Equipping University

You may not be familiar with the term "carnal Christian" but you have surely heard the teaching behind the descriptive classification. The carnal Christian doctrine relies on a specific interpretation of the first four verses of the third chapter of Paul's letter to the Corinthians. In that chapter, Paul writes to a congregation about a specific situation in their life but tells his readers that he must speak to them on a lower level because they are carnal (KJV) or worldly (NIV). From this statement, Scofield and others after him teach that Paul recognized these Corinthian believers had settled into a state of carnality in which their desires, affections, and behaviors remain unchanged from their pre-conversion life. Many believe that modern believers can do the same. According to this view, a truly born-again person can be completely indifferent to the work of the Holy Spirit in every area of their life for an extended period of time or even for the rest of their life. Paul's third chapter is therefore br