"In this application of a homily on wisdom and the Spirit, Paul acts in a way very typical of himself. He attacks a problem by going deeper. He sees the real issue not just in a moral weakness, a refusal to be harmonious and loving as a community. He sees the real issue in a blatant contradiction in the life of the Corinthians. The homily in effect speaks of the essential role of the Spirit in the life of all believers. The homily groups people simply into two groups, those who have recieved the Spirit and those who have not, those who are being saved and those being damned, those for whom the crucifixion of Jesus is God's wisdom and power and those for whom it is a stumbling block. After having made this point in the homily, Paul then turns to the Corinthian Church and says in effect that he cannot speak to them as people endowed with the Spirit (3:1-4). Their jealousies, quarrels, and partisan spirit is in such contradiction to the work of God's spirit, that he must address them as sarkikoi, a word only difficultly translated 'hell bent on the flesh.' Despite the charismatic gifts that the Corinthians feel so proud about, their community behavior puts them dangerously close to 'those perishing,' those for whom the crucifixion of Christ is meaningless." (>>)