the spiritual man. <\/p>\n

The spiritual man has been born twice. He is in a living, growing, vibrant, <\/p>\n

personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As a result, he has the God given <\/p>\n

capacity to live differently. Because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the <\/p>\n

spiritual man is able to comprehend the spiritual things of God and it tells in <\/p>\n

the way he lives his life – Ill. 1 Cor. 2:12-13)<\/p>\n

A. He Lives By The Spirit<\/strong> – The spiritual man lives his life governed by the <\/p>\n

rule of the Holy Spirit in his heart. He gets into the Word and allows it to <\/p>\n

transform his life and he is different because of it – Ill. Psa. 119:105. (Ill. <\/p>\n

Christians are not tadpoles! We have already been changed into princes by <\/p>\n

the kiss of Gods amazing grace, but we are to make an effort! (Ill. The <\/p>\n

Spirit will lead if we will allow Him to – John 16:13; Gal. 5:16.<\/p>\n

B. He Learns From The Spirit<\/strong> – The spiritual man is able to receive the truths <\/p>\n

of the Word. He is able to grasp spiritual things, he can understand the <\/p>\n

Bible, he can enjoy the presence of the Lord. Gods truths are not <\/p>\n

foolishness, they are food – Job 23:12 (Ill. When the treasure house of the <\/p>\n

Word is opened, he gathers all he can and then he applies it to his life and <\/p>\n

grows from it!)<\/p>\n

C. He Is Liberated By The Spirit<\/strong> – The spiritual man is liberated from the <\/p>\n

bondage to the flesh, the world and the devil because he is able to discern <\/p>\n

the will of God by judging or examining everything by the truth of the <\/p>\n

Word! Therefore, he is not easily squeezed into the worlds mold, Rom. <\/p>\n

12:2, but he is a able to look at things through a different set of lenses. He <\/p>\n

literally possesses the mind of Christ in His daily life! (Ill. He is always <\/p>\n

misunderstood and thought to be crazy by the world!)<\/p>\n

D. The spiritual man is literally filled with the Spirit of God. God controls <\/p>\n

his mind, his heart, his hands, his feet, his tongue, his flesh, everything is <\/p>\n

yielded to the control of the Spirit of the Lord! Nothing is held back from <\/p>\n

the Lord! <\/p>\n

E. Not many achieve this level of Christianity, but it should be the goal for <\/p>\n

every sincere Christian! Are you here yet?<\/p>\n

III. 3:1 THE CARNAL MAN (Lives Unnaturally)<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Ill. This type person is saved, yet mostly unchanged. He has never grown <\/p>\n

in the Lord. He is always being defeated by the flesh, the world and the <\/p>\n

devil. It is possible to be a Christian and be very carnal!) <\/p>\n

A. He Is Defeated<\/strong> – There are three areas where his carnality continually shows <\/p>\n

up.<\/p>\n

1. He Cant Walk Spiritually <\/strong>– Constantly losing the battle to the flesh, the <\/p>\n

world and the devil.<\/p>\n

2. He Cant War Spiritually<\/strong> – He isnt able to dress up in the whole <\/p>\n

armor of God – Eph. 6:10-17. Some of the pieces are missing and the <\/p>\n

ones he does have, he doesnt know how to use! He cant fight evil! He <\/p>\n

is always beaten!<\/p>\n

3. He Cant Work Spiritually<\/strong> – This type person is not much use to the <\/p>\n

Kingdom. The carnal Christian doesnt win souls, support the church <\/p>\n

with his presents or his presence, doesnt teach, and never becomes <\/p>\n

actively involved! He is always riding around on the effort of others.<\/p>\n

B. He Is Dependent<\/strong> – 3:2 (Ill. Must always be spoon fed) <\/p>\n

The carnal Christian is totally dependent on others for any spiritual <\/p>\n

nourishment he receives. He cant teach, he must always be taught, (Ill. <\/p>\n

Heb. 5:12-14!) He cannot serve, but must be served. He cannot glean <\/p>\n

spiritual truth for himself, the pastor must spoon feed him when he shows up <\/p>\n

for church. He is helpless. Spiritually speaking, he is a baby! (Ill. The <\/p>\n

monstrosity of not growing!)<\/p>\n

C. He Is Divisive<\/strong> – 1 Cor. 3:3-7) (Ill. The troubles at Corinth!)<\/p>\n

The carnal Christian is always looking for a fight. They are willing to tear <\/p>\n

the church to pieces over any silly, immature issue that comes to mind. <\/p>\n

They are easily offended and quick to defend rights that they have never <\/p>\n

earned for themselves. This type of person is to be watched very, very <\/p>\n

closely!<\/p>\n

D. There are many, many carnal Christians in churches today. If you are one, <\/p>\n

please let me remind you that Jesus did not save you to stagnate. He saved <\/p>\n

you to serve Him. Today would be a very good time for you to throw off the <\/p>\n

works of the flesh, old carnal attitudes, laziness, or whatever it is that has <\/p>\n

caused you to become carnal and get right with the Lord.<\/p>\n

Conc: What type of person are you? You know, now what do you need to do? If <\/p>\n

natural, be saved. If spiritual, keep growing. If carnal, repent and change for His <\/p>\n

glory. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 Cor. 2:14-3:1 THE ROAD MAP TO MATURITY Intro: Ill. We are all the time categorizing people. We label them according to economics, careers, etc. The Bible is a book that also categorizes men. It groups into three categories: Natural, Spiritual, and Carnal. Everyone in this building today falls into one of these three categories. … Continue reading “The Road Map To Maturity – 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:1 – Bible study”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}