Yes, a believer can choose to live a carnal life.
Les Feldick teaches that while a believer is set free from the dominion of sin, God does not force anyone to live righteously. The believer retains free will and can choose to let old Adam rule or to be led by the Spirit. A carnal believer is one who is genuinely saved but has mixed priorities, living more in the flesh than in the Spirit.
Romans 8:13 — This verse directly addresses the believer's choice between living after the flesh and putting to death the deeds of the body through the Spirit.
Romans 6:12 — This verse warns believers not to let sin reign in their mortal bodies, showing that they have a choice.
Romans 8:5-8 contrasts the mind of the flesh and the mind of the Spirit. To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. The carnal mind is enmity against God and cannot please Him. Romans 8:13 warns that if a believer lives after the flesh, they will die, but if through the Spirit they mortify the deeds of the body, they shall live. Romans 6:12 exhorts believers not to let sin reign in their mortal bodies, implying that they have a choice to obey or not.
Les Feldick teaches that when a person is genuinely saved, the power of sin is broken, but the believer still has free will to choose how to live. He explains that a carnal believer is one who is in the body of Christ but has mixed priorities, living more in the flesh than in the Spirit. God does not force anyone; the believer must decide whether to let old Adam rule or to let God's grace rule. Les emphasizes the responsibility to discipline oneself and to be led by the Spirit, but ultimately the choice is left to the believer.
Les Feldick defines a carnal Christian as a believer who is not Spirit-filled and not Spirit-directed. They are in the body of Christ, but their priorities are mixed up, and they still live more in the flesh than in the Spirit. This is a believer who has not fully yielded to the Spirit's control.
Les Feldick clearly teaches that God does not force anyone. He states that the matter of choice comes in: a believer can either let old Adam rule supreme or let the grace of God overwhelm old Adam. God does not forcibly change a person's will; instead, He creates interest and leads, but the believer must respond.
According to Romans 8:13, living after the flesh results in spiritual death, not physical death. However, for the believer, this is not eternal doom but a loss of spiritual life and vitality. Les explains that a carnal believer is unhappy and miserable because old Adam continues to control them, though he does not have to.
Freedom from Sin's Dominion
Les explains that Christ died to break the power of sin, so death no longer has dominion over Him, and believers are set free from the damning nature of mankind.
Definition of Carnal Christian
Les defines a carnal believer as one who is in the body of Christ but has mixed priorities, living more in the flesh than in the Spirit.
Choice to Live After the Flesh
Les explains that believers are debtors not to the flesh, and if they live after the flesh they will die, but through the Spirit they can mortify the deeds of the body.
Old Adam's Experiential Force
Les notes that while old Adam is crucified and reckoned dead, he is still in force experientially, and believers live by the faithfulness of Christ in daily life.
Spiritual Death for Carnal Living
Les clarifies that living after the flesh leads to spiritual death, not physical, and emphasizes the need to put to death the deeds of the old Adam through the Spirit.
Carnal Mind vs. Spiritual Mind
Les explains that the carnal mind is the mind we are born with, enmity against God, while those who are after the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit.
The Matter of Choice
Les teaches that believers can either let old Adam rule or let grace rule, and God does not force anyone; the choice is up to the believer.
Carnal as Lost vs. Carnal Christian
Les clarifies that the term 'carnal' often refers to lost individuals, but also applies to believers who are controlled by old Adam, though they have eternal life.
Romans 8:5: For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
This verse sets the contrast between those who live according to the flesh and those who live according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:6: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
This verse directly addresses the consequence of being carnally minded versus spiritually minded.
Romans 8:7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
This verse explains that the carnal mind is hostile to God and cannot submit to His law.
Romans 8:13: For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
This verse gives the believer a choice and its consequences: living after the flesh leads to death, but mortifying the flesh through the Spirit leads to life.
Romans 6:12: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
This verse commands believers not to let sin reign, implying that they have the power and choice to prevent it.
No, according to Les Feldick, a carnal Christian is still a believer and in the body of Christ, but they are not Spirit-filled and their priorities are mixed up. They are saved, but they will experience spiritual death, not eternal doom.
A lost person has no eternal life and is still under control of old Adam. A carnal Christian has experienced the new birth and is a child of God, but they choose to live more in the flesh than in the Spirit.
Watch the Teaching: Romans 6:7-12 — Can a Believer Still Sin After Being Set Free?