While I now believe in the sinful nature again

[MessageOfTheCross]

Romans 7

21 I find then a Law (does not refer in this case to the Law of Moses, but rather to the "Law of sin and death" [Rom. 8:2]), that, when I would do good, evil (the evil nature) is present with me (the idea is that the sin nature is always going to be with the Believer; there is no hint in the Greek that its stay is temporary, at least until the Trump sounds; we can successfully address the sin nature in only one way, and that is by Faith in Christ and the Cross, which Paul will detail in the next Chapter).

22 For I delight in the Law of God (refers to the moral Law of God ensconced in the Ten Commandments) after the inward man (refers to the spirit and soul of man which has now been regenerated):

23 But I see another Law in my members (the Law of sin and death desiring to use my physical body as an instrument of unrighteousness), warring against the Law of my mind (this is the Law of desire and willpower), and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin (the Law of sin and death) which is in my members (which will function through my members, and make me a slave to the Law of sin and death; this will happen to the most consecrated Christian if that Christian doesn't constantly exercise Faith in Christ and the Cross that all powers of darkness were defeated [Col. 2:14-15]).

JSM - The Expositor's Study Bible

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Romans 7

24 O wretched man that I am! (Any Believer who attempts to live for God outside of God's Prescribed Order, which is "Jesus Christ and Him Crucified," will, in fact, live a wretched and miserable existence. This life can only be lived in one way, and that way is the Cross.) Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (The minute he cries "Who," he finds the path to Victory, for he is now calling upon a Person for help, and that Person is Christ; actually, the Greek Text is masculine, indicating a Person).

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord (presents Paul revealing the answer to his own question; Deliverance comes through Jesus Christ Alone, and more particularly what Jesus did at Calvary and the Resurrection). So then with the mind I myself serve the Law of God (the "will" is the trigger, but it within itself can do nothing unless the gun is loaded with explosive power; that Power is the Cross); but with the flesh the Law of sin (if the Believer resorts to the "flesh," [i.e., "self-will, self-effort, religious effort"] which refers to his own ability outside of Christ and the Cross, he will not serve the Law of God, but rather the Law of sin).

JSM - The Expositor's Study Bible

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

Romans 6:6-7 - Knowing this, that our old man is Crucified with Him (all that we were before conversion), that the body of sin might be destroyed (the power of the sin nature made ineffective), that henceforth we should not serve sin (the guilt of sin is removed at conversion, because the sin nature no longer rules within our hearts and lives).

For he who is dead (He was our Substitute, and in the Mind of God, we died with Him upon Believing Faith) is freed from sin (set free from bondage of the sin nature).

The power of the sin nature is broken, not eliminated.

The role of obedience in a Christian life is Faith exclusively in Christ and His Finished Work (The Law of the Spirit of Life In Christ Jesus - Romans 8:2). This gives the Holy Spirit the legal means (who only works in this parameter) to help us and transforms us into what we ought to be (Christlikeness - Romans 8:13). Faith in anything and everything else, the works of the flesh will manifest (Gal. 5:19-21). You are now committing Spiritual Adultery (Romans 7:1-6).

It is difficult for Believers to place their Faith exclusively in the Cross of Christ because it goes against the flesh (Romans 8:7; Gal. 5:17).

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

For sin shall not have dominion over you (the sin nature will not have dominion over us if we as Believers continue to exercise Faith in the Cross of Christ; otherwise, the sin nature most definitely will have dominion over the Believer): for you are not under the Law (means that if we try to live this life by any type of law, no matter how good that law might be in its own right, we will conclude by the sin nature having dominion over us), but under Grace (the Grace of God flows to the Believer on an unending basis only as long as the Believer exercises Faith in Christ and what He did at the Cross; Grace is merely the Goodness of God exercised by and through the Holy Spirit, and given to underserving Saints). Romans 6:14

Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey (the Believers is either a slave to Christ, for that's what the word "servant" means, or else a slave to sin, which he will be if he doesn't keep his Faith in Christ and the Cross); whether of sin unto death (once again allow us to state the fact that if the Believer attempts to live for God by any method other than Faith in the Finished Work of Christ, the Believer will fail, no matter how hard he otherwise tries), or of obedience unto Righteousness? (The Believer is required to obey the Word of the Lord. He cannot do that within his own strength, but only by understanding that he receives all things through what Christ did at the Cross and his continued Faith in that Finished Work, even on a daily basis. Then the Holy Spirit, Who Alone can make us what we ought to be, can accomplish His work within our lives.) Romans 6:16

JSM - The Expositor's Study Bible

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

What Jesus accomplished on the Cross has given the Holy Spirit the legal right to live in us, to help us. The Cross has given us access into the Most Holy Place by the Blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:19 NIV). Every single blessing received by the Child of God comes through Calvary.

The only way to God is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6)...the only way to Jesus Christ is by the Means of the Cross (Luke 14:27). The only way to the Cross is a denial of self (Luke 9:23). If any person tries to come any other way, Jesus says, "they are a thief and a robber" (John 10:1).

1. Jesus Christ is the source of all blessings.
2. The Cross is the means by which all blessings are given.
3. The object of our faith must be Christ and the Cross.
4. That being done, the Holy Spirit will greatly help us.

If the Cross of Christ is not strictly the Object of our Faith, God looks at everything else as "worldliness." No matter how religious our efforts may be otherwise, it is still looked at by the Lord as "friendship with the world." This means the Believer in essence becomes an "enemy of God."

Christians must start thinking Spiritually, which refers to the fact that everything is furnished to us through the Cross, and is obtained by Faith and not works. Many Christians say you put too much emphasis on the Cross. I remind you that the Apostle Paul said, "We preach Christ Crucified (1 Cor. 1:23). He also said, "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). Notice two subjects: Christ and the Cross. Why would the Apostle Paul say such a thing? Because that is the only way we receive victory over sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil!

And he said to them all, If any man will come after Me (the criteria for Discipleship), let him deny himself (not asceticism as many think, but rather that one denies one's own willpower, self-will, strength, and ability, depending totally on Christ), and take up his cross (the benefits of the Cross, looking exclusively to what Jesus did there to meet our every need) daily (this is so important, our looking to the Cross; that we must renew our Faith in what Christ has done for us, even on a daily basis, for Satan will ever try to move us away from the Cross as the Object of our Faith, which always spells disaster), and follow Me (Christ can be followed only by the Believer looking to the Cross, understanding what it accomplished, and by that means alone [Rom. 6:3-5, 11, 14; 8:1-2, 11; 1 Cor. 1:17-18, 21, 23; 2:2; Gal. 6:14; Eph. 2:13-18; Col. 3:14-15]). Luke 9:23

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it (try to live one's life outside of Christ and the Cross): but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it (when we place our Faith entirely in Christ and the Cross, looking exclusively to Him, we have just found "more Abundant Life" [John 10:10]) Luke 9:24

As far as trying to do something as it concerns taking up the Cross daily, we are to do nothing. In fact, it was already done at Calvary some two thousand years ago. On a daily basis, we should reinforce our Faith in Christ and what He has done for us at the Cross (Rom. 6:3-5; 8:2, Gal. 2:20-21, Col. 2:10-15). This is the "Truth" which we must learn, act upon, and continue to act upon, which guarantees the help of the Holy Spirit.

We are not wrestling against flesh and blood. Satan has been defeated through the Cross. Principalities and powers have been spoiled (Col. 2:15). We are enforcing this victory through applying the Cross of Calvary to the pulling down strongholds by placing and maintain our Faith exclusively in Christ and the Finished Work at Calvary Cross where the victory was won, i.e., "The Blood of Jesus." Our source of Power is the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace (Exodus 14:14). "In Justification, the Lord fights 'for' us, and in Sanctification, He fights 'in' us."

Two kinds of peace

1. Justifying Peace - This is Peace with God, a legal standing. Rom. 8:7; Eph. 2:14-15
2. Sanctifying Peace - This is the Peace of God in the heart. Rom. 8:6; 14:19; 15:13; Gal. 1:3

The first is the result of a legal standing. The second is the result of the Work of the Holy Spirit. The first is static, never fluctuates, the second changes almost from hour to hour. The first, every Christian has, the second, every Christian may have.

Sanctifying peace allows the Holy Spirit to deliver the Believer into the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ so that the Life of Christ is manifested through the Believer by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 4:11, Gal. 2:20-21, Romans 8:2; 13, John 14:21). We must remember, it is His Life (Christ) that brings the victory, and not ours.

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

The criterion is faithfulness and not other things (Matthew 25:23). The Foundation of our belief system must be Christ and Him Crucified (Gal 6:14). The Holy Spirit mortifies the deeds of the flesh which transforms us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:13); For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: (Isaiah 28:10)

"21 Not every one who says unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (the repetition of the word “Lord” expresses astonishment, as if to say: “Are we to be disowned?”); but he who does the Will of My Father which is in Heaven (what is the Will of the Father? Verse 23 tells us).

22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not Prophesied in Your Name? and in Your Name have cast out devils? and in Your Name done many wonderful works? (These things are not the criteria, but rather Faith in Christ and what Christ has done for us at the Cross [Eph. 2:8-9, 13-18]. The Word of God alone is to be the judge of doctrine.)

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you (again we say, the criteria alone is Christ and Him Crucified [I Cor. 1:23]): depart from Me, you who work iniquity (we have access to God only through Christ, and access to Christ only through the Cross, and access to the Cross only through a denial of self [Lk. 9:23]; any other Message is Judged by God as "iniquity," and cannot be a part of Christ (1 Cor. 1:17)." Matthew 7:21-23

JSM

 

[seed_time_harvest]

given all the bickering I've seen, on BDF, I think I have forgotten or taken for granted how much of an optimal comment-er @dcontroversal can be

Good to know.

 

[Chester]

what's the difference between sin nature and the flesh?

The sin nature (the old man) is what was crucified with Christ at your new birth (see Romans 6). At your spirit level you are a new creation in Christ Jesus, but you still have the flesh. The flesh (body, and the motivations behind the body) are what our daily battle is with. If we live after the flesh, we will fullfill the desires of the flesh (that is - we will sin). But if we live in/by the spirit (where the Spirit dwells) we will we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

The battle for the believer is a battle of following our spirit (the Holy Spirit) or of living a life after the flesh. The believer no longer has the sin nature (the old man), but does still have the flesh.

The sin nature is what was passed on to us from Adam - We were born "dead" because we were born "in Adam". But when we were born again, now Scripture says we are "in Christ". We are changed and our ancestry is now traced to Jesus Christ (our Father) rather than through Adam.

Mixing up the flesh (Greek - sarks) with old nature or sin nature is a mistake many make. But there is a distinct difference and the two are they are always clearly differentiated in the Greek New Testament. Sarks (flesh) is used when Paul means "flesh". And old man or old nature is used when Paul means that.

 

[Chester]

The sin nature has been separated, not eliminated in a Christian life. This evil nature is always present in our current bodies. Victory only comes by Faith in Christ and the Cross. We must acknowledge that we need the GRACE of God to overcome the sins we repeat. The operation of the Holy Spirit is accomplished through Faith and Grace.

Every failure in a Christian life is caused by us resulting to the flesh and trying to do what needs to be done by the means of the flesh, which is guaranteed to fail. When the Believer attempts to function outside of the Cross, the situation becomes impossible. Sin and failure are the constant results, no matter how hard one may try otherwise.

Your last paragraph above is exactly right and I agree. But in your first paragraph when you use "sin nature" you are speaking about "the flesh" and not about the sin nature.