It is clear from 1 Cor. 1:2, 1:4-9, and 1:30 that most of the Corinthian church was saved.  However, the following passage is often quoted to argue that these saved Christians were still living sinfully, and therefore, it is okay when Christians continue to sin.  This idea that Christians can be sinful and yet still be saved is used by many people to try to justify why they themselves keep on sinning.  Along with Romans chapter 7, this distortion brings comfort to people who are unwilling to give up their sinful ways for Christ.  This is the passage from Corinthians that these people use:

1 Cor. 3:1-4 - Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? 

This passage shows that there were disagreements among this church about who they followed.  This certainly shows the church's immaturity, but it does not indicate that they were a sinful people.  We can look at other passages throughout Paul's letter to see what this church was really like.  Let us consider 1 Cor. 6:9-11:

1 Cor. 6:9-11 - Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 

In this passage, Paul mentions many different types of sinners and then says to the Corinthians, "And that is what some of you were."  We can find similar evidence in 1 Cor. 5:11, where Paul says, “But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.”  Therefore, the Corinthians were obviously not sexually immoral, greedy, idolatrous, slanderous, or any of these kinds of things.  If this were true, Paul would be promoting hypocrisy by instructing the "sinful" Corinthians to stay away from other sinful Christians.

So, if the Corinthian believers were not sinful, then what is Paul saying in chapter 3 verses 1-4?  Let us consider some other statements he makes to this church.  What do the following statements indicate about Paul's attitude toward the Corinthians?:

These passages show that Paul was constantly using sarcasm in his letter to shame the Corinthians in order to help them realize that they were "acting like mere men."  What they were doing was also only an incident of sin and does not prove that they were argumentative or quarrelsome people.  Therefore, based on Paul's frequent use of sarcasm and the scriptural evidence for the Corinthians' obedience, was this church literally worldly?