Spiritual – Eternal – Carnal – Temporal

Four concepts contrast the fleeting, physical nature of earthly life with the unending, divine nature of the soul. Together, they form a framework to guide believers in prioritizing lasting spiritual growth over temporary physical desires. The distinctions break down into two main pairs:

Why Did Jesus Come

In Luke 4:18-19 reading from the NKJV, it says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

And in verse 21 He said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”


Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message—He brings the deliverance.

Questions

In Mark 8, we read a very familiar verse that the whole world has heard at one time or another but disregards as “religion” and they, of course, do not want “religion.”

I heard someone speak, a while ago, about “Questions” in the Bible. If you want to stay busy for a while, chase down and study out those questions. So... in Mark 8:36 we read,

Behold the Man

In John 18 and 19 we read of Jesus’s arrest. Then He was sent to Caiaphas, then to Pilate who questioned Him and scourged Him. After that, Pilate brought Him out to the crowd and said, “Behold the Man!” John 19:5

Pilate was essentially saying, "Here is Jesus. He is not your Messiah, He is not your king, He is not God. He is just a man."
Let us consider the man... Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. Heb. 12:3. 

What joy could possibly be worth enduring the pain, torture and humiliation of crucifixion? Could it be that Jesus would be exalted above all else in Heaven and Earth? Or that He would be King of Israel... and the world? Wouldn't that be selfish and vain of Jesus? The joy set before Jesus was redeeming the human race and all of creation, for God so loved the world.
See also John 10:11.

In The Beginning Was The Word

John 1:1, In the beginning... was the Word, and the Word was WITH God, and the Word was God.

This study begins with “the beginning” because it requires understanding. In the beginning is a vague and indistinct phrase. There is no definite place in time specified. We naturally think of Genesis 1:1 as the beginning of the time of creation. But in John 1:1, we should consider a “time” before creation, which was not a “time” in our sense of the word, but the eternity before time, or it could mean during the time of creation. In any case, the entire triune Godhead is outside of time but works within time as well. We are here introduced to a relationship before anything is created; the relationship of “the Word” to God.

Go And Cry Out To The gods You Have Chosen

Jeremiah 2:27-28 says, "They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Yet when they are in trouble, they say, 'Come and save us!' Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble!"

God warns His people of old, that if they persisted in looking to their false gods in the time of prosperity--that they would have none but their idols to assist them in the season of adversity. In the same way, in times of prosperity, the unsaved not only neglect God but despise Him as well! They cast off all fear of God and serve their idols, to the utter neglect of God.

GO AND SIN NO MORE

John 8:3-11

3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst,

4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.

5 Now Moses, in our law, commands us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her....

IS ANYONE POINTING A FINGER AT YOU?

We should not finger-point, unless we are using that finger to point out scripture. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works"  2 Tim. 3:16-17.

Or, to point the way to salvation, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me" John 14:6.

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.

CARNAL OR SPIRITUAL?

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”.
Rom. 8:6 is my opening text, but for anyone desiring “context” I would suggest reading at least chapters 1-8. And then read also 1 Cor. chapters 1, 2 and 3. I would even go further to say that IF you are not studying the WHOLE Word of God, then you will seriously be lacking “context”.

LIFE...DEATH...LIFE

We (you, me, everyone) will die. That is Simple, is it not? It is an inescapable fact. To leave it at that, though, is ignorant, reckless, irresponsible, and foolish beyond measure. Do you think so little of yourself? Do you think we are as frogs, or herring, or prairie dogs, or wildebeests that just come and go with little consequence (except as food for snakes, whales, coyotes and lions)? Have you watched the "Circle of Life" movie too many times?  If "birth to death" is all there is, then we (as a most intelligent, sophisticated, potential-of-a-creature) are a most pitiful, momentary breath in the eons of time. However, the significance of all these (animals), and others, is as nothing compared to the worth of man. The Bible says…

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings (one penny), and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows" Luke 12:6-7.

I AM CARNAL

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. Rom. 7:14






CARNAL = the sensuous nature of man. I am carnal. I was born carnal; I was raised carnal. I was exposed to all kinds of carnal things growing up, mostly by media (entertainment) and advertising, to the point that I am attracted to and my lusts are gratified by all things worldly and all things of the flesh… albeit, momentarily. So are you.

I say momentarily because that is all anyone who seeks “satisfaction” in the flesh can really expect. We live in “a” moment. There is nothing in the temporal, carnal existence that is eternally satiating or fulfilling. Having our senses glutted satisfies for the moment, but then we want the experience again. Our emotions are excited, our senses are heightened, our intellect is stimulated from moment to moment. Because that is what time does… tick-tocks to the next moment. What has “happened” is of no further consequence or consideration, unless it is happening now.

TEACH US TO PRAY

And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. Luke 11:1

Are we having conversations with our Father, or is it more like a monologue? Or… are we barely speaking. Do we fully realize the reality of God, or do we just accept the “tradition” of a supernatural, spectral Divine Being?