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Are You Still Carnal?

Are you still carnal

//Kenneth W. Hagin

When we are born again, our spirit being is made new. Our spirit man is immediately recreated and connected to God. Our body and our mind, however, are still the same. We still have the same body and we still think the same way. God leaves the transformation of our mind and the control of our body up to us.

Born-again Christians who don’t make an effort to change the way they think and act are called carnal. In the Bible we see examples of carnal Christians in the Corinthian church. Although the Corinthians had all the gifts of the Spirit in operation in their church, there was also a lot of quarreling, division, and strife among the people. The Apostle Paul admonished them because of this.

Carnality Will Rip You Off
The devil wants you to stay carnal, because carnal people never step into what God has for them or receive God's blessings. Here are some ways to tell if you're carnal.

You Know You're Carnal If . . .

You look down on people because of the way they dress or wear their hair.

You only see other people's faults and imperfections.

You leave a church every time you don't like the way the minister preaches.

You run to the phone when a fellow Christian makes a mistake and falls.

You always talk about how things 'ought' to be instead of getting involved in anything that brings about change.

You only think about what's best for you.

You're easily offended and are usually in strife with a family member, co-worker, or fellow church member.

You're envious of what others have.

You leave one church to go to another because you believe that's where the fire is now.

You have used your words to try and destroy people you don't like.


1 CORINTHIANS 3:1–3 (NKJV)
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?


According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the word carnal means “pertaining to flesh.” After some people are born again, they continue to be dominated by things their body craves or lusts after, and they still have a worldly mindset. We call this being “flesh ruled.”

The way to rise above our flesh is through what the Bible calls “renewing our mind.” “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2 NKJV). We renew our mind by spending time with the Lord—by reading our Bible and praying every day—as well as by hearing anointed ministers teach or preach the Word. This is how the transformation process takes place.

As we become more familiar with what the Bible says and hear ministers preach or teach the Word, we’ll begin to see what the true nature of the Christian really is. Then, according to Ephesians 4:24, we can begin to put on the new man.

Right here is where many Christians battle. The spirit man on the inside wants to be spiritual. He wants to be holy. But the mind and the old man on the outside don’t want to change. Our spirit man may be screaming, “Stop! Don’t do that!” But the old carnal mind is saying, “This is nice. Go ahead; I like this!”

It’s possible that the Apostle Paul had this same battle because he said, “I keep my body under” (1 Cor. 9:27). You see, it’s up to us to put a bridle on our mouth.

We’re the ones who choose not to criticize or gossip about others. No one else can keep us from being self-centered or filled with pride. We must make the effort to prefer others above ourselves.

But renewing our mind with the Word of God every day causes us to think in line with that Word. And that’s when carnality has a hard time getting a toehold in our life.

The more we read the Word and renew our mind, the stronger our spirit man becomes. Then when we are tempted to do something contrary to the Word, our spirit being will be able to control our carnal nature.

Knowing the promises of God helps us escape carnality and embrace the new man. But we choose which way we’ll live. We can be dominated by our carnal nature or we can allow our new man—our recreated spirit man—to control our thoughts and actions. Let’s choose to follow after our spirit man. The more we do, the more we will receive the best that God has for us.