Two Types of Christians?
“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.” - I Corinthians 3:1
The sole basis of this false teaching of carnal Christianity is the belief that there are two types of Christians in the world today-carnal and spiritual. A misuse of Paul’s words in I Corinthians 3:1-4 is one of the major factors. We will consider these verses of Scripture in the light of Romans 8:5-9, which set forth the fact that they which walk in the flesh as the course of their life cannot please God (v 8), and are therefore spiritually dead.
The “Carnal Christian” in I Corinthians 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? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?” (I Cor 3:1-4).
Now first of all, we need to look at these verses as they are set in the context of this entire book of I Corinthians. This letter was written to correct many errors which had sprung up in the church at Corinth, and these errors and sins can be found in 1:11; 5:1; 7:1; 8:1; 11:18; 12:1; and 15:12. The apostle Paul deals with them thoroughly and calls for repentance and searching of heart: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (II Cor 13:5). And after giving them the history of Israel in the wilderness, he warns: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (I Cor 10:12).
Let us consider the immediate context of I Corinthians 3. In the last seven verses of chapter 2, the apostle by the Spirit shows that no man can know the things of God except the Holy Spirit teach him; which He does by comparing spiritual things with spiritual from the Word of God, thereby saving us by the grace of God and giving us the mind of Christ. Notice also in these verses, that Paul calls them “brethren,” and tells them that he could not speak to them as mature, full-grown Christians, but as babes in Christ, who were being fed on milk and not meat. Being babes, they desired the sincere milk of the Word (I Peter 2:2), whereby they were alive unto God, and spiritual. But as they were caught in this error of glorying in men (either Paul, Apollos or Peter-1:12; 3:4,21,22), they were showing their fleshly nature; and he certainly desired to show them their error and bring them to repentance. This was that they would grow into mature, full-grown Christians, and no longer grieve the Holy Spirit who indwelt them (6:19).
Here again we must remind ourselves of the truth that these Corinthian Christians could not make sin the practice and rule of their lives; for if they did, they would show that they were never the children of God, but lost and not knowing Christ (I John 3:9,10). He is speaking to spiritual men in this passage, but rebuking them for walking in this error of glorying in men. How do we know this? Again, by comparing spiritual things with spiritual, as the apostle tells us in verses 9-16 of chapter 2.
An Example
This is why those who teach and preach this false gospel of carnal Christianity completely miss the truth of God’s Word, because they will not and do not compare spiritual things with spiritual. They build a false doctrine upon a few verses of Scripture, ignoring the greater light found elsewhere in the Bible. I know what I’m talking about, for I’ve heard it with my own ears.
Recently as I was returning from a preaching engagement, I heard a radio preacher take I Corinthians 3:1-4 and preach this false carnal Christian doctrine as I had never heard it preached before. In essence this is what he said: “Don’t let anyone deceive you about these verses, for they certainly teach that there are two types of Christians: one who is spiritual, and one who is carnal and walks after the flesh.” He said, “Indeed the carnal Christians are the plague of the church; they make God weep because they will not walk in the Spirit, but they are still Christians and will go to heaven when they die because they have made a profession of faith.”
And he went on to describe these carnal Christians as ones who did not pray, who did not read their Bibles, who partook of the sensual pleasures of the world, who very seldom went to church, who very seldom gave a penny to the work of the Lord, and who were immersed in the world and could not be distinguished from the world! He said the sad part about it was that God was helpless to make them spiritual Christians, because He did not want to cross their free will; that even though they had not bowed to Christ as Lord of their lives, yet He was obligated to take them to heaven when they died because they had trusted Him as their Savior!
As I rode along in my car hearing this false gospel being preached; I wept, because this false prophet was sealing precious souls in their sins, promising them heaven when they in fact were on the road to hell. It was blasphemy, because this kind of so-called salvation brings no glory to God, but rather obligates God to save rebels while they stay in their sins and refuse to bow to His authority as Lord of all.
I began to pray to the Lord to give me strength to cry out against this false doctrine till I die, and set forth God’s true way of salvation that calls for complete surrender of all the keys to all the rooms of our hearts, and a bowing to Jesus Christ as Lord of our life, to break the power of sin.
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