Are There Both Spiritual and Carnal Christians (Pt. 3)

We have been considering 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:4 in order to understand if there is such a thing as spiritual Christians and also carnal Christians. 

In part 1 we learned about the natural man who is a man without the Holy Spirit.

In part 2 we learned the designation, activity, distinction, and capabilities of the spiritual man.

Today we examine the 3rd man Paul mentions here in the text The Carnal Man (1 Corinthians 3:1-4). Who is this? What category do these people fit? Are the Corinthians according to Paul spiritual or natural? or is there a third category called carnal? Let’s take this evaluation in two steps.

Step #1: What Paul Does Not Mean by Using the Word Carnal.

Paul is not saying the Corinthians were men of flesh. He is not teaching that they are just mere natural men. Never in this passage does he deny that they are true Christians. In fact, he calls them brethren in v. 1. Their sin, as bad as it was, did not stop them from being brothers in Christ. It is also worth remembering how Paul began this letter in chapter 1. 1 Corinthians 1:2 “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” He is not retracting any of that truth he wrote about them now. The Corinthians, at least for the most part, were a congregation of saved people.

Step #2: What Paul Does Mean?

When we read carefully, he says that he writes to them, “as to men of flesh” in verse 1. And he writes, “as to infants in Christ.” He describes their actions and attitudes as “fleshly.” He does not say they are in a fleshly state or a fleshly condition. He does not say they are natural men. Instead he calls them out for “walking as mere men.” Not that they are mere men, but that they were acting like mere men. Three times in v. 1 he uses the subordinating conjunction “hōs” “as.” Paul clearly meant to draw a comparison not define them as another group of people. So, the statements in verses 2-4 have to be understood in that way.

In other words, he had to speak to them and teach them, as if they did not have the mind of Christ -- as if they were men of flesh. They were “sarkikoi” acting fleshly. They were too much controlled by the flesh. In truth, they had the Spirit of God, so they were spiritual men, not natural men. But practically they were unspiritual because they acted fleshly. To a church who prided itself on spiritual gifts and of knowledge, to be called “fleshly” was a real rebuke. They were not of the flesh, nevertheless they were acting like the flesh. The proof was that they were boasting in themselves and not in the cross of Christ.

Paul also labels them as “infants in Christ.” Infant is not the word often used for a child in the positive sense such as a dear child. Instead, it has a negative connotation – like selfish babies. They were not brand new to the Christian faith, but they were acting like babies in Christ. Infants in Christ, brand new believers, are going to act more like men of flesh, because they are just getting started in their new life. Babies are self-centered and naïve. Babies have a harder time discerning good and evil. But no one wants a five year old baby. Paul had ministered to this church, and so had Apollos. They had been taught, but Paul feels like he still has to give them milk to drink like babies because they can’t digest meat yet. How sad!

They were spiritual people acting like carnal babies! So some might conclude, “See! There really is such a thing as a carnal Christian. Not so fast. No one denies that true Christians can sin and act very carnally at times or even be slow in their spiritual development. But those who believe in a carnal Christian or a backslidden Christian, assert a person can be saved and be in a continuous and unchanged state of carnality showing no fruit or changed life from their unsaved state. That is why they believe the carnal Christian is a distinct category of man – distinct both from the natural man and the spiritual man. But we have already seen that these people are in the category of spiritual man. They are in the second category. They are spiritual. There is no third category. Paul never makes a third category in any of his writings. That is why Paul is shocked and dismayed at their actions and attitudes as a church. Paul was really disappointed with the lack of growth in this church.

The real questions we have to answer are these:

• How carnal can someone be and still be truly saved?
• For how long will they act immaturely?
• Must there be some evidence of a changed life for them to be saved?

To answer these questions, we need to look at other truths about these Corinthians which we will do next week in the concluding blog post.