Ron Dunn Podcast - The Carnal Christian

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

A carnal Christian is someone who is characterized by the flesh.

We're going to read from Hebrews chapter 5 verses 11 through 14. First Corinthians chapter 3 verses 1 through 9, Hebrews chapter 5, 11 through 14. First we'll read from the third chapter of First Corinthians. 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 you were not able to bear it neither yet now are you able for ye are yet car. 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? Who then is Paul? And who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believe, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God. Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. Now in Hebrews chapter 5 verses 11 through 14, and in this passage the author has been speaking comparing the Lord Jesus Christ his own high priest ministry with that of Melchizedek and he is wanting to go into some of the deeper things of the Christian life. But he says concerning this in verse 11, of whom, speaking about Melchizedek,

of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe but strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age

even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil now there is a great contradiction in the Christian Church and the contradiction is that there are those who have the spirit but who are not spiritual there are those who are not natural men in the sense that they are lost, unregenerated, and yet they live as though they were lost and unregenerated. The contradiction is that they have many years logged in the Christian life and yet they live as though they were babies. When they ought to be manifesting the characteristics of an adult, they are manifesting the characteristics of a child.

Now this is not only a contradiction within the church, but it is also a condemnation in the church. Because as Paul is writing to this church at Corinth he brings an indictment a rebuke against a certain group of people within this church and he calls them carnal people carnal Christians and what he's saying is simply this that this problem infested church at Corinth, and it was a problem-infested church, it had just about every problem I suppose a church could have. There was strife and division. They were split over preachers, over leaders. There was immorality. There was

tolerance on the part of the church for those who were living in sin. There was a lack of discipline. They were suing each other in the court. They were abusing and misusing certain spiritual gifts. They were manifesting all of the characteristics of a little child. And all the problems that this church was having, Paul traces back in this third chapter to the fact that they are carnal Christians. That even though this church, as he says in chapter 1, possesses gifts and possesses great knowledge and wisdom, yet at the same time there is a contradiction. Even though they have an abundance of gifts and knowledge, they are carnal. They are as children. They are living lives marked by failure and absolute defeat. And the tragedy is that as we have been studying in the past week

or so, the four types of men that you'll find in the world today and even in the church you have the natural man who is unsaved who is unregenerated all the things of God are foolishness they're stupid to him and that's because he is spiritually blind then there is the spiritual man the spiritual Christian that one who is characterized by the spirit that one who is a mature believer in the Lord Jesus, that one who is characterized by having discernment. Then there is the weak Christian, the new Christian, the babe in Christ, and that's the one that Paul speaks of in verse 1 because the word carnal, translated carnal in verse 1, is different from the word translated carnal in verse 3.

The word translated carnal in verse 1 simply means made of flesh, created in flesh. There's no rebuke there because all of us are made of flesh. And he refers to these as babes in Christ. There are new Christians, infant Christians, immature Christians. They're babes in Christ. No rebuke there. That's only natural. It's only natural that when a person is born, newborn, he is a babe, and there is a certain weakness about it. But there is a fourth type of person that Paul goes on to describe in this third chapter he describes them as carnal and I said he uses a different word

whereas the word in verse 1 means created of flesh the word in verse 3 means characterized by flesh or dominated by the flesh or ruled by the flesh as I said when tonight a babe in Christ is a five-year-old who acts like a five-year-old but a carnal Christian is a five-year-old who acts like a five-year-old, but a carnal Christian is a 50-year-old who acts like a five-year-old. And there is rebuke and blame attached to this person. And the tragedy is, and I think it will come as no surprise to any who's spent any time in church, that the majority of church members fall into this category. Now I'm going to amend that.

I said the majority of church members because if you take everybody who's a member of the church in the whole wide world, I think the majority of church members would fall into category one, those who are natural. But I think the majority of Christians will fall into category four, those who are carnal.

Now, the rebuke comes at this point. Paul says in verse one, when I first came to you, my first preaching mission to you, I could not speak unto you as spiritual. In other words, I had to hold back a little bit. I had some pretty big guns to shoot with, Paul said. I knew some real deep things about the Word of God. I wanted to take you on into deeper waters, but I could not because you were made of flesh. You were babes in Christ, and you had not yet developed to the point where you could absorb strong teaching of the Word of God. And so I had to deal with the simple ABCs of the Christian life. I had to treat you as babes in Christ because that's what you were. You were babes in Christ in Christ now he says I have fed you with milk and

not with meat for hitherto you were not able to bear it so far so good no rebuke nothing wrong there but he comes in the latter part of verse 2 and with a very emphatic expression says, neither yet now are ye able, for ye are still carnal. Neither yet now are you able. The problem is this, that after all of this time, you have made no progress. There's been no development. There's been no change. There's been no growth. You are still like little children. Now, whereas there was an excuse earlier, now there is an accusation because there has been no growth, no development, no progress. You're still weak in the things you were weak in when you were babes in Christ. You still have the same failings and failures you had back then. You are still unable to bear it. You are still babes in Christ. You are still carnal. You are characterized by the flesh. Now, the spiritual man is one who is characterized by the spirit.

You see, all of us are made of flesh. All of us are human beings. Now when a person is saved, the Spirit of God comes to indwell him. And the ministry of the Spirit is to wean us from the flesh is to gradually bring us under the control and dominion of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the work of the Holy Spirit over a period of time gradually making progress is to make our lives characterized by the Holy Spirit. In other words, we live and act and move and think under the control and the rule of the Holy Spirit of God. We are becoming Christ-like. But Paul says, instead of now being characterized by the Holy Spirit, you are still characterized by the flesh. You are not under the rule of the Spirit. You're under the rule of yourself, the ego, the I, the self-life. You're still living

the life of a little child, always wanting your way and pouting if you do not have it. You are characterized by the flesh. You are a carnal Christian. And every problem that the church at Corinth had could be traced back to this fact that it was a carnal church. It was a church characterized by the flesh, still under the control and the dominion of the self-life. And I repeat, most of the problems of any church, well, I'll say all the

problems within any Christian fellowship can be traced back to the fact that there are those who are yet carnal, who are controlled not by the Holy Spirit, but they live under the control of the self-life, the old nature, the flesh. They are carnal Christians. Now, what is a carnal Christian? What are the characteristics or the identifying marks of one who is carnal? Well, now, you'll not find them all here, but Paul lists several. I jotted down nine.

I don't think we'll have time this morning for a nine-point sermon because I noticed nobody brought in a sack lunch, and so we'll not have time for all nine things. We'll take as many as we have time for, but they're not all here. All the way through the Bible, especially in the letters of Paul, you'll find indications and identifying marks concerning those who are under the control of the self-life. Now, not every carnal believer will manifest all of these characteristics. It's not saying, man, I only had seven, so I must not be a carnal Christian. Here are some of the characteristics. Let's take them. Number one, a carnal Christian is that Christian who is unable, unable to absorb the deep things of God. He is unable to digest

and appreciate the deeper things of God. Paul says, as the writer of Hebrews says, you still are not able to take strong meat. You still are not able to appreciate the deeper things of God. And did you know that in most churches, the majority of believers there, I remember years ago I had a fellow just sum it up so very well in describing good preaching he said good preaching is this the louder the better we appreciate and can appreciate the ABCs of how to be saved, the very elementary things of the Word of God, but there is little interest or appetite in going on in the deeper things of the Word. You find yourself unable, your interest, your attention span is very short, like that of a child. Your attention span is very short in going into the deeper things of the Word of God.

As the Hebrews chapter 5 verse 11 says, they are dull of hearing. Now that word dull means they are sluggish. They are indifferent to the Word of God. Do you know what one of the glaring characteristics of a carnal Christian is? He is indifferent to the Word of God. Now, I didn't say he didn't believe it and wasn't an orthodox to the nth degree and wasn't a conservative and wasn't a fundamentalist. I said he was indifferent to the Word of God, and by that I mean you can preach against gossip, he'll still gossip. You can preach on the life of faith, he'll not live the life of faith. You can preach and teach on prayer, he still won't pray. In other words, he takes the Word of God literally, but he doesn't take it seriously. He is sluggish, indifferent, he neglects.

One of the heartbreaking things about staying eight years in a place is that there are people this morning in this congregation who in the past eight years and all the preaching that has been done in this church by myself and others you still you still haven't changed hardly any and your spiritual life your spiritual life and your spiritual discernment and your ability to help and minister and grow is still as it was years and years ago all the preaching that you've heard you have been sluggish and indifferent and have neglected. And many of you sat here this morning still unchanged by all the word of God that you've heard. You are a carnal Christian. You're sluggish. Oh, you appreciate a good sermon. You really do. But as far as carrying it out, as far as obeying it, as far as it making any difference in your

life, it does not. And this is an indictment that can be leveled against nearly any church in the world today. It is the most amazing contradiction and paradox that a man can witness. And I go to a lot of churches and a lot of conferences in the course of the year, and I see how in the majority of churches in our land, the week-by-week preaching of their pastor makes absolutely little or no difference in the majority of the lives of those people. They are still carnal. They are dull of hearing. That's first characteristic. Second characteristic is this. Since they are still as babes, they need to be ministered to rather than being able to minister to others. Now the writer of Hebrews puts it this way. When the time has come you ought to be teachers. You still need someone to teach you.

Someone put it this way. There are three stages in growth. First of all, you're fed by others. Secondly, you learn to feed yourself. Then thirdly, you feed others. I think that's a pretty good threefold description of growth. First of all, you're fed. I think that's a pretty good threefold description of growth. First of all, you're fed by others. That's a little baby. He has to be fed. If somebody doesn't feed him, he'll starve to death. But he grows up a little bit, and he's able to feed himself. And that's quite a sight when a child for the first time starts feeding themselves. Half the time, they miss the mouth and hit the floor or hit their eye or hit their hair and get it all over the table. It's a mess, but they're learning to feed themselves. And then after a while, they mature

enough, they become parents, they feed others. Now the same thing is true in any makeup of any congregation. There are those here this morning who have to be fed. You always have to be fed. There are some who have progressed to the point where you can feed yourself. Why, if the pastor isn't here on a Sunday or if you get sick and have to miss church on Sunday, you have the ability to dig into that word yourself and minister to yourself, and God can speak to you through the word yourself and minister to yourself, and God can speak to you through the word. You can feed yourself. Then there are those who have the ability to feed others.

They have matured enough where they are able to minister to others. They are able to help others. They are able to give themselves in sacrificial service to others. But the mark of a carnal Christian is that he must always be ministered unto. He must always be requiring somebody to feed him. He's the type of person who never gives himself to go and visit anybody who's sick, but when he's sick, he gets angry if nobody comes to see him. He's the one who rarely ever sacrifices his time to serve and do the work in the church, but yet he complains when the work isn't done or when it isn't done according to his way of thinking. He is a person who is always taking up other people's time by ministering to him. His little hurts and his feelings, he's always having to be fed by somebody, but he is not able

to feed others. And Paul says, I am still not able yet to get beyond this stage in your life. You still have to be fed with milk. The writer of Hebrews says, you ought to be teachers, and yet you have a need for somebody to teach you. The carnal Christian is the one who sees the church in terms of himself, of what others can do for me, of what this church can do for me, not in terms of what he can do for others or what he can serve and how he can serve in the church. That's a mark of a carnal Christian. Third mark of a carnal Christian, and I've been thinking all week and all morning and even here while we were singing just how to put this in the the carnal Christian divides himself on the basis of personalities

he sees the church in terms of personalities rather than in terms of God. For instance, he says, one says, I'm a Paul, and another says, I'm an Apollos. And he goes on to say, listen, who is Paul? Who's Apollos? One of the plants, one waters, but God that gives the increase.

It's God that does everything in the church. It's God that blesses the church. It's God that gives the increase. It's God that does everything in the church. It's God that blesses the church. It's God's church. But the carnal Christian, you see, he deals in personalities. And this creates divisions and factions and a party spirit. Over here is a little group,

and, well, they like this fellow. Over here is another group, and they have been drawn together by common dislike. Somebody said, we find our friends according to compatible sins. And carnal Christians have a tendency, have a tendency to gravitate to people who like the people they like and who dislike the people they dislike. Are you following me? You see, Paul is saying, this is the proof that you're carnal because one of you over here gathered around Paul and said, man, he's it. He's the one. He's the leader. Another one over here has gathered around Apollos and said, no, we don't like Paul. We don't like the way he does things. But now Apollos, now he's the one he's the leader another one over here is gathered around Apollos and said no we don't like Paul we don't like the way he does things but now Apollos now he's he's he's our

kind of person and they divide over personalities Dr. J.P. Macbeth who's no stranger to any of us told me nearly 13 years ago. He said, little people discuss things. Mediocre people discuss people. Great people discuss ideas. I've never forgotten that because it's so true. Little people are taken up with things. As Van Tavner calls, they're in the junk business. They're taken up with things. They're impressed with houses and cars and lands and clothes.

They are little people, small, and they think in terms of things. Mediocre, average people think in terms of things. Mediocre average people think in terms of people. The greater people, the more mature people think in terms of ideas. Paul says one of the marks, one of the proofs that you're carnal is that you are gathered around personalities and you're dividing yourselves on the basis of personalities if there's a person here you do not like all of you get together and you fellowship because there is a mutual dislike of this person over here is one that you do like and you'll run after this preacher and you'll run after this teacher and you'll run after this miracle worker and you do not see the whole thing as being God's work, you see it in terms of personalities. He said

you're carnal. You know they say that it was the star system that killed Hollywood. Well, I want to tell you something, it can be the star system that kills the church today. And one says, well, I follow this teacher. Another says, well, I follow this miracle worker. Another says, well, I follow this person, and I follow this person. You're carnal because you are gathering and fellowshipping around personalities. And Paul says, listen, Paul's not the one that causes this church to grow. It's God that does it. Apollos isn't the one that causes this church to grow. God does it. It doesn't matter if Paul is here or gone. It doesn't matter if Apollos has done this or not. It's God that does it. God can raise up anyone to do it.

He said you're carnal because you are seeing things in terms of people and personalities rather than in terms of God. Another characteristic of a carnal Christian is divisive talk. Did you get this? Paul says in verse 4 for a while one saith I'm of Paul and another says I'm of Paulus are you not carnal if you'll flip back over to chapter 1 you'll find he says the same thing verse 11 for it has been declared unto me of you by brethren by them which are of the house of

Chloe that there are contentions among you now this I say that every one of you said now listen this every one of you said you know what was causing so much problem in the church everybody was talking every one of you said I'm of Paul I'm of Apollos I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas, and I believe the worst one of all was that self-righteous one that said, well, I'm of Christ. You see, everybody was talking. Divisive, disruptive talk. They were engaging in careless, indiscreet, indiscriminate talk. A mark of a carnal Christian. Another mark of a carnal Christian is selfish ambition. Selfish ambition.

Look in verse 3. For ye are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying. We'll stop there for a minute. The word translated envying is the word, we get our word zeal or zealot from it. It's the word that is commonly translated jealousy. Now what this indicates is a fellow who wants his own way. He wants his own way. He is besieged by selfish ambition, and he's zealous for it, and that's why Paul uses this particular word. He is zealous for it. He is filled with order for having his own way. I mean, the most enthused and excited he ever gets about the work of God or the work of the church is when his own way is threatened. Have you ever noticed that? Have you ever noticed? Have you ever, listen, have you ever been in a

church where they ran off the preacher? I, I'm sure you haven't. Some of you may have. Have you ever been in a church where they decided they were going to vote out the preacher? And you know what happens? I'll tell you people crawl out of the woodwork. Church members that haven't been there in 30 years suddenly show up. Now, get this.

Here's this little group, this little faction faction this little party that doesn't want the pastor they've never gone out a day in their life winning anybody to jesus i mean they have the visitation on wednesday night or thursday night they're not there they're not knocking out knocking on doors but all of a sudden they want their way and their way is to get rid of the pastor and all of a sudden they become very zealous in house-to-house visitation. And they call up all their relatives who are members of the church, and they gather everybody there who's ever in their lifetime had any grudge against the pastor, and they get them all there. They're zealous to have their own way. Have you ever seen that? I've seen it in many a church. Mark of a carnal Christian is selfish ambition.

It's what I want. What I want. My way. You see, that's childish. That's childish. You see, a child has not yet learned to sacrifice and give up his own self-will and his own desires. He is a child. He is immature.

And the mark of it is, I want my way. And I get hurt and angry if I do not get my way. All right, not only selfish ambition, but another characteristic is self-assertion. You find this in the word strife, quarrel, dispute. Let me put it this way. Jealousy is wanting your own way. Strife is I'm going to get my own way

no matter what it costs. Have you ever seen two children playing? They get along just so well. They're the best of friends. Suddenly one child wants to have his way. Now not only does he want to have his way, but he's going to get his way even if he loses that friend. And after a while you find them screaming at each other and fighting each other and you have to go in and you have to pull them apart and you have to send one home and the other to his room what has happened he has not only wanted his own way he has said I'm going to assert myself I'm going to get my own way no matter what it costs even if I lose a friend over it

that's strife. That's self-assertion. Now, let me mention one last characteristic of a carnal believer, which I think really sums it all up. The carnal believer is that one who has never never learned the meaning of the cross in his life he has never learned the meaning of the cross in his life. I think this is one thing that Paul means when he says they're not able to take strong meat.

They're able to take only the milk of the word. And as I said a week ago, if you will study the context, you'll find that it comes within the context of Paul's teaching concerning the work of the cross. I think a carnal Christian has a certain concept of the cross. He has the milk of the cross, which is simply this, Christ died for our sins, but he has never been able to digest the meat of the cross which means I died with him and just as Jesus in dying for my sins had to sacrifice his desire and put his ambition and put his own self to death on the cross so I also I must learn to die with Christ and die to myself and die to my

wants and my desires and my ambitions. I think the great characteristic of our carnal Christian is he has never learned to live the life of the cross. He has never learned what Jesus meant when he said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. And I marvel at how

milky we are with regards to what carrying the cross means. All my life, I've heard preachers and teachers describe carrying your cross as an act of service. You know, your cross, you pick up your cross, that means you surrender to preach or surrender to go to a mission field or, you know, surrender to serve in some way. Folks, that's not what it means at all. And we have always thought that carrying the cross meant service. That's not what it means.

When did Jesus pick up his cross? A cross isn't for carrying. A cross is for dying. i hear jesus say you're going to come after me pick up your cross and let's go and so i pick up my cross and i said okay lord i'm ready to go where are we going on the street corner and pass out tracks he said no i said lord where you want me to go with this cross it's going to be a little cumbersome being in that little small Sunday school room teaching a class, but I'm going to carry my cross. Where are we going?

Are we going to the mountainside and teach and preach? He said, no, I've already been there. I said, well, are we going along the shores of Galilee and minister to the people there with this cross? He said, no, I've already been there. Well, Lord, are we going into the marketplace into the city there and talk to the people or going to the synagogue? He said, no, I've already been there. Well, Lord, where are we going? I've got this cross. Now, where are we going? He said,

well, there's a hill outside the city in the shape of a skull, and we're going out to that hill, and we're going to be nailed to this cross, and we're going out to that hill and we're going to be nailed to this cross and we're going to die. Well, Lord, I'd really rather carry my cross into the marketplace and I'd really rather carry my cross over to the mountain, do some teaching. Lord, I thought the cross was the symbol of service. Jesus said, no, the cross is a symbol of sacrifice. And the Christian is carnal because he's never learned to live the life of the cross.

Paul, Jesus said, you take it up daily. You have it best, I think, explained in Galatians 2 and 20 when Paul says, not I but Christ, not I but Christ. Can you imagine the difference in these Corinthians if they'd had that attitude, not I but Christ? Can you imagine the difference in your own life? Because the one thing that keeps you from growing, that prohibits the Spirit of God from taking control over your life, is you've never yet been able to say, not I, not what I want, not my way, not myself,

not my wishes, not my man, not my personality, not what I want, but it's Christ. It's Christ. The carnal Christian is the greatest stigma in the Christian world today. And I think so many of us

fall into this category. Maybe not in every instance, maybe not in every characteristic, but in many. And the tragedy is that there's no excuse for it and no reason for it now where are you what is your spiritual location are you a natural man in other words you've never been born of the Spirit of God you've never been born of the Spirit of God? You've never been saved?

Maybe you're a spiritual man, characterized by the Spirit, a mature believer that is able to discern, evaluate, and know the difference between right and wrong. Maybe you're a babe in Christ, a young Christian. There's weakness, but it's simply because you've not had time yet to grow and develop. Are you a carnal Christian? You say, man, I've had plenty

of time to grow, but I haven't. Then you're carnal. I've had plenty of time to learn how to minister to others but I still need to be ministered to then you're carnal I see the work of God in terms of people personalities and I gather around and give my all

in affection to personalities and I see it in terms of people rather than God then you're carnal I engage in indiscreet talk, and I express my hearty spirit by speaking and talking, using language and speech

that causes the division to deepen, then you're carnal. I find myself wanting my way and being willing to get my way even if it causes others hurt. I've never learned to live the life of the cross. I'm filled with self. I see everything in terms of me

and mine. Then you are still carnal and walk as men. The cure of it, and we'll discuss that later tonight more fully, but the cure, the The cure of it, and we'll discuss that later tonight more fully, but the cure, the immediate cure of it is being willing to come and give up. You've heard me say it many a time,

give up your right to live your life your way. And to say with the Apostle Paul, not I, but Christ. Not I, but Christ.