“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 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. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” I Cor. 3:1-3
The church in Corinth was often rebuked for its lack of spirituality. As much as Paul the Apostle wanted to preach and teach the harder and more spiritual principles of living the Christian life, he could not because of their spiritual immaturity.
Many may have been saved for a longer time, but they still had not learned or practiced basic spiritual concepts they had been taught. Paul found himself having to repeat and reteach principles they should have long ago learned and incorporated into their lives.
Why did they not grow in the things of the Lord? Why were they still at the same spiritual level of some who had just gotten saved?
It was not their intellectual level that was holding them back from growth. It was their carnal trust in their leaders rather than Christ Himself. They had good, godly leaders, but their trust was more in the man that had taught them the principles of God than faithfully following the One the preacher spoke of!
“For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 5 ¶ Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” I Cor. 3:4-7
They boasted and were more proud that they had had Paul or Apollos as their preacher, than that they were Christians and were following all the principles taught by Christ Himself. Their carnality and immaturity were because they were not following Christ!
Today, similar carnality abounds! Instead of obeying all they read from God’s Word, people choose to give earthly leaders and religions more credence than the Bible’s truths.
When asked if a person is going to Heaven, one often hears, “I’m Catholic” or “I’m Methodist”. Sometimes one will even hear, “I went to Billy Graham’s church,” or some other popular preacher.
We all need to faithfully attend a good, Bible-believing, Bible-obeying local church, but one must never put their faith in any leader, church, or even their teachings if they do not line up with God’s Holy Word. Just being a member of a Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Catholic, Hindu, or Islamic group and following their teachings alone also will not save anyone; nor will anyone ever grow spiritually! That kind of “religion” only creates more carnal followers. That is why this world is full of religionists and baby “Christians”, rather than God-obeying Christ-followers.
Grow in a good ministry, but most importantly be Christ-followers! “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I [Paul] have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 ¶ For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” I Cor. 3:10-11
“Ah, vain world! Thou art a poor reward for the loss of Christ and Heaven. While Satan is pleasing thy fancy, sinner, with the rattles and baubles of the earth, his hand is on thy treasure, robbing thee of that which alone is necessary. It is more necessary to be saved than to be in Hell.” — Curnall, 1617-1679
A preacher I know says “light obeyed begets light”. When God gives us understanding (light) and we do nothing with it, that is where we stay spiritually. If we obey and act on that understanding and direction, he never fails to give us further light. I look at it as God’s way of educating us. As the Bible says, we are not capable of handling all the spiritual truth right after we are born again. We mature into it stepwise…fast for some, slow for others, not at all for some. Some may get stuck in the same place for years, such as I did, and some life event wakes them up and they become spiritually aware again.
This also brings to mind the idea of the Carnal Christian…a theory that was around some years ago that some are saved, but stay in their sin and never progress. Personally, I think there is ample biblical evidence to suggest that such a person is not saved at all…the terms carnal and Christian being almost a contradiction. I would love to hear Bro Bill or others expound on this (I cannot remember the originator’s name) concept of 2 classes of Christians…carnal and spiritual. Please straighten me out. I would have to get my books out to have it 100% right.
It is all about obeying. Most, in this country anyway, have heard God’s message in some form, but not all have obeyed what they heard.
As for Christians being carnal. I think we all get in the flesh too often, and that is carnality. Hopefully, when we do fall we can get it right and be in submission and fellowship with the Lord. We may be saved in the inside, but we have the same flesh we are born with, and will have to battle what it wants to do the rest of our life! That is why one day God will give us new bodies. They will be bodies that will not sin! Amen! Halleluyah!