The Carnal Man-2
Since a carnal person’s
life is filled with “religion”, he often doesn’t realize that he is missing
something vital: an intimate and saving relationship with God. If Christ isn’t
allowed to govern our whole, then He is standing at the front door of our
hearts knocking according to Revelation 3:20. And He says: if this doesn’t
change, then I will spit you out.
Matthew 7:21-23 is a
sobering text for carnal Christians; it reads: “Not everyone who says to Me,
‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My
Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in
Your name?’ And then I will declare to
them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
That unfortunately, will
be the fate for many of today’s carnal Christians. You see -
“…A spirit contrary to
the spirit of Christ would deny Him, whatever the profession. Men may deny
Christ by evil speaking, by foolish talking, by words that are untruthful or
unkind. They may deny Him by shunning life's burdens, by the pursuit of sinful
pleasure. They may deny Him by conforming to the world, by uncourteous
behavior, by the love of their own opinions, by justifying self, by cherishing
doubt, borrowing trouble, and dwelling in darkness. In all these ways they
declare that Christ is not in them. And “whosoever shall deny Me before men,”
He says, “him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.” Desire of
Ages page 357, paragraph 2
Let me encourage you to
repeat this prayer, after me, if you vaguely think that you are a carnal
Christian: “Father in heaven please make me willing, to ask myself this hard
question; If I am a carnal Christian,
then please help me to realize this right away. Make me willing to be willing,
for everything you want. Please lead me to a happy Christian life, to the
promised life in abundance and to eternal life. - Please renew my heart. Thank
you for answering my prayer, in Jesus’ name, Amen. “
If you are sincere, you
will experience great joy through a life with Christ in your heart through the
Holy Spirit. Through this change, you will step by step experience life
abundantly and you will have well-founded hope for eternal life.”
Today, I want to
encourage each one of us, to earnestly and diligently search our hearts. Go
into your personal, private closet and earnestly talk with God. Don’t hold back
anything, because He knows everything. Today, before you lay your head on your
pillow to rest, be sure that all things are right between you and God; and if
you have offended your brethren, get things right between you and them also.
Time is too short to be
fooling ourselves, as to whether or not we are right with God. Let’s not allow
the devil to trick us through pride and or hypocrisy. Let’s get right with God,
so that we can go home.
