What is a carnal Christian?

Answer

Can a genuine Christian be carnal? To address this question, let’s first clarify the term “carnal.” The term “carnal” is derived from the Greek word sarkikos, which means “fleshly.” This descriptive term is used in reference to Christians in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3. In this passage, the apostle Paul addresses the readers as “brethren,” a term he mainly uses for other Christians; he then proceeds to label them as “carnal.” Hence, it is evident that Christians can exhibit carnal behavior. The Bible unequivocally states that no one is without sin “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”, (1 John 1:8). Whenever we sin, we are behaving carnally.

The crucial point to grasp is that although a Christian may temporarily display carnality, a genuine Christian will not persist in carnality indefinitely. Some have misused the concept of a “carnal Christian” by suggesting that individuals can accept Christ and then lead entirely carnal lives without showing any signs of being spiritually reborn or transformed “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”, (2 Corinthians 5:17). Such a notion is entirely unscriptural. James 2 clearly emphasizes that genuine faith will always manifest in good deeds. Ephesians 2:8-10 proclaims that while we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, this salvation will produce good works. Can a Christian, during a period of failure or rebellion, exhibit carnality? Yes. Will a true Christian persist in carnality? No.

Given that eternal security is a biblical truth, even a carnal Christian remains saved. Salvation is irrevocable, becausThe salvation is a gift of God that He will not take away (see John 10:28; Romans 8:37-39; 1 John 5:13). Even in 1 Corinthians 3:15, the carnal Christian is assured of salvation: “If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” The question is not whether a person who claims to be a Christian but lives carnally has lost his salvation, but whether that person was truly saved in the first place: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” (1 John 2:19).

Christians who become carnal in their behavior can expect God to lovingly discipline them (Hebrews 12:5-11) so they can be restored to close fellowship with Him and be trained to obey Him. God’s desire in saving us is that we would progressively grow closer to the image of Christ (Romans 12:1-2), becoming increasingly spiritual and decreasingly carnal, a process known as sanctification. Until we are delivered from our sinful flesh, there will be outbreaks of carnality. For a genuine believer in Christ, though, these outbreaks of carnality will be the exception, not the rule.