1 Coríntios 3

1 Coríntios 3

Sproul - Watch his video recording Sproul's rejection of the teaching of the "Carnal Christian." Here is a partial transcript... One of the great and ghastly errors—not just error but heresy—that permeates the evangelical world today is the doctrine of the carnal Christian. The doctrine of the carnal Christian was first set forth in a theological framework that taught this: that at regeneration the Holy Spirit can come in and save a person without changing the person at all. There had to be a second stage where there was lordship introduced on the throne of the soul for a person to be Spirit-filled and so on and not be carnal. But the idea was that you could be a believer and be altogether carnal. Now the Bible says we are carnal, we’re sold under sin, and as long as we’re in this life we still have a certain “fleshiness” that accompanies our walk as Christians, but if you’re 100 percent flesh and 100 percent carnal, you’re 100 percent unconverted. (Carnal Christian) John MacArthur -The Gospel According to Jesus, 1988, p. 129. Contemporary theologians have fabricated an entire category for this type of person – the “carnal Christian.” Who knows how many unregenerate persons have been lulled into a false sense of spiritual security by the suggestion that they are merely carnal? Christians can and do behave in carnal ways, but nothing in Scripture suggests that a real Christian might pursue a life-style of unbroken indifference or antagonism toward the things of God. Christians do not masquerade as children of the devil. The very reverse is true; Satan pretends to be an angel of light, and his servants imitate the children of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). (Related Resource - See his answer to the question regarding Carnal Christians) (See The Gospel According to Jesus: What Is Authentic Faith? - Page 138) Steve Lawson - clip from youtube video - "There must be progressive ongoing growth in personal holiness...that is why the life long 'carnal Christian' is a total myth. That person does not exist. That is a false theology, because everyone who is positionally sanctified will be being progressively sanctified." (See the entire sermon Sanctified in Truth - Dr Steven Lawson) DISCLAIMER - I am leaving this post up even though evidence has come forth in September, 2024 that Lawson was living a "fleshly" immoral life for several years even while he was in full time ministry. He was removed from his role as teaching pastor at Trinity Bible Church in Dallas, resigned from his ministry "One Passion Ministries" and relinquished of his position at Master's Seminary and many ministries have removed his content. I have chosen to leave this comment up even though it ironically refutes "life long Carnal" behavior (of which there was no evidence reported in Lawson's case -- although it did go on apparently for several years). In March 12, 2025 Lawson issued a public statement saying "I have confessed my sin to the Lord, to my wife, and my family, and repented of it." Is his repentance genuine? I am not his judge and will leave it at that. Assuming Lawson is a genuine believer, what his life does emphasize is that carnality or fleshly behavior can persist for some time. Vance Havner - Repent or Else The cause of Christ has been hurt more by Sunday-morning benchwarmers who pretend to love Christ, who call Him Lord but do not His commands, than by all the publicans and sinners. They say they are evangelical but not evangelistic. They glory in being… disciples of the Lowest Common Denominator. They traffic in unfelt truth and refuse to get excited over religion. Their ideal service is “a mild-mannered man standing before a group of mild-mannered people, exhorting everybody to be more mild-mannered”… How many nice, comfortable, lovely people rest smilingly in church pews, their conscience drugged, their wills paralyzed, in self-satisfied stupor, utterly unconscious of their danger while the Lord of the Lampstands warns them, “I am about to spit you out of My mouth. Erroll Hulse When the reality of sin and its radical effects on the whole man are bypassed the idea takes over that it simply takes a decision for Christ to bring about the new birth. A decision for Christ is all that is needed. This is “easy-believism,” in which repentance from sin is sidelined. Those who make a decision receive a pronouncement that they are saved. This proves premature. False converts are the outcome. The theory of the carnal Christian has been invented in order to accommodate those who have made a decision but who bear no marks of the new birth. Brian Borgman - Rethinking a Much Abused Text: 1 Corinthians 3:1-15 Reformation and Revival - Volume 11 The Carnal Christian Teaching (1 Cor 3:1–4) The founder and first president of Dallas Theological Seminary (originally The Evangelical Theological College), Lewis Sperry Chafer (D.D.) (ED: NOTE CHAFER WAS STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY SCOFIELD AND TOOK OVER HIS CHURCH WHEN SCOFIELD DIED IN 1921 - SURPRISINGLY CHAFER HAD NO FORMAL THEOLOGICAL DEGREES), published He That Is Spiritual in 1918. In that work, now dubbed in its reprinted subtitle, “A Classic Study of the Biblical Doctrine of Spirituality,” he gave full exposition to the “carnal Christian” teaching, which had been briefly articulated in the Scofield Reference Bible, just one year before. In Chafer’s work, he opens up the first chapter with “Three Classes of Men.” Chafer based his teaching on 1 Corinthians. 2:9–3:4. He states: The Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, has divided the whole human family into three groups: (1) The “natural man,” who is unregenerate, or unchanged spiritually; (2) the “carnal man,” who is a “babe in Christ,” and walks “as a man”; and (3) the “spiritual” man. In that opening chapter, Chafer describes the “carnal Christian” in the following terms: Though saved, the carnal Christians are walking “according to the course of this world.” They are “carnal” because the flesh is dominating them (see Romans 7:14).... The objectives and affections are centered in the same unspiritual sphere as that of the “natural” man. According to Chafer, Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3:1–4, is teaching that a saved person can be under the dominion of sin. Amazingly he uses Romans 7:14 to support this idea! Further, he asserts that a regenerate man may have his objectives and affections completely untouched by the regenerating grace of the Spirit! Finally, he summarizes, “There are two great spiritual changes which are possible to human experience—the change from the ‘natural’ man to the saved man, and the change from the ‘carnal’ man to the ‘spiritual’ man.” Lewis Sperry Chafer had claimed to be “strictly Calvinistic.” Yet, his teaching in He That Is Spiritual departed from a traditional Reformed understanding of the work of salvation, and, as B. B. Warfield rightly stated, Chafer’s teaching comes from the “laboratory of John Wesley” and is “incurably Arminian.” Unfortunately, Chafer’s “carnal Christian” teaching from 1 Corinthians 3:1–4, gained widespread acceptance, and has been given new life time and again. One of the most popular heirs of the Chaferian interpretation of 1 Corinthians 3:1–4 is Charles Ryrie. Ryrie even marshals Herman Bavinck and John Calvin in support of making a distinction between the carnal believer and the spiritual believer. What is important to notice is that Chafer, and those who have followed him, have taken 1 Corinthians 3:1–4 and used it to justify that there are actually three classes or kinds of people: natural, spiritual, and carnal. In Chafer’s scheme, there are two types or kinds of Christians, those who are spiritual and those who are carnal. Furthermore, what characterizes this “carnal” Christian is that his life can be completely unchanged; his objectives and affections can remain untransformed. There is no observable difference between him and the natural man. He can be walking according to the course of this world. In fact, he can even be completely indifferent to the work of the Holy Spirit. Certainly there are other related problems with Chafer’s teaching—for instance, regarding the nature of man, the nature of regeneration and sanctification. However, for our purpose we are simply focusing on his use of 1 Corinthians 3:1–4 to justify the “carnal Christian” doctrine. (Click here to read the entire article - Rethinking a Much Abused Text: 1 Corinthians 3:1-15) Thomas Leake - Are There Spiritual and Carnal Christians? Introduction: How carnal can a Christian be? And for how long?? Refutation of the doctrine of the “carnal Christian” developed by Chafer and Dallas Seminary; a prominent teaching that someone can be a believer with no changed life; no fruit at all; therefore what is needed is some type of second blessing or dedication of the life or commitment to Christ as Lord when He has only been Savior = bad theology; Need a proper understanding of 3:1-4 to refute this 3 DESCRIPTIONS OF MEN I. The Natural Man (2:14) = without the Holy Spirit = all the unsaved Unresponsive to God; needs the new birth; thinks God’s wisdom is foolishness; no capacity to receive and understand God’s wisdom; Only the Spirit can impart life (1 Pet. 1:3); new birth caused by God. Not a reform of your old life; 2 Cor. 5:17 = new creation. Holy Spirit imparts God’s life into the human soul; unsaved has a soul already ... but it is unresponsive to God II. The Spiritual Man (2:15-16) = indwelt by the Holy Spirit = all the saved A. His Title / Designation Not some special category or subset of believers; but describes all believers B. His Activity - What does he do? Discerns, investigates, evaluates all things; appraises them; then passes judgment; sees everything differently and clearly; the fog has been lifted; new life; new eyes; new understanding; Application: Don’t go to unbelievers for our education C. His Distinction Unbeliever doesn’t know what’s going on in my life; we are appraised by no one (no unbeliever); world didn’t know or understand Christ; ended up hating Him and will hate us as well D. His Capabilities = We have the mind of Christ Review of the process of revelation/inspiration/illumination = how God’s thoughts become recorded in the Scriptures as words and come into our minds where we understand through the illumination of the Holy Spirit - thus we have the mind of Christ Is. 40:13 quote - Speaks to the sufficiency of the Scriptures for Christian living III. The Carnal/Spiritual Man (1 Cor 3:1-4) A. What Paul does NOT mean: Not saying that this group is just men of the flesh = unsaved; clearly he calls them brethren in this passage; cf. 1 Cor 1:2 where despite their evidence of carnal living and serious sins they are described as owning Christ as Lord of their lives; by virtue of calling them infants in Christ - acknowledges they have been born into God’s family B. What DOES Paul mean here? They are walking AS mere men; therefore Paul in some sense has to treat them as if they did not have the mind of Christ [or at least very limited capacity to discern spiritual truth] Their practice is not matching their spiritual reality; these are saved individuals here; it was quite a rebuke to call them fleshly in their practice; like selfish little babies; nobody likes a seven year old baby. They had been taught by the best = Apostle Paul himself; but still couldn’t digest the meat of the Word No one denies that true believers can act carnally for a time - Question is How Carnal and For How Long?? But they must evidence some fruit of a changed life or there was never any root; Only 2 categories: either in Adam or in Christ - no third category Evidences against the “carnal Christian” category popularized by Scofield Study Bible (and Lewis Sperry Chafer) 1) Corinthian church only been around for 4-5 years - so not like they had been mired in carnality for 35 years with no evidence of fruit 2) Paul certainly expected some greater level of maturity from them; expected spiritual growth; this state (even for relatively young believers) was unnatural 3) 1 Cor 5:11 - This person who had sinned so grievously was designated as a “so-called” brother - Paul willing to open up for question the genuineness of his faith 4) Not carnal through and through; you can point to some evidence of a changed life Cf. 1 Cor 6:9-11 5) By the writing of 2 Corinthians the church had experienced godly sorrow; genuine repentance; changed heart; etc. 6) 2 Cor. 13:5 - admonition still to test yourself to see whether you are in the faith; Paul perhaps still unsure of some of them 7) 1 Cor 6:9-11 - Direct statement that people who persist in these types of sinful mindsets and activities are not saved - flies in the face of the “carnal Christian” view; cf. Ga. 5 and Eph. 5 8) Argument from silence - Paul never exhorts them to seek some type of second blessing or dedicate themselves to the Lordship of Christ, etc. Conclusion: Sometimes trust in the Lord and a changed life will be slow to come and difficult to see ... but it will be there Cautions: 1) Don’t be fooled if you don’t see any evidence of a changed life - don’t be naïve in just assuming someone is a believer 2) Don’t be too quick to call someone a non-believer; be humble and careful and balanced and realistic in our discernment Jon Pratt - All believers are carnal…sometimes. Any time they sin, they act in a fleshly manner. But this does not require bifurcating Christians into one of two distinct categories: sinful or righteous. Rather, the emphasis in the New Testament is on the reality that all believers are bearing fruit, being sanctified, and persevering in the faith. This does not mean that holy living is completed or perfected during one’s earthly existence, but it does mean that God graciously brings to fruition the good work He begins at justification. May the Lord hasten the day when our struggle with sin is replaced by glorified perfection in holiness! (Excerpt - for full article see Carnal Christians? - Part 2 (or here) and Carnal Christians? Part 1 or here) Related Resources: Multiple Online Resources related to the unusual teaching of Zane Hodges (which at its core is Carnal Christianity).- See resources at top of the page Brian Schwertley The Necessity of Sanctification: A Brief Refutation of the Carnal Christian Heresy Howard Hendricks - Shortly after I became a Christian, someone wrote in the flyleaf of my Bible these words: “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.” That was true then, and it’s still true today. Dusty Bibles always lead to dirty lives. In fact, you are either in the Word and the Word is conforming you to the image of Jesus Christ, or you are in the world and the world is squeezing you into its mold (Ro 12:2+). And yet the great tragedy among Christians today is that too many of us are UNDER the Word of God, but not IN it for ourselves. I met a man once who had driven his entire family all the way across the country to attend a Bible conference. Amazed, I asked him, “Why did you come so far?” “Because I wanted to get UNDER the Word of God,” he said. On the face of it, that sounds wonderful. But later it hit me: Here was a man willing to drive twelve hundred miles to get UNDER the Word of God; but was he just as willing to walk across his living room floor, pick up a Bible, and get into it for himself? You see, there’s no question that believers need to sit UNDER the teaching of Gods Word. But that ought to be a stimulus—not a substitute—for getting into it for ourselves. Even though the Bible remains the most sold book in the world, it’s also one of the most neglected ones. The Barna Research Group of Glendale, California reports that in a typical week, only 10 percent of Americans read the Bible every day. And even that figure may be high, states George Barna, president of the research firm. Many people who claimed to read the Bible once a week or more admitted that they had not read it during the week prior to a 1991 nationwide survey. Gallup polls confirm those findings. One survey found that 82 percent of Americans believe that the Bible is either the literal or “inspired” Word of God. More than half said they read the Bible at least monthly. Yet half couldn’t name even one of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And fewer than half knew who delivered the Sermon on the Mount. (Borrow Living by the Book) 1 Corinthians 3:4 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men? Amplified For when one says, I belong to Paul, and another, I belong to Apollos, are you not ordinary (unchanged) men?