The 3 Types of Men in the OT, NT, & Present Church Age

Prayer for Wisdom

Introduction

Coal miner's daughter.

Dad: One of the founders of little Church of Christ, Happy, KY.

Early church experiences.

School Administrator - serve 650 children and 100 teachers/other staff.

Core Beliefs Shaped by a number of Fundamentalist Preachers

AW Tozer. Reimar Schultze-wrote a number of books: Abiding in Christ

I have been taught by them. What I will be presenting tonight are

essentially their thoughts, concepts, and revelations of our Holy Scriptures.

Carnal, Natural, and Spiritual Man

2-18 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and

strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? — 1 Corinthians

3:3

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God...But he

that is spiritual judgeth all things. —1 Corinthians 2:14-15

Here is the whole description of man: there is a natural man, a carnal man,

and a spiritual man. To get this distinction clearly, we must not allow

ourselves to get bogged down with the Greek translations of these words;

rather, we must look at those terms as Paul uses them theologically.

The natural man does not perceive the things of the Spirit because he is an

unconverted man. He has never come to Jesus. The natural man, according

to Paul, is alienated from God, "dead in trespasses and sins... Wherein in

time past ye walked according to the course of this world" (Eph. 2:1—2).

The natural man is in darkness, and spiritual things are foolishness to him.

The carnal man, as Paul uses the term, is a person who has been converted

by the blood of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit, but who refuses to

deny Self. Such was the case with the Corinthian Christians.

The spiritual man is one who has been born of God, and he lives a life of

obedience, ever crucifying the flesh and the affections thereof. So, one of

Paul's main reasons for writing his letters to the churches is to bring carnal

Christians into a life of full obedience and surrender to Jesus Christ.

Expressing this differently:

* Natural Man - The unregenerate man (unsaved)

* Carnal Man - The unruly man (saved but unsanctified). The immature

Christian

* Spiritual Man - The unctioned man (saved and sanctified). Those that

seek the deeper things of God.

Examples from John 13

* Judas - natural man

* Peter - carnal man - John 13: The Last Supper before the rooster crowed

* John - spiritual man

Scriptures on the Natural Man

Deu_34:7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died:

his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

The natural man can appear to be perfect: In looks, strength, intelligence,

beauty, education, likeability. However,

1Co_2:14 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.

Scriptures on Carnal Man

Rom_7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold

under sin.

Rom_8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not

subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

1Co_3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but

as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

1Co_3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you

envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

This verse will be discussed further in what follows

1Co_9:11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if

we shall reap your carnal things?

2Co_10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty

through God to the pulling down of strongholds;)

Heb_7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but

after the power of an endless life.

Heb_9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings,

and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

The Three Types of Men

"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" (1 Cor. 2:14).

"But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no

man" (1 Cor. 2:15).

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto

carnal, even as unto babes in Christ" (1 Cor. 3:1).

Paul puts all humankind into three categories. It is by virtue of these

categories that every man is seen by God. It is by virtue of these categories

that all men will be judged, whether they be Pentecostals, Baptists,

Lutherans, and I believe, even Catholics. (I believe God judges our heart

and not our doctrine.) The final judgment that will determine our eternal

destiny will not depend on any particular religious organization we have

served or on what particular doctrine we have held. No, the final judgment

before the great white throne will be based on which of the three

categories we are in.

Now, let us look at each of these in sequence: the natural man, the carnal

man, and the spiritual man.

The Natural Man

"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."

The natural man is a man who lives according to nature. He is governed

by his intellect and by his natural affections. The natural man has never

experienced the rebirth - he is unconverted. The natural man is asleep to

spiritual things. He cannot understand spiritual things, and spiritual things

are foolishness unto him because he cannot process them in a rational

manner. So, the Word of God, the promises of God, the grace of God, and

faith in God in its various, marvelous ways can find no existence in his

mind. The natural man is one whose perceptions do not extend beyond his

reason, experiences, and feelings. Therefore, the natural man lives in a

small world. He lives in a world limited by his finite mind and his five

senses. The natural man cannot enter the kingdom of God, for flesh and

blood does not inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore, Jesus said, "Except

a man be boom again, he cannot see (nor enter) the kingdom of God."

Man must be born again (John 3:3, 5, 7).

The Carnal Man

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto

carnal, even as unto babes in Christ."

There are two distinct kinds of Christians: the carnal Christian and the

spiritual Christian. This is taught throughout the New Testament (NT) - in

the Gospels, such as the parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13) - and in

many passages of the Epistles. Both the carnal Christian and the spiritual

Christian have been born of the Spirit, yet they are worlds apart. The

expression, "carnal Christian," may justly be coined out of 1 Corinthians

3:1 because here Paul addresses the Corinthian Christians as "carnal." He

speaks to these Christians, saying, "And I, brethren, could not speak unto

you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ."

So, the first thing we learn here is that a carnal Christian is as a babe in

Christ. Hence, a carnal Christian is one who has been born of God, but he

lives outside the kingdom of God which is "righteousness, and peace,

and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17). He is one who does not grow,

mature, or develop. He is as a babe. He has no accomplishments but that

he is born. He cannot walk, he cannot talk, he cannot understand nor

follow instructions, he cannot help, he cannot serve, he cannot sacrifice

for others, he cannot lift the burdens of others, he cannot fight battles,

he cannot clean himself nor feed himself nor pull himself up. A carnal

Christian is as a babe - a babe in Christ, however, who is not a fresh babe

that brings joy, but a babe that has been a babe too long. And so, a state of

babe-hood has turned into a tragedy, into disgrace, into a burden of the

church. When you see a baby in diapers and still slobbering at age five, ten

or twenty, there is nothing cute about that. We don't mind if newborn

babes are selfish because we know they will grow up to become

productive people. But when babes don't grow up, and continue to be

selfish, to continue to act as babes, then there is great concern.

All of us are born again in carnality with selfishness in our spiritual

blood. This is why Paul says to the Corinthians, "ye are yet carnal" (3:3).

They were born in carnality from their physical mothers (Ps. 51:5). Then,

when they were born again, the carnal nature remained within them. Again,

this is why Paul said to these Christians, "ye are yet carnal," indicating

that carnality is not removed at conversion. It did not bother Paul that they

were carnal at the spiritual birth, but it bothered him that they were yet

carnal one or two or three years later. And as a proof that they were yet

carnal, he shows them the fruits of their carnality by saying, "For ye are

yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and

divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" There is yet a longer list of

the fruits of carnality in Galatians 5:19-21: "Now the doings (practices) of

the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency,

idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness,

divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions,

heresies), envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you

beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things shall

not inherit the kingdom of God" (AMPLIFIED).

Let me ask you now: what is the destiny of carnal Christians? What

does it mean when Paul says that "those who do such things shall not

inherit the kingdom of God"? Did Paul warn the carnal Christians about

this once or more than once? Did he say that he warned these carnal

Christians previously or didn't he? And dear friend, if this is not enough,

read Romans 8:6-7: "For to be carnally minded is death...Because the

carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God,

neither indeed can be."

Newborn babes, born of God, can please God. There is great joy in

heaven over one sinner that repents (Luke 15:7, 10). But there is no way

an old babe of God can please God. There is no way! An old babe born

of God is at enmity with God. If this is not what it says in Romans 8:7,

then what about verse 8: "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please

God."? Why did Paul have to deal with carnality in Christians? Again,

because carnality is not removed at conversion, it must be removed

subsequent to conversion in the work of sanctification. Hence, Paul

prayed, "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification" (1 Thess.

4:3).

The Corinthian Christians' lives consisted of spiritual experiences, of the

conversion experience and of experiences in the spiritual gifts. The

Corinthians were rich in spiritual gifts. Gifts were their life, but they had

little else. They were still carnal. They were carnal too long. They did

not walk with God. They had plenty of spiritual experiences, but because

they lacked the fruits of the Spirit, their gifts brought confusion, division,

and strife to the body of Christ. At the root of all division and strife is

criticism, fault-finding, analyzation, and complaints. We must be

delivered from carnality. Only then will the gifts shine for the glory of

God. Carnality fills our prisons, our divorce courts, and it splits our

churches.

And how are we delivered from carnality? It is by the cross. Jesus died on

his cross to cleanse us from our sins, the sins we have committed. But we

have to die on our cross to be saved from the sin nature, from carnality,

from the sin principle. This is why our Lord said to his disciples, "If any

man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross

daily..." (Luke 9:23). Salvation is a crisis experience - we are born again

in a moment. But sanctification, the deliverance from the carnal nature, is

a process. It is a daily process. It is an hourly process. It is a second-by-

second process. It is continuous. It is only as we continually die to the

desires of the Self-life - of what the Self wants - can we be followers of

Jesus. And if we are not followers of Jesus, we are none of his.

So, there is a natural man, a carnal man, and a spiritual man.

The Spiritual Man

"But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no

man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?

But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:15-16).

The spiritual man has and is continuing to crucify the lusts of the flesh, the

lusts of the eye, and the pride of life - the Self-life. Self (carnality) will

never take one step after Jesus. But when Self is denied, if we take up

the cross, the old, sinful, Adamic nature will be slain out of us by the

Word, by the Spirit, by the blood of Jesus, and we shall come to the mind

of Christ. Again, this is a process. And then Paul says, referring to the

inner circle, "But we have the mind of Christ."

Now, the three most dominant characteristics of the spiritual man are:

1) he has the mind of Christ,

2) he has the fruits of the Spirit, and

3) he is led by the Spirit.

The Mind of Christ. Although the carnal Christian is very much focused

on his conversion or experiences in the gift area, the spiritual Christian

is focused on Christ himself, on the greatness of Christ, the beauty of

Christ, the work of Christ, the mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory.

The spiritual man has been transformed by the renewing of his mind, and

he thinks as Christ thinks. He acts and reacts as Christ acts and reacts. He

loves and overcomes as Christ loves and overcomes. He will never go

anywhere unless he knows Christ goes with him. He will not watch

anything unless Christ is with him in the watching. He is abiding in

Christ, and Christ is abiding in him. His destiny is with Christ. As Christ

overcame, so he overcomes, for only he that overcometh shall receive the

crown of life (Rev. 2:10).

The Fruits of the Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control"

(Gal. 5:22 NIV). Again, anyone filled with the Spirit has the fruit of the

Spirit. You cannot have the fruit of the Spirit without having been filled

with the Spirit. But as we learned earlier, you can have the gifts of the

Spirit without being filled with the Spirit. Jesus did not say by their

gifts but by their fruits you shall know them (Matt. 7:16). This is not to

degrade the gifts. He who degrades the gifts, degrades the Giver of the

gifts. The gifts are given for the edifying and ministry of the church. They

are very precious, but we must not confuse the gifts of the Spirit with the

fruit of the Spirit.

Led by the Spirit. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are

the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14). The spiritual man is led by the Spirit. The

Holy Spirit will tell him where to go, when to go, what to say, what not

to say, and what to do. The Holy Spirit will check him if he is headed in

the wrong direction or for the wrong words. Learning to walk by the Spirit,

of course, also takes time. We will be learning as we are following Jesus

in obedience. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice...and they follow me"

(John 10:27). We cannot follow unless we hear, and we cannot hear unless

the Self-life with all its criticism, complaints, and selfish ideas is crucified

out of us.

The Three Types of Men in the Old Testament

We are going to use the Old Testament (OT) as a type or shadow of the

Present Church Age:

We see a prototype of the 3 types of Man in the OT story of Israel.

Natural Man – The Israelites were living in bondage in Egypt

Carnal Man - Moses came and led the Israelites out of bondage. Once

they got on the other side of the Jordan River, it closed behind them. They

were then redeemed, but unsanctified.

Spiritual Man - This was God's plan when they would pass into the

promised land of Canaan, the land of Abraham, promised to them by God.

Enough Faith to Get Out, but Not Enough to Get In

So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

—Hebrews 3:19

Israel was never far from the borders of Canaan, but she never entered in.

The Israel that left Egypt died in the wilderness. She was delivered from

Egypt, but she died in unbelief before she reached the land of milk and

honey. She had enough faith to get out, but not enough faith to get in. And

because she did not immediately go in pursuit of the Promised Land, she

died in the wilderness in the presence of the cloud and the fire, with the

manna of heaven in her stomach.

Some of the professing church is in the wilderness of Zin. (Zin is a desert

around Kadesh-Barnea.) She boasts that she has gotten out of the old life,

but she is too blind to see that unless she enters into the new life, she will

also die in unbelief, with manna in her stomach. Yes, untold millions of

believers have left the shores of Egypt, have sung the songs of deliverance,

and, yes, they even continue to sing them to this day. They have tasted of

the heavenly gift, they have drunk of the water from the rock, and yet they

are not able to enter into the sanctified victorious life of Canaan because

of unbelief.

We must be aware that we, as a born-again people like unto Israel of old,

can die without grace on the wrong side of Jordan, in the very presence

of the fire, the cloud, the divine manna, and the water from the rock.

Let us determine today not only to leave Egypt, but also to enter into

Canaan. For it is for this purpose that we were born of God.

Yet Carnal?

For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife,

and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? —1 Corinthians 3:3

Are you yet carnal? How long are you going to be yet carnal? What are

the characteristics of carnality? Does the gospel have a cure for

carnality? If so, what is it?

Carnality has its roots in the disobedience of Adam and Eve. When this

first couple ate of the Tree of Knowledge in that precious, holy garden of

God, something awful of the nature of the Serpent entered into them and

consequently polluted their spiritual bloodstreams.

Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden because carnality cannot

live in the garden of God. In fact, carnality is enmity against God (Rom.

8:7). Carnality cannot please God. Carnality fights, bites, and butts. It is

jealous, envious, selfish, foolish, divisive, lustful, covetous, and

resentful.

When we are born again, we are forgiven of all the sins we ever

committed. Our sins are removed as far as the east is from the west (Ps.

103:12). But even though we are converted, we still have the carnal

nature, even as the Corinthians were still carnal, as noted in our verse for

today.

The cure for past sin is the cross of Christ. The cure for the nature of sin,

the carnal nature within us, is in our taking up our cross, denying our Self-

life, and following Jesus. As we deny this carnal nature, crucifying it

moment by moment, and follow Jesus, the Lord will sanctify us. And no

longer will it be said of us, "ye are yet carnal."

Kept from the Promised Land

Do all things without murmurings and disputings.—Philippians 2:14

It was murmuring that prevented Israel from entering the Promised Land.

Murmuring will keep you from your promised land, and it will get you

nowhere, spiritually speaking. No one will get to that which God has

destined for them with a murmuring spirit—no one! The murmuring spirit

is an anti-Christ spirit, and it will disqualify us from being led by the Holy

Spirit.

Now, what is murmuring? Murmuring is a mumbled or private

expression of discontent. It is finding fault. It is being critical and

judgmental. Remember the words of Jesus, "For with what judgment ye

judge, ye shall be judged" (Matt. 7:2). What would it be like if Jesus was

as judgmental toward us as we are toward a doctor, lawyer, preacher, or

tax collector? OH, HELP US JESUS!

Are we not glad that Jesus has a loving, forgiving, compassionate, and

merciful spirit? Rather than Jesus murmuring about us, He talks about us

as jewels and as His friends when we come to Him with a broken and

penitent heart.

Oh, may this terrible spirit of murmuring perish so that the Lord Jesus

Christ can dwell within us in power to make us salt and light in the world.

Let us heed the warning of the apostle Paul, "Neither murmur ye, as some

of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer" (I Cor.

10:10).

Two Opinions

But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh (je-fun'-e

- yephunneh, meaning uncertain), which were of the men that went to

search the land, lived still.—Numbers 14:38

Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess

it.—Deuteronomy 1:21

At Kadesh-Barnea, where Israel was to enter Canaan, God separated those

who would go by opinion from those who would go by revelation. Ten of

the men who were sent to spy out the land came back with the opinion that

the conquest of Canaan by Israel was impossible. Two of the twelve spies

came back, reminding Israel of the revelation of God, "go up and possess"

the land.

The viewing of the land by the twelve was not to discourage Israel but to

encourage them concerning that which the Lord their God would do if

they would only believe. But the majority of the Jews sided with the ten

spies who made the condition of entering or not entering a matter of their

own personal opinion.

Oh, how dangerous is man's opinion. Because opinion triumphed over

revelation at Kadesh-Barnea, more than six-hundred-thousand Israelites

were buried in the sands of the wilderness on the wrong side of Jordan.

They were buried there because of their unbelief. The book of Numbers

called them "carcasses" even before they were dead.

Jesus wants you to enter into sanctification and the victorious life. He

desires that you overcome as you look upon the giants and the walls in

your path. Don't faint. Don't be unbelieving. Remember that your "giant,"

the omnipotent God, is greater than all the giants of the world put together.

Don't go by the opinions of man but by the revelation of God.

Israel Favored Aaron (Carnal Man) over Moses (Spiritual Man)

And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

—Exodus 15:24

The Present Church Age -

Another Prototype of the Carnal vs Spiritual Man OT: Moses did mighty miracles - Presence of God was hot.

But, the Israelites failed to cross over to promised land.

New Testament (NT): The early church was hot.

But, the Organized Catholic (Universal) Church � Ceremony,

Tradition, Externalism

Protestantism - fire of returning to God's word, no compromising the

message

Every new denomination starts with fire.

Pentecostal Church - started out hot. Presence of God in services.

What is the current state of the Pentecostal Church?

The Church Age Before the Return of Christ Rev 3:14 And to the

angel of the church in Laodicea write: These things saith the Amen, the

faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: I know thy

works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

The Great Decision - Tom and I made a decision a few months ago.

One of the men of God I look to for spiritual guidance is A W Tozer. In

one of his articles titled, The Church: The Major Decision, he discusses

2Ti 1:13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from

me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who

dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

"The Great Decision"

by AW Tozer

"There is a great decision that every denomination has to make

sometime in the development of its history. Every church also has to make

it either at its beginning or a little later--usually a little later. Eventually

every board is faced with the decision and has to keep making it, not by

one great decision made once for all, but by a series of little decisions

adding up to one great big one. Every pastor has to face it and keep

renewing his decision on his knees before God. Finally, every church

member, every evangelist, every Christian has to make this decision. It is a

matter of judgment upon that denomination, that church, that board, that

pastor, that leader and upon their descendants and spiritual children.

The question is this: Shall we modify the truth in doctrine or practice

to gain more adherents? Or shall we preserve the truth in doctrine and

practice and take the consequences?

A commitment to preserving the truth and practice of the church is what

separates me from a great many people who are perhaps far greater than I

am in ability. This is my conviction, long held and deeply confirmed by a

knowledge of the fact that modern gospel churches, almost without

exception, have decided to modify the truth and practice a little in order to

have more adherents and get along better."

My answer: My Desire for Our IWC Ministry

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,

evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for

the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in

the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,

unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Let us choose the deeper path of perfecting the saints and not preaching to

itching ears.

The greatest burden of the Church today, just as the Israelites had in

crossing into the promised land, are Carnal Christians.

Are ye yet carnal?