DOES A CHRISTIAN ACTUALLY HAVE TWO NATURES?
Is a Christian a sinner or a saint?
The greatest hindrance to perfection(maturity) is the erroneous concept of two natures popularly taught by most churches. The majority of Christians feel that to be thoroughly orthodox one must believe that even after his conversion he still has an old sinful nature from which he cannot find release until death. In spite of the fact that the Scriptures nowhere teach such a doctrine, nevertheless, most religious Bodies generally follow the teachings of their predecessors without seriously challenging their doctrinal views no matter how much they may appear to be out of harmony with the Word of God.
When the Church began to lose the experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (about the fourth century as a result of the intrusion of sin, unbelief, and doctrinal error) its theology also began to change to conform to its experience. Since without the Holy Spirit perfection(maturity) is impossible, the Church felt it incumbent to adapt its theology to conform to its lack of attainment in this regard, even though the view that the believer still has a sinful nature is not in agreement with the clear teachings of the Scriptures. In exactly the same manner and for the same reason, the contemporary Church has dispensationalized miracles, gifts of the Spirit, speaking in tongues, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, divine healing, and the supernatural out of the twentieth century, limiting these things to the apostolic age in spite of the fact that history shows that they continued in their fullness without interruption for 300 years!
The two natures theory encourages defeat and indifference, and too often is an excuse for justifying sin in the life of the believer. Since without the baptism in the Holy Spirit he cannot realize the perfection(maturity) demanded by Jesus, and encouraged by the "two natures" doctrine, he resigns himself to half-hearted consecration without the satisfaction of any real fruitfulness or victory. Moreover, using the "two natures" doctrine, he is able to reconcile the paradox which his own experience presents in light of 1 John 3:9 which states, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." Thus, the "carnal Christians," "born-again sinners," and "unholy saints" can now be more easily explained. It is not, he reasons, the Christian in his new nature that sins ("he cannot sin, because he is born of God"), but it is the old evil nature still clinging to him which drags him down, and which he retains until released from its bondage at death. Thus, he can excuse himself, saying, "It is not really I who sinned when I became impatient and lost my temper, but the old nature of Adam dwelling in me." Thus one may, without having to use too much imagination or ingenuity, justify the lustful glance, cheating. disobedience to the law, lying, and so on, thereby making void the commandments of God by the teachings of men.
The Scriptures show that man in his unregenerate condition does not merely possess a sinful nature, but that he himself is sinful. Man's nature is not some intangible thing which cannot be defined, but his nature is in essence the man himself—his personality or ego. He has one nature, human, which is fallen, sinful corrupt and alienated from God, and which at conversion is cleansed and renewed. The ridiculous, illogical, and unscriptural doctrine of two natures can easily be disproven merely by asking the question, "If the Christian has two natures, one sinful and one righteous, what happens to the sinful nature at death?" It most certainly cannot go to Heaven. Does then it go to Hell? If so, then we have the paradox of part of the Christian being in Heaven (the new nature) and part of him in Hell! The utter absurdity of such a conclusion should in itself constrain one to reexamine the "two natures'' fallacy in the light of Scripture. Although up to this point they would not admit it, the advocates of the "two natures'' doctrine have, nevertheless, subconsciously identified the sinful nature with the physical body or the flesh. But the physical body is not man's "nature." The physical body of flesh cannot, for example, hate, lust, or become angry. These things are emotions and appetites expressed by man's heart or spirit. The physical body may become an instrument through which sinful lusts, desires, emotions and appetites of the heart may be expressed. Adultery, for example, as Jesus shows in Matthew 5:27-28, may be committed in the heart (or man's spirit) without it ever finding expression through his physical body of flesh. So with anger, hate, and resentment (cf. Mt. 15:1-20). After conversion, the Scriptures state that even the flesh or physical body of the Christian can be brought into subjection to Christ and glorify God (1Cor. 6:19-20; Rom 6:lf.; 12:1-2; Col. 3:lf., etc.). Man's nature or being is not his physical body, but the man himself; i.e., his personality. It is his human nature which is changed and made new in Christ upon conversion: "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). Man has one nature always, sinful and alienated from God before conversion, and then cleansed and renewed by regeneration, for "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation." Thus, the sinful nature is not to be identified with the body nor thought of as something separate from the person himself.
"What then," one may ask, "of Paul's teaching concerning the old and new man? Does this not imply two natures in the believer?" What is the meaning of the Apostles teaching when he admonishes the believer," . . put off concerning the former conversation (life) the old man .. . and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:22- 24)? To be sure, the Apostle Paul teaches a duality in the believer; however, it is not a duality of two natures, but of flesh and spirit, the terms "old man" and "new man" being figures of these, as well as figures of what we were in Adam and now are in Christ. In Galatians 5:16, 17 he writes, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other.. . ." In Romans 8:1, we read, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Central in the theology of Paul is the ethical contrast he makes between the flesh and the Spirit. He speaks of the warfare between the flesh and the Spirit in Galatians and the domination of the flesh over the spiritual nature of the unregenerate man in Romans 7-8. The "mind of the flesh" signifies the unregenerate mind; the "works of the flesh" are contrasted with the "fruit of the Spirit." The unregenerate are "in the flesh (and) cannot please God," while the Christian is "not in the flesh, but in the Spirit," and if he "walks in the Spirit" he will not "fulfill the lusts of the flesh."
What then does Paul mean by the flesh? In what sense are the unregenerate said to be "in the flesh," whereas Christians, we are told, are not "in the flesh, but in the Spirit"? Certainly, he cannot mean that the believer does not dwell in a body of flesh. What, also, is the meaning of his statement in Romans 7:18 when he says, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing"? How do we "walk in the Spirit" while the unregenerate walk "in the flesh"? Quite evidently, Paul is using the concepts of "flesh" and "spirit," not in a literal, but in a moral and ethical sense. The "flesh" signifies for the Apostle the unregenerate state, sin, corruption and death, whereas the "spirit" speaks of the regenerate state of incorruption, holiness, purity, perfection(maturity) and life. The basic meaning of flesh in Scripture is, of course, the material or physical body. Man was created "flesh" into which God breathed spirit (Gen. 2: 7). But flesh is also used ethically as a synonym.
In the Old Testament "flesh" is at times a synonym for "man" in contrast to God Who is Spirit (Ps. 56:4; Jer. 17:5). The term also describes man as weak, mortal, creaturely (Isa. 40:6-8; Ps. 78:38-39), and as corrupt and sinful (Gen. 6:3, 11-13). On the basis of the moral and ethical significance of "flesh" and "spirit" in the Old Testament, Paul uses the terms with respect to regeneration, sin, sanctification, and the Christian life and walk.
With this understanding, it is evident that the Apostle does not teach the doctrine of two natures in which the old sinful nature is equated with the flesh and is the seat and source of sin. He does not hold with the Greek philosophers that matter is inherently evil and that the soul is imprisoned, as it were, in the body of flesh. Paul, as Christ, carefully distinguishes "sin" from the "flesh," although he uses the latter term figuratively as a synonym for the unregenerate state and the sins of the unregenerate nature. As already shown, the Apostle insists that upon conversion the Christian can glorify God with his body of flesh (1 Cor. 6:19-20), presenting it as an holy offering unto Him (Rom. 12:1-2). Thus, sin does not reside inherently in the flesh and appetites themselves, for they are given to us by God, but sin results from the misuse of the bodily appetites, impulses and desires. The body needs to have its appetite for food satisfied in order to maintain strength and life, but this appetite may be perverted through gluttony and drunkenness. The sexual attraction between man and woman is a normal God-given endowment, the Scriptures also commanding them to unite in marriage and be fruitful and multiply, but this urge too may be perverted through fornication or adultery. The flesh or physical body may, therefore, become the instrument through which the sin of the heart can manifest itself, but the seat and source of such sin was in the heart itself, not the flesh.
Inasmuch as sin in the heart is generally expressed through the instrumentality of the flesh, the flesh becomes for Paul an accurate figure for symbolizing the unregenerate state. In the unregenerate man, the "flesh principle" rules his life, motivating, directing, dominating and controlling his every thought and action. Unregenerate man is ruled by his appetites and is a slave to his passions and lusts. His flesh becomes the instrument to express the desires of his heart, whereas in the Christian the "spirit principle" is in control and brings the appetites and desires of the flesh under the domination and rule of the spirit. Thus, the Apostle admonishes, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof" (Rom. 6:12). That is, do not allow sin to rule the body and use it for gross, sinful indulgences, the spirit being a slave to the flesh, but let the renewed nature or spirit rule over the flesh, yielding the members of the body as "instruments of righteousness unto God." The Christian still possesses a body of flesh with its appetites and desires, and lives in a sinful world with its temptations and allurements. He is, as a consequence, still subject to temptation and misuse of his natural fleshly appetites, his mind also being open to the allurements and suggestions of Satan, who attempts to seduce him through pride, religious error, and materialism.
Thus, the duality in Pauline theology is not of two natures, but of the flesh and spirit. The Christian, he shows, has but one nature which has been cleansed and renewed—his conflict is not between two natures, but between flesh and spirit. The fact that the believer has one nature, which has been renewed, is nowhere more clearly indicated than in the Apostle's statement of this fact in Ephesians 2:1-3. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
It is significant that he states in verse 1 that it is you (not just some part of your nature) whom God hath made alive. In verses 2-3 he describes the old nature of life of the sinner, concluding with the remarkable statement that we "were by nature the children of wrath." By the expression we were by nature sinful, it is signified that we are now by nature righteous. The Bible teaches the new birth of the sinner; i.e., it is the man himself, or his total being, which is renewed. He is not given a new nature in addition to the old nature which he retains, but his one human nature has now been changed and renewed. Moreover, God no longer speaks of him as a "sinner," but he is called a "saint" and a "son of God." The Scriptures say that he has been "washed," "cleansed," "sanctified," "born again," and "freed from sin." He is said to be a "new creation," that he has "put off the old man with his deeds," and has "put on the new man, which is renewed . . . after the image of him that created him." Contrary to the theological opinions of men, the Christian does not have two natures, for neither of the two major passages which deal with the believer's spiritual warfare mention the term nature (e.g., Rom. 6-8; Gal. 5), but speak of the ethical conflict between the flesh and spirit. Therefore, the Christian does not have a sinful nature—he is by nature cleansed, pure, holy, sanctified, washed, and renewed in the image of God. Man in his unregenerate state is a sinner by nature, but upon regeneration he is by nature righteous, according to the testimony of Scripture itself. As long as a Christian holds to the unscriptural doctrine that the believer possesses two natures, one sinful and one righteous, he will never be able to rise above the level of the mediocre Christian life which is so characteristic of contemporary Christianity.
A good question was asked as follows "How can a Christian be practically free and avoid sin for the rest of his lifetime as in 1John 3:9?. 1 John 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
Answer:
We don’t teach sinless perfection since the scriptures don’t. We live in a fallen sinful world and we will be tempted. We overcome by overcoming temptation and yielding to the Holy Spirit. Please read the whole chapter of Romans 6. There it shows that we need to yield our body and mind to the Holy Spirit so that we don’t sin. If we do sin you apply 1 John 1:9(confess our sins to God and ask forgiveness for it in Jesus name) and fellowship is restored with God and you continue growing to maturity. Edited. Shared.
God willing, more will be posted soon. All glory to Jesus alone.
Is a Christian a sinner or a saint?
The greatest hindrance to perfection(maturity) is the erroneous concept of two natures popularly taught by most churches. The majority of Christians feel that to be thoroughly orthodox one must believe that even after his conversion he still has an old sinful nature from which he cannot find release until death. In spite of the fact that the Scriptures nowhere teach such a doctrine, nevertheless, most religious Bodies generally follow the teachings of their predecessors without seriously challenging their doctrinal views no matter how much they may appear to be out of harmony with the Word of God.
When the Church began to lose the experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (about the fourth century as a result of the intrusion of sin, unbelief, and doctrinal error) its theology also began to change to conform to its experience. Since without the Holy Spirit perfection(maturity) is impossible, the Church felt it incumbent to adapt its theology to conform to its lack of attainment in this regard, even though the view that the believer still has a sinful nature is not in agreement with the clear teachings of the Scriptures. In exactly the same manner and for the same reason, the contemporary Church has dispensationalized miracles, gifts of the Spirit, speaking in tongues, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, divine healing, and the supernatural out of the twentieth century, limiting these things to the apostolic age in spite of the fact that history shows that they continued in their fullness without interruption for 300 years!
The two natures theory encourages defeat and indifference, and too often is an excuse for justifying sin in the life of the believer. Since without the baptism in the Holy Spirit he cannot realize the perfection(maturity) demanded by Jesus, and encouraged by the "two natures" doctrine, he resigns himself to half-hearted consecration without the satisfaction of any real fruitfulness or victory. Moreover, using the "two natures" doctrine, he is able to reconcile the paradox which his own experience presents in light of 1 John 3:9 which states, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." Thus, the "carnal Christians," "born-again sinners," and "unholy saints" can now be more easily explained. It is not, he reasons, the Christian in his new nature that sins ("he cannot sin, because he is born of God"), but it is the old evil nature still clinging to him which drags him down, and which he retains until released from its bondage at death. Thus, he can excuse himself, saying, "It is not really I who sinned when I became impatient and lost my temper, but the old nature of Adam dwelling in me." Thus one may, without having to use too much imagination or ingenuity, justify the lustful glance, cheating. disobedience to the law, lying, and so on, thereby making void the commandments of God by the teachings of men.
The Scriptures show that man in his unregenerate condition does not merely possess a sinful nature, but that he himself is sinful. Man's nature is not some intangible thing which cannot be defined, but his nature is in essence the man himself—his personality or ego. He has one nature, human, which is fallen, sinful corrupt and alienated from God, and which at conversion is cleansed and renewed. The ridiculous, illogical, and unscriptural doctrine of two natures can easily be disproven merely by asking the question, "If the Christian has two natures, one sinful and one righteous, what happens to the sinful nature at death?" It most certainly cannot go to Heaven. Does then it go to Hell? If so, then we have the paradox of part of the Christian being in Heaven (the new nature) and part of him in Hell! The utter absurdity of such a conclusion should in itself constrain one to reexamine the "two natures'' fallacy in the light of Scripture. Although up to this point they would not admit it, the advocates of the "two natures'' doctrine have, nevertheless, subconsciously identified the sinful nature with the physical body or the flesh. But the physical body is not man's "nature." The physical body of flesh cannot, for example, hate, lust, or become angry. These things are emotions and appetites expressed by man's heart or spirit. The physical body may become an instrument through which sinful lusts, desires, emotions and appetites of the heart may be expressed. Adultery, for example, as Jesus shows in Matthew 5:27-28, may be committed in the heart (or man's spirit) without it ever finding expression through his physical body of flesh. So with anger, hate, and resentment (cf. Mt. 15:1-20). After conversion, the Scriptures state that even the flesh or physical body of the Christian can be brought into subjection to Christ and glorify God (1Cor. 6:19-20; Rom 6:lf.; 12:1-2; Col. 3:lf., etc.). Man's nature or being is not his physical body, but the man himself; i.e., his personality. It is his human nature which is changed and made new in Christ upon conversion: "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). Man has one nature always, sinful and alienated from God before conversion, and then cleansed and renewed by regeneration, for "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation." Thus, the sinful nature is not to be identified with the body nor thought of as something separate from the person himself.
"What then," one may ask, "of Paul's teaching concerning the old and new man? Does this not imply two natures in the believer?" What is the meaning of the Apostles teaching when he admonishes the believer," . . put off concerning the former conversation (life) the old man .. . and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:22- 24)? To be sure, the Apostle Paul teaches a duality in the believer; however, it is not a duality of two natures, but of flesh and spirit, the terms "old man" and "new man" being figures of these, as well as figures of what we were in Adam and now are in Christ. In Galatians 5:16, 17 he writes, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other.. . ." In Romans 8:1, we read, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Central in the theology of Paul is the ethical contrast he makes between the flesh and the Spirit. He speaks of the warfare between the flesh and the Spirit in Galatians and the domination of the flesh over the spiritual nature of the unregenerate man in Romans 7-8. The "mind of the flesh" signifies the unregenerate mind; the "works of the flesh" are contrasted with the "fruit of the Spirit." The unregenerate are "in the flesh (and) cannot please God," while the Christian is "not in the flesh, but in the Spirit," and if he "walks in the Spirit" he will not "fulfill the lusts of the flesh."
What then does Paul mean by the flesh? In what sense are the unregenerate said to be "in the flesh," whereas Christians, we are told, are not "in the flesh, but in the Spirit"? Certainly, he cannot mean that the believer does not dwell in a body of flesh. What, also, is the meaning of his statement in Romans 7:18 when he says, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing"? How do we "walk in the Spirit" while the unregenerate walk "in the flesh"? Quite evidently, Paul is using the concepts of "flesh" and "spirit," not in a literal, but in a moral and ethical sense. The "flesh" signifies for the Apostle the unregenerate state, sin, corruption and death, whereas the "spirit" speaks of the regenerate state of incorruption, holiness, purity, perfection(maturity) and life. The basic meaning of flesh in Scripture is, of course, the material or physical body. Man was created "flesh" into which God breathed spirit (Gen. 2: 7). But flesh is also used ethically as a synonym.
In the Old Testament "flesh" is at times a synonym for "man" in contrast to God Who is Spirit (Ps. 56:4; Jer. 17:5). The term also describes man as weak, mortal, creaturely (Isa. 40:6-8; Ps. 78:38-39), and as corrupt and sinful (Gen. 6:3, 11-13). On the basis of the moral and ethical significance of "flesh" and "spirit" in the Old Testament, Paul uses the terms with respect to regeneration, sin, sanctification, and the Christian life and walk.
With this understanding, it is evident that the Apostle does not teach the doctrine of two natures in which the old sinful nature is equated with the flesh and is the seat and source of sin. He does not hold with the Greek philosophers that matter is inherently evil and that the soul is imprisoned, as it were, in the body of flesh. Paul, as Christ, carefully distinguishes "sin" from the "flesh," although he uses the latter term figuratively as a synonym for the unregenerate state and the sins of the unregenerate nature. As already shown, the Apostle insists that upon conversion the Christian can glorify God with his body of flesh (1 Cor. 6:19-20), presenting it as an holy offering unto Him (Rom. 12:1-2). Thus, sin does not reside inherently in the flesh and appetites themselves, for they are given to us by God, but sin results from the misuse of the bodily appetites, impulses and desires. The body needs to have its appetite for food satisfied in order to maintain strength and life, but this appetite may be perverted through gluttony and drunkenness. The sexual attraction between man and woman is a normal God-given endowment, the Scriptures also commanding them to unite in marriage and be fruitful and multiply, but this urge too may be perverted through fornication or adultery. The flesh or physical body may, therefore, become the instrument through which the sin of the heart can manifest itself, but the seat and source of such sin was in the heart itself, not the flesh.
Inasmuch as sin in the heart is generally expressed through the instrumentality of the flesh, the flesh becomes for Paul an accurate figure for symbolizing the unregenerate state. In the unregenerate man, the "flesh principle" rules his life, motivating, directing, dominating and controlling his every thought and action. Unregenerate man is ruled by his appetites and is a slave to his passions and lusts. His flesh becomes the instrument to express the desires of his heart, whereas in the Christian the "spirit principle" is in control and brings the appetites and desires of the flesh under the domination and rule of the spirit. Thus, the Apostle admonishes, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof" (Rom. 6:12). That is, do not allow sin to rule the body and use it for gross, sinful indulgences, the spirit being a slave to the flesh, but let the renewed nature or spirit rule over the flesh, yielding the members of the body as "instruments of righteousness unto God." The Christian still possesses a body of flesh with its appetites and desires, and lives in a sinful world with its temptations and allurements. He is, as a consequence, still subject to temptation and misuse of his natural fleshly appetites, his mind also being open to the allurements and suggestions of Satan, who attempts to seduce him through pride, religious error, and materialism.
Thus, the duality in Pauline theology is not of two natures, but of the flesh and spirit. The Christian, he shows, has but one nature which has been cleansed and renewed—his conflict is not between two natures, but between flesh and spirit. The fact that the believer has one nature, which has been renewed, is nowhere more clearly indicated than in the Apostle's statement of this fact in Ephesians 2:1-3. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
It is significant that he states in verse 1 that it is you (not just some part of your nature) whom God hath made alive. In verses 2-3 he describes the old nature of life of the sinner, concluding with the remarkable statement that we "were by nature the children of wrath." By the expression we were by nature sinful, it is signified that we are now by nature righteous. The Bible teaches the new birth of the sinner; i.e., it is the man himself, or his total being, which is renewed. He is not given a new nature in addition to the old nature which he retains, but his one human nature has now been changed and renewed. Moreover, God no longer speaks of him as a "sinner," but he is called a "saint" and a "son of God." The Scriptures say that he has been "washed," "cleansed," "sanctified," "born again," and "freed from sin." He is said to be a "new creation," that he has "put off the old man with his deeds," and has "put on the new man, which is renewed . . . after the image of him that created him." Contrary to the theological opinions of men, the Christian does not have two natures, for neither of the two major passages which deal with the believer's spiritual warfare mention the term nature (e.g., Rom. 6-8; Gal. 5), but speak of the ethical conflict between the flesh and spirit. Therefore, the Christian does not have a sinful nature—he is by nature cleansed, pure, holy, sanctified, washed, and renewed in the image of God. Man in his unregenerate state is a sinner by nature, but upon regeneration he is by nature righteous, according to the testimony of Scripture itself. As long as a Christian holds to the unscriptural doctrine that the believer possesses two natures, one sinful and one righteous, he will never be able to rise above the level of the mediocre Christian life which is so characteristic of contemporary Christianity.
A good question was asked as follows "How can a Christian be practically free and avoid sin for the rest of his lifetime as in 1John 3:9?. 1 John 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
Answer:
We don’t teach sinless perfection since the scriptures don’t. We live in a fallen sinful world and we will be tempted. We overcome by overcoming temptation and yielding to the Holy Spirit. Please read the whole chapter of Romans 6. There it shows that we need to yield our body and mind to the Holy Spirit so that we don’t sin. If we do sin you apply 1 John 1:9(confess our sins to God and ask forgiveness for it in Jesus name) and fellowship is restored with God and you continue growing to maturity. Edited. Shared.
God willing, more will be posted soon. All glory to Jesus alone.
❤️DOES A CHRISTIAN ACTUALLY HAVE TWO NATURES?
Is a Christian a sinner or a saint?
The greatest hindrance to perfection(maturity) is the erroneous concept of two natures popularly taught by most churches. The majority of Christians feel that to be thoroughly orthodox one must believe that even after his conversion he still has an old sinful nature from which he cannot find release until death. In spite of the fact that the Scriptures nowhere teach such a doctrine, nevertheless, most religious Bodies generally follow the teachings of their predecessors without seriously challenging their doctrinal views no matter how much they may appear to be out of harmony with the Word of God.
When the Church began to lose the experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (about the fourth century as a result of the intrusion of sin, unbelief, and doctrinal error) its theology also began to change to conform to its experience. Since without the Holy Spirit perfection(maturity) is impossible, the Church felt it incumbent to adapt its theology to conform to its lack of attainment in this regard, even though the view that the believer still has a sinful nature is not in agreement with the clear teachings of the Scriptures. In exactly the same manner and for the same reason, the contemporary Church has dispensationalized miracles, gifts of the Spirit, speaking in tongues, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, divine healing, and the supernatural out of the twentieth century, limiting these things to the apostolic age in spite of the fact that history shows that they continued in their fullness without interruption for 300 years!
The two natures theory encourages defeat and indifference, and too often is an excuse for justifying sin in the life of the believer. Since without the baptism in the Holy Spirit he cannot realize the perfection(maturity) demanded by Jesus, and encouraged by the "two natures" doctrine, he resigns himself to half-hearted consecration without the satisfaction of any real fruitfulness or victory. Moreover, using the "two natures" doctrine, he is able to reconcile the paradox which his own experience presents in light of 1 John 3:9 which states, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." Thus, the "carnal Christians," "born-again sinners," and "unholy saints" can now be more easily explained. It is not, he reasons, the Christian in his new nature that sins ("he cannot sin, because he is born of God"), but it is the old evil nature still clinging to him which drags him down, and which he retains until released from its bondage at death. Thus, he can excuse himself, saying, "It is not really I who sinned when I became impatient and lost my temper, but the old nature of Adam dwelling in me." Thus one may, without having to use too much imagination or ingenuity, justify the lustful glance, cheating. disobedience to the law, lying, and so on, thereby making void the commandments of God by the teachings of men.
The Scriptures show that man in his unregenerate condition does not merely possess a sinful nature, but that he himself is sinful. Man's nature is not some intangible thing which cannot be defined, but his nature is in essence the man himself—his personality or ego. He has one nature, human, which is fallen, sinful corrupt and alienated from God, and which at conversion is cleansed and renewed. The ridiculous, illogical, and unscriptural doctrine of two natures can easily be disproven merely by asking the question, "If the Christian has two natures, one sinful and one righteous, what happens to the sinful nature at death?" It most certainly cannot go to Heaven. Does then it go to Hell? If so, then we have the paradox of part of the Christian being in Heaven (the new nature) and part of him in Hell! The utter absurdity of such a conclusion should in itself constrain one to reexamine the "two natures'' fallacy in the light of Scripture. Although up to this point they would not admit it, the advocates of the "two natures'' doctrine have, nevertheless, subconsciously identified the sinful nature with the physical body or the flesh. But the physical body is not man's "nature." The physical body of flesh cannot, for example, hate, lust, or become angry. These things are emotions and appetites expressed by man's heart or spirit. The physical body may become an instrument through which sinful lusts, desires, emotions and appetites of the heart may be expressed. Adultery, for example, as Jesus shows in Matthew 5:27-28, may be committed in the heart (or man's spirit) without it ever finding expression through his physical body of flesh. So with anger, hate, and resentment (cf. Mt. 15:1-20). After conversion, the Scriptures state that even the flesh or physical body of the Christian can be brought into subjection to Christ and glorify God (1Cor. 6:19-20; Rom 6:lf.; 12:1-2; Col. 3:lf., etc.). Man's nature or being is not his physical body, but the man himself; i.e., his personality. It is his human nature which is changed and made new in Christ upon conversion: "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). Man has one nature always, sinful and alienated from God before conversion, and then cleansed and renewed by regeneration, for "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation." Thus, the sinful nature is not to be identified with the body nor thought of as something separate from the person himself.
"What then," one may ask, "of Paul's teaching concerning the old and new man? Does this not imply two natures in the believer?" What is the meaning of the Apostles teaching when he admonishes the believer," . . put off concerning the former conversation (life) the old man .. . and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:22- 24)? To be sure, the Apostle Paul teaches a duality in the believer; however, it is not a duality of two natures, but of flesh and spirit, the terms "old man" and "new man" being figures of these, as well as figures of what we were in Adam and now are in Christ. In Galatians 5:16, 17 he writes, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other.. . ." In Romans 8:1, we read, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Central in the theology of Paul is the ethical contrast he makes between the flesh and the Spirit. He speaks of the warfare between the flesh and the Spirit in Galatians and the domination of the flesh over the spiritual nature of the unregenerate man in Romans 7-8. The "mind of the flesh" signifies the unregenerate mind; the "works of the flesh" are contrasted with the "fruit of the Spirit." The unregenerate are "in the flesh (and) cannot please God," while the Christian is "not in the flesh, but in the Spirit," and if he "walks in the Spirit" he will not "fulfill the lusts of the flesh."
What then does Paul mean by the flesh? In what sense are the unregenerate said to be "in the flesh," whereas Christians, we are told, are not "in the flesh, but in the Spirit"? Certainly, he cannot mean that the believer does not dwell in a body of flesh. What, also, is the meaning of his statement in Romans 7:18 when he says, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing"? How do we "walk in the Spirit" while the unregenerate walk "in the flesh"? Quite evidently, Paul is using the concepts of "flesh" and "spirit," not in a literal, but in a moral and ethical sense. The "flesh" signifies for the Apostle the unregenerate state, sin, corruption and death, whereas the "spirit" speaks of the regenerate state of incorruption, holiness, purity, perfection(maturity) and life. The basic meaning of flesh in Scripture is, of course, the material or physical body. Man was created "flesh" into which God breathed spirit (Gen. 2: 7). But flesh is also used ethically as a synonym.
In the Old Testament "flesh" is at times a synonym for "man" in contrast to God Who is Spirit (Ps. 56:4; Jer. 17:5). The term also describes man as weak, mortal, creaturely (Isa. 40:6-8; Ps. 78:38-39), and as corrupt and sinful (Gen. 6:3, 11-13). On the basis of the moral and ethical significance of "flesh" and "spirit" in the Old Testament, Paul uses the terms with respect to regeneration, sin, sanctification, and the Christian life and walk.
With this understanding, it is evident that the Apostle does not teach the doctrine of two natures in which the old sinful nature is equated with the flesh and is the seat and source of sin. He does not hold with the Greek philosophers that matter is inherently evil and that the soul is imprisoned, as it were, in the body of flesh. Paul, as Christ, carefully distinguishes "sin" from the "flesh," although he uses the latter term figuratively as a synonym for the unregenerate state and the sins of the unregenerate nature. As already shown, the Apostle insists that upon conversion the Christian can glorify God with his body of flesh (1 Cor. 6:19-20), presenting it as an holy offering unto Him (Rom. 12:1-2). Thus, sin does not reside inherently in the flesh and appetites themselves, for they are given to us by God, but sin results from the misuse of the bodily appetites, impulses and desires. The body needs to have its appetite for food satisfied in order to maintain strength and life, but this appetite may be perverted through gluttony and drunkenness. The sexual attraction between man and woman is a normal God-given endowment, the Scriptures also commanding them to unite in marriage and be fruitful and multiply, but this urge too may be perverted through fornication or adultery. The flesh or physical body may, therefore, become the instrument through which the sin of the heart can manifest itself, but the seat and source of such sin was in the heart itself, not the flesh.
Inasmuch as sin in the heart is generally expressed through the instrumentality of the flesh, the flesh becomes for Paul an accurate figure for symbolizing the unregenerate state. In the unregenerate man, the "flesh principle" rules his life, motivating, directing, dominating and controlling his every thought and action. Unregenerate man is ruled by his appetites and is a slave to his passions and lusts. His flesh becomes the instrument to express the desires of his heart, whereas in the Christian the "spirit principle" is in control and brings the appetites and desires of the flesh under the domination and rule of the spirit. Thus, the Apostle admonishes, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof" (Rom. 6:12). That is, do not allow sin to rule the body and use it for gross, sinful indulgences, the spirit being a slave to the flesh, but let the renewed nature or spirit rule over the flesh, yielding the members of the body as "instruments of righteousness unto God." The Christian still possesses a body of flesh with its appetites and desires, and lives in a sinful world with its temptations and allurements. He is, as a consequence, still subject to temptation and misuse of his natural fleshly appetites, his mind also being open to the allurements and suggestions of Satan, who attempts to seduce him through pride, religious error, and materialism.
Thus, the duality in Pauline theology is not of two natures, but of the flesh and spirit. The Christian, he shows, has but one nature which has been cleansed and renewed—his conflict is not between two natures, but between flesh and spirit. The fact that the believer has one nature, which has been renewed, is nowhere more clearly indicated than in the Apostle's statement of this fact in Ephesians 2:1-3. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
It is significant that he states in verse 1 that it is you (not just some part of your nature) whom God hath made alive. In verses 2-3 he describes the old nature of life of the sinner, concluding with the remarkable statement that we "were by nature the children of wrath." By the expression we were by nature sinful, it is signified that we are now by nature righteous. The Bible teaches the new birth of the sinner; i.e., it is the man himself, or his total being, which is renewed. He is not given a new nature in addition to the old nature which he retains, but his one human nature has now been changed and renewed. Moreover, God no longer speaks of him as a "sinner," but he is called a "saint" and a "son of God." The Scriptures say that he has been "washed," "cleansed," "sanctified," "born again," and "freed from sin." He is said to be a "new creation," that he has "put off the old man with his deeds," and has "put on the new man, which is renewed . . . after the image of him that created him." Contrary to the theological opinions of men, the Christian does not have two natures, for neither of the two major passages which deal with the believer's spiritual warfare mention the term nature (e.g., Rom. 6-8; Gal. 5), but speak of the ethical conflict between the flesh and spirit. Therefore, the Christian does not have a sinful nature—he is by nature cleansed, pure, holy, sanctified, washed, and renewed in the image of God. Man in his unregenerate state is a sinner by nature, but upon regeneration he is by nature righteous, according to the testimony of Scripture itself. As long as a Christian holds to the unscriptural doctrine that the believer possesses two natures, one sinful and one righteous, he will never be able to rise above the level of the mediocre Christian life which is so characteristic of contemporary Christianity.
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A good question was asked as follows "How can a Christian be practically free and avoid sin for the rest of his lifetime as in 1John 3:9?. 1 John 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
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Answer:
We don’t teach sinless perfection since the scriptures don’t. We live in a fallen sinful world and we will be tempted. We overcome by overcoming temptation and yielding to the Holy Spirit. Please read the whole chapter of Romans 6. There it shows that we need to yield our body and mind to the Holy Spirit so that we don’t sin. If we do sin you apply 1 John 1:9(confess our sins to God and ask forgiveness for it in Jesus name) and fellowship is restored with God and you continue growing to maturity. Edited. Shared.
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God willing, more will be posted soon. All glory to Jesus alone.
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