What does it mean to be carnal?
My goal in doing this study is not to form my own opinion on what carnality is but to see the Truth. I want pure Truth even if it rips me to pieces…
“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, nor indeed can be.”
~Romans 8:6,7
Strong’s
sarx (sä'rks) G4561
1) flesh (the soft substance of the living body, which covers the bones and is permeated with blood) of both man and beasts
2) the body
a) the body of a man
b) used of natural or physical origin, generation or relationship
1) born of natural generation
c) the sensuous nature of man, "the animal nature"
1) without any suggestion of depravity
2) the animal nature with cravings which incite to sin
3) the physical nature of man as subject to suffering
3) a living creature (because possessed of a body of flesh) whether man or beast
4)****the flesh, denotes mere human nature, the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God****
Seems to be derived from “to draw” “to draw off”, and to signify what can be stripped off from the bones.
Root word: saroō (sä-ro'-ō) G4563
To sweep, clean by sweeping. Reminds me of repentance.
Dictionary.com
1. pertaining to or characterized by the flesh or the body, its passions and appetites; sensual.
2. not spiritual; merely human; temporal; worldly
3. relating to sexual appetites
Synonyms~ bodily, lustful, lecherous, fleshly, satisfactions.
Latin= carnalis carn=flesh+alis
So to be carnality=the flesh...
Romans 8:8- :those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Romans 8:13- “if you live according to the flesh you will die…put to death the deeds of the flesh and live.”
Reminds me of Romans 3:23- the wages of sin is death. So carnality=flesh=sin, it’s all the same.
If it says to put to death the deeds of the flesh what are they? They will be the definition of carnality.
The deed/works of the flesh
Galations 5:19-21
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Colosians 3:8-10
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.”
1 Corithians 3:3
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”
Galations 5:16~ “walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
How do we do that? Romans 8:13 says that we are to mortify the flesh. This is straight from the book I’ve been reading:
For the outlook of the lower nature is enmity with God; it is not subject to the law of God; indeed it cannot be; those who live on such a level cannot possibly please God. But that is not how you live. You are on the spiritual level, if only God’s Spirit dwells within you; and if a man does not possess the spirit of Christ, he is no Christian. But if Christ is dwelling within you, then although the body is a dead thing because you sinned, yet the spirit is life itself because you have been justified. Moreover, if the Spirit of Him who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give new life to your mortal bodies through his indwelling Spirit. It follows, my friends, that out lower nature has no claim upon us; we are not obligated to live on that level.Galations 5:13, 14
“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
2 Peter 1: 3, 4
“…as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
1 John 2:15-17
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
Loving the world means it and the things in it. money, material things, ideas…
Proverbs 10:4
“Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death.”
Proverbs 11:4
“Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.”
This is the spiritual death, if we don’t repent we will die.
So to love the world and the things in this world is carnality and if we are loving the world we can’t love the brethren. 1 John 1:7 says that we have to walk in the light as He is in the light, and have fellowship with one another, so that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” So the blood can’t cover our sins if we don’t love the Body instead we love the world. It’s called being selfish. The word says that we have to walk in the Spirit.
Walking in the Spirit
Galations 5:22-25
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Philippians 3:3
“For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”
Colossians 1:21-23
“And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight- if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard..”
Galations 6:8
“For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
Lets go back to 2 Peter 1:4 (by being partakers of the divine nature, we escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.) We must be living in His divine nature.
The Divine Nature
How do we have this?
Romans 6:4-7
“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.”
2 Corithians 10:3-5
”For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
You can go to 1 John 2:18 where it talks about the spirit of antichrist.
2 Corinthians 7:1
“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Repentance is key in living in the Spirit. If we walk in Him we become like Him. We have to put to death the carnal man, the flesh. As the body of Christ we should not walk in carnality.
Titus 3:1, 3-5, 8
“Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared…This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.”
As we come to the knowledge of Christ by living 2 Peter 1:5-11 we put off the old nature, the old man, the carnal which again, is anything that can be put of, we repent and no longer walk in these things. As we strive to be like Him He said that if we seek we’ll find Him, knock and the door will be opened and He will come into us.
2 Corinthians 6:16-18
“And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them.I will be their God,And they shall be My people." Therefore "Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord.Do not touch what is unclean,And I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you,And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty."
This is the promises talked about in 2 Corinthians 7:1 and 2 Peter 1:3, 4. By repenting and living a life in the Spirit and living by bearing fruit unto righteousness, which comes by trials and tribulations, we know Him and take on His nature, putting off our carnal nature, and by this according to 2 Peter 1:4, we escaped the corruption that is in the world through carnality.
It’s a war and we must remember that our weapons are not carnal. We cannot fight unless we are of Him.
Matthew 12:24-28
“Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.”
Carnality cannot fight carnality.
1 comment:
That was GREAT!!!!!
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