Page 42 - lifeandgrace
P. 42
Eph 2:15 (NNAS) "by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of
commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into
one new man, thus establishing peace,"
Eph 4:22-24 (RSV) "Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life
and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, 23and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and
put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and
holiness."
So we not only see that the old man (the old nature, the Adamic nature, which was that which caused
us to sin as a matter of who we were) has been crucified with Christ and died, but we have also been
created anew - we are a new man in Christ, created with a divine nature according to 2Peter 1:4 (RSV)
"by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape
from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.”
John speaks of this new man in 1 John 3:9 (RSV) “No one born of God commits sin; for God's nature
abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God."
Theologians have been wrestling with that scripture since it was written. What to do with a scripture
speaking of the NEW MAN who is born of God and saying God’s nature abides in him and then saying
that he cannot sin!!! The only ones of us not sinning so far as we see with our eyes are dead and buried in
the ground. Everyone still in this body appear to be sinning regularly and many are sinning very
frequently. Perhaps you see yourself in the category of someone who sins regularly. What is the answer?
Many have explained 1 John 3:9 as speaking of what our habit is; that is, it is not our custom or habit
to sin though we do sin. But though that is a sop to our conscience it does not accord with what the facts:
In this realm, in this life, most of us sin regularly if not frequently. Yet, scripture says plainly, “...he
cannot sin.”
In order to understand the bible, particularly the writer of John’s epistles and Paul the apostle,
understand this: they both have a habit of jumping back and forth in their teaching between the eternal
realm where God dwells (and our new, alive spirit) and this temporal realm where we dwell in body. If
we put this together with the many scriptures where Paul is speaking of our holiness and righteousness
and completeness in Him, we see it is another scripture that is perfectly true in the eternal realm. Our
spirit dwells and is with God’s spirit. They are joined as it were. Where the Holy Spirit dwells with our
spirit, there is no sin. It seems impossible for God’s Spirit to dwell with a spirit that is less than holy and
righteous. And indeed, Paul says that is exactly what we are. That is our identity - not our identity
someday but our identity today, right now. If we look past this temporal, earthly realm to the eternal
realm where God dwells, we can see this is entirely possible and answers many difficult questions.
Plainly we do sin in this realm where our body dwells.
As we now see that we are a NEW MAN in Christ, we can begin to act like the person we really are.
We can believe that our spirit has partaken of the divine nature just as Peter says. We are not sinners! We
are saints just like Paul says over and over and over. We really are NEW!!!
If we are saints and if our spirit does not sin and if we are willing to allow our spirit to control our life,
through Christ Jesus living out His life through us, we do not have to sin in any realm. When Mr. Sin (see
Romans chapter 7 for the persona that Paul describes as “sin that dwells in me”) comes to entice us to sin,
we can reject his overtures. We do not have to walk in the flesh since we walk in the spirit. We no longer
have to sin. The NEW MAN who is created after the likeness of Christ Jesus and given the chance to rule
over our lives can begin to live in Christ Jesus so that we do not sin. Yes, we may fail but we immediately
repent and go on with our life. We do not wring our hands and worry and moan, but we know that we
walk in the continuous forgiveness of Christ Jesus through His blood shed on Calvary.
commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into
one new man, thus establishing peace,"
Eph 4:22-24 (RSV) "Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life
and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, 23and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and
put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and
holiness."
So we not only see that the old man (the old nature, the Adamic nature, which was that which caused
us to sin as a matter of who we were) has been crucified with Christ and died, but we have also been
created anew - we are a new man in Christ, created with a divine nature according to 2Peter 1:4 (RSV)
"by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape
from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.”
John speaks of this new man in 1 John 3:9 (RSV) “No one born of God commits sin; for God's nature
abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God."
Theologians have been wrestling with that scripture since it was written. What to do with a scripture
speaking of the NEW MAN who is born of God and saying God’s nature abides in him and then saying
that he cannot sin!!! The only ones of us not sinning so far as we see with our eyes are dead and buried in
the ground. Everyone still in this body appear to be sinning regularly and many are sinning very
frequently. Perhaps you see yourself in the category of someone who sins regularly. What is the answer?
Many have explained 1 John 3:9 as speaking of what our habit is; that is, it is not our custom or habit
to sin though we do sin. But though that is a sop to our conscience it does not accord with what the facts:
In this realm, in this life, most of us sin regularly if not frequently. Yet, scripture says plainly, “...he
cannot sin.”
In order to understand the bible, particularly the writer of John’s epistles and Paul the apostle,
understand this: they both have a habit of jumping back and forth in their teaching between the eternal
realm where God dwells (and our new, alive spirit) and this temporal realm where we dwell in body. If
we put this together with the many scriptures where Paul is speaking of our holiness and righteousness
and completeness in Him, we see it is another scripture that is perfectly true in the eternal realm. Our
spirit dwells and is with God’s spirit. They are joined as it were. Where the Holy Spirit dwells with our
spirit, there is no sin. It seems impossible for God’s Spirit to dwell with a spirit that is less than holy and
righteous. And indeed, Paul says that is exactly what we are. That is our identity - not our identity
someday but our identity today, right now. If we look past this temporal, earthly realm to the eternal
realm where God dwells, we can see this is entirely possible and answers many difficult questions.
Plainly we do sin in this realm where our body dwells.
As we now see that we are a NEW MAN in Christ, we can begin to act like the person we really are.
We can believe that our spirit has partaken of the divine nature just as Peter says. We are not sinners! We
are saints just like Paul says over and over and over. We really are NEW!!!
If we are saints and if our spirit does not sin and if we are willing to allow our spirit to control our life,
through Christ Jesus living out His life through us, we do not have to sin in any realm. When Mr. Sin (see
Romans chapter 7 for the persona that Paul describes as “sin that dwells in me”) comes to entice us to sin,
we can reject his overtures. We do not have to walk in the flesh since we walk in the spirit. We no longer
have to sin. The NEW MAN who is created after the likeness of Christ Jesus and given the chance to rule
over our lives can begin to live in Christ Jesus so that we do not sin. Yes, we may fail but we immediately
repent and go on with our life. We do not wring our hands and worry and moan, but we know that we
walk in the continuous forgiveness of Christ Jesus through His blood shed on Calvary.
