“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?” – 1 Corinthians 3:1-4
“Are ye not Carnal?” The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians,
and you can feel the sorrow as it pours out onto the page. Sorrowing for their state. Sorrowing because there was division, envying,
and strife. Sorrowing because they were
boasting of men and assigning the doctrine of Christ to man. Because of this the piercing questions comes
down through the ages: “Are ye not carnal?”
The book of 1 Corinthians (specifically
chapters 2-6) like the story of Samson is a wonderful example of what not to do. In both scriptures, their focus was on self, the
physical things of this world, and the natural things of life. The Corinthians were prone to ascribe their
salvation to man, boasting of man.
Furthermore, there was fornication among them, and “brother was going to
law against brother.” That is say one
person in the church taking another in the church to court; over some
matter. The same thing happens today,
someone will have a death in the family, and a marvelous squabble will break
out over that lost family member’s possessions. Or a business transaction goes
wrong between two persons in the church, and one sues the other for the sum of
money. Paul writes on the subject: “Why
do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be
defrauded?” Hereby we begin to see the
characteristics of carnal take shape. A
great amount of emphasis put on self, and on the natural, physical things. Furthermore, a complete unwillingness to
abase oneself, and perhaps the most disturbing of all, the inability to see
past the physical, therefore rendering oneself incapable to understand the
spiritual. Ask yourself: “What draws my
attention?” “What governs my life?” Is it yourself, another, something that is
tangible? Or perhaps, what drives you is
something unseen; “things that are higher, things that are nobler.” The Lord Jesus Christ himself. Are ye yet carnal or spiritual? Spiritual is not the same as “spirituality.” There are many today who sit in classes, read
philosophy novels, meditate, etc. and this is considered a quest for greater
spirituality. However, “God is a spirit and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) The Bible says God is
a spirit, and we know through the scriptures that he is the Creator and maker
of all things; therefore, if any spiritual experience can be obtained it must
be obtained by Him and through Him.
Spirituality (in my opinion) is a trinket you add, to your current
lifestyle; spiritual is the overhaul of the lifestyle itself. It is a total yielding to the gospel of
Christ. It is a complete surrender of
your will and absolute adhering to the will of God. Spiritual or he/she who is spiritual is the
opposite of carnal. In short, one who is
spiritual is one who is Christ-like, Bible-like, focused on heaven; one who is
a pilgrim and stranger here.
To be spiritual is to be Christ. However, we do not adopt Christ, he adopts
us. We do not change Christ, he changes
us. One must renounce their self, their
pride, their will, their wishes, and plead for Jesus in the person of the Holy
Ghost to come in and take the helm of their whole life. He is not an addition to life, but life itself. So, flee all things carnal, and cleave to
that which is spiritual.
