Imagine trying to lovingly confront a high profile evangelical to share your concern that his Gospel presentation wasn’t Biblical.Gulp.That is precisely what I did with Luis Palau several years ago prior to one of his mega-events.
I suggested he was giving the cure without explaining the disease of sin.Mr. Palau informed me that everyone has an overwhelming burden of guilt and it is not necessary for him to preach about their need for forgiveness.
Suspecting he might say that, I handed him a c.d. with a montage of people we interviewed on the street.We asked strangers, “Do you have an overwhelming burden of guilt?”The responses ranged from condescending disdain to outright laughter.
While Mr. Palau was very nice to me, he ultimately patted me on the head and said, “Be careful that you don’t fall into that Lordship salvation trap.Christians can be carnal.”
Carnal Christianity is the concept that says: you can live like the world and still be a Christian.It also teaches that sanctification can come some time after a person signs a car…er…asks Jesus into his hea…I mean gets saved.
Later that night at the festival, Mr. Palau’s message included two profanities and proclamations like, “If Elvis had become a Christian, he would have been a rock star, but his life wouldn’t have turned out so bad.”He also informed the audience that if they would simply ask Jesus into their hearts, “The party starts right now.”A woman from my church who just buried her seven year old son almost rushed the stage…and not to sign a card.
His Gospel presentation, as our British friends would say, was “a complete dog’s breakfast.”
It is no surprise that the follow up statistics to crusades are so tragic.The backslider rate (or Carnal Christian rate) hovers around 90%.It seems that Carnal Christianity and Gospel presentations that don’t include sin, righteousness and judgment go hand and hand.In order to explain those statistics, the minister must:
Admit the preaching is inadequate and without Holy Spirit power.
Alter theology to explain how a decision-maker can name the name of Christ but live like the devil.
Option one is out of the picture.And so it is, since the early 20th century, modern day evangelicalism (thanks to Lewis Sperry Chafer and the Scofield Bible) has been proclaiming the oxymoron known as Carnal Christianity.
The support text for Carnal Christianity is I Cor.3:1-5.“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?
Paul was warning the ignorant, sectarian Corinthians that they should not be divided into cliques.That’s it.This text does not suggest that born-again believers can live like pagans.Paul was introducing them to new theology, not giving them license to sin.
With all credit to Ernest C. Reisinger’s “A Carnal Christian,” here are eight reasons why Carnal Christianity should be rejected.
In I Cor.1:2-5, Paul addressed his audience as “sanctified in Christ”.So are they sanctified or carnal?In I Cor.2, Paul divides men into “natural” and “spiritual,” i.e. un-saved and saved.By labeling some Christians as “carnal,” Paul would be introducing a third classification of humans.Furthermore, this would violate every other presentation in Scripture that there are only two classes of people: children of God or children of wrath.
The new covenant of salvation includes two inseparable blessings at salvation: justification and sanctification.Carnal Christianity teaches you will be justified upon conversion, but sanctification is optional.
The Bible presents two types of faith: saving faith and spurious (false) faith (Lk. 8:13).Carnal Christianity does not recognize spurious faith.What a false assurance we allow the unregenerate to possess if we allow them to think their faith is valid when the Bible teaches it might be a false conversion.
Carnal Christianity excludes a necessary component of salvation: repentance.The unconverted sinner can just “ask Jesus into his heart” with no requirement to forsake sin.
How does a person know he is saved? Fruit in keeping with repentance.We are told to examine ourselves to see if we are in the truth.What a beautiful gift to the believer.If we can be carnal, how can we know we are saved?Carnal Christianity robs us of assurance.
Carnal Christianity may be a relatively new name, but it is merely a new moniker for an old false teaching: anti-nomianism.“Should we go on sinning that grace might more abound?” Carnal Christianity says, “Sure.”
“Carnal Christian teaching is the mother of many second work-of –grace errors in that it depreciates the Biblical conversion experience by implying that the change in the converted sinner may amount to little or nothing.”Dr. Reisinger goes on to point out that a second step is required to make a man a “spiritual Christian.”
Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, right? (Lk.2:11)Carnal Christianity divides Jesus and allows Him to be Savior but not Lord.
Listen to the words of A.A. Hodge.“Think of a sinner coming to Christ and saying, ‘I do not want to be holy; I do not want to be saved from sin; I would like to be saved in my sins; do not sanctify me now, but justify me now.’”
That is ridiculous, isn’t it?And so is Carnal Christianity.Even Elvis would agree with that.
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It was so refreshing to get a truly biblical response to that question. I admit when I started reading I was concerned with what might be said.
When I became a Christian and realized what the Christian life was about, I couldn't find anyone who agreed with me, and who would agree with that article.
My congratulations and thanksgiving for your honest exegesis of the Scriptures.
Blessings in Christ Jesus our LORD,
Bernie Koerselman Click here to reply to this post
Re: Maybe Elvis Was Just a Carnal Christian
Posted On: 08/23/06 04:24:07 PM
Age 57, TX
I agree with your contention based on personal experience. Before the day God miraculously opened my ears and eyes to the true condition of my soul, I was the happiest I had ever been. I was clueless as to my lost state and felt no spiritual hunger at all but rather revulsion to anything about God. I was a "cultural Christian" which is in effect NO Christian at all. When confronted by the Holy Spirit with my sinful condition through conviction and Campus Crusade's 4 Spiritual Laws, I gave serious consideration to becoming a Christian, knowing it was an all or nothing decision for me. Only after I was able to say YES to God knowing He could ask anything of me (and thus making Him LORD) did I accept the sacrifice of His Son as payment for my sins and accept Him as my SAVIOR. Click here to reply to this post
Re: Maybe Elvis Was Just a Carnal Christian
Posted On: 08/13/06 01:49:58 AM
Age 45, GA
Hey Todd,(if you read this stuff)saw you and Kirk via the Net on TBN Thursday the 10th. You guys were great as usual.
I posted a comment on this article rather early and today the furor seems to have grown quite a bit.
Here's my 1 cents worth,(I've spent the other one already) on this issue.
If you're saved and sinning, you'll be miserable in it as a result of the promised work of the Holy Spirit.
Fight the good fight, run the race, pray and trust and the Lord will finish His work in you.
If you think you're saved and you're sinning and it doesn't bother you, you have a serious problem. You may not even recognize that what you;re doing is sin. To be certain, read your Bible and examine yourself in light of the Word.
Hey...I told you it's only 1 cent. Click here to reply to this post
In regards to I Cor.3:1-4 I believe there is a definite distinction between "spiritual" believers and "carnal" believers,the one controlled by the Spirit and the other still largely controlled by the flesh (Romans 8:5-13;Galatians 5:16-25).Carnal Christians are not necessarily unsaved pseudo-believers.However,they need to examine themselves carefully to see whether their profession of faith is truly genuine or not(II Cor 13:5).They could very well be just "babes" in Christ and need to grow into spiritual maturity.With the vast majority of us this takes time. Just as in physical growth you see people in different stages of growing up so it is true in spiritual growth.There is no doubt that salvation is by grace alone,through faith alone,in Christ alone. Works are not necessary.This is what separates true biblical Christianity from all the religions of the world including much of so called false Christianity which teaches faith plus works.God knows are thoughts and he knows are hearts and when a person believes in Christ He already knows whether that person's faith is genuine.He doesn't have to wait to watch our works to see if it is genuine.However,other people do not know except by our works if it is genuine.They cannot read our thoughts and hearts.That is why James 2:10,says "show me" not, "show God";verse 22 says "do you see that faith was working together with his works...";it doesn't say "Does not God see faith working together with his works...". And again in verse 24 it says "you see then that a man is justified by works,and not by faith only", not,"God sees that a man is justified by works...". This does not mean that true believers are going to live perfect lives after they believe in Christ but there should be some evidence that a person is growing in Christ .Even Paul says in Romans 7:15-25 that there was a struggle going on in his own life and he writes in verse 24 "O wretched man that I am", not "O wretched man that I was",indicating that he was still having struggles but yet there was also obvious evidence that his faith in Christ was genuine. As for me, I believe that Elvis was a carnal Christian who eventually reaped the consequences of his carnality(Galatians 6:7). Click here to reply to this post
Re: Re: Maybe Elvis Was Just a Carnal Christian
Posted On: 08/25/06 03:28:41 PM
Age 61, WV
You are correct. There are carnal christians, far too many! There is a big difference between being a Christian and a Disciple. Let's always proclaim the truth that salvation took place at Calvary and there is nothing we can add to it. The goal is maturity and not being a baby. If there was no such thing as a carnal christian than we all would be mature. Click here to reply to this post
Re: Re: Maybe Elvis Was Just a Carnal Christian
Posted On: 08/06/06 10:28:09 PM
Age 42, NC
It has been said that American's Christian Theology is three-thousand miles wide and one inch deep. Opinions such as this make me question if it is even one inch deep. What does the Bible say about adulterers? How about 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." How about Hebrews 13:4, "Marriage [is] honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Or even James 4:4, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." Elvis was found dead from an overdose of drugs (See Revelation 21:8 the word for sorcerer is pharmakeus, we get our word pharmacy from this rootword so Elvis was practicing a form of sorcery when he died). He was found by his live-in girlfriend which made him a practicing adulterer. It is known that he was a student of Madame Blavatsky the founder of Theosophy and an acclaimed psychic medium. (I urge you to get the 10 hour version of "They sold their Souls for Rock and Roll" goodfight.org) Just because he produced some "gospel" albums and sang some hymns does not make Elvis a Christian. I challenge you to listen to Paul Washer's sermon at http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?currSection=sermonsspeaker&sermonID=52906154239 One cannot be ran over by a semi-truck and it not change their life, likewise being touched by Jesus Christ WILL change your life! If Jesus Christ is not LORD of your life then He certainly is not your Saviour. You cannot serve both God and mammon and the one you embrace will cause you to hate the other. Remember friendshipo with this world and this world system is enemity with God. Period! In Christian love, Don Click here to reply to this post
Re: Re: Re: Maybe Elvis Was Just a Carnal Christian
Posted On: 08/23/07 09:08:27 AM
Age 56, CA
Yes. And I am certain Todd agrees in reading his commentary. Those 'preacher' 'pastors' who avoid such delivery of Truth -- are they the false prophets in these dark days, tickling ears? If they believe the Truth, why fail to warn and rebuke the pew-warmers except it be for the tithe gain? Instead they give a 'partial-gospel'. Are they not called to be willing to suffer the consequences of speaking the whole truth in Jesus' name? Today we have pastors too weak to address the announced sexually immoral in the assembly! PDL/PDC brought this into the forefront, and now the End Times church is gone headlong. Poor Jeremiah, "The Shepherds have scattered MY sheep!" said the Lord. Who can stay in the public assembly with all this CARNALITY and sin? "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is ENMITY against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." Romans 8:6-8. Big name preachers are scary and untrustworthy. "Come out of her." Click here to reply to this post
Re: Maybe Elvis Was Just a Carnal Christian
Posted On: 08/05/06 10:38:20 AM
Age 42, NC
To 54 in TX and 50 in NE and others who have the concerns: There are no "works" unto salvation, Jesus Christ finished ALL the work of salvation on the cross. Once we are saved there IS work for us to do so that the world may see the Father in us. James tells us very plainly that if we are saved then our works will show it. (Please keep text in context and don't fall into the trap of contrasting James to Paul as though they were speaking of different things.) Salvation is by grace[free gift] through faith [believing in the LORD Jesus Christ] and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God: NOT of works, lest any man should boast. But the fruit [the outward evidence of our salvation] is the works we do following our conversion from death unto life. These will not be forced, coerced or otherwise dragged out of us but will, in fact, be a natural extension of the life that is now in us. Read 1 John, read it daily and let the Holy Spirit show you the marks of a true Christian.
Lastly I would ask how will God judge those whom esteem the Gospel so lightly? Those who preach a watered down version of the full gospel that gives sinners a false hope of heaven? What will be the results of such false preaching? How about Matthew 7 starting at verse 15 (to keep text in context)and going through verse 23. That should cause everyone that calls themselves Christian to pause and examine themselves to be sure they are in the faith; prove your own selves. I challenge you to listen to the following sermon posted at Sermon Audio: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?currSection=sermonsspeaker&sermonID=5220621750
In Christian love, Don Click here to reply to this post
Re: Maybe Elvis Was Just a Carnal Christian
Posted On: 08/04/06 07:50:32 PM
Age 47, VA
Todd,
I appreciate this whole article. I too, am concerned about this type of teaching. Recently, I confronted my pastor about the same issue. I go to a church with an estimated 10,000 attenders on any given Sunday. But, my guess would be that at least 40-60% of them are not really christians. Repentance is not taught with respect to salvation. I hear a lot of messages with "ask Jesus into your heart" or one of the biggest frauds "accept Jesus as your Savior". What do these statements mean? Is this anywhere in the scriptures? That is the question I asked him. I wish you would write an article blasting these UNGODLY supposedly salvation methods! The only messages I read that Jesus and the apostles preached were "Repent and Believe!". And we know that the term believe in the greek does not mean what most people today use the term to mean. Ask any true street preacher how many false christians he runs into who claim to be saved because they prayed "the sinners prayer" and you will find out that there are multitudes of people going to Hell and think they are "once saved, always saved". I love to use the 10 commandments to point out to them that they are doomed by their sins and that they must "forsake their sin" to receive eternal life. It seems to me that Jesus said "unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish!". You should also write up an article that expounds on repentance because most christians and non-christians who go to church don't really understand this either. The best definition I have found came from Charles Finney's sermon on "True vs. False Repentance". He defines repentance as "It involves a change of opinion respecting the nature of sin, and this change of opinion followed by a corresponding change of feeling towards sin." The he give an example, "To one who truly repents, sin looks like a very different thing from what it does to him who has not repented. Instead of looking like a thing that is desirable or fascinating, it looks the very opposite, most odious and detestable, and he is astonished at himself, that he ever could have desired such a thing. Impenitent sinners may look at sin and see that it will ruin them, because God will punish them for it. But after all, it appears in itself desirable. They love it. They roll it under their tongue. If it could end in happiness, they never would think of abandoning it. But to the other it is different; he looks at his own conduct as perfectly hateful." If a person has truly repented they will never be described as a "Carnal Christian". This is unbiblical and wicked terminology that is taking multitudes to HELL because they have been comforted while living in their sin!!!! Keep up the good work.
GR Click here to reply to this post
Awesome article Todd, May I read this to my CHURCH? .....thank you for making it as plain as MUD! Click here to reply to this post
Re: Maybe Elvis Was Just a Carnal Christian
Posted On: 08/04/06 11:06:52 AM
Age 45, CA
I was taught the concept of carnal christianity from childhood on until two years ago at an Evangelical, Free Church the pastor explained the following:
If we claim to follow Christ, but still live in/practice/enjoy sin, we are not Christians.
When we decide to follow Christ, our souls are redeemed, but our flesh is not.
The carnality of our flesh is what causes us to long to sin--to be gluttonous, to seek sexual pleasures in inappropriate ways, to harm others, etc.
The carnality of our flesh is rooted in selfishness and greed.
Our battle, then, is to daily deny the carnal impulses of our unregenerated flesh and to live out the impulses of our regenerated souls in concert with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Click here to reply to this post
