Sermon Tone Analysis

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I Cor 3.1-

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I Cor 3:

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I Cor 3:5-

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INTRO:

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One of the core realities of becoming a Christian, is the transformation of our identity.

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On the outward, we look the same.

We still carry these broken bodies around with us.

We still suffer in these bodies, the complications that sin has dispersed through our genes.

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We still have to deal with the broken stuff that was passed on down to us through our relatives… through our life experiences… through our traumas… through our choices, injuries and experiences.

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On the outward… we still look the same, and in this flesh we still deal with the complicated affects of sin.

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But… the day we become a Christian… that brokenness of our flesh, is no longer our identity.

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We still have to deal with the brokenness of our flesh.

We still will struggle with illness… we still will struggle with our psychological issues… we still will be challenged by our addictions… we still will wrestle with the different ways that our wires are crossed.

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But, those things are no longer our identity.

They are part of the earthly tent.

They are aspects of the fleeting shelter of our pilgrimage.

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Our new identity, is a spiritual identity.

Our new reality, is an eternal reality.

The true me, is spiritual and eternal.

Everything else, is broken and temporary.

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Last week we looked at chapter 2, where Paul told his readers several things about the spiritual person.

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He explained to them… The Spiritual Person’s Foundation (1-5)

He defined for them… The Spiritual Person’s Wisdom (6-8)

And… he gave them an understanding of The Spiritual Person’s Revelation (9-16)

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Why did Paul explain all of this?

Because, in chapter one… he let them know… that they were not behaving like spiritual people.

They were divided in the way that they aligned themselves to one another… and they were operating from the basis of worldly wisdom.

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Paul comes back to these issues in chapter three.... he kind of lays this out like a sandwich.

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Chapter 1 and 3 address the non spiritual condition of a people who are marked by division and a people who are enamored with worldly wisdom..

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But in the middle… is the good stuff.

This is where Paul sets a contrast.

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Slice of bread #1 - Chapter 1 - YOU ARE NOT ACTING LIKE SPIRITUAL PEOPLE.

IN the middle… imagine a beautiful pimento cheese spread.. - Chapter 2- THIS IS WHAT SPIRITUAL PEOPLE ARE LIKE.

Slice of break #2 - Chapter 3- YOU ARE NOT SPIRITUAL PEOPLE.

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These Christians in Corinth, are not walking in their true identity.

They are identifying with something that is broken, temporary, and non-spiritual.

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He started out the letter by telling them who they really are.... in Chapter 1… vss 4-9… - He made it abundantly clear…

-that they are people who experienced grace in Jesus..

-They are a people who are enriched in Jesus..

-They are a people with whom the testimony of X was confirmed.

-They are a people who are not lacking any gift.

-They are a people who are sustained till the end, when they will be found guiltless.

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So, to sum it all up.

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Paul told them: (chapter 1)THIS IS WHO YOU ARE.

BUT YOU’RE ACTING LIKE SOMEONE ELSE.

(chapter 2)THIS IS WHAT A SPIRITUAL PERSON DOES.

(chapter 3)...BUT, YOU’RE NOT BEING SPIRITUAL.

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They had a serious problem with identity.

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Which is something that a great majority of people in the Christian community can relate to.

We don’t always recognize when we abandon the process of thought and reason which is motivated in a spiritual reality… for a thought and reason, which is common and carnal.

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We don’t always recognize when we have swirled the two together.

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Sometimes, we don’t even recognize, when we ourselves created a charade by adding spiritual lingo and concepts to non spiritual thoughts and activities.

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The believers in Corinth didn’t recognize it.

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Which is why Paul has given them something to compare themselves to.

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Now that they’ve seen the contrast… he can now address them directly.

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We’ll consider chapter 3 in four points today:

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Growing Into Our Spiritual Identity Is A Process (1-4)

Growing Out Of Our Carnal Identity Is A Matter Of Perspective (5-9)

A Spiritual Perspective Always Looks To Christ as a Foundation (10-15)

A Spiritual Perspective is Homogenous (16-23)

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…Let’s look at point 1 and read again the corresponding passage.

1 COR 3.

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Growing Into Our Spiritual Identity Is A Process (1-4)

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Now let me clarify… becoming a Spiritual Person, is not a process.

It is an instant blessing of God to those who come in faith, believing in the Gospel… repenting, Declaring Jesus as Lord, and accepting forgiveness…

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God, through grace and grace alone… not by anything you do other than faith motivated repentance… saves you wholly and completely… and gives you a full identity as an eternal and spiritual person.

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That is not a process.

That is an instant work of grace by God.

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2 Pet 1.3

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We’ve been given the gift… it’s ours fully… we fully have our identity..

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But… growing into our identity… NOW THAT… is quite a process.

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Paul explains it in these terms more than once in the Bible.

He compares the process of growing and maturing spiritually, to that of an infant who grows and matures physically.

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In the beginning, a baby only drinks milk.

So Paul tells the church in Corinth… in the beginning… He only gave them milk.

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But, here he is, writing a follow up letter to his visit.

He’s received report that they have not matured beyond the milk.

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By now… they should be ready for solid food… but they’re not.

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Why?

Because they’re still acting like babies.. they are still “of the flesh”… They are still, behaving only in a human way.

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Notice that in verse 3… the word ‘only’.

To those in Corinth, who are aligning themselves to Paul, Apollos and Peter… in contrast to those who are aligning themselves to Jesus… Paul says… - this division… this jealousy… this strife… it is not partially spiritual..

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It is ‘only in a human way’.

There is nothing spiritual at all about the manner and the reasoning by which they divide.

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So they are showing Paul… that they are not ready for solid food.

They are still, only fit to receive the simple milk of spiritual nourishment..

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Let’s continue on…

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