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Transcript 251C — What is a Carnal-Minded Christian?
HC: Good evening Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Yes. Could you tell me, what is a carnal-minded Christian? And another thing I would like to know, if a person says he is born again and he has recognizable sin in his life, does he have to repent of that sin and acknowledge it and try to forsake it as the Lord gives him strength? Could you explain that to me please?
HC: All right. Fine. The question is raised concerning a carnal-minded Christian. And what does a Christian do when he finds sin in his life? Is he supposed to forsake that sin and turn away from it.
Now the idea of a carnal-minded Christian really comes from I Corinthians 3. We read there in verse 1, "But I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh [and in this passage here we're going to find the word flesh and carnal as being one and the same word – "but as men of the flesh" – that is, as carnal men], as babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food. For you were not ready for it. And even yet you are not ready, for you are still of the flesh [that is, you are still carnal]. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh [that is, are you not carnal?] and behaving like ordinary men? For when one says, I belong to Paul" and so on.
Now actually, if we read this very carefully, God is not saying, or the apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is not saying that these men are believers, that they are babes in Christ. He's saying that as a babe in Christ you have very little showing of spirituality, if you were a babe in Christ. But as the language goes on, he's indicating that they are in the flesh. They are really not of Christ.
Actually, it is very difficult, in fact, it's a contradiction of terms, to be a carnal-minded Christian. You see, the Bible says in I John 3:9, "That which is born of God cannot sin." Now if we have become a child of God, a real born again believer, then in our soul we have experienced the new birth. We have been born of God. And from now on we will not sin. We don't want to sin, because we are born of God.
Now it's true we still have a body that lusts after sin. And in our body we will think in terms of the flesh. We will be carnal. But what happens in our life if we are a child of God, if we're really a child of God? Let's first of all look at what happens if we're not a child of God. We're simply a Christian, but we've not become born again. We're not saved. We're a member of the congregation and we're looked upon as a Christian, but we're not saved.
Well, if we begin to live in the flesh, actually, both in body and in soul we like that sin, because we're not born of God. There's nothing in us that is saying, 'you can't live that way.' Oh, our conscience will bother a little bit. But it doesn't take long to sear our conscience. And as long as we can get away with that sin, as long as we can not come to grief because of that sin, we're going to continue in that sin because that agrees entirely with our old nature which is still present within us, both in our body and our soul.
Now the man in I Corinthians 5 who was living with his father's wife is typical of this. I've heard some say that he actually was saved. Well, that can't be. That can't be. Someone who would be living in this gross fornication in the church, so that it became a matter of public knowledge and the elders of the church undoubtedly were warning him about this, and yet he continued in this grievous sin, is giving evidence of someone who doesn't have any idea of what salvation is. He doesn't have any idea of what it really means to be born again. That man was carnal. He was carnal-minded. But he was not a Christian. He was a Christian only in the nominal sense. He was not a Christian in the born from above, the born again sense.
And unfortunately, our churches have many many people like this within them. They are those who believe they are Christians because they do what Christians do, because they have joined the church membership, and so on. And yet they have never become born again, born from above. And so in their practices they live very much like the world. On Sunday they can be sweet and light and happy and wonderful believers. But during the week, in their normal living, you can hardly tell them from the world. They are carnal-minded Christians, but they're not born again. They're not really Christians. They are really carnal-minded.
Now on the other hand, if you become a born again believer, now you've received your resurrected soul, and now you commit a sin. You get into an activity moving toward adultery, let's say. Or you tell a lie, or whatever. Your conscience not only is troubling you, but in your soul you are being violated. And while you may struggle with that sin for a long time, nevertheless every time you become involved in that sin it's not a happy proposition at all. Even though not a soul knows about that sin, even though you can get away with that sin every time you commit it, it's a sore point in your life. Every time you commit it there's the after bite of remorse, the unhappiness, the distress in your soul because in your soul you've been violated. To live this way is antagonistic toward your new soul, your resurrected soul. And this is something you're going to be struggling with God about.
You can say, well, all right, at that time you're being carnal-minded. Well, okay. But it's an altogether different kind of a thing than in the life of the person who is essentially living like the world, and we call him a carnal-minded Christian. It's an altogether different kind of a thing. And this struggle will go on until finally the truth dawns on your mind, and God will chastise because He indwells that born again believer, and He has something to say about that. And finally the truth will dawn on this man, "I've got to repent I've got to turn away from this sin. I can't go on."
Now interestingly enough, if a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, someone who is born from above, is committing gross sin like the man in I Corinthians 5, you can rest assured that if the Pastor or an elder would approach that man and say, "Say, we understand that you've been living with your father's wife in a sexual relationship," the reaction to that declaration or that revelation would be absolutely predictable. It would not be like the reaction of the man in I Corinthians 5, who arrogantly continued with his sin. Rather it would be the reaction of David, when he was faced by Nathan the prophet, and Nathan said, "Thou art the man," after David had been guilty of adultery and murder.
And then the repentance would come pouring out, "Oh God, against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned." And that would be the end of the question. This sin could not continue. That's what would happen in the life of the born again believer.
The born again believer cannot continue in sin. And when he does sin he is grievously troubled by his sin. And that is why his life is altogether different from the so called "carnal-minded Christian," who is one in name only but who is essentially living like the world. He is really not a Christian at all.
Well, I hope this will help.