From Milk to Solid Food: Growing in Christ

Paul’s image of spiritual infants begins with the simple truth that great men and great women are not born that way. Babies are born, and everything grows from there. The same reality belongs to life with God. Jesus told Nicodemus that a person must be born again to see the kingdom of God, and Paul takes up that same kind of image when he speaks to the Corinthians as “infants in Christ.”

Paul’s words to the Corinthians are not a compliment. The Corinthians are still living on spiritual milk when they ought to be ready for solid food. Milk is good and necessary at the beginning, just as a new disciple needs the gospels, prayer, the Psalms, and the basic shape of Jesus’ life and words. But milk is not meant to be the whole diet forever. A baby who never moves toward solid food does not develop in a healthy way, and a disciple who never grows beyond the beginning remains stuck with the bottle in hand.

The metaphor asks a plain question: what is the spiritual diet? Worship, life together, prayer, Scripture, shared meals, honest conversation, and service all become ways that disciples grow. The church becomes a place where believers support one another in joy and struggle, and personal discipline becomes a plan of action rather than a vague good intention. Growth in Christ does not happen by accident.

Paul’s other letters deepen the picture. In Thessalonians, Paul speaks like a nursing mother caring for children. In Galatians, Paul speaks of labor pains “until Christ is formed” in believers. Ephesians names the goal as maturity, “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ,” so that disciples are no longer infants but grow up into Christ, the head.

Jesus makes the matter wonderfully strange. The one whom disciples are growing up into also says that unless a person becomes like a child, that person cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Growth in Christ is not becoming self-sufficient, polished, and impressive. Growth in Christ is becoming trusting, dependent, open, and willing to serve rather than be served. It means losing life for the sake of others, though the world trains people to resist that with everything they have.

God gives grace for the whole journey. The past does not need to be denied, rejected, or forgotten. Every season, even the season spent “developing a testimony,” becomes part of the person Christ welcomes and forms. Birth has a purpose, and that purpose is to grow up in Christ.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Spiritual babies are meant to grow Paul’s image honors the beginning, but it refuses to let the beginning become the destination. Milk is mercy for a newborn disciple, but it becomes malnourishment when it is treated as the permanent diet. Christ does not shame infancy, but Christ does call infancy toward maturity. [30:48]
• 2. Spiritual diet shapes spiritual maturity The question “What am I eating?” presses beneath habits and into desire. Worship, Scripture, prayer, community, and service are not religious decorations, but food that forms a life around Christ. A disciple’s appetite reveals whether growth is being sought or simply assumed. [33:41]
• 3. Christ is formed through dependence Paul’s goal is not just better behavior, but Christ being formed in a person. That kind of growth does not make a disciple less needy, but more honest about the need for the Lord Christ. Spiritual maturity looks like trust, not self-made strength. [37:21]
• 4. Past seasons are not wasted The story of a life cannot be cut into clean pieces where only the respectable parts count. God receives the whole person, including the strange, rebellious, and searching seasons that shaped the present. Grace does not erase the past, but gathers it into the work of becoming more like Christ. [46:25]
• 5. Growing up means serving others Christlike maturity moves away from being served and toward giving life away. That movement feels costly because it pushes against instinct and against the world’s training. Paul’s frustration with the Corinthians comes from knowing that the easy shortcut can leave a disciple far short of what Christ hopes to give.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [25:42] - Only Babies Are Born
• [28:16] - Born Again and New Beginnings
• [30:32] - Corinthians as Spiritual Infants
• [31:50] - Milk Cannot Last Forever
• [33:41] - What Is the Spiritual Diet?
• [34:35] - Worship, Community, and Growth
• [35:27] - Prayer, Scripture, and Service
• [37:21] - Until Christ Is Formed
• [39:26] - Growing Up Into Christ
• [40:08] - Becoming Like a Child
• [42:32] - Serving Rather Than Being Served
• [44:29] - The Past Is Part of Formation
• [47:11] - God Gives Grace to Grow Up

1. In 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, Paul compares the Corinthians to infants needing milk. What specific behaviors or attitudes might he associate with spiritual infancy?
2. Jesus tells Nicodemus one must be “born again” to see God’s kingdom (John 3:3). How does this metaphor of birth connect to Paul’s later imagery of spiritual growth? [28:16]
3. Ephesians 4:13-15 describes maturity as attaining “the fullness of Christ.” What practices or qualities might reflect this kind of maturity?

1. Why does Paul criticize the Corinthians for remaining on “milk” instead of progressing to “solid food”? What dangers might arise if believers never grow beyond spiritual infancy? [31:50]
2. Jesus says we must become like children to enter God’s kingdom, yet Paul urges believers to “grow up” into Christ. How can dependence (childlikeness) and maturity coexist in a disciple’s life? [40:08]
3. The sermon mentions that “past seasons are not wasted” in God’s work of formation. How might past struggles or failures actually contribute to spiritual growth? [46:25]

1. Reflect on your current spiritual diet: Are there areas where you’ve settled for “milk” (e.g., avoiding challenging parts of Scripture, prayer, or service)? What step could you take this week to try “solid food”? [33:41]
2. Growing in Christ involves serving others rather than seeking to be served. What is one practical way you could prioritize serving someone this month, even if it feels costly? [42:32]
3. Paul says Christ must be “formed in you” (Galatians 4:19). What habit or discipline (e.g., prayer, Scripture study, community) do you need to recommit to for this formation to deepen?
4. The sermon notes that our past—even rebellious or searching seasons—is part of God’s shaping work. How might embracing your story (instead of hiding it) help you encourage others in their faith? [46:40]
5. Jesus calls us to childlike trust. Where in your life do you struggle to depend on God instead of relying on self-sufficiency? How could you actively practice surrender in that area?