There is a term we hear sometimes in Christian circles—lukewarm. That comes from what Jesus said to the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22. There is another term we may hear sometimes: the carnal Christian. For those of you who are not familiar with the Bible, yes, it’s in there:
1 Corinthians 3:1-4: And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?
What does the apostle Paul mean when he says the Corinthian Christians are carnal? It will help if we first learn what “carnal” means in the NT Greek. According to Strong’s Concordance, “carnal” in Greek is the word sarkikos (sar-kee-KOSS), and in the context of the passage above it first means fleshly or carnal. That, in turn, denotes being governed by the human or fleshly nature and not the Holy Spirit. The same word appears four times in this Scripture. Based on the meaning, Paul is saying that these people are acting just like lost people. They are not behaving at all in the way that Christians ought to behave. The believers Paul is addressing are divisive, some exalting one church leader while others are exalting a different one (Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?). There is envy.
Folks are jealous of one another for different reasons, perhaps over their position in church, their spiritual gifts, their popularity, or some other element. Strife is going on; they are not all getting along and walking in Christian love. No church is perfect. It was true then and it is definitely true now. Still, those who are lost should be able to tell the difference between themselves and Christians. When carnal Christians are present, this difference is lost. They look just like the world!
To be fair, the Christians in Corinth lived in one of the most hedonistic and degenerate cities in the ancient world. The saying “anything goes” could definitely apply to those who lived there. Whether it was drunkenness, any type of sex conceivable, multiple kinds of pagan worship, and so on, it could be found in Corinth. This city was a seaport in ancient Greece, so it was a major crossroads in those times for business, travel, and pleasure. Corinth had such a notorious reputation for debauchery that a person elsewhere who became especially immoral was said to “Corinthianize.” You could say it was the Greek Sodom and Gomorrah. People who were natives of Corinth, after being born again, had multiple temptations facing them to pull them back into their former sin-soaked lifestyles. It is quite possible that by their standards, these carnal Corinthian Christians were of exemplary conduct compared to their lost fellowcitizens and even compared to how they themselves lived as Corinthian sinners before coming to Christ.
Regardless of all this, God’s standards do not change. We are to live holy lives (1 Peter 1:13-16; Hebrews 12:14). This does not mean we have to become “Robo-Christians,” endlessly quoting Scriptures and shouting at people: “You have twenty seconds to repent or God will send you straight to hell!” What it does mean is that there should be an obvious difference between how we live and how the lost live. In the time granted to us on earth, we are to use it wisely and for good, not wasting it on evil or otherwise useless pursuits. We can have some fun if it is not sinful or if what we are doing becomes an idol. Even then, though, we should be different enough that the lost begin to wonder, “How come these people never cuss? Why do they always get along so well? How can they genuinely smile even when their lives are difficult?” As the word of God tells us:
Matthew 5:13-16: “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Colossians 4:5-6: Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth in his first visit there (Acts 18:1-11), apparently making two shorter visits later on, so he was fully cognizant of the city’s character and what the believers living there were up against. At times he had to take tough actions, such as exercising church discipline upon an erring believer (1 Corinthians 5:1-13). Remember, God’s standards do not change. At the same time, knowing the tenderness and mercy of God, Paul did more than just rebuke carnal Christians, he also provided a Spirit-inspired solution for all believers whether they were of ancient Corinth or the seediest places in the world today:
1 Corinthians 10:13-14: No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
Temptation to sin is something we all deal with. We are all tempted in three points:
1 John 2:16: For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
The lust of the flesh is the inner desire for what is morally wrong. The lust of the eyes involves a sinful desire for what we see and should not have; in other words, covetousness, as in for someone else’s spouse or possessions. The pride of life is pride in one’s own accomplishments, social status, wealth, or whatever else it is which gives us the mistaken impression that we are better than someone else. Paul could say that Jesus was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15) because all manifestations of sinful thoughts, words, or deeds originate in one or another of these three areas. Jesus was not literally tempted with every sinful action under the sun, but He was tempted in all three of these points noted in the 1 John 2 passage, including when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13).
Despite the deluge of temptations the Corinthian Christians faced daily and the very real challenge of living holy lives, the roots of all their temptations were the same as those of everyone else’s. In 1 Corinthians 10 where Paul is telling these believers that God will not allow them to be tempted beyond what they are able, you cannot take that statement by itself. They would not be tempted beyond what they were able (could bear) because God would make a way for them to escape the temptation. He has already provided us with His Spirit, so those who walk in the Spirit will not fulfill (give in to) the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
There is still action we have to take when being tempted—get away from the source of temptation. If it can be avoided, avoid it altogether. For example, if you used to drink and it is still a temptation you struggle with, do not drive by bars or liquor stores if at all possible. Even after you are stronger in the faith and have been delivered from alcoholism, you still have no business going into liquor stores or bars. Notice that the 1 Corinthians passage above also says, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” Anything which takes the place of Jesus Christ in your heart is an idol, and that includes sin. God gives us as Christians the power to resist sin through the strength of the Holy Spirit, He gives us His Word to feed our inner person daily and to live by, and He provides the way to escape temptation, but God will not take away our freedom of choice. It is still up to us to decide whether to resist sin and get away from what tempts us, or to yield to the temptation and indulge our flesh. That is true whether you are in the haven of a church sanctuary or whether you are living in a neighborhood full of sin and squalor.
The Christians in Corinth certainly were not all carnal, and even of those who were, not all chose to remain that way. So what is the application for us today? We are living in the last days. The whole world, to borrow a term, is starting to “Corinthianize.” For that matter, there are those of us who came out of more deeply sin-stained backgrounds than most. I was an alcoholic and a sexual deviant myself, as well as racially prejudiced, prideful, arrogant, vengeful, and ill-tempered. When I got saved it was relatively easy for me to quit being racist and arrogant. Pride was a little tougher. I overcame criminal sexual deviancy, but still battled lust, fornication, and pornography for quite some time. I also struggled with relapses into drinking. Once I received a major deliverance I started doing much better. I am sober and celibate. However, just as we are to be diligent in living righteously, so the enemy is also diligent to send his demons and his people to tempt us to sin. I still get tempted, but I must remember that God’s Spirit lives in me, therefore I have the ability to resist sin, and since God also gives me the way of escape, I can flee from temptation if I choose to.
It took me awhile to learn this, deeply stained as I was by sin. The same may be true of those among you who also come out of unusually sinful backgrounds. Sometimes God does “radically save” someone. A prodigal sinner occasionally puts down all his or her bad habits at once and never returns to them. However, that is seldom the case. What happens more often is that the air of carnality hangs on, and it takes time and deliverance to at last get on track. Isn’t it great, though, to know that there is hope? Hallelujah! There is! And as we know, even if you’ve really blown it, have been a true prodigal, or have been a longtime backslider wanting to return to Jesus, it’s like we say and it’s like what God told us: “It Ain’t Over.” Repent and be carnal no more. Rejoice in the love of God. Praise Him for His forgiveness, grace, and mercy. Lead others out of darkness and show them that no one has to be forever carnal, “Corinthianized,” or prodigal.
