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Is there
such a thing as a carnal Christian? Does Scripture support such a
characterization?
The idea
of a carnal Christian comes from I Corinthians 3:1 “And I, brethren,
could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, [even] as
unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for
hitherto ye were not able [to bear it], neither yet now are ye able. For
ye are yet carnal: for whereas [there is] among you envying, and strife,
and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I
am of Paul; and another, I [am] of Apollos; are ye not carnal?”
It may surprise
some to know that in these verses God is not saying
these men are true believers. God is saying (through the apostle
Paul) that as babes in Christ they have very little showing of
spirituality – if they were indeed babes in Christ. A careful reading of
these verses reveals these people were not yet saved; they’re still of
the flesh; they’re not really of Christ.
Personally,
I’ve never liked the term “carnal Christian”. It’s a contradiction
– an oxymoron. We can’t be carnal minded Christians. The
Bible declares in I John 3:9, “Whosoever is born of God doth not
commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he
is born of God.”
If we are
a child of God, then we have experienced the new birth in our soul; we
have been born of God. From this moment on, in our soul essence we
will not want to sin. Unfortunately, we still have bodies that lust after
sin. The result of this is that in our body we’ll think in terms of
the flesh. In this sense, we’ll be carnal.
CASE
A:
What happens
in our life if we’re not truly born again? Let’s say we’re just a
member of a congregation and while others probably think we’re saved, we
know in our heart of hearts that we’re not.
If that
describes us, then when we begin to live in the flesh, in both our body
and soul we like that sin because we’re not born of God. There’s nothing
in us saying, ‘you can’t live that way.’ Maybe our conscience will
bother us a bit, but it doesn’t take long for us to sear our
conscience. As long as we can get away with that sin we’re
going to continue in it because it isn’t at odds with our old
nature.
Consider
the unsaved man in I Corinthians 5 who was living with his father’s
wife. Someone involved in this gross fornication within the church
(remember, his actions were public knowledge and the church elders
undoubtedly were warning him about this, yet he continued with his
grievous sin) is giving evidence that he’s not saved. Clearly, this man
was carnal minded — but he was not a Christian.
Our
churches today have many people who believe they’re Christians
because they’ve joined a church or been baptized. But they’ve never
been born from above, so they live very much like the world. On
Sunday they can be sweet and light and happy and wonderful believers
— but during the week, you can’t distinguish them from the world. They’re
carnal minded, but they’re not born again. They’re not really
Christians.
CASE
B:
What
happens in your life if you’re truly born again and you commit a grievous
sin? Not only will your conscience be troubling you, but you’ll
feel violated in your soul too. Even if you’re struggling with a
besetting sin over a number of years, nevertheless every time you become
involved in that sin it’s not a happy proposition at all. Regardless
of whether or not others know you’re dealing with that sin (maybe you’re
“getting away” with that sin every time you commit it), it’s still a sore
point in your life.
Every
time you commit it, there’s the after taste of remorse, unhappiness and distress
in your soul. To continue to live this way is antagonistic toward
your resurrected soul. God will chastise you because He indwells born
again believers. Finally the truth will dawn on you – one way or
another. Maybe a family member will “catch you”…maybe you’ll have
something taken away…but one way or another you’ll come to the
realization that “I’ve got to repent and I’ve got to turn away from this
sin. I can’t go on.”
CASE
A (Revisited):
What
would happen if a true believer were committing a gross sin like the man
in I Corinthians 5? We can rest assured that if the Pastor or an
elder approached him and said, “We understand you’ve been living with
your father’s wife in a sexual relationship,” the reaction would be
absolutely predictable.
The true
believer’s reaction would be akin to David’s when Nathan the prophet
confronted him. Nathan said “Thou art the man!” after David had
been guilty of adultery and murder. The repentance would come
pouring out. “Oh God, against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned.”
That’s what would happen in the life of the born again believer.
When
believers sin they are grievously troubled by their sin. And this is what
separates so-called carnal Christians from true believers.
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