Old nature versus the New Nature.

If the Spirit of God, (Holy Spirit) who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death (the Holy Spirit) will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you. (Resurrection life, and resurrection from the dead-[after physical death]) -(eternal Life).

When one becomes a Christian they receive a new nature which enables them to live for God, and to put off the sins of the flesh. The old nature must die because it is corrupted by sin, and the new nature is enlivened by the Holy Spirit. The old nature is dormant when a person receives the Holy Spirit, and it is by cooperation with the Holy Spirit that one puts away the evil deeds of the flesh. We should never feed our old selves, that is the person we were before trusting Christ.

If we put to death the sinful actions of the human nature, and live by the spirit, not by the sinful human nature we will live. If you continue to be led by the sinful human nature, you will die in your sins Romans 8:13. God’s Holy Spirit in me doesn’t cause me to fear God, instead I am a child of God and by the holy spirit’s power I cry out “Father! my Father!” v.15. Romans 8:16 “God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children.

Sanctification is a process even though it is guaranteed to the Christian. We must be willing to work with the Holy Spirit because there is no such thing as automatic sanctification. The work is done by trusting Jesus everyday, not just initially for our salvation but everyday for our sanctification. Resisting sin is part of the Christian’s duty. There really isn’t a free ride after you get saved. You have a choice to live not after the flesh, but after the spirit. The flesh is our natural human abilities in conformance with our old human nature. To choose that means that you put yourself back under the law, (which is impossible for a true believer, because you are dead to the law) and it would mean that you forfeit grace.

This is why it is important for the Christian to understand that they are born again, or new creatures that live by the spirit, and not by the flesh! Why would you want to be enslaved again to a nature that eventually would have lead to your death. But thanks be to God, that your old nature is dormant, and you are alive in the spirit, so keep putting off the evil deeds, and live more and more from your new born again nature. Amen. This is Mike.

Comments

Age of Brokenness.

We are living in an age of brokenness, no matter what age you are, you probably have been touched with relationships falling apart, which causes more and more people to live in isolation. In this generation there is less of an incentive to heal and reconcile relationships, but that doesn’t excuse the amount of people who are broken. Why people don’t seem to be motivated to heal relationships is because our beliefs about faith and God have changed, really giving us less of an incentive to do what our religion says. If I act from my personal beliefs, but the person that I am responding to has abandoned religious beliefs, than the response to my wanting things to be better can be misinterpreted and rejected then by someone else. Generally when a society has expectations about broken relationships, loneliness and isolation, and the beliefs are generally accepted, society becomes a more compassionate society, because all value the same things. When religious values are undermined and ...

The Parable of the Ten Virgins.

Matthew 25:1-13 I have discovered a remarkable interpretation of this parable that I would like to share with you. The story in the Bible goes like this: “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy som...

The Existence of God

Since the beginning of time, man has learned about the existence of God. It began in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, however when they sinned, they died spiritually and their closeness with God was severed. In Genesis 4:26 it reads “Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD.” Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve, so it’s fair to say that not too long after mankind fell, we also called upon the Lord. From that time until now, mankind was closer to God then, but it’s a modern shift that the world is in the state it is in now, mainly unbelief, because even 30 years ago from now, mankind was closer to God. It is also true that in ancient Israel’s history, there have been generations that fell away and forgot God, but in the time of the prophets Israel was never left without a word from the Lord. Many generations have come and gone, but there have been remarkable generations all thr...

The Super Blogosphere of a parallel word.

Search This Blog