Word of Salvation – Vol. 15 No.22 - June 1969

 

Carnal Christians

 

Sermon by Rev.  G.  I.  Williamson, B.A., B.D.  on 1Cor. 3:1-4

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Exodus 15:20-16-3, 1Cor.2:9-3:4

PSALTER HYMNAL: 162:3,4; 112: 3,4; 7; 280:1,2; 280:3

 

One of the most serious problems in the Corinthian Church was called 'the party spirit.  This is what the Apostle is dealing with in these first few chapters – the tendency of people in the same Church to divide into various factions instead of being one in the Lord.  And it is perfectly obvious that such a thing can only happen when there is some kind of a loyalty other than loyalty to Christ.  If all were loyal to Christ alone, then of course there could be no such schisms.  It is only because an alien loyalty begins to creep in along with this loyalty to Christ that such divisions are possible.  And the thing that the Apostle is trying to teach us in these first few Chapters of this Epistle is that such things ought not to be so.  He is saying that we – as spiritual people belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ, and having the Holy Spirit of God within us – have no need whatever to become the followers of men.

The question naturally arises, then, why do Christian people act this way?  If there is no valid reason to act this way – and no real need – then why is it that we already find the "party spirit" at work in the Apostolic Church?  And why, we might add, do we also find it down through the centuries even to this very day?  Well, I think we find the answer to this question in the words of our text.  For here we see the description that Paul gives of these Corinthian Christians, and he is not describing them as they ought to be, but as they actually are.  "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal.... for ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men.  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal?"

I.  THE MEANING

Now I think you will see from these words that there is such a thing as a "carnal Christian."  There is such a thing as a person who really belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, so that we can call them "brethren" in the Lord, and yet at the same time a person who seems almost indistinguishable from those who are yet "of the world".  So the problem naturally arises, as to how we can explain such words!  How can a person be carnal and Christian at the same time?

(1)  One of the attempts that has been made to answer this question is that which was given by the Gnostics – the people who held the principles of ancient Greek philosophy – who said that the body is evil and the spirit is good.  According to this point of view, the thing that makes a person carnal is that he manifests a concern for the body.  And the way in which a person becomes spiritual, is to only have care for the soul or the spirit.  The interesting thing is that these Gnostics went to two extremes, starting from exactly the same point.

(a)  Some of them said that the way to become spiritual was to simply ignore the body.  If the body commits a sin, they would say, then just don't pay any attention.  As long as you are inwardly concerned only for your soul, it doesn't make any difference at all what you do with your body.  So these people were willing to let the body live in sin, while the soul was supposedly cultivating piety.

(b)  But there were others who took precisely the opposite view.  They said that the only way to become spiritual was to deny the body.  It was, in other words, by punishing the body and making it suffer, that the spirit was supposedly set free to become pious and holy.  This, by the way, was the real origin of the ascetic view of the Christian faith: the view which maintains that it is necessary to punish the body in order to purify the soul.

Yet both of these two extremes come from the same assumption; the assumption that it is the body which is carnal and the mind which is spiritual.  And that is why we know that this is not the answer to our problem.  For the scripture does not say that the body is carnal.  What it says is that the mind – or the soul – is carnal.  For "the carnal mind is enmity against God," says the Apostle, "for it is not subject to the law of God, either indeed can be."  It wasn't a sin of the body this "party spirit" in the Church of Corinth.  It was a sin of the spirit, of the heart and mind.  So we cannot solve the problem of how there can be such a thing as carnal Christians by putting the blame on the body!

(2)  Perhaps a more common interpretation of what is meant by "carnal Christians," is that which says that there are two kinds of believers.

(a)  On the one hand there are the ordinary Christians who have received certain basic qualifications that entitle them to this name.  They have received the new birth, and they have come to repentance and faith.  Their sins are all forgiven, and they are accounted righteous in the sight of God.  In other words, they have accepted Christ as their Saviour, as the one who has paid the penalty for their sins, and freed them entirely from the punishment they deserve.

(b)  But there are also some who have gone on to a higher level of experience.  They were Christians all along, in the basic sense of the word, and yet they gradually came to realize that they were not living "on the victory side."  They were not living a life of spiritual power.  So they determined to seek the Lord for what has sometimes been called "the second blessing" – a blessing in many ways more wonderful than conversion itself – by which they were suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit in such a way as to know the Lord Jesus Christ no more as Saviour alone, but now also as Lord – as the one who now gives them the victory over the power of sin, as he had already given them victory over the punishment.  And according to this view, of course, there are only a few Christians who are really spiritual.

But this view too must be rejected.  For the Bible clearly says that "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God... for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.... (so that) if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."  In other words, the very thing that absolutely must belong to every real Christian, is precisely this power of the Spirit that is supposed to belong to only a few.  And the very thing that is supposed to characterize the ordinary Christian who lacks the "second blessing" is something that Paul admitted of himself.  For he said "I am carnal, sold under sin."  So we cannot solve the problem in this way either, as if there were really two kinds of Christians.

(3)  One of the most common interpretations of this passage is that which says that the Christian himself is really two men!  On the one hand, it is said, he is the old man who is characterized by the power of sin and death.  And on the other hand, at the same time, he is the new man characterized by spiritual power.  The true believer, in other words, is a sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – a person having two entirely different identities – the one good and the other evil.  And the reason that Paul can speak to these Corinthians as "carnal Christians" is simply because they are both at the same time: they are really both at the same time in the fullest sense of the word.  So, when the "old man" rises up, and gets the upper hand, we can say that the person is carnal, just as we can also say that he is "Christian" when the "new man' asserts himself, and puts the "old man" down.

Well, you know, if we only had our own experience and observations to go by, we could almost believe this view of the matter.  For I think we can all say that we almost feel at times as if we are "two people" completely at variance with each other.  But when we turn from our own unreliable experience to the inerrant word of God, we see that this cannot be accepted.  For the scripture says, concerning believers, "that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image" of Christ.

Yes, we certainly can say that the "old man" was there.  And we can certainly say that he has left his influence behind, so that the power of indwelling sin – yes, the very same sinful impulses as belonged to the "old man" himself – are still with us.  But the fact still remains that "if any man be in Christ he is a new creature" – one, not two, "for old things are passed away, and behold, all things are made new."  So the true Christian believer is not at one and the same time a child of God and a child of the devil.  For "he that is begotten of God," says John, "that wicked one toucheth him not."

(4)  The true interpretation of our text, then, is simply this: all Christians are spiritual basically, fundamentally, and permanently spiritual and yet, because of the fact that there is indwelling sin in all true believers while they are yet in this world, we often find Christians acting as if they were not spiritual at all.  I think we can see this clearly if we notice exactly what the Apostle does and does not say!  He does not say, for example, "I could not speak unto you as spiritual, because you are not spiritual."  This would be impossible, as we have already seen, because of the simple fact that all true believers are really spiritual.  But what he does say is "I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.  In other words, the Apostle traces the difficulty – not to their being unspiritual – but rather to the fact that they are acting as if they were unspiritual.

And the unfortunate thing is that there is no word in English.  to exactly translate his meaning.  In some English words, for example, we can find not only a form of expression that tells what things are made of, but also what they are like.  I can say that I have a leather belt, or a leather wallet.  But I can also say that I have leathery hands, or a leathery face.  In the first instance I am saying that my belt or my wallet is made of this substance.  That is what it is.  But in the second instance I am only saying what it is like, and not at all what it is.

And that is what the Apostle is doing in our text.  He is not saying that these Corinthians were really carnal in nature, or in essence.  He is only saying that they are acting as if they were carnal; or, in other words, they are taking on that form or appearance.  "For ye are yet carnal-like" we might translate, "for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal-like, and walk as men?"

So we come down to this, in the end, namely, that Christian people can, and often do, act as if they were just men.  They act as if they were not Christians, as if they were still dead in trespasses and sins.  And it is because of this unhappy fact that there is all this trouble in the Church.

II.  THE EVIDENCE

But the question naturally arises: what is the cause of this condition – and how can this condition be overcome?  And we have the answer to this two-fold question also in the words of our text.  It is a truth that is often stated in the Bible, and which can be expressed in these words: the thing that makes Christians continue to act in a carnal way is the fact that the truth is not yet formed in them.  For "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat," says the Apostle, "for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.  For ye are yet carnal.... and walk as men."

Here we find the Apostle saying that he could not talk to these people as if they were Christians – not because they were not Christians, but because they did not act like Christians.

 And the reason they did not act like Christians was that they still did not have the capacity to think, and therefore to act, in a thoroughly Christian way.  And you notice how often this truth is emphasized in the Bible.

Jesus prayed to the heavenly Father that he would sanctify the disciples through the truth.  In other words, it was only as they came to understand and appropriate the truth – as they came to think in a Christian way that they would also be able to act in a Christian way.  And we find the same thing in Paul's Epistle to the Romans.  "Be not conformed to this world," says the Apostle, "but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think... more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."  You see, it is out of the heart that we have the issues of life.  It is out of the system of thought in our minds, that we have our manner of existence.

One of the ways in which we see the effect of this carnal manner of thinking is that we envy one another.  "For whereas there is among you envying," says Paul, "are ye not carnal, and walk as men?"  You might almost say, without exaggeration, that this is what makes the world of business today.  For the whole psychology of our modern materialistic society is summed up in the idea of "keeping up with the Joneses."  If other people have something, then we are told that we will never be happy until we have it too!  The man who has material things is held before us as the man who has found success and happiness, and we are supposed to believe that the only way that we can ever be happy and content is to have what he has.

And the sad thing is that we often find this same spirit in the Church.  Remember the day that Jesus was talking with Peter after he rose from the dead?  Jesus had been asking Peter who had denied him three times whether or not he really loved his Lord!  Three times Jesus asked him the same question, "do you really love me?"  And then, to make the lesson really sink in, he went on to prophecy that Peter would one day suffer a martyr's death.  "When thou shalt be old," he said, "thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldst not.  This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God."

But right away, we see Peter beginning to think in a carnal way again.  For this is what we read, "then Peter, turning about, sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following" and he said, "Lord, and what shall this man do?"  And Jesus said, "if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.”  You see how natural it was for Peter to begin to envy someone else?  As soon as he saw that the Lord was going to give him a difficult place, and a hard burden, he began to have ill feelings against one of his brethren because it looked as if the Lord was going to give him a much easier place, and a much lighter burden.

Now this is perfectly natural thinking so far as this world is concerned.  It is perfectly natural for people to want for themselves all the blessings that they see others receiving!  But as soon as a man begins to learn the great principles of the gospel – and the more he really does learn to understand and appropriate them – the more he will come to see that this is not the Christian way to think.  For who is the man that has reason to rejoice and to be exceeding glad, according to the gospel?  Well, it is just precisely that man who shares in the sufferings of his Lord.  And Jesus himself said, "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

Another one of the ways in which we see this carnal manner, is in strife between Christian brethren.  "For whereas there is among you.... strife," says the Apostle, "are ye not carnal, and walk as men?"  And here again we see something that is quite acceptable in the world.  You might well call the whole attitude of the world a matter of unending strife among men.  Many people see in human society today what they call, "the law of the jungle," which is also called "the survival of the fittest," or, in other words, the mastery of the strong.  So it is "dog eat dog,” as each man is out to get as much as he can for himself, even at the expense of others.

And this we see also among the disciples of our Lord.  In Luke's gospel we read that "there was also a strife among them,' as to "which of them should be accounted the greatest."  And this was on the very night that the Lord presided at the last Supper.  On the very night in which he was about to sacrifice himself for them, they were each trying to get a place of pre-eminence at the expense of all the rest.  But this is what Jesus said, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.  But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.”  You see again, do you not, how absolutely contrary the thinking of the world is from that which is truly Christian.  For the very soul of Christian thinking is supposed to be this: that I try to advance the welfare of my brother and that at my own expense.  "We then that are strong," says the Apostle "ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.  For even Christ pleased not himself."

And then there is also dissension, by which we become alienated from one another's affection.  I hardly need to say that this is also quite normal and accepted in the world.  For nothing is more common than for people who have had some kind of trouble in the world to simply discontinue all dealings with each other.  If someone does us an injustice in business, or in trade, we simply say that we will do business with someone else.  And this concept is so completely accepted in the world that no-one will ever criticize us or condemn us.

But again we see how completely at variance with the carnal thinking of the world, the spiritual man ought to be.  In Paul's Epistle to the Galatians we read about dissension involving both Peter and Apollos.  Because of certain national customs which they did not agree with, these men withdrew themselves from the Galatian brethren and no longer shared their fellowship.  But Paul saw right away that this was carnal thinking.  It was a case of people no longer speaking with each other, and having loving fellowship with each other, not on the basis of belonging to two different Lords, but only because of the carnal thinking of Peter and Apollos.  So Paul rebuked Peter before the whole Church, on the basis of Christian thinking.

And yet Paul himself was a man of carnal weakness, just as much as Peter.  For we later hear that Paul and Barnabas had dissension between themselves, and it was so severe that they parted one from the other.  We do not know whether or not they later got things right between themselves.  But we do know that such a thing is not right.  For whenever there is envying, and strife, and dissension among brethren, they are acting in a carnal way, because they walk as men.

And the Christian way of thinking is absolutely the opposite.  "If thy brother sin against thee," said Jesus, "go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone." And if your brother sins against you, forgive him says Jesus – not once; not seven times; but seven times seventy.  For we are to love one another, and forgive one another, and put ourselves out for one another, even as Christ loved us, and forgave us, and went to the cross that we might be free.  "Let this mind be in you," says the scripture, "which was also in Christ Jesus" and "do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world."

It is because we do not think in a Christian way that we do not act in a Christian way.  "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers,” says the scripture, "ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.”

Some people seem to have the idea that a babe in Christ is only someone who has recently come to know the Lord, and that given a certain amount of time people just naturally and automatically mature and cease to be babes in Christ.  But this is not the case.  Far from it: for it is not by reason of time that we become full-grown Christians.  But the Bible says that those who are "of full age" are "those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."  Or in other words, those who are willing to give diligence to make their calling and election sure – and who are daily striving to appropriate more and more of the perfect mind of Christ.- until they are no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine from the world, but by speaking the truth in love, grow up into him in all things.

And now, may the gracious Lord by His Holy Spirit so apply the word to our hearts that we may no longer live in envy, strife and dissension, but come to think and act according to the will of Christ.

Amen.