The Evidence of Carnality
Robert Wurtz II
“For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3 KJV)
Paul, out of his great love and care for the churches, identified a critical problem at Corinth that he termed carnality, summarizing it as walking “as men.” Mere men lack the regenerating experience of the Holy Spirit and approach life with an entirely different mindset. They belong to their father the devil and desire to do his lusts (John 8:44).
Carnality represents an unloving mode of life that disregards the Body of Christ. It drives an individualistic life that religiously goes through the motions while missing the foundational truth of the entire Bible: loving God with all our heart and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). Though believers often ignore and excuse it, carnality poses one of the greatest dangers to the Body of Christ and local churches.
As I have grown in the Lord, I look back with great vexation and grief upon the times when I behaved carnally or reacted to situations in the flesh. I have repented and asked God to reveal every area of my life where I am grieving, resisting, or quenching the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30, Acts 7:51, 1 Thessalonians 5:19). May the Lord speak once again to me and to everyone who needs this teaching.
Christians Behaving Carnally
The recipients of Paul’s letter were genuine Christians, yet they had failed to move forward in their relationship with God. Instead, they relied on their own human will, strength, and reasoning. They stopped letting the mind of Christ rule in them (Philippians 2:5-8, 1 Corinthians 2:16) and substituted a carnal mindset. But had not stopped attending church, believing, or even operating in spiritual gifts; rather, they stopped walking in God’s love toward one another. They had ceased to live as true spiritual believers and became carnal. One is not spiritual because they have great talents or gifts of the Holy Spirit; one is spiritual who imitates the person of Jesus Christ in every area of their life without exception.
The Corinthians placed their physical lives and souls in severe danger when they came to the Lord’s table without discerning the Lord’s Body (1 Corinthians 11:29). They mistreated one another, yet dared to approach the Lord’s table with that selfish attitude. Consequently, Paul noted that many were weak and sickly among them, and many died (1 Corinthians 11:30). God’s judgment manifested among them as divine discipline. Because they acted recklessly toward one another, God removed some from the scene entirely and laid others flat on their backs.
The Wrong Wisdom
Paul mentions wisdom 14 times in the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians, contrasting the wisdom of God with the wisdom of this world. In 2 Corinthians, he warns against fleshly wisdom (2 Corinthians 1:12). If we direct our lives by natural wisdom or worldly principles, our outcome cannot be spiritual because natural wisdom rejects the mind of Christ. If a person’s mind is programmed in a worldly mindset (Romans 12:3), they will behave accordingly. It is a carnal mind and it is at enmity with God and His Kingdom.
Worldly wisdom exalts the individual. It competes for who is best or greatest. It is rooted in pride and the mind of Satan. These worldly thoughts harm the body because of worldly attitudes towards possessions, positions, and other temporary things. When people reason according to the world, they copy the mindset of Satan, the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). Lucifer demonstrated this self-centered attitude when he declared, “I will do (Isaiah 14:13-14). You will remember that God said no, you will be cast down to hell. And everyone who follows this mind will follow his fate.
The Wisdom from the Enemy
“For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isaiah 14:13-14 KJV)
Similarly, the Corinthians were declaring, “I” am of Paul, “I” am of Apollos, “I” am of Cephas, and “I” am of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:12). Whenever our primary focus centers on “I”—our own will and our own way—we must examine ourselves to see if we have backslidden and fallen into carnality (2 Corinthians 13:5). And even greater deception is to confuse our own will with God’s will. No man or woman is so spiritual that they can declare that what their will is… is God’s will.
No one is spiritual until they truly lay down their own will. This requires living a crucified life. Most people are deceived because they think that because they say that they are surrendering to Christ or they say they are crucified with Christ, that that profession is enough. There must be reality. If a person is asserting themselves, especially in the body of Christ in among God’s people, they are moving in a carnal mind. The mindset of every believer must be, “thy will be done.”
The Wisdom from Above
“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” (James 3:17 KJV)
Notice the phrase “easy to be intreated”—it describes a heart willing to yield. Worldly wisdom demands, “I will…”, but God’s wisdom directs us to prefer others (Romans 12:10). Heavenly wisdom recognizes that “I” might be wrong or that “I” might not know what is best, even when I feel thoroughly convinced otherwise.
The remaining characteristics of heavenly wisdom directly parallel the godly love that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13. God’s wisdom operates in complete harmony with His love. When we walk in His wisdom, we naturally walk in His love. When we walk in our own wisdom, we walk in bitterness, strife, and hatred. Seeking to enforce our will on others, either through manipulation or intimidation, is sure evidence of carnality and the influence of Satan in one’s life.
Paul and James
Paul reinforces James’s message when writing to the Philippians:
“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4 KJV)
When we yield to others, we demonstrate the humility of mind that marks genuine spirituality. Conversely, when we demand our own way, we exhibit a wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and devilish (James 3:15)—the classic mark of a carnal mindset. Love drives the spiritual mindset, whereas self-will drives the carnal mindset. The spiritual mind aligns with God’s word, but the carnal mind is enmity against God and cannot submit to His law (Romans 8:7).
Shepherds Who Serve Themselves
In ancient Israel and throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, the leaders charged with pastoring and shepherding God’s people frequently conflated their own will with God’s. Instead of leading with compassion, these leaders ruled the people with an iron fist, drawing severe condemnation from God’s prophets (Ezekiel 34:2-4, Jeremiah 23:1-2). They crafted laws and traditions that enabled them to fulfill the selfish desires of their own evil hearts while placing heavy, unbearable burdens on others (Matthew 15:6, Matthew 23:4).
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? … The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.” (Ezekiel 34:2, 4 KJV)
Confusion Caused by Carnality
A careful comparison between 1 Corinthians 3:3 and James 3:14-16 reveals that the Corinthians’ behavior matched James’s warning regarding envying and strife. Carnality breeds intense confusion among the saints. It causes onlookers to wonder whether the conflicting parties are truly born again or merely wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15).
When Christians behave like unregenerate men, outsiders easily mistake them for unbelievers or false brethren (2 Corinthians 11:26). Furthermore, blending carnal and spiritual thinking makes us double-minded and unstable in all our ways (James 1:8). This compromise provokes actions that cause others to doubt our love for them.
Let This Mind Be in You
As Christians, we must guard our hearts against the carnal mind. We must utterly reject the temptation to employ natural, worldly wisdom in our relationships. Carnality breeds only more carnality; when someone acts carnally, the natural impulse is to respond in kind. We must refuse to render evil for evil (1 Thessalonians 5:15) and instead call one another back to sincere brotherly love.
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8 KJV)
The Call to Personal Repentance
Repentance offers the only solution for carnality. This process begins when we acknowledge that we are behaving carnally and failing to walk in the love of God (1 Corinthians 3:3, 1 John 4:8). We must examine our own actions with self-awareness and conscientiousness, measuring our behavior by how we treat others (Galatians 5:14). We cannot adopt a fragile attitude that easily takes offense whenever people fail to yield to our preferences (1 Corinthians 13:5, Proverbs 19:11). No person possesses a self-will that entitles them to take offense simply because others refuse to bow to their demands. A person holding such a mindset walks in a carnal mind—or worse, a demonic one (James 3:15, Romans 8:7).
You must recognize this mindset, repent, and turn away from it immediately. Look inward rather than outward. Stop dwelling on perceived offenses or evaluating the carnality of those around you. First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to help others (Matthew 7:3-5).
“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5 KJV)
No Exceptions
God calls every single believer to this standard without exception. No pastor, leader, or minister stands above reproach or beyond the need for self-examination (1 Corinthians 9:27). Every person must submit to the authority of God’s Word and humble themselves in repentance whenever necessary (1 Peter 5:5-6). God has not called us to build a name for ourselves; He has called us to exalt the name of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:9-10, Psalm 115:1).
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