Carnality - A Permanent Condition Or Temporary Behavior?

I was recently in Bible Study and the story of Abraham and Lot was the topic of discussion. Basically, Abraham was a righteous man of faith who trusted God's Word and Lot was said to be a believer as well; but, a "Carnal Christian". Lot's decisions were always governed according to his flesh and were not spiritual. Now, that immediately posed a series of questions in my mind (my family and friends know how intense this can be for me).

As a result, this experience gave birth to my next topic of discussion. What is a Carnal Christian? Can a true believer be carnal? Is carnality an accepted state of Christianity. Is carnality one of the major problems within the Body of Christ. The greek word sarkikos is translated in English as carnal, which means fleshly. So supposedly, a Carnal Christian is one who governs their life according to their fleshly desires. The first thing that needs to be established is whether carnality is a permanent state in a true believer's life or a "behavior" in which we should be praying for deliverance.

It has been taught in some churches that there are three types of people in the world: natural, carnal, and spiritual. The natural is the unbeliever. The unbeliever is the person who has not accepted Christ as the sacrificial atonement for their sins and continues to live their life for self gratification; therefore, remaining in bondage to sin. The carnal is a believer; but, Christ is not Lord over their lives. They have accepted the Savior, but reject Christ as Lord. Could that be possible in a true believer?

Can we enjoy the gift of salvation; but continue to keep "self" on the throne throughout our entire life? Can we say that we are a child of God; but, don't take instructions from our heavenly Father. Can we rule our lives on Earth; but reign with Christ in Heaven? I believe it's a package deal. You can't have Christ as your Savior but not as Lord.

We will discuss this subject in more detail later. Thirdly, the spiritual are believers who have accepted Christ as Savior and Lord. Through the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, they strive to live to God's Glory. Now, this is not to say that the spiritual have "arrived" or have all the answers; but, they are committed in seeking and living for the One who does have all the answers (Philippians 3: 12-14)

Basically, I believe there are two types of people: believers and unbelievers. I wanted to discuss the three types of people being taught in some churches because I needed to lay a foundation to discuss carnality in the Body of Christ in more detail. I think this concept (three types of people) has caused the Body of Christ to fall short of what Christ proclaimed us to be, hindered the spiritual growth of believers, and given a false sense of security among the unbeliever. The Body of Christ has fallen short because God has declared in His Word that we are the head and not the tail. We are part of a chosen generation and a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9-10). This means that we set the pace and the tone for the world. We are the Salt and the Light (Matthew 5: 13-15).

We should live our lives as a "guiding light" and a preservative for a lost, decaying world. Through are lives, God has chosen us to incorporate the Gospel into the entire world. What a great honor and a great responsibility! Christ gave us His very best through His birth, death, and resurrection. Surely, we can do our very best as being "ambassadors" for Him in a lost world (2 Corinthians 5:20). The world should have a thirst and a hunger for God's word by observing the lifestyle of the Body of Christ.

I also believe carnality has hindered the spiritual growth of the believer. Now, we established early in this discussion that carnality is sometimes taught as one of the three types of people in this world. These are Christians who embrace the Savior but don't desire to have Him as Lord. Basically, this statement says, " I don't want to go to Hell, I want to go to Heaven to be with Christ; but, I don't want Him running my life on Earth". If carnality is an accepted state in a Christian's life, what would motivate them to grow in Christ? After all, they have what they want...a Savior...right? Why would there be a concern for developing a prayer life if we already have a heavenly home? Why study the word of God if all we have to do is believe in Jesus existence?

Remember, Satan believes in His existence as well. Why have fellowship with other Christians if we have Jesus as our Savior? Why worship Jesus in spirit and truth, if he is only seen as a "safe seat" in heaven. Lastly, why get involved in ministry at all if the only concern is obtaining a Savior? The biggest mistake with this type of thinking is that salvation is only about you.

It starts with God and ends with God. Salvation is a gift that is given by God; and once accepted, will not be taken back by Him (John 10:28-29). He created us in His image and wants a personal and loving relationship with us. He wants us to spend time with Him in prayer and trust Him. God is the very reason for our being and we need Him (he doesn't need us). He also chose us to lead others to Christ (Matthew 28: 19-20). He is the One that gives our life true meaning and purpose. We need to resemble our Father.

Without His lordship, how could we ever walk in the destiny that He has set for our lives? Remember, We should be transforming from the things of this world so we can become more like Him. It's not about us and it is truly about Jesus. Every aspect of our lives is to give Him Glory. Spiritual growth would be impossible without His guidance through His Word and the Holy Spirit.

The concept of carnality as a state of being has given the unbeliever a false sense of security. When believers fail to let their light shine in the world, this causes the unbeliever to see no reason to accept the gift of salvation. If the unbeliever sees the believer's life as a mirror to his own fleshly ways, why would he or she want to be a part of the kingdom? If both believer and the unbeliever are living their lives according to the world's system, what is the difference? I can certainly understand why an unbeliever would get a false sense of security. If a professed Christian can live their entire lives governed by their fleshly desires and go to heaven, surely the unbeliever can too. If God's people promote "death bed confessions", why would the world want to live for Christ on the Earth? If God's people promote to the unbeliever that they have time to surrender to God, why would the unbeliever think that salvation is crucial for their eternal well-being?

This type of ministering gives the unbeliever a false conclusion that they can live according to their own desires and then accept Christ before they die (as if they would know the time or place). Matthew 3:2 states "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is Near"...This verse should give all of us a sense of urgency. God's business is serious business. This verse simply means that we should turn from sin and unto Christ.

Jesus will return one day and no man knows the exact time; so, we should never act or promote that time is on our side when it comes to Kingdom building. A life of faith and obedience to God should always be the center of all ministry. Now, I don't want anyone to think that Christ would not accept anyone who has made an open confession and has accepted Him as their Lord and Savior at any time. Christ is the only One who can know the true state of our hearts; therefore, knowing the sincerity of our confessions, perceptions, etc. God is truly the only person who can judge the heart of every person. It is so important that every believer exemplify to the world that God is love; and when you truly accept that love, you are not going to want to live your life outside of that love.

In conclusion, I think that carnality is a behavior not a permanent state of a believer's life. Every believer has the tendency to be carnal-minded at any given time in their life. Anytime the believer fails to live by faith and obedience to God, he or she is exemplifying carnal behavior. To say that a believer never sins and always live their life according to God's Word would not be the truth (1 John 1:8).

One of the most wonderful things about being part of the kingdom is serving a loving God who will always forgive a repentance heart and allow you to start all over again. It's really just that simple! The main thing to know is a believer should never accept sinful behavior as a permanent condition in their lives. Carnality is the exception, not the rule. We should always be striving to become more like Jesus in our Christian walk. We should have a mindset to turn away from behavior that is not pleasing to God (Romans 12:2).

Remember, the Holy Spirit dwells within every believer to lead, instruct, comfort and rebuke us throughout our lives. Accepting carnality as a permanent state in a believer's life is very dangerous and not biblical (Romans 8: 6-8). If the Holy Spirit never brings any conviction on your heart about behavior that is contrary to God's word; you may need to think seriously about whether you are a child of God (Proverbs 3:11-12, Proverbs 1:23).

There is no reason for a true believer not to resemble their father and have confidence in their eternal residency. Carnality is not a permanent condition, it is temporary behavior. If you really know that your heart is not being transformed to resemble Christ; you can make a confession of your sins, turn from your sins, ask for forgiveness and ask Christ into your heart.

He will receive you! It's so important that we are confident in knowing that we have an eternal home in Christ because the alternative is eternal as well (Philippians 2:12).

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