Carnally Minded

1 Corinthians 3:1 “and I, brethren, was not able to speak to you as spiritual, but as carnal, as inarticulate babblers in Christ.”

The Corinthian saints were not growing in their relationship with Christ because they were emanating the flesh, or carnal. There was strife, divisions, and envy among them and they were walking, governing the manner of their lives, according to men, not according to who they were in Christ.

Walking according to the flesh is a problem that all Christians can face many times throughout their lives. As a matter of fact, we tend to frame our minds more of the things of the flesh than the things of the Spirit because prior to salvation, the things of the flesh were the only things we thought. “But the soulish man is not able to receive the things from the Spirit of God, for they are foolish to him and he is not able to experientially know them, because they are spiritually examined,” 1 Corinthians 2:14.

Framing your mind according to the desires of the flesh will produce the works of the flesh in your life. “Now the works of the flesh are manifested, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, religious superstitious awe, enmity, strife, zeal, inner burning angers, rivalries, dissensions, factions, envy, murder, carousing, and things like these…” Galatians 5:21

By producing the works of the flesh in your life, you are acting as though you are still in Adam. Your are not considering who you are in Christ; rather, you are seeking to fulfill the desires of your flesh. When a Christian is producing the works of the flesh, he or she is acting just like an unsaved person.

Someone that is carnal will not grow in his or her Spiritual life. “For the result of the framing of the mind concerning the flesh is death, but the result of the framing of the mind concerning the Spirit is life and peace, because the result of the framing of the mind concerning the flesh is hostility towards God, for it is not subject to the law from God, nor does it have the ability to be subject to the law of God. So the ones being in the flesh are not able to please God.” Romans 8:6-8

http://groups.google.com/group/vbcoregon