A favorite joke of mine says, “There are three types of people in the world: those who can count and those who can’t”.
But Paul verifies in I Corinthians that there actually are three types of people in the world, and it’s no laughing matter!
Most people are what Paul refers to as natural or dead in their sins. That simply means they have not accepted Christ’s atonement on their behalf. In this state, such a person “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (I Corinthians 2:14). Natural people make up the first and largest category of humans.
The second group Paul labels as spiritual. The Greek, pneumatikos, does not appear in the New Testament until after Pentecost. It refers to those filled with and governed by the spirit of God*. They are spiritually alive, thus distinguishing them from natural people. In contrast with the natural person’s response to God’s ways and truths, spiritually alive people receive spiritual principles, believe God’s Word, and value its wisdom. They walk in the light of God’s truth and focus their attention on Him.
One might reason that those two categories are the only options when it comes to spiritual life. You’re either dead or alive.
However, Paul distinguishes the spiritual from a third group, whom he dubs carnal. Paul reprimands this third group in I Corinthians 3:1, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.” In other words, both the spiritual and the carnal folks are believers, but only the spiritual are maturing. Carnal Christians continue behaving like babies. That’s what prompted Paul to write this letter and, unfortunately, why I Corinthians applies to us today. The church still consists of many carnal believers, but God wants us to grow up!
What characterizes carnality vs spirituality? Carnality focuses on sensual pleasures, materialistic desires, and physical excitement. In contrast, spirituality focuses beyond the physical senses, values people over possessions, and finds real adventure in walking by faith. One follows the flesh, the other follows the Holy Spirit.
In Romans 8:6 Paul reveals where each type of thinking leads: For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.
The great news is that each one of us gets to choose our classification because God gave us free will. Any natural person can, by faith, believe in Christ’s single and complete payment for sin and receive His free gift of righteousness. And any carnal person can study God’s Word and tune into the Spirit’s leading instead of constantly gratifying the flesh. In Galatians 5:16 Paul teaches the simple solution for moving out of carnality and into maturity:
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
It’s our choice!
*Outline of Biblical Usage
