Christian Carnality

1 Cor 11:27-33

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly.

30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.

31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.

32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world. NAS

Another New Testament synonym for Rebound, “lifting holy hands”, occurs in 1 Tim. 2:8:

1 Tim 2:8

I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. NIV

The first part of that verse is symbolism for spirituality. A person’s “hands” are “holy” if he or she has confessed their known sins and been “cleansed from all unrighteousness.” This is in contrast to lifting hands that are involved in “anger or disputing,” which is symbolism for carnality.

James uses some more symbolism for Rebound in verses 9 and 10. In verse 9, he uses this imagery to describe repentance, to tell carnal believers that they need a change of mind about their sins:

9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom.

James is telling carnal believers that they should be miserable, be mourning and weeping about the sins they are doing. He’s trying to say that the laughter and joy they show from sinning, needs to turn to sorrow at the fact that they are out of fellowship with God.

Then in verse 10, James describes Rebound through confession of sins in terms of turning back to the Lord God:

10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

If you “humble yourself” before the Lord by confessing your sins, He “exalts you”, that is, God returns you to fellowship with Him. You are again controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. You are no longer in carnality, but you are “cleansed from all unrighteousness” as promised in 1 John 1:9.

Then James tells them in the next verses how to stay in fellowship with God, how to continue to walk in the Spirit, by avoiding some of the sins they’ve been committing against one another.

11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law, and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it.

James says not to speak evil against each other. The law commands this, and so James explains that by ignoring the law, we make ourselves judges of it. We say in effect that we know best, and that the law is not as good as our personal opinions or standards.

12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?

James tells them in verse 12 that ultimately, God is the only lawgiver and judge, that only God can save and destroy.

For that reason, James asks them, “who are you to judge your neighbor?” This is because God provided salvation for the entire human race through Jesus Christ, and He wants all people to be saved. Those sins for which you judge other people, have already been paid for by Jesus, just as all of your sins and mine have been. God has forgiven and forgotten those sins and no longer holds them against us. Therefore, what gives any of us the right to hold another person’s sins against them.