But a baby Christian who hears "Honor God with your body" has no boundaries to define this principle. It is nonsense without the milk first. So the rule must come first. But since rules lead to legalism, Paul wanted to address the Corinthians spiritually: not merely with a law but a principle. Not milk, but meat.

Similarly, regarding lawsuits, Paul begins with milk. He says, "if any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints?" (6:7). He didn't want to address them as mere babes in Christ: simply telling them not to have lawsuits. Desiring to address them as spiritual, he gives them the meat: "The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?" (6:7). To this the baby Christian responds: "Why not rather be wronged? Because I deserve better!" So the Christian first needs laws-"don't sue." But the spiritual Christian doesn't need laws. The (meaty) concept of sacrifice is sufficient; in fact, it is superior because milk leads to a false sense of self-righteousness. The milk-drinking believer reads a list of commands as a checklist and exclaims, "I'm a good person because I haven't done any of these things." On the other hand, the meat-eating believer has a much greater understanding. He reads the principles of Scripture and examines his heart to see if there is any part of his life that is not pleasing to God.

Paul preserves the same pattern of offering milk first and meat later in his letter. In the discussion on behavior in worship he once again initially presents the milk: don't get drunk at church (11:21, 22), don't be obsessed with the desire to speak in tongues (14:1, 2, 22-25), and women should wear a head covering (11:3-16). But I imagine Paul was agonizing as he wrote these words because he was a crusader against this sort of legalism. He wanted to elevate his instructions by also giving his listeners meat. Their immaturity, though, demanded a definition of the broader concepts first. Only then does he also give the Corinthians meat. After telling them not to get drunk at church he says, "a man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself" (11:28). He was not content with the simple command to "stop thinking like children [by desiring to speak in tongues], but in your thinking be adults" (14:20). So again he also gives the meat: "If an unbeliever comes in while everyone is prophesying he will be convinced that he is a sinner and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God exclaiming, 'God is really among you.'" (14:24, 25).