And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? (1 Cor. 3:1-3, NASB).
It is from this passage that the modern doctrine of the “carnal Christian” has been derived, which promotes the idea that one can be a true Christian but be “carnal,” and thus be behaviorally indistinguishable from unbelievers. The KJV translates 3:3: “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 are often told by advocates of this doctrine that we can’t judge those who, although they profess to be Christians, demonstrate no evidence of being born again, because some genuine Christians are “carnal Christians.”
As with all false doctrine, this one has its basis in ignoring context. A quick survey of everything Paul wrote to the Corinthians reveals that they were certainly not indistinguishable from the world.
Describing some of them, Paul wrote that they had previously been fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards and swindlers, but were no longer (6:9-10). They had been dramatically transformed by the Holy Spirit.
Paul also instructed the Corinthian Christians “not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one” (5:11). Obviously, the Corinthian believers were not guilty of those sinful behaviors themselves, otherwise Paul would have been telling them not to associate with themselves.
Paul’s first Corinthian letter was, in part, his response to a letter he had received from them concerning several issues. They had asked him questions regarding what was right and wrong, indicating their own desire to do what was right.
The Corinthian Christians regularly partook of the Lord’s Supper and gathered together for Christian worship (1 Cor. 12, 14), something not done by unbelievers in their day.
They were also zealous of spiritual gifts (14:12).
They had been collecting money for poor believers in Jerusalem (16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8:10, 9:1-2), displaying their love for the brethren, exactly what Jesus said would mark His true disciples (John 13:35).
Paul wrote to them in 11:2: “Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.”
The conclusion? When Paul wrote that the Corinthian Christians were “walking like mere men,” he obviously did not mean that they were behaviorally indistinguishable from unbelievers in every respect. They were acting just like non-Christians do in one way, yielding to jealousy and strife, which marked them as baby Christians. In many other ways, however, they were acting like devoted disciples of Christ.
Is it possible to be a “fruitless” or “carnal Christian”? The apostle John answered that question definitively: “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10). So simple that only a theologian could misunderstand it!
