Two Natures

<== Previous Lesson

[responsivevoice_button]

Hopefully in our discussion on Sanctification yesterday, you came away with something of a definition and process. Here are the basics:

Sanctification is being set apart to be holy (1 Corinthians 6:11) by growing in Christ-likeness. (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

In other words, as a Christian, you are a saint and you are growing daily to be more like Christ. This means that you aren’t trying to grow in Christ based on your own effort. That is legalism. And you aren’t presuming on the grace of God to grow you no matter how you live. That is licentiousness.

Sanctification is both a finished action and a daily process. I like to think of Sanctification like marriage. It is both a one-time thing and a daily process. You are married when you say “I do,” and then you spend the rest of your life living out those two words. Hebrews 10:14 sums this up well, “By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.“

The Two Natures of a Christian

Today, I want to look at the biblical idea of the two natures of a Christian. Christians have an old nature and a new nature. This is important to understand, because the temptation and allure of sin don’t magically go away when we become a Christian.

Your old nature, which the Bible also calls your “flesh” is your inner desire and tendency towards sin. This is not the same as temptation, it is rather the inner part of who you are that will inevitably choose to say yes to various temptations. Before you became a believer, this old nature was your only nature. We all have this old nature – this propensity to sin – because of man’s problem with sin.

However, your new nature was given to you the moment you gave your life to Christ. The new nature is the new life and new power to live that have been given to you by the Holy Spirit because of your trust in what Jesus did for you in his death and resurrection.

Do you see yourself as a new person? 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

New Person

Another way that the Bible talks about this old to new nature change is like a change of address. 1 Corinthians 15:22 refers to the old nature as being “in Adam.” But the moment we were born again, our soul came into union with God because of Christ and now we are “in Christ.” This little phrase occurs 85 times in the New Testament.

There are only two types of people in the world, those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ. You are in Christ if Christ is in you through the Holy Spirit. This is a matter of faith not sight. When you become a Christian, you don’t look in the mirror and see a different face. You don’t get a new look, or a new house, or even a new personality. So what does change? What is new?

Who is this New Person?

Let me ask you a question. Can a butterfly go back into a cocoon and become a caterpillar again? Of course not. The Christian life is about learning to accept who we actually are now in Christ.

• Light in the world (Matthew 5:14)
• Child of God (John 1:12)
• Christ’s friend (John 15:15)
• Fruit-bearer (John 15:16)
• Slave of righteousness (Romans 6:18)
• Joint heir with Christ (Romans 8:17)
• A temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19)
• Member of Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 5:30)
• Minister of Reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
• Saint (Ephesians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1-2)
• God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)
• Citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 2:6)
• Righteous and holy (Ephesians 4:24)
• Hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3)
• Chosen and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12)
• Child of light, not darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:5)
• Enemy of the Devil (1 Peter 5:8)
• Victorious (1 John 5:4)
• Born again (1 Peter 1:23)
• Alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)
• More than a conqueror (Romans 8:37)
• The Righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)
• Untouchable by the evil one (1 John 5:18)
• Dead to sin (Colossians 3:3)

Believe it or not, this is just scratching the surface of who the Bible declares you to be in Christ. This is not just positive thinking. Positive thinking would be a caterpillar gluing on wings and trying to fly. If you are in Christ, these things are true of you.

The greatest step of faith is accepting what God says about Christ, but the second greatest step is accepting what God says about you once you are in Christ. You are a new person.

You didn’t work to achieve this new life, it is a creation of God (Colossians 3:10). And you don’t have to work to keep your new life, it is kept with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3). I can’t think of a more secure place than that. Not only is it with Christ, but then it is in God as well. That’s like putting your valuables in a lockbox inside an armored car parked in an impenetrable vault.

Dead to Sin

One of the most discussed points of doctrine over the centuries has to do with what the Bible means when it tells us that this old nature is dead as it does in Colossians 3:3 and Romans 6:4.

Some have suggested that this means this old nature has disappeared. This obviously isn’t true from our daily experience. Others suggest it is a matter of self-discipline to say no to our old nature. However, self discipline by itself is not enough to change us.

According to scripture, our old nature is dead, and we are taught to put it off in Ephesians 4:22. So, how do we “put off” the old nature?

Not by Ignoring It

We shouldn’t act as if we are now somehow above temptation and sin, like sometime of perfect saint? Deep down, you know this is not true. We are not told to ignore these feelings now that we are Christians. We don’t just pretend that since we are God’s children that all of these ugly thoughts and temptations are not in our lives. It does no good to come to church and pretend to be perfect.

Not by Human Effort

I don’t ignore it, nor do I believe that somehow my self-discipline and determination will suppress my old nature and allow my new nature to shine forth. The battle with sin is a battle we must fight. However, we are mistaken when we try to fight in our own energy. Don’t make the mistake of taking on this battle alone. You’ll find that the harder you fight, the more sin will grip you like quicksand. It is impossible for our human effort alone to win the battle with sin. You need a power outside of yourself.

But By Faith in What God Has Done

Romans 6:8 says, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.“

You need to trust in what God says about that old nature. The Bible says that nature is dead, but what does that mean? Think of the picture you sometimes see in cartoons, of the angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. It doesn’t work to pretend the little devil isn’t there. But discipline isn’t enough either. You’re no match for Satan, you will give in to temptation. You must look at your new nature and by faith say, “You’re alive.” And you look at you’re old nature and say by faith, “You’re dead.”

So what does dead mean in regards to our old nature?

• It doesn’t mean no longer present or an influence in your life.
• It means:
  • It no longer has the power to force you to sin – you have a choice.
  • You no longer enjoy sin in the same way – you have changed.

Count Yourself

Read Romans 6:11-13:

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

What does Paul mean “count yourself?” If you put two columns on a sheet of paper and titled the them “Dead to Sin” and “Alive to Sin” where would you place yourself? Many would want to put themselves in the middle thinking that they can’t count themselves as dead to sin because they still struggle with sin. In honesty, we have times when we don’t want to count ourselves dead to sin because that would mean letting go of pet sins that we selfishly hold onto.

If you are a Christian, you are dead to sin and alive to God. It doesn’t matter how you feel at the moment. Count on it. This is faith.

I don’t want to give the impression that this process of becoming holy is easy. God is building holiness into the lives of very imperfect human beings. We stumble and we struggle and sometimes we wonder if we are making any progress at all. This is all shaping us to be more and more like Jesus.

Tomorrow, we will look at what this looks like with the daily practices of growth in Christ, but for now, I want you to listen to the song below by Chris Rice called “Clumsy.” Then please share a thought or question in the comments below.

Next Lesson ==>