I. Spiritual Versus Carnal V. 1
A. Spiritual
1. Strong’s Concordance- One who is filled with and governed by the Spirit of God.
B. Carnal
1. Strong’s Concordance-Fleshly, carnal.
2. Having the nature of flesh, i.e. under the control of the animal appetites.
3. Governed by mere human nature not by the Spirit of God.
4. Having its seat in the animal nature or aroused by the animal nature.
5. Humanly speaking-with the included idea of depravity
C. We All Begin Life As Carnal
1. John 3:1-8 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him,
“Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows where it
wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
2. We all begin life being born from flesh and being under the influence of the fleshly/carnal nature. We are under the
influence of the flesh.
3. When a person is born again, or ‘‘born from above’’, they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and can now be influenced and
governed by the Holy Spirit.
D. The Problems With The Corinthians
1. When Paul first met the Corinthians, they were not born again.
2. They operated only in the realm of the flesh. They could not operate otherwise.
3. Paul spent 18 months with them and preached the Gospel to them.
4. They had become Christians.
a. He calls them brethren and babes in Christ. They were definitely Christians.
5. They started life as people dominated by their fleshly nature. Everyone starts that way
a. But they were still acting, living, and thinking like unbelievers.
b. They were still choosing to yield to their fleshly nature instead of to the Holy Spirit.
6. NOTE- Some Christians say that there is no such thing as a ‘‘carnal Christian’’.
7. That it is impossible to be carnal once you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
2
8. I believe that this passage tells us that it is possible for a Christian to yield to their fleshly nature, even for an extended
period of time.
9. There are multitudes of scriptures which exhort Christians to not give in to fleshly desires
10. Those verse would not be needed unless there was the possibility of Christians choosing to walk after the carnal nature.
11. I do believe that a Christians can be called a carnal Christian.
12. However, that is not an excuse of an allowance for a Believer to stay in that condition.
13. Paul called for these carnal Christians to repent from their carnality, and to walk in the Spirit. Most of this letter deals with correcting the carnality of the Corinthians.
II. What Carnal Christians Look Like
A. They Are Not Influenced By The Holy Spirit V. 1
1. 1 Corinthians 3:1 “And I, …could not speak to you as to spiritual people…”
2. They were not led by the Spirit, but rather by worldly motivations and reasoning.
B. They Suffer From Arrested Spiritual Development V. 1
1. “… but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.”
2. Paul addressed the Corinthians as babies and infants.
3. They should have been more mature by this time.
4. Infants are self-centered and self-absorbed. They are self-focused.
5. They are not moved by higher reasoning, but by lower reasoning.
6. New Christians lack maturity and discernment. This is to be expected.
a. 1 Peter 2:1-3 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2Like newborn babies,
crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
b. We expect new Christians to be childish in some ways, but we also expect that they will grow and mature.
7. The Corinthians should have been further along in their spiritual growth.
C. They Lack Spiritual Understanding V. 2
1. The carnal Christian doesn’t understand many deep things from the word of God.
2. This is acceptable for a new Christian.
3. An older Christian should be able to understand more of the truths of scripture.
4. Chronological age as a Christian is no guarantee of spiritual maturity.
5. Hebrews 5:11-13 11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the rst principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
D. They Have Envy, Strife, And Divisions V. 3
1. Envy- jealousy, contentious rivalry
2. Strife- quarreling, debate
3. Divisions- to separate
E. They Follow Personalities V. 4
1. The damage done to the church at Corinth was due to the carnality of the Corinthians.
2. They followed their fleshly nature and chose to be overly impressed by men, even to the point of creating rivalries within the church.
3. They failed to see the organic unity and oneness of Jesus’ church, and they reduced it into infighting groups who followed their favorite Christian personalities.
III. How To Become A Spiritual Christian
1. Hebrews 5:14 NKJV But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
2. Hebrews 5:14 NIV But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
3. Heb 5:14 TLB You will never be able to eat solid spiritual food and understand the deeper things of God’s Word until you become better Christians and learn right from wrong by practicing doing right.
4. 2 Peter 3:18 NKJV but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.