What Kind of man are you?
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The bible identified 3 kinds of person:
The Natural man.
The Carnal Man
The Spiritual Man.
What are the differences?
The Natural Man.
The Natural Man.
The natural man refers to the person who has not received the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior.
Unbelievers.
What is the difference between a person who has been saved and a person who has not been saved (Other than their forgiveness).
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Knowledge is Contrasted:
You see, all the knowledge the natural man has is received through his five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.
His mind is actually governed by his senses.
We can call this natural knowledge but it may get confused by the Natural Knowledge of God so we will rather call it Sense Knowledge.
The way it comes is through the five senses.
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Sense knowledge is all that the natural man possesses.
But born-again believers have a knowledge that is above the flesh, above the senses.
It could rightly be called Revelation Knowledge.
This knowledge is revealed to us in the Word of God.
It's above the natural.
The Bible brings you a revelation, or reveals knowledge to you, which your physical senses couldn't grasp.
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It is deeply important that every believer notice the contrast between sense knowledge, and revelation knowledge.
The natural man cannot understand "the things of the Spirit of God." They are foolishness to him.
The natural man cannot understand "the things of the Spirit of God." They are foolishness to him.
Why?
Why?
The Bible is of the Spirit of God.
It is not natural human knowledge.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Revelation gives us “Spiritual Sense” while our senses gives us “common Sense”.
Common sense says that Spiritual sense is foolish.
Why?
Because it does not “Make sense” according to our natural senses!
For example:
Does the Virgin Birth make sense?
Does the raising of the 3 day dead make sense?
Does feeding thousands of people with a few small loves of bread and fish make sense?
Does casting out demons by a word make sense?
Does dying a shameful death by crucifixion resulting in victory and liberation make sense?
No!
None of these Revelations make any sense.
BUT
Show me a single scripture that says that we must walk by common sense...
Rather we are told:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
We walk according to Spiritual sense by faith, not according to common sense by sight.
The Natural Walk
The Natural Walk
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Here is a picture of the natural man walking.
He is walking "according to the course of this world."
He is walking according to the "prince of the power of the air."
That's the devil.
He is being ruled by the "spirit that now worketh in the children (sons) of disobedience."
He is doing the "desires of the flesh" or of the senses.
He is "by nature the child of wrath."
That's strong language.
But it describes the man outside of Christ.
Why does the Natural Man walk like this?
Why does the Natural Man walk like this?
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
The Natural mans mind is “vanity”; “Darkened”, “alienated”, “Ignorant” and “blind”.
To what?
Revelation!
They walk in the vanity of sense knowledge.
They walk in the vanity of their minds.
They are darkened in their understanding.
They are alienated from the life of God.
They are filled with their own knowledge; ignorant of spiritual things.
Isn't that a picture of them?
But thank God there is a way.
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
There's a way out. There's a way to God. Jesus said, "I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life."
THE CARNAL MAN
THE CARNAL MAN
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
Who is this carnal man?
He is the babe in Christ.
Not a newborn babe—when Paul wrote these Corinthians they were not newborn people.
He plainly infers they should have been beyond where they were in their spiritual development.
In other words: The Carnal man, though often behaving the same as a Newborn babe, is NOT a newborn babe, but rather a man who refused to grow up.
The Carnal Man is saved but not sanctified.
Paul's letter to the Corinthians is written to born again, Spirit-filled believers—even to a church which has all the gifts of the Spirit operating in it.
7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
He specifically mentioned that they didn't come behind in utterance—that means the utterance gifts.
5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
You can see that when you get over to where he began to correct them.
They were all trying to talk in tongues at once.
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Here is a thought that will help us in some of our thinking so we can grow.
Spiritual gifts don't make you a full grown Christian.
Often folks don't know what spirituality is.
Some think being spiritual would be exercising a spiritual gift.
That couldn't be so because here it plainly states these Corinthians were carnal and babes—and they had all the gifts of the Spirit operating in their church.
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This is both wonderful and cautioning.
Its cautioning because we must be very careful not do confuse the operation of gifts with maturity.
But it is wonderful because it means that you, with all your hangup, can absolutely be used by God.
You don't have to be perfect to be useful!
I've heard people say when a fellow Christian they thought to be carnal gave an utterance in tongues, or an interpretation, or prophecy, "That couldn't be the Lord."
I said, "Why?" They'd say, "Well because they're carnal.
I said, "Do you mean to infer that carnal Christians can't have the Holy Ghost?" "Yes." "That can't be so because you have Him. And the church at Corinth had Him.
"Can carnal Christians have the Holy Ghost? Certainly!
"Are carnal Christians saved?"
"Paul seemed to think so."
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What makes a Christian Carnal?
What makes a Christian Carnal?
In the Greek its that famous word “Sark-ki-kos” which means fleshly or merely human.
That would be the flesh governing him.
Though he is born-again and a new creature, he walks after the order of natural men. Walks as a "Mere Man"
Listen again to what Paul wrote:
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
“Walk as men?"
Paul is saying in effect, "Though you have been born-again, you are still walking as a mere man, as a common man, as the natural man who has never been born-again.
You are walking just like the world men walk.
There is envy and strife among them.
You are letting your flesh dominate you."
Too much of the time in Christians the outward man dominates the inward.
As long as he does, they will remain babies and carnal.
They will walk just like world men—those outside of Christ—walk.
You'll run into these baby Christians who have never grown sometimes, and it is amazing to see how they think they are so spiritual yet they live in the flesh or in the senses.
Conclusion: