STOP CALLING YOURSELF SINFUL.
one of the most damaging assumptions in modern Christianity in this conversation: that believers still carry a sinful nature they have to manage, suppress, and apologize for.
It isn't true. Yes, the flesh (that “stinking thinking” of the world) wars against us, but we’re not fighting against ourselves. We’re not our own worst enemy!
And the freedom on the other side of that lie is something I think we all need to hear.
Rejoice that your new heart and new desires are already right in line with God's.
Some say that sin is simply making a decision based upon my desires and not God’s. But the opposite is true. That assumes your desires are sinful. In fact, it assumes that our desires are always sinful. The scriptures say the opposite. Romans 6:17 says, “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,” It says we have become obedient from the heart. The heart represents our desires. You’re now good, not bad.
Yes there is the flesh. The Greek word for flesh is sarx. The definition of flesh is trying to make life work apart from Christ–its attitudes, perspectives, philosophies, coping mechanisms–the way of the world. But you are not the flesh, you are a child of God. God gave you a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 36:26: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." He made you obedient from the heart. Romans 6.
God is at work in you to want and to do his good pleasure. “If any man is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. God has written his desires on your heart and on your mind. That’s Hebrews 8. You have a new set of desires. That definition of sin is going to hide the truth from you if you continue to believe that sin is anything you desire you will have a miserable life. The real definition of sin is not trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Anything that is not of faith is sin. Everything you truly desire is his righteousness because you are your new self, a new creation. You have a new heart and new desires.
You are a slave of righteousness. You can’t get away from it. God is working in you so you want what he wants. So don’t be afraid of your desires. Hate the desires of sin. Hate the desires of the flesh. Hate the desires of the world. You are a child of God not the world. You are a child of God not sin. That is not our identity. Our identity is in Christ. Your old self was crucified and buried and your new self was resurrected with him. You are the new self.
You have a new obedient heart. Learn who you are in Christ and be your self–the new self. We can be ourselves and express Jesus at the same time because you are not an obstacle to him but an instrument. Romans 6:13 & 12:1 (ESV): Urge believers to present their bodies and members to God as "instruments for righteousness" and a "living sacrifice" rather than to sin.
What about your true nature? You don’t have true nature. That’s part of the flesh. There’s no Bible verse that says that. The word nature rarely comes up but here it is. Peter the apostle in his second epistle writes “so that through [the promises of his salvation] you [have become] partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”Peter tells us we are partakers of the divine nature. We do not have a “sinful nature.” That phrase was perpetrated by the NIV for about 40years. The term “sinful nature" is not really Biblical. The word is “flesh.” The word nature is not in it. The Greek word is sarx. So the flesh is not your nature. You have a new spiritual nature. It is called the new man, the new nature, the new creation. Take that term “sinful nature” and throw it out. It is not who you are. You had the flesh, you had the sinful nature, you had the worldly desires. You were rotten to the core. You were worldly. You were in Adam. How could you be born of the spirit and not be new?
Yes we still struggle with the flesh. What is the flesh? It’s unrenewed mindsets, old attitudes, stinking thinking. Think of it as software glitches that need an update but you have new hardware–that is your new heart, a new spirit that lives in you. A new nature. You are in a vine-branches relationship. Your new identity in Christ is the only identity you have. You are not two people. You do not have two natures. You are a new creature.
AF/PC
one of the most damaging assumptions in modern Christianity in this conversation: that believers still carry a sinful nature they have to manage, suppress, and apologize for.
It isn't true. Yes, the flesh (that “stinking thinking” of the world) wars against us, but we’re not fighting against ourselves. We’re not our own worst enemy!
And the freedom on the other side of that lie is something I think we all need to hear.
Rejoice that your new heart and new desires are already right in line with God's.
Some say that sin is simply making a decision based upon my desires and not God’s. But the opposite is true. That assumes your desires are sinful. In fact, it assumes that our desires are always sinful. The scriptures say the opposite. Romans 6:17 says, “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,” It says we have become obedient from the heart. The heart represents our desires. You’re now good, not bad.
Yes there is the flesh. The Greek word for flesh is sarx. The definition of flesh is trying to make life work apart from Christ–its attitudes, perspectives, philosophies, coping mechanisms–the way of the world. But you are not the flesh, you are a child of God. God gave you a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 36:26: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." He made you obedient from the heart. Romans 6.
God is at work in you to want and to do his good pleasure. “If any man is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. God has written his desires on your heart and on your mind. That’s Hebrews 8. You have a new set of desires. That definition of sin is going to hide the truth from you if you continue to believe that sin is anything you desire you will have a miserable life. The real definition of sin is not trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Anything that is not of faith is sin. Everything you truly desire is his righteousness because you are your new self, a new creation. You have a new heart and new desires.
You are a slave of righteousness. You can’t get away from it. God is working in you so you want what he wants. So don’t be afraid of your desires. Hate the desires of sin. Hate the desires of the flesh. Hate the desires of the world. You are a child of God not the world. You are a child of God not sin. That is not our identity. Our identity is in Christ. Your old self was crucified and buried and your new self was resurrected with him. You are the new self.
You have a new obedient heart. Learn who you are in Christ and be your self–the new self. We can be ourselves and express Jesus at the same time because you are not an obstacle to him but an instrument. Romans 6:13 & 12:1 (ESV): Urge believers to present their bodies and members to God as "instruments for righteousness" and a "living sacrifice" rather than to sin.
What about your true nature? You don’t have true nature. That’s part of the flesh. There’s no Bible verse that says that. The word nature rarely comes up but here it is. Peter the apostle in his second epistle writes “so that through [the promises of his salvation] you [have become] partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”Peter tells us we are partakers of the divine nature. We do not have a “sinful nature.” That phrase was perpetrated by the NIV for about 40years. The term “sinful nature" is not really Biblical. The word is “flesh.” The word nature is not in it. The Greek word is sarx. So the flesh is not your nature. You have a new spiritual nature. It is called the new man, the new nature, the new creation. Take that term “sinful nature” and throw it out. It is not who you are. You had the flesh, you had the sinful nature, you had the worldly desires. You were rotten to the core. You were worldly. You were in Adam. How could you be born of the spirit and not be new?
Yes we still struggle with the flesh. What is the flesh? It’s unrenewed mindsets, old attitudes, stinking thinking. Think of it as software glitches that need an update but you have new hardware–that is your new heart, a new spirit that lives in you. A new nature. You are in a vine-branches relationship. Your new identity in Christ is the only identity you have. You are not two people. You do not have two natures. You are a new creature.
AF/PC
STOP CALLING YOURSELF SINFUL.
one of the most damaging assumptions in modern Christianity in this conversation: that believers still carry a sinful nature they have to manage, suppress, and apologize for.
It isn't true. Yes, the flesh (that “stinking thinking” of the world) wars against us, but we’re not fighting against ourselves. We’re not our own worst enemy!
And the freedom on the other side of that lie is something I think we all need to hear.
Rejoice that your new heart and new desires are already right in line with God's.
Some say that sin is simply making a decision based upon my desires and not God’s. But the opposite is true. That assumes your desires are sinful. In fact, it assumes that our desires are always sinful. The scriptures say the opposite. Romans 6:17 says, “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,” It says we have become obedient from the heart. The heart represents our desires. You’re now good, not bad.
Yes there is the flesh. The Greek word for flesh is sarx. The definition of flesh is trying to make life work apart from Christ–its attitudes, perspectives, philosophies, coping mechanisms–the way of the world. But you are not the flesh, you are a child of God. God gave you a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 36:26: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." He made you obedient from the heart. Romans 6.
God is at work in you to want and to do his good pleasure. “If any man is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. God has written his desires on your heart and on your mind. That’s Hebrews 8. You have a new set of desires. That definition of sin is going to hide the truth from you if you continue to believe that sin is anything you desire you will have a miserable life. The real definition of sin is not trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Anything that is not of faith is sin. Everything you truly desire is his righteousness because you are your new self, a new creation. You have a new heart and new desires.
You are a slave of righteousness. You can’t get away from it. God is working in you so you want what he wants. So don’t be afraid of your desires. Hate the desires of sin. Hate the desires of the flesh. Hate the desires of the world. You are a child of God not the world. You are a child of God not sin. That is not our identity. Our identity is in Christ. Your old self was crucified and buried and your new self was resurrected with him. You are the new self.
You have a new obedient heart. Learn who you are in Christ and be your self–the new self. We can be ourselves and express Jesus at the same time because you are not an obstacle to him but an instrument. Romans 6:13 & 12:1 (ESV): Urge believers to present their bodies and members to God as "instruments for righteousness" and a "living sacrifice" rather than to sin.
What about your true nature? You don’t have true nature. That’s part of the flesh. There’s no Bible verse that says that. The word nature rarely comes up but here it is. Peter the apostle in his second epistle writes “so that through [the promises of his salvation] you [have become] partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”Peter tells us we are partakers of the divine nature. We do not have a “sinful nature.” That phrase was perpetrated by the NIV for about 40years. The term “sinful nature" is not really Biblical. The word is “flesh.” The word nature is not in it. The Greek word is sarx. So the flesh is not your nature. You have a new spiritual nature. It is called the new man, the new nature, the new creation. Take that term “sinful nature” and throw it out. It is not who you are. You had the flesh, you had the sinful nature, you had the worldly desires. You were rotten to the core. You were worldly. You were in Adam. How could you be born of the spirit and not be new?
Yes we still struggle with the flesh. What is the flesh? It’s unrenewed mindsets, old attitudes, stinking thinking. Think of it as software glitches that need an update but you have new hardware–that is your new heart, a new spirit that lives in you. A new nature. You are in a vine-branches relationship. Your new identity in Christ is the only identity you have. You are not two people. You do not have two natures. You are a new creature.
AF/PC
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