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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - 1 Corinthians 3:3 - 3:3
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For ye are yet carnal (eti gar sarkikoi este). Sarkikos, unlike sarkinos, like ikos formations, means adapted to, fitted for the flesh (sarx), one who lives according to the flesh (kata sarka). Paul by psuchikos describes the unregenerate man, by pneumatikos the regenerate man. Both classes are sarkinoi made in flesh, and both may be sarkikoi though the pneumatikoi should not be. The pneumatikoi who continue to be sarkinoi are still babes (nēpioi), not adults (teleioi), while those who are still sarkikoi (carnal) have given way to the flesh as if they were still psuchikoi (unregenerate). It is a bold and cutting figure, not without sarcasm, but necessary to reveal the Corinthians to themselves.
Jealousy and strife (zēlos kai eris). Zeal (zēlos from zeō, to boil) is not necessarily evil, but good if under control. It may be not according to knowledge (Rom 10:2) and easily becomes jealousy (same root through the French jaloux) as zeal. Ardour may be like the jealousy of God (2Co 11:2) or the envy of men (Act 5:17). Eris is an old word, but used only by Paul in N.T. (see note on 1Co 1:11). Wrangling follows jealousy. These two voices of the spirit are to Paul proof that the Corinthians are still sarkikoi and walking according to men, not according to the Spirit of Christ.