588. Fake News: Believers Still Have a Sinful Nature
Many Christians have been taught they are living with two natures; one that is holy and righteous, and another that is sinful. At the very least, this is misleading and at the most it’s just plain erroneous. One who has come to belief in Christ, born in the newness of life and given a new heart, cannot also have a nature of evil dwelling within the spirit of the inner man. Confusion occurs when we define the flesh as a sinful nature, and some of this stems from a popular Bible translation using the phrase "sinful nature," although it has been revised in many instances since 2011. Believers are not defined as sinners with a nature to match - we are now described as partakers of the divine nature.
?? In all honesty I still have a sinful heart. I sin. I hate it! I see my selfishness, pride, and my faith feels weak. What do I do with all this failure? Can I just take it to God and be honest and cry out "help me"? He clothes me in righteousness, but I don't act and think righteously 24 hours a day. Woe is me because I see the real sin that I am commiting. I judge, envy at times, get frustrated, and the list goes on. How should I view my sinfulness that comes from within? Thanks!
The fact that you hate it when you display sinful actions just goes to show that your actual nature is not sinful. :) The true you - a new, righteous creation in Christ Jesus - has no love at all for sin.
What you're dealing with (and what we all deal with) is the flesh, which is not who we are and is not our nature. It's a nagging kind of thing, and it "lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to each other, so that you do not do the things that you wish." (Galatians 5:17) Note that there are three "characters" here. There is "the flesh," there is "the Spirit" and there is "you." You are not the flesh and you are not the Spirit. You are "you." :) What the flesh (not you) does is it lusts against the Spirit. And the Spirit against the flesh. The battle is the Spirit's, not yours.
So the solution is to sit back and let the Spirit do His thing. Our "job" is to set our minds on Christ and things above, and to keep reminding ourselves that God has made us righteous. (See last week’s podcast, and the one before that). Although we allow ourselves to walk after the flesh sometimes, that doesn't define who we are. God has already defined us as "the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus," all through His gift. We're not to set our consciences on sin, but rather on Christ Himself, who has taken away our sins and remembers them no more.
I know it might sound a bit confusing, but here's the bottom line. In Christ, our behavior does not define us. Rather, the gift of God's righteousness is what defines us. Go ahead and be completely honest with God that you hate the things you do. He knows you hate it! :) He hates it too, because He knows it hurts you. He knows the earthly consequences of the choices we make, and He loves us completely, through it all. He wants us to know what He has made us to be, not what we think we are because of our actions.
You, Carla, are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!
Brother real me, born again me is a spirit. Bible says whennAdam sined his spirit took a nature of sin/devil. So in d minute man got born again, his spirit become changed. But his soul ( mind,will,emotions) needs change, renuwal. But our flash hascbeen described in Romans 7 where apostle Paul is saying about that sin that dwells in our flashly nature. We are not flash but we have flash. Our flash's desires are contrary to God. So in Romans 8 he speaks about that hope, redemption of our bodyes.. He speaks in Philipians that God will gives us body equall and the same as the Christ has. So, there are three dimensions of salvation.. First when our spirit is born again, and that happens the minute we heard and beleived the message of Gospel of Grace. The second is renewal of our soul/mind/thinking and that is a proces that needs a time. We read the word,we spend time in prayer and worship, we meditate.. In one word we feed our soul and heart with that word of faith and grace. So third and the last part is changing of our bodyes. That is yet to come when our Lord come for us. The last enemy is death. In d book of Revelation the word says.. Death and hell has been thrown in d lake of fire. So I beleive in deviding the word properly. We live in Grace testament, but we are spirit,soul and body. And sinfull nature has been taken by God out of us but we have that " sinfull" flash in whom no good dwells. We live in d Spirit and walk by d Spirit but we can not denay that flashly thing. Our flash is not our identity but only our house we dwell in. So as a brother K.E.Hagin said once: if you have termits in your house it does"nt mean you have it in you. And that real " you " you mensioned is a human spirit. No man knows what is in him but the his human spirit.. And no body knows what is in God but the Spirit of God that is in Him.. So Holy Spirit brings whitness to our spirit that we are childrens of God.. And let God fully protect,keep,your whole being; your spirit, soul and body... Jesus said: my soul is grived unto death. Pray with me cause spirit is ready but body/ flas is weak. Mary said; my soul gloryfies the Lord, my spirit shouts in d God my savior.. Sharp is the word of God.. It deveides the soul and the spirit..and the body... We are threeune beings. God bless you. Grace with us
Indeed, we are triune beings (body, soul, spirit). The core of our very being is our spirit. That is who we are. We are a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body. Indeed, the spirit has been born again and made a new creation. This is our true identity. This is what has become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. This is where we had a nature of sin (that we inherited from Adam), but it is where we now have a righteous nature (that we inherited from Jesus), and where we have become partakers of the divine nature.
Indeed, our soul (mind, will, emotions) needs daily renewing. "Be transformed by the renewing of the mind." This is not our nature, but rather it's the part of us that reflects what we think, observe, see, feel, etc. And so it's true that our soul can reflect the flesh, but as you rightfully say, the flesh is not who we are. The flesh is not our identity. The flesh is temporary.
We have a daily, or moment-by-moment choice to either walk after the flesh or walk after the Spirit. (This comes from how we choose to renew our minds). And so our desire is to show people that the are not the flesh, but rather that they are new, righteous creations in Christ Jesus, and to help people renew their minds in this. Believers are not the flesh. Believers do not have a sinful nature. (Again, the flesh is not our nature). Our nature is righteous. We partake in the divine nature. Our sinful nature died when we died to Adam and were born again to Christ. As to the body, "if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." (Rom 8:10). Paul continues, in regards to our current life in these mortal bodies: "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." (Rom 8:11)
I would also add Paul's words just before the passage in Romans that I just quoted: "So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." (Rom 8:8-9)
Those of us who are in Christ are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. This is our true and current reality.
I think this tendency to look at tree of knowledge of good and evil among people who have been involved in sin conscious gathering. When you become a christian,you feel innocent and assured until you partake of knowledge of evil and good.Confusion,lack of assurance set in.We need to be reminded over and over again that that tree will not do us any good.Thank you for the reminder Mike and Joel
?? In all honesty I still have a sinful heart. I sin. I hate it! I see my selfishness, pride, and my faith feels weak. What do I do with all this failure? Can I just take it to God and be honest and cry out "help me"? He clothes me in righteousness, but I don't act and think righteously 24 hours a day. Woe is me because I see the real sin that I am commiting. I judge, envy at times, get frustrated, and the list goes on. How should I view my sinfulness that comes from within?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
The fact that you hate it when you display sinful actions just goes to show that your actual nature is not sinful. :) The true you - a new, righteous creation in Christ Jesus - has no love at all for sin.
DeleteWhat you're dealing with (and what we all deal with) is the flesh, which is not who we are and is not our nature. It's a nagging kind of thing, and it "lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to each other, so that you do not do the things that you wish." (Galatians 5:17) Note that there are three "characters" here. There is "the flesh," there is "the Spirit" and there is "you." You are not the flesh and you are not the Spirit. You are "you." :) What the flesh (not you) does is it lusts against the Spirit. And the Spirit against the flesh. The battle is the Spirit's, not yours.
So the solution is to sit back and let the Spirit do His thing. Our "job" is to set our minds on Christ and things above, and to keep reminding ourselves that God has made us righteous. (See last week’s podcast, and the one before that). Although we allow ourselves to walk after the flesh sometimes, that doesn't define who we are. God has already defined us as "the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus," all through His gift. We're not to set our consciences on sin, but rather on Christ Himself, who has taken away our sins and remembers them no more.
I know it might sound a bit confusing, but here's the bottom line. In Christ, our behavior does not define us. Rather, the gift of God's righteousness is what defines us. Go ahead and be completely honest with God that you hate the things you do. He knows you hate it! :) He hates it too, because He knows it hurts you. He knows the earthly consequences of the choices we make, and He loves us completely, through it all. He wants us to know what He has made us to be, not what we think we are because of our actions.
You, Carla, are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!
Brother real me, born again me is a spirit. Bible says whennAdam sined his spirit took a nature of sin/devil. So in d minute man got born again, his spirit become changed. But his soul ( mind,will,emotions) needs change, renuwal. But our flash hascbeen described in Romans 7 where apostle Paul is saying about that sin that dwells in our flashly nature. We are not flash but we have flash. Our flash's desires are contrary to God. So in Romans 8 he speaks about that hope, redemption of our bodyes.. He speaks in Philipians that God will gives us body equall and the same as the Christ has. So, there are three dimensions of salvation.. First when our spirit is born again, and that happens the minute we heard and beleived the message of Gospel of Grace. The second is renewal of our soul/mind/thinking and that is a proces that needs a time. We read the word,we spend time in prayer and worship, we meditate.. In one word we feed our soul and heart with that word of faith and grace. So third and the last part is changing of our bodyes. That is yet to come when our Lord come for us. The last enemy is death. In d book of Revelation the word says.. Death and hell has been thrown in d lake of fire. So I beleive in deviding the word properly. We live in Grace testament, but we are spirit,soul and body. And sinfull nature has been taken by God out of us but we have that " sinfull" flash in whom no good dwells. We live in d Spirit and walk by d Spirit but we can not denay that flashly thing. Our flash is not our identity but only our house we dwell in. So as a brother K.E.Hagin said once: if you have termits in your house it does"nt mean you have it in you. And that real " you " you mensioned is a human spirit. No man knows what is in him but the his human spirit.. And no body knows what is in God but the Spirit of God that is in Him.. So Holy Spirit brings whitness to our spirit that we are childrens of God.. And let God fully protect,keep,your whole being; your spirit, soul and body... Jesus said: my soul is grived unto death. Pray with me cause spirit is ready but body/ flas is weak. Mary said; my soul gloryfies the Lord, my spirit shouts in d God my savior.. Sharp is the word of God.. It deveides the soul and the spirit..and the body...
DeleteWe are threeune beings. God bless you. Grace with us
Indeed, we are triune beings (body, soul, spirit). The core of our very being is our spirit. That is who we are. We are a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body. Indeed, the spirit has been born again and made a new creation. This is our true identity. This is what has become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. This is where we had a nature of sin (that we inherited from Adam), but it is where we now have a righteous nature (that we inherited from Jesus), and where we have become partakers of the divine nature.
DeleteIndeed, our soul (mind, will, emotions) needs daily renewing. "Be transformed by the renewing of the mind." This is not our nature, but rather it's the part of us that reflects what we think, observe, see, feel, etc. And so it's true that our soul can reflect the flesh, but as you rightfully say, the flesh is not who we are. The flesh is not our identity. The flesh is temporary.
We have a daily, or moment-by-moment choice to either walk after the flesh or walk after the Spirit. (This comes from how we choose to renew our minds). And so our desire is to show people that the are not the flesh, but rather that they are new, righteous creations in Christ Jesus, and to help people renew their minds in this. Believers are not the flesh. Believers do not have a sinful nature. (Again, the flesh is not our nature). Our nature is righteous. We partake in the divine nature. Our sinful nature died when we died to Adam and were born again to Christ. As to the body, "if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." (Rom 8:10). Paul continues, in regards to our current life in these mortal bodies: "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." (Rom 8:11)
I would also add Paul's words just before the passage in Romans that I just quoted: "So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." (Rom 8:8-9)
DeleteThose of us who are in Christ are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. This is our true and current reality.
I think this tendency to look at tree of knowledge of good and evil among people who have been involved in sin conscious gathering.
ReplyDeleteWhen you become a christian,you feel innocent and assured until you partake of knowledge of evil and good.Confusion,lack of assurance set in.We need to be reminded over and over again that that tree will not do us any good.Thank you for the reminder Mike and Joel
Amen, well said, Fadeke.
DeleteEnter your comment...Amen Thank you Joel. You made it clear sir.
ReplyDeleteThanks Wandisile Ngoma. :)
DeleteEnter your comment..Amen Joel Thanks.
ReplyDelete