I Have No Reason to Believe in the Doctrine of Carnal Christianity

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I remembered the time I listened to Paul Washer's sermons and while he said, "There are no carnal Christians!" he also stated that while Christians may fall into states of carnality but they don't fall into it indefinitely. Sometimes, I feel even my favorite preachers may seem to contradict themselves but I really want to say, "There are no carnal indefinite Christians!" Alternatively, I would want to say that there is no such thing as a worldly Christian. To be worldly means to be materialistic or too focused on the temporal rather than the eternal. I believe Christians can fall into states of worldliness but like Washer's argument they can't fall into states of worldliness indefinitely. That argument is not an invention of mine or Washer but it's from the Bible. 

One of the verses misapplied is 1 Corinthians 3:1. Studying the Greek can help understand the differences. The Greek used for carnal here is sarkinois (σαρκίνοις) and not sarkos (σαρκὸς). Sarkinois has only one occurrence which means the immaturity of young believers. The word sarkos occurs 38 times which the word stands for sinful. The truth of the matter is that while Christians may fall into states of sin but they can't fall into states of carnality without getting any chastisement. If Christians fall into carnal states they can be assured that God will use punishment to get them back on track (Hebrews 12:5-7). Also, sin is something that they hate to do and unfortunately Romans 7:14-25 is now used by worldly "Christians" to justify their sinful living! If they use those verses to justify sinful living then notice Paul isn't proud of the sin he's committed. Yet these people live life like they have a license to sin. I have no reason to even accept them as true converts because only fake converts think that they have a license to sin. 

The problem of saying that carnal Christians exist is a contradiction. How can a Christian love the world or be friends with it? John 15:18-19 warn that the Christians don't belong to the world therefore the world hates them. James 4:4 warns that any friendship with the world means enmity with God. 1 John 2:15 says that if any person loves the world then the love of God the Father is not in that person. The Christian's desires are slowly changed where they start loving God more and the world less. 1 Corinthians 6:11, Ephesians 2:10 and Titus 2:11-14 shows that God's grace results in sanctification. God's grace is a power against sin and worldly living. There's no no such thing as a Christian who is saved but will remain perpetually barren. That kind of teaching has been one of the many reasons why sinner's prayer evangelism isn't effective. How many people today say a prayer and think they're saved but their lifestyles show that they aren't truly eternally secure? If you're eternally secure in Christ then your lifestyle ought to be walking in holiness and rejecting unholiness. 

I can cite the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:1-15) where can see the problem why so many people don't get saved. It's also because they have their worldly desires. The thorns of worldliness prevented the Word of God from taking effect in the person. What's worse is that many churches today are using worldly methods to reach out to people. Instead of focusing on the hard to believe truth of the Gospel that salvation is not by good works, that the sinless Savior took your place and that there's only one Way to Heaven namely through the Lord Jesus Christ. These facts are hard for sinful people to believe. The paradox of salvation is that it's both hard and easy (no works required but people find it hard to believe that it's easy because of the hardness of their hearts and their love for sin) and that it's both free and costly (no works required, just believe but it may cost you everything you own dear after you get saved). Many people today reject the free gift of salvation because many people who receive it may lose everything. 

Do you know holiness characterizes the believer's life? Hebrews 12:14 warns that without holiness no man can see God. While holiness doesn't precede salvation or it would be works but holiness is imputed to the Christian. This isn't just merely imputing saying that Jesus imputes His holiness and righteousness then leaves the person alone. To impute means to credit to the person or a cause that the righteousness is in the believer. This imputation gradually grows. Philippians 2:12-13 says that we are to work out (not work for) our salvation because it's God that works in you. True salvation is worked out and not worked on. If you're working on your salvation with fear and trembling then thank God's free gift of salvation from sin for that. Getting saved is not just getting saved from Hell but from both Hell and sin. You can't be saved from Hell but not get saved from sin. Salvation is not only an insurance from Hell but an assurance from the power of sin. Both Hell and sin are condemned and not just Hell. You can't be saved but never saved from sin because that idea is nowhere in the Bible.

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