By Mark W. Christy, PhD
In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul labelled its recipients as carnal Christians (1 Cor 3:1-3). His insulting words which adorn the pages of Holy Writ and therefore bear the full authority of the Holy Spirit portray the Corinthians as mere infants in Christ unready for instruction in Christian maturity due to their overt fleshly behavior. This class of Christian is somewhere in between the false Christian who will inevitably fall away and the mature Christian who will bear fruit.
False Christians are frequently referred to in the New Testament as those who fall away (Luke 8:13; 1 Tim 4:1; Heb 3:12). These are those who have been confronted with the “elementary teachings” of the gospel and received them in part (Heb 6:1-8).[i] In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus portrays these fallen believers as ones who initially experience joy when receiving the gospel but fall away due to temptation (Luke 8:13-14). For some reason, they respond to the gospel and outwardly appear to be saved, like Simon the Magician who did so at will despite the fact that his “heart is not right before God” (Acts 8:21). They may even, like Demas, who served on Paul’s ministry team, demonstrate signs of Christianity through visible acts of service, but in the end their love of the world draws them back (2 Tim 4:10).
Unlike these pretenders, mature Christians exhibit the inner fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23). Their abiding commitment to Christ leads not only to spiritual fruit in their inner person but also to outward fruit in the form of holy living: “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit [lit, ‘fruit’], resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life” (Rom 6:22; cf. Heb 13:15; Phil 4:16-17). As their lights shine ever brighter in this world darkened by sin, their witness in word and deed will bring forth conversions (Rom 16:5; Matt 9:37f; Luke 10:2; John 4:36; 15:16).
In between the fallen away and the obviously faithful are those who have been labelled carnal Christians. Despite their carnality, Scripture reveals at least some signs of authentic faith. They met together for worship (1 Cor 14), called on the name of the Lord (1:2), possessed demonstrable spiritual gifting (1:5, 7; 12-14), and struggled to understand the Word of God (1 Cor 8-10). In addition to all of these, they clearly remained in submission to the Apostle’s authority at least in some way.
Unfortunately, the carnality persisted even after Paul’s initial letter. In 2 Corinthians 11:13, Paul once again has to confront over the issue of allowing false teachers in their midst. He went on to express his fears that when he arrived he would find “strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances” (2 Cor 12:20). Furthermore, he expressed concern that “many of those who have sinned in the past [have] not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality” (2 Cor 12:21).
From this survey of the second letter to the Corinthians, it would seem that carnal Christians exist in a state where determining their salvation with any assurance becomes at best a confusing endeavor and at worst an impossible task. Finding himself stuck in between these two barriers and strongly concerned about the Corinthians’ faith, Paul is finally forced to offer this command: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Cor 13:5). With this in view, Christians who continue to resist moving toward maturity should carefully consider their salvation less their lack of demonstrable fruit end up being signs of their impending peril and judgement for being false Christians. The test that Paul commands is a biblical test that looks for Christlikeness in one’s inner person (via the fruit of the Spirit), actions (via obedience to the Word of the Lord), and testimony (via proclamation in word and deed). Those who pass will gain the assurance that they are true children of God.
[i]All Scripture references are taken from NASB1995.