CARNAL OR SPIRITUAL Part 2

The Carnal Christian?
I do not presume a carnal Christian to be one who only wants Jesus as a kind of hell-insurance policy, as some describe them. I suppose I believe such a person to not be a Christian at all. Because if such a person made any kind of profession of faith motivated solely by “give me a get-out-of-hell-free-card” then such a person does not understand his sin, nor his judgment, nor God’s Holiness, and least of all…the person of Jesus Christ. And chances are such a person’s life would demonstrate the lack of a regeneration which the spiritually discerning would recognize.


[Now it is greatly to be feared that there are multitudes in Christendom who truly imagine and sincerely believe, that they are among the saved—yet who are total strangers to a work of divine grace in their hearts. It is one thing to have clear intellectual conceptions of God's truth—but it is quite another matter to have a personal, real heart acquaintance with it. It is one thing to believe that sin is the dreadful thing that the Bible says it is—but it is quite another matter to have a holy horror and hatred of it, in the soul. It is one thing to know that God requires repentance—but it is quite another matter to experientially mourn and groan over our vileness. It is one thing to believe that Christ is the only Savior for sinners—but it is quite another matter to really trust Him from the heart. It is one thing to believe that Christ is the Sum of all excellency—but it is quite another matter to LOVE Him above all others. It is one thing to believe that God is the great and holy One—but it is quite another matter to truly reverence and fear Him. It is one thing to believe that salvation is of the Lord—but it is quite another matter to become an actual partaker of it through His gracious workings.  ~Arthur Pink, 1886-1952]

There is controversy. Surprise? There are those who say, one can not be a carnal Christian…no such thing.

[The "Carnal Christian Theory" is another of the teachings of "Easy Christianity" designed to take the pressure off the average church-goer. The "great" thing about this teaching is that it also takes pressure off the teachers of "Easy Christianity." Time was that if "converts" went on in or went back to their ungodly lifestyles, they were labeled hypocrites or apostates. Now they are called "Carnal Christians." This looks much better for the evangelists' statistics and avoids painful evaluation of his message and methods. ~Pastor Samuel E. Waldron, Ph.D. - Dean, Resident Professor of Systematic Theology, Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary]

His word is harsh and I have a problem with it. But that might be only how I perceive his message right now? There is also a controversy as to what the Bible says about man’s state(s). Dr. C.I. Scofield characterizes it in his reference notes to 1 Cor. 2:14 as three “classes” of men…

[“Natural” (unregenerate), i.e. the Adamic Man; unrenewed through the new birth… "Spiritual" i.e. the renewed man as Spirit-filled and walking in the Spirit in full communion with God…"Carnal", i.e. the renewed man who, walking "after the flesh", remains a babe in Christ” ~Scofield Notes]

I have no controversy with that thesis except to interject that I don’t believe one remains a “babe in Christ” because one is carnal, but rather one is “carnal” because one remains a babe in Christ. Is it semantics? No!

Obviously, all professing Christians are not in the same state or degree of sanctification, but all true believers are in the same “degree” and state of grace. That is a work solely of God accomplished fully in the finished conciliatory life,  death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, at the moment of true salvation. If one does not read the Word; study the Word; allow the Word to wash and renew; grow in the knowledge of God through His revelation in His Word; be conformed to the image of His dear Son by sanctification; if one does not commune with the Father in prayer; if one does not seek the will of God in one’s life, then one will remain a “babe” in Christ and behave in a carnal way because of spiritual ignorance. However, one should not want to remain “immature”. But I know several believers who can sometimes not grasp what they are reading and hearing; or do not understand being truly able to talk to God. One might say, perhaps it’s just not their time to comprehend doctrine, or truths, or what they are reading or hearing. Well, there are definitely other factors which are not at work for them. One crucial requirement, in my opinion, to understanding scripture is prayer. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” Matt. 7:7 (see also Matt. 21:22, Mark 11:24, Luke 11:9,10, Luke 18:1, John 14:13, John 15:7, John 16:23, 1st John 3:22).

Another failing, (again…my opinion from observation), is that some people just “read” the Bible, like it was a novel… page 1, chapter 1, Genesis… “in the beginning…”. Sounds logical. Reading anything, anywhere in the Bible is great…wonderful, but for me, it would seem more appropriate to begin in the New Testament, and STUDY rather than just reading. Yet another difficulty which hinders comprehension is vocabulary and grammar;
1. That which is used by a particular Bible, and
2. the individuals own lack of, i.e., his own level of literacy.

Hopefully, mature brethren could help such a “babe” to grow. And there are other helps to “studying”…Concordances, Commentaries, Bible Dictionaries, Group Studies, Asking Questions!!! Yet another failing of believers is that they don’t read the Bible at all! In fact…all believers’ problems can come down to two failings: not studying the Word, and not praying effectively…or effectually if you prefer.
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” Gal. 6:1.

“Ye which are spiritual”… is this the level/a level of perfection the Bible speaks about? There is an obvious distinction being made here. Which one am I? I am the one overtaken in a fault. I am the one who needs to be restored. Restored to what? To full fellowship and communion with the Father… To walking in the Spirit… To “Spiritual”! Who should restore me? You…who are spiritual! Who is such a one? Come, and restore me! …being careful to consider your own self, “lest you also be tempted”…(the attack on the spiritual). Such a one (spiritual) can be “overtaken in a fault” and then need to be restored by he who is spiritual (in communion and fellowship with God). Do you see the love and service of the saints to one another.

“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you” Gal.4:19.
One could almost hear the frustration in Paul’s voice over the error of the Galatians. He calls them “little children”. It is no doubt a term of affection (because Paul is who he is), but it is also admonition. The address is to justified but immature believers. We accept (too compromisingly, in my opinion) that even the maturing Christian will sin on occasion. Does this make us carnal? Yes, in the sense that we revert to behaving “in the flesh”.

Grace changes the heart!
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” 2 Cor. 5:17. 
The true Christian has a great change worked in him; not the least of which is a change of tendencies. He is altered from what he was before. This new creation is not just a “heavenly” status, in some unattainable dimension. It is you and me…here and now. Did the Apostles only have a special fellowship with God that you and I can not have in this “current modern era”? No one will ever convince me of that, but there are those who teach... that religion which requires a vicar on earth... that religion that requires canonization to make a saint.
Paul says, “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things” Phil. 3:17-19.

Does Paul not talk about “carnal” here? Oh yes, and beyond carnal…apostate! …or even unconverted. But he says "follow my example", taking nothing away from the example we have in Jesus because Paul must have walked as Jesus walked. So we too can walk. The will must now desire and persevere in keeping sin out as obstinately as it before kept Christ out! And let God have His holy work of sanctification. Yes there are two of us, there is the Adamic nature defeated on the cross and there is the new man in Christ, resurrected with Him. Why do we still want to live in the flesh? We apparently do not know how to make that leap into that new spiritual realm, or… we still like some worldly things. We assent to the truths intellectually, but we do not know how to live them practically? What's wrong with us? We've been compromised…and WE compromise ourselves!

A man who has been saved from the otherwise penalty of his sin will manifest himself to be a man who desires and strives to live his life as God would have him to live; that is, in Christ, in the Spirit, endeavoring to be holy, giving himself to sanctification, running from the defilement of sin, and walking toward the glory which is Christ. Now I do not wish to get involved in the controversies of “Carnal Christians” or the “three classes of men”, but I hasten to add that Paul, in the Word of God, uses such words (natural, spiritual, carnal) to, in fact, describe man and believers (2 Cor. 2:14 and 1 Cor. 3:1-3). To me, one is either “…saved by grace through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” Eph. 2:8 ...or one is not. Someone put it as… “the saints and the aint’s”. But that is not to say that one stops sinning entirely after one is born again into the family of God. We know this. But let that, nevertheless, be our goal. Moreover, let us not accept that as license to be carnal.

The fact that we may still sin is precisely what we should be waging war against! I am one who is most frustrated by the fact that I do sin despite the encouragements, the exhortations, the begging, the declarations and the promises in God’s Word that I should not, must not, can not…especially as is written in 1 John 3. This is the high calling that our Father desires us to attain. So we should not compromise our efforts, indeed our sacrifice, by rationalizing our behavior as due to our yet “carnal” bodies. I can not (at least up to this point) keep from sinning. I despise the evil that takes its occasion in the flesh. I despise the evil in the world. My joy is in the Holiness of our Lord. But I sin. When I sin I am operating away from where God would have me to be…spiritual; in close, unbroken fellowship with Him. But I give occasion to the lusts of the flesh by acquiescing… I comply, give in, submit, yield to the impulses of the flesh.

“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” Jas. 1:14-15.
So then, when I sin, I AM (behaving) carnal! The danger for me...for us, especially for the immature “baby” Christian, is in not immediately mortifying that deed or thought, not confessing it, not repenting of it, not grieving over it, and not going to the Father with sorrow at having offended Him…asking His forgiveness and help in the matter. This is crucial to spiritual growth. It is of utmost importance for fellowship with the Father. It is our very weakness in these matters that manifest the power of God in our lives…IF we go to Him as children who, having done something wrong, wish to sincerely admit to it and apologize.

[If there is any lust in our souls which we cannot deny—it will turn at length, either to scandal or apostasy.  
~The Duty of Self-Denial  by  Thomas Watson, 1620-1686].





We must recognize our sin, we must be sorrowful over it, we must be ashamed by it, we must confess it, we must despise it, and we must repent of it.
“But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof” Rom.13:14.
Make not provision for the flesh!!!!!!!! Is that not clear to us? What is that…only something to aspire to? Or is it factual, practical, achievable, NECESSARY, guiding advice from God Himself Who by His own power in the Holy Spirit helps us to attain. I am really afraid there is something “broken” in the Body of Christ, and I am part of it. What is wrong?

Now, there are many “warnings” in the Word of God which suggest the most severe punishment for those (Christians?) who don’t “straighten up and fly right”. For example, the church of the Laodiceans… “saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” Rev. 3:14-18.

I will spew thee out of My mouth??? That word “spew” means vomit. What does this mean? What is this “shame of thy nakedness”? Another study! The warnings and exhortations are there to advise us, to direct us, indeed to help us grow out of carnality and into His Eternal Glory.
“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” Col. 3:3. When we were baptized we (that is, our carnal, Adamic, natural, sin nature) were in essence “buried” in the water. That “old man” is declared to be dead (Rom. 6:6). We arose as a form of “resurrection”… “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” Rom. 6:8. 
“For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God” Rom.6:10.
And we live in Him…unto God.
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” Rom. 6:11.
“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” Col. 3:5.
We are supposed to be dead to these in a very real, practical way. These are things which provoke the wrath of God.
“For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience” Col.3:6.
Which we once were.

“In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” Col. 3:7-10. 
Put off the one, as having had the filthy rags of unrighteousness removed revealing the shame of our nakedness…and put ON the robes of Righteousness of the new man which is the covering of Christ in which our life is hid. So we must grow into the perfection which is Christ formed in us…running the race for that “prize” Paul talks about…toward that goal which is the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus…Phil.3:14.

“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity (love), which is the bond of perfectness” Col. 3:12-14.