James 3:14-15 “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. (15) This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.”
The second influence that causes men to adopt carnal thinking is the environment that they grow up in i.e. this world. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle James speaks about the wisdom of this world i.e. how this world thinks, and he mentions that it is earthly, sensual and demonic. In other words it is everything that godly thinking isn’t, for it is carnal thinking. And so when people are born into the earth their minds have no knowledge and it is only as they grow in life that they acquire knowledge, and sadly because this world’s thinking is carnal, their minds become programmed to adopt the same carnal thinking of this world. Because children are exposed to this type of thinking from birth those same thought processes become ingrained in their minds and that indoctrination continues throughout their lives. Eventually carnal thinking becomes the accepted norm in the individual and any thinking contrary to that mindset i.e. spiritual thinking, is viewed as foolish thinking.
Romans 1:28-32 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; (29) being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, (30) backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, (31) undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; (32) who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”
In a previous passage of scripture we saw that the carnal mind is enmity against God because it refuses to be subject to the laws of God. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul describes to us in detail what the carnal mind is really like and none of it is good, and in fact we see that God refers to the carnal mind as being debased. Obviously in this passage Paul is describing the thought processes of unbelievers who have given themselves over completely to carnal thinking and have thus become extremely wicked. Nevertheless all unbelievers, because they are carnal in their thinking, also have the potential to become extremely wicked and all of them adopt the same thought processes listed above to a greater or lesser degree depending on the environment in which they live. In other words if there are strong Judeo-Christian norms that have been adopted in the societies in which they live then their carnal thought processes are forcefully constrained to fall in line with those norms. But in societies where Judeo-Christian norms have largely been abandoned then the carnal mind is allowed free reign among the unbelievers and they therefore progress steadily to becoming more and more wicked in their thinking and behaviour. Obviously those societies as a whole then also become more degenerate over time.
Michael E.B. Maher
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