Salvation & the “Carnal Christian”…True vs. False Converts!
I am deeply concerned about the amount of false converts we are creating in our churches today. We have wanted to make christianity so “easy”, accessible and relevant to the lost that even those who are NOT the elect can’t refuse it. In an attempt to bring more people to Christ we have instituted a “prayer” based salvation and have misunderstood the meaning of repentance. What repentance? Yea, no where to be found in order to be saved any longer. I mean, most churches convey salvation as follows…”if you repent (their meaning of repent is feel sorry or feel remorse yet not enough to change your life) for/of your sins and accept Jesus as Lord you will be saved”. Now what is the problem with this? It’s very simple. That is NOT the meaning of repentance! To repent means to turn, “to make a change for the better as a result of remorse or contrition for one’s sins” as the dictionary definition puts it. How can anyone claim you can be saved and NOT walk with Christ? Where is that in the Bible? They are called false converts!!!! For those of you who will quote Romans 10:13 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” let me explain this verse. To “call on” the name of the Lord in this passage the greek is the word epikalesētai (strong’s # 1941) which is the same word used in Acts 25:11 when Paul “appealed” to Caesar. Wat does this mean dear friends? When Paul appealed to Caesar as a roman citizen, in essence what he was saying is I will submit myself to Caesar’s Kingship. I will submit my rights to his decision. That is the same thing Romans 10:13 is saying. Whoever will submit to the kingship of Jesus (appeal or call unto) will be saved. This calling unto is not a mere “Jesus save me”, just like Paul did not appeal to Caesar in mere name. He didn’t just say the name of Caesar for the sake of it. The same happens with our appeal/call to Jesus for salvation. No where in the Bible does it teach that you can come to Jesus by simply saying “Jesus I am a sinner, save me” and have no change of LIFE. You see friends, we can not hang a whole doctrine (especially of salvation) on a few chosen passages. The Bible needs to be taken as whole. When you see the Bible as a whole on the matter of salvation , you can see that there is NEVER any prayer mentioned for salvation and the requirement has always been the same! Repentance and believing in Jesus Christ. Some may say, well we are in no position of “judging” others salvation and where they are at in their lives. I will challenge you on that kind of thinking which happens to be the emergent church thinking. Matt 7:16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? In the greek the word for “will know them” is epiginóskó which means to know exactly or to recognize. Who are we to know exactly? The believer’s from the unbeliever’s. How are we to recognize them? By their fruits? Fruit? Where is this fruit? In their lives!!!!! So if God is saying “listen you will know exactly who they are by their lives” why I ask are we turning a blind eye on this false convert situation running rampant in our churches and why are we hiding under the “don’t judge” veil? God never encourages us NOT to discern and to judge rightly.John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
The most misquoted verse in the Bible is the one that says “judge not lest you be judged”…
Let’s See What the Bible Really Says About Judging:
“The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.” (Psa 37:30)
“With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.” (Psa 119:13)
“Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” (Prov 31:9)
Jesus commended Simon, “Thou hast rightly judged.” (Luke 7:43)
“Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt show her all her abominations.” (Ezek 22:2)
“But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” (1 Cor 2:15)
“Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?” (1 Cor 6:2)
“Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?” (1 Cor 6:3)
There are many other passages and verses in the Bible about judging. While God is our ultimate Judge, He has also commanded us to judge according to the Word of God. For us to go around blinded in the ignorance of “let’s not judge anything” is ignoring God’s commands. The emergent church says, well there’s nothing really definite about the Bible thus we are not here to judge. Really??? Why would God give us the standards in which we are to judge, if we are not to judge? So you are saying God contradicted himself? The Bible states in 2 Cor 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you– unless indeed you fail the test?” The greek uses the word castaway for those who have “failed the test”. So what must we conclude from this passage? If you examine yourselves, this does not imply let’s examine our hearts to see if we love Jesus. This examining is of a complete nature. Our lives, how we conduct ourselves, how we live…how we love others..etc. And we find we are not int the faith, we have failed the test, meaning you professed Christ yet your life does not show it you are a castaway or rejected as strong’s # 96 states.
Now let’s address the “backsliding or carnal” Christians. I hear so often “well they are backsliding/carnal christians”. And I wonder, Good Lord, where is that in your word? And we will be going over it and put this to rest once and for all. the term backsliding is found in the OT in Jeremiah 8:5 “Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding they hold fast deceit they refuse to return”
Now as I have said before we need to take the scriptures in context with the rest of the verses surrounding it. The Lord is saying on the verses prior to this one that Death will be chosen over life. He goes on to say…Do people who fall and not get up again? If they turn away, do they not return? In the OT we must remember that the Holy Spirit was not indwelling in anyone. God is comparing backsliding with falling and getting up. Which one of you falls and stays there for a few days? No one! If you are a true believer you may turn for a brief period from God only to turn right back. The Holy Spirit in you will convict you so severely as a true believer you will turn back to truth. This is VERY different than living a life of SIN and calling it backsliding. I am sorry but that is nowhere in the Bible. A true believer can NOT backslide. A true believer falls into sin and repents and turns to the Lord for forgiveness. Most often than not a false convert (a backslider/carnal) has “made” Jesus Lord of his life, and has found that the road he was promised is not that fun in reality. So his life (fruit) show for ALL to see who’s he really is. By the way those who say I accepted Jesus a long time ago and JUST made him Lord of my life recently do not know anything about the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You are not in the coronation business! Jesus IS Lord without your acceptance and approval. If you failed to make Him Lord when you supposedly got saved then you failed to understand the requirement for salvation. Repentance! Turning away from sin and your sinful lifestyle and turning to Jesus Christ. When you get saved it is an acknowledging of the LORDSHIP of Christ and a commitment to submit all of your life to Him everyday. Now if they are not false converts why would God put this in the Bible?Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.” This is directed to those who commit ( engaged in) iniquity or unrighteousness as a lifestyle. So how can God send someone AWAY from Him if they are worker’s of iniquity? Does He mean a “backslider” can lose their salvation? mmm… makes you think right? No a true believer can’t lose their salvation, it was a gift. So if we arrive at this conclusion we must also conclude these doers of iniquities who called Him LORD, not once but twice (acknowledging His Lordship), were not saved! Yet they prophesied in His name and to them, boy there was no one more saved than them! What a surprise to all those who claim to be christians and saved yet do not “walk” with the Lord. If you are not walking with the Lord it is because you never got saved to begin with. In order to be saved, you must not only acknowledge the Lordship of Christ and OBEY Him! The Bible never says you can be saved without having Jesus as Lord. It would never say such thing! How can we then? Is that not contrary to God’s word? Indeed it is. This sums it up. John 14:15 states “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” There are also those who scream, we are no longer under the law so we do not need to obey anything in the OT or Law. Let me make this very clear for you, we are no longer under the Law but under grace in terms of salvation. Jesus would never say go have a party and live life to the fullest, you are saved indeed no need to obey me. You are to OBEY Him as Lord. Is that to say we obey the Lord all the time in our lives? No, we sin. Yet we acknowledge our sin, repent and trust in Him for forgiveness. We don’t go around claiming something so blasphemous as “I am saved I am just a carnal Christian”. THERE IS NO SUCH THING! Find any scripture to prove those people are truly saved…you can’t! The problem with today’s christian converts is that they want the salivation without the obedience part! And pastors out there are doing nothing to correct this view. They also claim one can be saved “or have fire protection” and be walking in the world. How? Where do you get that from? That contradicts what the Bible states about salvation, thus making false Christians who truly believe they got insurance from Hell and go on living a sinful life. Those will be getting a rude awakening, and pastors/teachers let me say this, their blood will be on your hands as you misrepresent the Gospel and true salvation.
PS. If this method of salvation were true why in the world would anyone obey Christ? You can just go party your life away and go to heaven either way. Why are people being martyred all around the world for the Gospel if they can just sit home and get to the same destination those who are living life away are? Some may say, well they just want to please the Lord. I’ve got news for you friend…that IS the desire of ALL true believers! If that is not your desire then I would suggest to examine yourself. Romans 3:10 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;” Without the Holy Spirit we can’t be righteous. So in essence those who believe you can be saved and not obey/walk with the Lord are saying that the Holy Spirit works in some and is overpowered by others?Phil 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” This verse must mean those who allow God to finish the work He started when you got saved, those who don’t chose for God to finish the work He begin (supposedly when you got saved) well make this scripture a lie. Now concerning the little prayer we guide people in to make sure they say all the right things in order to get right salvation I guess. It is nowhere in the Bible and if you go back to the robber that was being crucified with Jesus, you will see that He did not pray any prayer, he acknowledged his sinfulness and Christs deity and he was saved. Those who do not die right after they get saved, they have to obey Christ and die to self everyday! This is when we can say God knows the heart. We are running around making people recite some prayer just to be saved from hell and with no personal cost to follow Christ mentioned. Why? Because it is not popular, especially to young adults. Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. I will let you answer what the narrow door is. Because it is surely not living of the world as a christian.
Here’s an article by Mike Miller who explain this “carnal” issue perfectly.
If you talk to the average professing Christian, they will defend this creature that is found nowhere in the Bible – a “Carnal Christian.” The first thought that comes to my mind is this:
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. Rom. 13:14
“Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof,” but isn’t that exactly what believing in a carnal Christian is? You are making a place for something the Bible doesn’t. Not only that, but you are making a place for something the Bible strictly forbids, condemns, and clearly defines as enmity with God.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Rom. 8:6-8
The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God and indeed it CAN’T be! The carnal mind does not and cannot obey the law of God. Yet many claim that a person like this is saved. They have a real problem explaining all those verses in the Bible that say we can, do, and must obey if we are saved:
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2 Cor. 10:5
And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. Acts 5:32
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matt. 7:21
The Bible promises that carnal people are to be judged by God. These are people who are not subject to God and his law, those who do not obey him.
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Thess. 1:8
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Pet. 4:17
Those who are truly saved obey God – they are NOT carnally minded:
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Heb. 5:9
The whole idea of Romans 8 is to make a division between those who walk after the Spirit and those who walk after the flesh. Those who walk after the spirit are saved – those who walk after the flesh are not. You cannot be both at the same time – you are either walking after the flesh or you are walking after the Spirit. The verses above plainly show that one is life and one is death. If Christ lives in you the body is dead and you do not walk after the flesh anymore. It is not your lifestyle and not your habit. If the Spirit of Christ does not live in you then you are not saved:
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Rom. 8:9
Much more can be said about this matter. There are some verses that are used to “prove” the existence of “carnal Christians” but they do no such thing. The Bible is very clear in the few verses we have presented here that carnality and true salvation do not go together. The Word of God is the standard and we should judge ourselves and others by that – not by looking around at what is sitting in the church pews calling themselves “carnal Christians.”
A story in the news this week talked about a porn star who is going to be at a fundraiser dinner for the Republican Party in a week or two. She will be there with the President and many of our so-called conservative leaders. She says she is a Christian! She reads her Bible and prays every night. She says that she isn’t as bad as a lot of people and when she acts in those pornographic movies it isn’t really her – she is pretending to be someone else. She says God looks on the heart and she isn’t immoral just because she does those things for the camera. She is a “carnal Christian.” Check out the article on Worldnetdaily.com here:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44671
All the above is a true story, but very few Christians would accept her testimony as real. They can’t believe that a porn star could be a Christian, but they believe in “carnal Christians.” What hypocrites! They are teaching exactly the same thing as this woman is professing, but they have an imaginary line or limit where you just can’t be a Christian and do those things. They are powerless to condemn this woman because they really believe just like she does. There really is no difference between the lost and saved. A Christian can do anything! Just because he is saved doesn’t mean he can’t be carnal! But I remind you that is just the logic of men, while the Word of God makes a clear difference and very plainly teaches quite the opposite.
There are no carnal Christians, there are simply carnal people and spiritual people. There are people who walk after the flesh and those who walk after the Spirit. Just as God judged his people in the past He will judge this wicked generation for blurring the lines and failing to make a difference between the clean and the unclean.
Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Ezek. 22:26
This friends is what we are creating when we expose a weak representation, a water down version of the Gospel. When we claim that all that is needed is to repent (we even use christian terms, as if it is better) in this case is to feel sorry no need for life change, I mean if you want to it’s great “if you are not there, well you can just make Jesus Lord later”…but just accept Him as savior now and we will figure out what salvation is truly about later. This is the craziest thing I have ever heard and sadly what is permeating our churches.
The belief that someone can be saved and yet live a life full of sin is absolutely contrary to scripture. We should not encourage it, preach it or teach it for the sake of just getting people “in the doors of heaven”, you are doing more harm than good. Preach the truth, preach the cost that those who are hearing may count the cost and then decide if they will follow Christ or not. If they are the elect, they will after counting the cost. If they are not, the call to die will be too much for them to bear and walk away. But at least they had a fair chance of receiving the true gospel and they are not walking around thinking they are saved when they are not!
There are well respected, biblically sound teachers and preachers who confirm this matter of true vs. false conversion. Some of these are John MacArthur, Kirk Cameron, Ray Comfort and C.H Spurgeon and Jonathan Edwards spoke on this matter as well among many others. This seems to be a huge problem within the churches.
