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“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 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.
3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”
We see clearly here that there are carnal believers. Those in our fellowship of believers globally that Paul here calls “babes in Christ” because they still think in many ways like the world does. This is a result of not yet having their minds renewed by the Spirit of God.
This is not to say that they practice the idolatry they were in when they were in unbelief. That is something a believer can not do. Because to not believe in Jesus is to never have been saved. So these are they who believe in Jesus and His resurrection. But, still have some things they do not understand about living as a believer.
Paul refers to this in Rom.12 where he writes, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
For example, when you make a decision do you think about what God’s word has to say about it? Or do you make decisions the same way you always have? Depending upon your own understanding rather than the wisdom of God found in the Bible. If so then you are also yet carnal
So to be carnal is to be immature in the faith. A place where all of us start. But, one that God wants all of us to leave for maturity as we familiarize ourselves with His word. And put it into practice in our minds and in our lives.
This is the part the world sees as we learn to love as Jesus loves. Having that love shed abroad in our hearts as Rom.5:1-5 tells us by the Holy Spirit. Something that doesn’t just happen because we are believers. But, happens as we focus on Jesus through the tribulations of this life that give us patience and experience that culminates in hope.
The kind of love that sometimes may hurt, but then always brings healing. Love that divides the believer from the unbeliever in a way that brings unshakable unity for God’s children.
Because that unity is based on truth. Truth that Jesus says makes us free. Free from the constraints of the carnal mind that relates to its natural surroundings rather than spiritual things. Things that await those whose minds are stayed on Jesus.
Because when our minds are stayed on Him He gives us perfect peace. But, don’t confuse God’s peace with what the world seeks for. Because God’s kind of peace is not the absence of conflict. The peace God gives is a peace that guards our hearts and minds even in the midst of a storm.
A example of this is the peace Jesus had in the boat when the disciples thought they were all going to perish. He was actually asleep when “24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!”
When Jesus said “O ye of little faith” He was referring to their dependence upon what their senses told them rather than what their spirit could. If they only had one.
It was like when Jesus told them after falling asleep when He was praying that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The spirit that was in Jesus was willing. But, the flesh that was all they had was weak. And since no man ever had a spirit with which to be able to perceive the things of God before Jesus came. Their natural senses is all they had to work with.
Putting this in a spiritual context as every believer has a spirit in him that was created by God when they came to a saving faith in Jesus, we see that this story is saying that to be carnal as a believer is to depend more on our natural senses than on the spirit birthed in us when we believed in Jesus.
But, as we see Paul saying in Rom.12:1,2 and Rom.5:1-6 this is remedied by studying the word of God to rightly divide it’s truth. And renewing our minds by trusting the Holy Spirit, and looking to Him as we go through the tribulations of this life.
So being carnal is not being evil as the gnostics believe. It is generally because a person is young in the faith and has not yet renewed his mind through the Spirit and the use of the word of God.
So to become the mature believer God wants all men to be is to become totally dependent upon our relationship with God when faced with the day to day events that we go through. Leaning not upon our own understanding. But, looking to Him for the answers to every situation.
Standing back and allowing room for the grace of God. Not forcing things the way our natural inclinations may want them to be. But, standing aside trusting that God’s way is the very best of any possible outcome.
So as a believer don’t let your flesh get the best of you. That is, don’t let yourself depend upon the senses God gave us for the purpose of relating to what has been made. Rather get out of God’s way and let Him work on our behalf to deliver us continually from the fiery darts of the enemy.
And if you have not yet come to a saving faith. And are totally dependent upon you natural senses for help in time of need. How’s that working out for ya? I know how it is because I was once there myself before I knew the Lord.
So for you I would ask do you want help from the one who made you and knows you better than you know yourself to get you where you need to be? And to do for you what you really need, rather than what your natural mind tells you? Do you want His salvation and continual deliverance on a day to day for the rest of eternity basis?
If so then confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. And believe in your heart that He raised from the dead. This is your first step toward maturity in the use of the spirit God creates in you by trusting in Him.
By the spirit God creates in you you become heir to His kingdom. And are on your way to immortality at the resurrection. And in this world you will begin to understand God’s word so that it becomes easier and easier for you to know and hear His voice.
Do this and you will have eternal life now. Do this and God’s Spirit will guide you in all He has for you. Do this… and I will see you there or in the air!
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