Did the carnal Corinthians still enjoy Christian liberty?
Yes. Even the carnal Corinthians, with all their problems, were still enjoying Christian liberty. Paul did not force them into their position or stand over them with a whip. They were not what they were because of coercion, but because they had liberty in the Gospel of Grace, which many today fail to understand.
Les explains that Paul was not the progenitor or grand guru of a religion, so he could not stand over the Corinthians and hold a whip over them to make them adhere to everything he said. Even though the Corinthians were carnal and had many problems, they were not where they were because Paul forced them there, and they were not what they were because he stood over them with a heavy whip. Rather, even in their carnality they were still enjoying Christian liberty. Les notes that many so-called Christians today have no concept of that liberty or of what liberty in the Gospel of Grace amounts to. He then points to Galatians chapter 5, verse 1, where Paul appeals to believers not to let Judaizers destroy their faith, saying, “stand fast therefore... in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”