PAUL’S FOURFOLD CLASSIFICATION OF THE HUMAN RACE
In the Pauline Epistles the human race is divided, by the Spirit, into four classes:
The natural man.
The babe in Christ.
The carnal Christian.
The spiritual Christian.
All four of these are referred to in one passage of Scripture (I Cor. 2:14-3:4) and it should be noted that they are classified according to their ability to appreciate and assimilate “the things of God” as revealed in His Word. We quote the passage here in full:
“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.
“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.
“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto CARNAL, even as unto BABES in Christ.
“I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
“For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
“For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?”
THE NATURAL MAN
The “natural,” or soulish man is the man we have described in the first chapter of this book; the fallen son of fallen Adam, as he is, without God; his fallen soul dominating his entire being. God says with regard to him, that he “receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,” that “they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them” (I Cor. 2:14). This is so even where the simple “preaching of the cross” is concerned, for we read that “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness” (I Cor. 1:18).
This is not intended as a rebuke. It is a simple statement of fact. Man, by nature, does not receive the things of the Spirit, “neither can he know them.” By worldly standards he may be generous and kind, gifted, cultured and refined; he may be possessed of superior intellectual powers, yes, and even be quite religious, but with all this he still remains utterly helpless to comprehend “the things of God.” Why? “Because they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14).
“The things of God” must remain completely incomprehensible to the wisest, most religious man on earth until God reveals them to him by His Spirit (I Cor. 2:10) and this is effected only as God imparts the Spirit to him:
“For what man [or, who] knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (I Cor. 2:11).
An animal cannot appreciate “the things of a man,” for the simple reason that he possesses an animal nature, rather than human nature. In the same way man, as he is, cannot understand “the things of God,” unless God imparts to him His nature. Indeed, man cannot even truly understand the animal world, which is beneath him; how could he understand God, who is above him, unless the Spirit of God be imparted to Him?
This explains why otherwise intelligent men fail, no matter how they try, to take in spiritual truths which seem so simple to the child of God; it explains why great intellectual leaders can make such fools of themselves when they begin to discuss “the things of God”; indeed, it explains why even religious leaders can display such abysmal ignorance of spiritual truths so clearly revealed in the Word, for neither intellectual acumen nor religious zeal qualify or enable the natural man to understand the things of God. Man, by nature, can know only “the things of a man” because he has only “the spirit of man” within him (I Cor. 2:11).
In this connection the apostle does not divide the unsaved into classes, for all are equally, because totally, in darkness as to “the things of the Spirit of God.” They may observe and recognize certain facts which give them to feel that they are on the “right track,” but actually they are in such spiritual darkness that they fail utterly to comprehend the things which the Word reveals about God, or to understand and have fellowship with God Himself.
But the apostle does classify the saved into three groups, of which the first to be considered is:
THE BABE IN CHRIST
It will be observed that when Paul first came to the Corinthians in their unsaved condition, he proclaimed to them “Christ crucified”:
“And I, brethren, when I came to you…determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (I Cor. 2:1,2).
The reason for this is not difficult to determine. It was by “the death of the cross” that our blessed Lord procured salvation for us, hence it is by “the preaching of the cross” that the Spirit works in men’s hearts to save them. On the cross our Lord paid the just penalty for sin, and the Spirit uses the proclamation of this fact to convict and convert the lost; thus, for a twofold reason the preaching of the cross is said to be the power of God unto salvation.
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (I Cor 1:18).1
“But we preach Christ crucified…unto them which are called, both Jews: and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (I Cor. 1:23,24).
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you…by which also ye are saved…how that Christ died for our sins…that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day…” (I Cor. 15:1-4).
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…for therein is the righteousness of God revealed…” (Rom. 1:16,17).
The “preaching of the cross” then, is what the Holy Spirit uses to save men. Even this message, to be sure, is “foolishness” to them until the Spirit operates within them and causes them to see, but He uses no other. No man in the present dispensation is saved apart from the preaching of the cross. It is only as that message is preached, and the Holy Spirit reveals it to the heart that the child of Adam is begotten anew and becomes a babe in the family of God; a “babe in Christ.”
The “babe in Christ” is not, of course, ready immediately for the “strong meat,” the solid food, of the Word. He could not yet digest these “deep things of God” (Heb. 5:13,14 cf. I Cor. 2:10) but must first be fed on the “milk of the Word” (I Pet. 2:2) the elementary truths of the gospel, by which he was saved and wherein he must learn to stand (I Cor. 15:1,2).
Babes in Christ can hardly be called either “carnal” or “spiritual,” since the things they do and say may be attributed so largely to the fact that they have not yet grown up. They may, however, be “carnally minded” or “spiritually minded” (Rom. 8:6). If “carnally minded,” they will wither and shrivel up, rather than grow, and will become carnal Christians, no longer possessing even the bloom and freshness of youth. If “spiritually minded,” they will blossom and grow from the freshness of spiritual childhood to the vigor of spiritual manhood,
“For to be carnally minded is death;2 but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6).
What is it to be “spiritually minded”? Simply to be vitally interested in the things of God, as revealed in the Word of God. Let man’s criterion of spirituality be what it may; God’s is simply this: How interested is this child of Mine in what I have to say and wish him to do? How much has he grown in the knowledge of it? Thus it is a sincere effort to know and obey God’s Word that produces true spirituality. The Word is the food on which we grow. This is why babes in Christ are exhorted:
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere [pure] milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Pet. 2:2).
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect [fullgrown] man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
“But speaking [holding] the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ” (Eph. 4:13-15)
THE CARNAL CHRISTIAN
How often have we all been reminded of the exhortation of the Apostle Peter: “Desire the sincere [pure] milk of the Word”! But how seldom have these words been emphasized in their relation to the rest of the verse:
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Pet. 2:2).
How often have preachers of the gospel used as their motto the words of Paul to the Corinthians: “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified”! (I Cor. 2:2). “Christ crucified,” they think, is the very acme of Christian truth, when in fact it is but the very beginning, the foundation, for the apostle goes on to write in this same passage:
“Howbeit, we speak wisdom among them that are perfect [mature]…” (I Cor. 2:6).
How many there are, even among those who have known Christ for years, who boast about believing the Bible but show little or no desire to understand it! Rather than study to attain to a better understanding of the Word of God and become such as know how to wield “the Sword of the Spirit,” they boast that they have gotten no farther than “the simple things.” To them the Bible is actually little more than a fetish; a mystical book containing many wonderful comforting passages. They give the curses and difficult passages but passing glances and choose for their meditation and discussion only those which “warm their hearts.”
The Bible itself calls such people carnal, or fleshly (Gr., sarkikos). They possess the Spirit, but walk after the flesh, with little interest in learning what the Spirit would have them know. They have been born of God but have not grown. They are not actually babes, for they have been saved long enough to have grown to spiritual maturity, but having failed to grow they must be dealt with “as babes.” It was among such that the apostle determined not to know anything save Jesus Christ and Him crucified (I Cor. 2:2 cf. 3:1-4). The natural man, of course, cannot take in even this. The carnal Christian, like the babe in Christ, can take in the fact that Christ died for him but can digest little more than this. To such the apostle wrote, by inspiration:
“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
“I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able” (I Cor. 3:1,2).
“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat [solid food].
“For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the Word of righteousness: for he is a babe” (Heb. 5:12,13).
RETARDED GROWTH
What joy and fellowship there is in gatherings where the newly-saved are present! In the spiritual realm, as well as in the physical, everyone loves a baby! But the joy that fills the hearts of loving parents is turned to bitter sorrow and disappointment if their babe fails to grow. The latter condition is as unspeakably sad and embarrassing as the former is joyous. Just so it is in the realm of the spirit.
The carnal Christian has failed to grow. He continues in a state of protracted infancy. He must be kept exclusively on a milk diet because, though saved for years, he is still unable to “bear” solid food, still “unskilful in the Word” and needing to be taught the elementary things.
THE EVIDENCES OF RETARDED GROWTH
Retarded spiritual growth is evidenced in many ways, all of which come under the heading of carnality or fleshliness. The Corinthians, so sternly rebuked for their carnality by the Apostle Paul, are said to have been careless about morals (I Cor. 5:1), puffed up (I Cor. 4:18; 5:2), inconsiderate of each other (I Cor. 6:1-7; 8:1,9,12), stingy (II Cor. 8:6-11; 11:7-9). While possessing the Spirit, they walked after the flesh.
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness.
“Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
“Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.3
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
“Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:19-23).
One of the most marked indications of retarded spiritual growth is self-interest and party strife, as seen in the case of the Corinthian believers. They were spiritually small and petty, so that the apostle had to write them:
“For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
“For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos;4 are ye not carnal?” (I Cor. 3:3,4).
It is not without significance that Peter’s exhortation to “newborn babes” to “desire the sincere milk of the Word” that they may “grow thereby,” is prefaced by the words: “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings” (I Pet. 2:1).
Similarly the Apostle Paul writes:
“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
“With all lowliness, and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
“Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
“There is one Body…” (Eph. 4:1-4).
We do well to give heed to these admonitions today, with the professing Church divided into hundreds of denominations. To think or talk in terms of “my church” or “our church,” rather than “the Church”; to consider only self and party, is a sign of spiritual immaturity. It is childish and petty, and sincere believers should grow up from such an attitude.
In connection with this the apostle writes to the Corinthians: “Are ye not carnal and walk as men?” i.e., as other men, in their natural, unsaved state. This aptly sums up the condition of the carnal Christian. He is saved, but walks, in many respects, as the unsaved about him. Put him among a group of unsaved people, and it will be difficult to tell the difference. Fortunately, we are told in II Timothy 2:19 that “the Lord knoweth them that are His,” but this passage goes on to say: “AND, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” Thank God, the simplest of believers are no longer “the children of wrath, even as others,” but believers who “walk as men” will surely suffer loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Wonder where I am at @101G
