“I could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh …and behaving only in a human way…” (1 Cor 3:1-3, ESV)
In Gal 3:1 Paul addresses the believers in Galatia by asking why that which started in the spirit has now ended in the flesh. This marks one of the most important dangers of the faith journey; that you might eventually die in the desert on the way to the promised land.
It is an ironic truth that in contemporary Christian world the lives of most believers do not really differ from those of their secular counterparts. A carnal believer is an individual who has indeed been born again, but whose life cannot really be differentiated from the lives of his neighbors who have not been born again. The main reason for this is that carnal Christians do not subject themselves to the will of God. In Heb 5:13-14 the writer of Hebrews spells out that the mature or spiritual man has at his command the spiritual ability of discernment, a quality which qualifies believers as mature. 1 Cor 2:14-15 explains this further and then makes it clear why carnal Christians cannot except the “things of God”, because they are unable to discern as a spiritual man.
Obviously those who have only been believers for a short while will still in many respect operate on a carnal basis. But if you have progressed along the spiritual path and yet persist in disobedience thus hardening your heart (Heb 3:15), this carnal attitude and way of life demonstrates spiritual regression. We do not want to make an unbiblical distinction between righteousness and holiness, but we must know that without a process of consecration we will not see God (Heb 12:14b).
1 John 2:4-6 makes it clear – “He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” If this is not the case Matt 7:23 will surely be the consequence – “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
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- Sela: Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in finding out if you are perhaps a carnal believer.
- Read: 1 Chr 5; Jer 31; Eph 1
- Memorise: Eph 1:17-19
- For a deeper understanding: Read chapter 2 of J.I Packer’s book Knowing God.
