Interesting how Paul refers to himself in his letter to Timothy:
1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am [present, indicative] chief.
not was ... or formerly
The present tense represents a simple statement of fact or reality viewed as occurring in actual time.
And @Peterlag, you need to understand ... for the most part I (and I believe everyone who has replied to you) endeavor to walk worthy in light of who I am in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I am so thankful that we are able to enjoy all spiritual blessings in Christ. God did not have to do that for us at this time. But He did and we are blessed because we are allowed to enjoy all He has given to us in Christ, even though the future holds much, much more and we are unable at this present time to fully comprehend all that we will be.
We just also recognize that we live in this present evil world in our earthly tabernacle. And we realize our weaknesses ... that in this lifetime we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven (2 Cor 5:2). And while we sometimes stumble, falter (which is something we do not want to do), we have a merciful Father Who knows our frame and remembers that we are dust.
And just because we recognize our frailties, that does not mean we are "carnal" or that we are unable to "understand that which is spiritual" or that we "continue to walk in our old man". It just means we know who we were in Adam ... and who we are in Christ.
Have you ever thought about the fact that God wants us to realize our weakness so that we are driven to the Lord Jesus Christ?
We do not agree.
I believe the spirit of Christ is my new nature and therefore I have been able to function in it. To live in it, walk by it, and be in it. When I finally figured this out is when the lights turned on. Most of my life I believed I was in a battle between what I thought was my old man fighting against what I thought was my new man. Now I'm not fighting. I moved right in the darn thing. It seems to me one cannot walk in or by the spirit if our old nature (which is dead) thinks it's fighting against our new nature.
Last night is when I took the red pill that released me from the Matrix. Being in Christ is not what I was taught, meaning that you are in fellowship, which means you are walking upright with your flesh. I now understand being in Christ is being in the spirit and neither of them (in Christ or in the spirit) has anything to do with the darn flesh.
It now seems perfectly clear to walk in or by the spirit is the same as putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the same as having fellowship with Jesus Christ, which is also part of having the mind of Christ. Living in Christ is the same as being strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. There's a verse where Jesus says without me you can do nothing. Well, I'm never without him.
