Carnal Christians (a summary)

.... Throughout this module we’ve described the ‘Corinthian Disorder’: a lazy spirituality that neglects the testimony of Jesus no matter how passionately He has been emphasized. Instead, the listener's attention will drift towards the preachers themselves in a manner that Paul would refer to as ‘carnal’:

.... "For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal?"

(1 Corinthians 3:3-4)

.... Typically, three ‘spiritual syndromes’ will underlie and accompany the Corinthian disorder. The first of these is the ‘Spiritual Things’ syndrome, which occurs when the benefits of abiding in Christ are regarded as ends in themselves, apart from Him. Jesus is overlooked and their Christianity devolves into an arrangement, a plan, a provision, a systematized belief, a government – in short, a religion. Anything but a relationship.

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.... Next we described the ‘Spiritual Salt’ syndrome. This occurs when we gloss over the meaning of key phrases such as ‘in Christ’, ‘in Him’, ‘through Him who loved us’, etc., and negelect their underlying testimony of Jesus (‘In Christ’ is interpreted to mean ‘as Christians’, and 'Yes, we are a part of the "plan".' So a lazy spirituality will leave it at that). When this omission takes place we also miss the importance of abiding in Jesus, which inevitably leads back to the 'Spiritual Things' syndrome.

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.... The third syndrome was called the 'Presumption' Syndrome, and it occurs when Christians use their own knowledge of Scripture to guide themselves in their walk with the Lord, rather than being led by the Holy Spirit. Through this they are no longer clinging to the Lord in living terms, so the relationship itself begins to suffer.

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.... Eventually this error will take on a life of it own, so these unfortunate Christians will begin to resist correction in the matter. They will actually rebuff anyone who tries to reprove them. They are far more impressed with others who are behaving as lawlessly as they, and may even begin to author new teachings for the purpose of tickling ears, in order to gather a following to themselves (2 Timothy 4:3; 1 Corinthians 11:19). This will occur because they have missed out on the testimony of Jesus in the preaching they've heard, and also in the Scriptures they've read. And in this sense, those three syndromes are fully working together:

.... "But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive! How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?"

(John 5:38-44)

.... Now, the people whom Jesus spoke to in this passage were Pharisees. They had spent their entire lives studying the Scriptures, but had not seen the testimony of Jesus in them (just as we would see again at Corinth, among the Gentiles). And without this perspective of Christ, their very love for Him had grown dim. They were in love with kingdom principles, steps 1-2-3, teachings that form acronyms, systematized beliefs with fancy Greek titles, and other self-serving approaches for the purpose of tickling ears; and unfortunately, in many ways, the church of today is no different. But how can we enjoy the truly abundant life without learning to abiding in Jesus, who is our life? Suffice it to say:

.... "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us."

(2 Corinthians 1:20)

.... May this focus be the encouragement you receive from this module, to passionately seek Jesus Himself and to settle for no other (Acts 4:12; Philippians 3:10). For it is here that the Holy Spirit will meet you and change your life, to remake you in Jesus' image (John 15:26; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Congratulations, you have now completed the Foundation 1 Module! To proceed to the Foundation 2 Module, click here

Daily Bible Reading: John 10