John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 3:1

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ." — 1 Corinthians 3:1 (ASV)

And I, brothers (1 Corinthians 3:1). He begins to apply to the Corinthians themselves what he had said concerning carnal people, so that they might understand that the fault was their own — that the doctrine of the Cross had no more appeal to them.

It is probable that in mercantile minds like theirs, too much confidence and arrogance still lingered, so that it was not without great difficulty that they could bring themselves to embrace the simplicity of the gospel.

Consequently, undervaluing the Apostle and the divine efficacy of his preaching, they were more prepared to listen to those teachers who were subtle and showy, while destitute of the Spirit.

Therefore, to more effectively beat down their insolence, he declares that they belong to the company of those who, stupefied by carnal sense, are not prepared to receive the spiritual wisdom of God.

It is true, he softens the harshness of his reproach by calling them brothers, but at the same time, he expressly presents it as a reproach against them that their minds were so suffocated with the darkness of the flesh that it hindered his preaching among them.

What sort of sound judgment, then, can they possess, when they are not yet fit and prepared even for hearing!

He does not mean, however, that they were altogether carnal, so as to have no spark of the Spirit of God, but rather that they still had far too much carnal sense, so that the flesh prevailed over the Spirit and, as it were, drowned out His light.

Therefore, although they were not altogether destitute of grace, yet, because they had more of the flesh than of the Spirit, they are for that reason termed carnal.

This is clear enough from what he immediately adds — that they were babes in Christ; for they would not have been babes if they had not been begotten, and that begetting is from the Spirit of God.

Babes in Christ. This term is sometimes understood in a good sense, as it is by Peter, who exhorts us to be like new-born babes (1 Peter 2:2), and in that saying of Christ:

Unless you become as these little children,
you shall not enter into the kingdom of God (Luke 18:17).

Here, however, it is understood in a bad sense, as referring to the understanding. For we must be children in malice, but not in understanding, as he says afterwards (1 Corinthians 14:20) — a distinction that removes all cause for doubt as to the meaning. To this, there is also a corresponding passage in Ephesians 4:14:

That we be no longer children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, and made the sport of human fallacies, but may day by day grow up, etc.