Carnal Christians

Carnal Christians

1 Corinthians 3:1-3
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 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. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

When reading this verse, I thought about the people that I see all the time. Many at my church, that I see daily and some in here. Although I don't agree totally with the term "Carnal Christians" I do see where many people do fit the description of a carnal minded Christian.

Many people walk down and shake a preachers hand, take a dip in the baptismal waters and show up for church sometimes and proffess to being a Christian. The problem is they don't live according to the bible or biblical teachings. They want to continue living as they had before their confession or try to bring their views and lifestyles into Christianity. Many people I see will argue against sound biblical doctrine to satisfy their own fleshly desires and try to back it up with scripture. It is not only because of what the verse above states but also because they have made a false confession and there has been no visible conversion.

1 John 3:1
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

The world knoweth us not...hmm. Does the world know you? The world knows many because they are not separate from the world. They still hang onto the things of the world, the worldly things that should have been left behind because of Christ. But they are still being held onto. Many with a true conversion still try to work the world into their beliefs and they never grow in Christ, there may be a feeling that they are growing but by mixing world views with the Christian faith is not true growth.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

What passed away when you accepted Christ? old things, the worldly things. They pass away because they don't have a place with the new you. Once you accept Christ you are a new person, made new through the power of God through Christ. To become new the old has to be done away with. That life has to be discarded along with the things that pertain to that old life, and all things become new.