Introduction:     Getting "called on the carpet" is never an enjoyable experience. When Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthian Church , he was "calling them on the carpet". They were not progressing well spiritually. “Carnal” = pertaining to flesh, unregenerate, fleshly. As a matter of fact the church was riddled with problems. There was...division, immorality, court disputes, divorce, false teaching, and worship abuses. No doubt Paul wished he could fire them! Instead Paul chose correction.  He wanted to help them become what the Lord intended for them to be....mature followers of Jesus Christ. In Chapter 3, Paul specifically addresses five "Serious Pitfalls to Spiritual Progress". These pitfalls that hindered the Corinthians will hinder us as well.  That is why we need to hear the message of this chapter. In the last part of chapter 2, Paul explains that there are two kinds of people in the world.

(1) The "natural man" (verse 14)... or the unsaved.  (2) The "spiritual" (verse 15)... or the saved. In chapter 3, we find that Paul then categorizes the saved into two groups.

(1) The "spiritual" (v. 1). (2) The "carnal" (v. 1)

In verses 1-4 we are alerted to the one of the pitfalls we must avoid if we are going to maintain spiritual progress in our lives....The pitfall of CARNALITY.

I.          THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CARNAL CHRISTIANITY
The Carnal Christian has:

A.        The Development Of A Spiritual Baby. (v. 1)

Babies are wonderful creatures.  Someone described a baby as a digestive apparatus with a loud noise at one end and no responsibility at the other! We expect babies to be messy.  We expect them to spit up on themselves and sometimes on the adults round them. We expect them to cry in the middle of the night. We understand that they require a lot of care and attention. If a child turns 5, 10, 15, 20 years old and still needs to be spoon and bottle fed, and their diapers changed then there is an obvious problem. The Corinthians had a similar problem spiritually. They were still in spiritual infancy when they should have been on the road of spiritual maturity. 

B.         The Diet Of A Spiritual Baby. (v. 2)

One of the ways of telling if a person is progressing spiritually or not is by their diet. Paul was saying here that the Corinthians needed a continued diet of spiritual "milk". Let me say...spiritual "milk" is needed by new born Christians. Peter instructs the infant believer to desire the "sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby". (I Pt. 2:2) However the Christian can't feed exclusively on the milk of the word and grow properly. Look at Hebrews 5:12- 6:2. Example.... Milk.... Christ died for my sins. Meat...I died with Christ to sin.

C.        The Disposition Of A Spiritual Baby. (v. 3)

II.         THE CONTRADICTION OF CARNAL CHRISTIANITY
Notice the last part of verse 3...."and walk as men". What was Paul saying?  He was saying that the Corinthian believers resembled the unsaved! Please understand....they were genuinely saved verse 1 identifies them as "brethren". In chapter 1, it says that they are...."sanctified in Christ, called to be saints" (v.2). (1 Cor. 6:9-11) How can it be that a true Christian could resemble an unbeliever? What about what 2 Cor. 5:17? When a person gets saved Jesus does transform. That transformation however is a process that begins at salvation and is not complete until glorification. At any point a believer may stop responding to the word as he should. He then stifles the growth process and stops being transformed, thus taking on the resemblance of the old man. Such is a grave contradiction! Carnality contradicts:

A.        The Purpose Of Christ

The Bible teaches us that Jesus came to deliver us from our sins. 

B.         The Power Of The Cross

Note if you would...I Cor. 1:17, 18 and 23, 24

C.        The Presence Of The Comforter

Note...I Cor 6:19 , 20. We have considered the Characteristics of Carnal Christianity and the Contradiction of Carnal Christianity, which brings us finally to....

III.       THE CURE OF CARNAL CHRISTIANITY
I am glad that carnality isn't fatal. I believe that there is a cure. There are three things involved.

A.        Recognition

Take a good look at those characteristics we talked about. If that sounds like you, well, "if the shoe fits..." We can never experience the cure the Lord Jesus has for us until we first see our need.

B.         Repentance

That means confessing our carnality and changing our course of action. In 2 Cor 12:20-21...Paul expresses his desire for the Corinthians to truly repent. "For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults: {21} And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed."

C.        Reliance

Beating carnality means we must "walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16ff). That involves.....relying on the Holy Spirit moment by moment,  hour by hour, day by day.

Conclusion:       What kind of person are you?  Saved or lost? What kind of Christian are you?  Maturing or carnal?