If you did the activities in the last entry you may have noted that "men of flesh" was not exactly the same as "natural man". Hopefully, through the use of context, you picked up that Paul was somewhat comparing the baby Christians to natural men, who are also contrasted with those who are spiritual. Like the natural man, the fleshly, worldly men aren't ready for the wisdom of God. Until they are more mature, the deep things of God will seem foolish, so Paul must give them milk.
So, what's the difference between a man who is fleshly and one who is natural?
That's a good question. From context, we know that the fleshly (Or carnal, worldly) man being described is a Christian, but he has not been growing spiritually as he should. We can use some Bible study tools to learn more.
First, we can consult a lexicon. This is kind of like a foreign language dictionary, but its renderings are broader. One drawback to looking in a lexicon is that you have to look up the Strong's number or the original word if you don't have software (such as e-Sword) that provides the information automatically. Our goal here, though, is just to show the usefulness of a lexicon.
Read the definition for psuchikos, the word translated natural in the New American Standard Bible. Now look at the definition for sarkikos (fleshly in the NASB). We see psuchikos (the word rendered natural) has to do with breath and sarkikos (the word rendered fleshly) has to do with flesh.
Let's go a step further and look at another tool, a commentary called Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament. This resource may be Greek-heavy for many, but if one takes the time to think through what is said, he or she may be enlightened by the nuances of the Greek language. In this case, we look up the entries for 1 Corinthians 2:14 and 1 Corinthians 3:3.
Finally, there is a resource from AMG Publishers that you have likely seen referenced by such authors as Kay Arthur and Beth Moore. It is The Complete Word Study Dictionary. This reference gives a thorough discussion of each word used in the Bible. If you find yourself often wondering about the real meanings of words in your Bible, this dictionary is for you. It is not available for free, so no link can be provided, but it is available with e-Sword for a considerable savings over what you would pay for the hard copy set.
Once you've gone to the trouble of looking up words you want to learn more about, it is important to reread your Scripture and insert what you have learned to see if it reveals something to you. Did it change the way you see the passage? Do you see a way to apply it to your life that you didn't see before?
That's enough for now. Let's take a break! But don't forget to check out the next installment of this short series designed to help you get more out of your Bible study!