Hi Everyone,
There's a lot of talking still going around over an issue that was settled roughly 2,000 years ago. Does a Christian have a sinful nature? The answer, emphatically, is NO. And yet, I continue to hear talk from church members and leaders to the contrary.
I'm not going to try and prove you this truth in this email, except to point you to Romans 6, which clearly states:
"...do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him..."
But, what I'd really like to point out is just two of the reasons why this truth is either unknown or misunderstood:
1. This truth is not taught, because we've been negatively focusing on our identity. The Bible clearly points to the renewing of the mind as the task at hand (see Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23, and Colossians 3:10). Christians have been taught that it is their identity that is flawed--feed the white dog; starve the black dog. It wasn't until I realized the truth of Romans 6 that I began to see that I was dead to all sin, past, present, and future, and alive IN Christ. I didn't understand my identity, so I was fighting the wrong battle. In fact, there is now no sin in me. How can I say that? Because 1 Corinthians 6:19 proclaims that I am the most holy place (temple, or naos) of the Holy Spirit and that I have been sanctified and made complete (see Acts 26:18, Hebrews 10:10, and Colossians 2:10 among many other similar passages). Therefore, as my mind is renewed to this new reality in Christ, my belief will affect my behavior. Simply put: the Christian needs to know the truth about their identity/reality/existence IN Christ. Our minds are being renewed to this reality and we are putting on our new selves by grace through faith. Without this renewed mind, we present our bodies to the control of Sin and its lusts, which I believe are not in us or our bodies, but are now external to us, since we have been born again.
2. Another reason for the wrong belief that a Christian still has a sinful nature--and even should be still called a sinner--is more an inherent aspect of Christianity today. It is certainly not my motive or intention to attack any leader, but here's what I see: If Christians no longer believed that they possessed a sinful nature, there would be a subsequent and nearly immediate end to most of the work of the Church. We all know that there are many programs, sacred and secular, that Christians look to for help in their attempts to modify their behavior, i.e., eliminate both sin and sinful habits in their lives, and Church leaders are kept busy in their efforts to control the flock. I'm sure most of it is well-intended and done from a sincere belief that their actions are helping the members of the Church, but the reality is that, as a whole, Christians are being told to manage their behavior through self-effort and discipline, rather than through a renewal to the truth of who they are in Christ. Frankly, to manage one's behavior through self-effort and discipline is not a life of faith, unless, of course, that you are fighting the fight of faith to believe what the Bible and the Spirit are really saying about. Christians need to be told that they are holy and righteous, even when they fall and struggle. Why is this so? Because our identity, sanctification, holiness, righteous, justification, etc, etc, has its truth in who Jesus is and what He's done, not in anything we have done, or even the person we were or should be.
If we can show Christians this truth, then the activities of the Church pertaining to behavior modification and other similar needs will cease. That will free us up to do what we were really called for: receiving God's love and free gifts and loving the world unconditionally through God's love and supernatural acts of power God does through us. However, for this to happen, leadership needs to let go of its reins and its programs and trust the Holy Spirit to direct the lives of the individual members of the church, and for some, that may be a scary thought. Those who sat in darkness have seen a great light. We were once under the law and subject to its demands; now we are under grace, and the Spirit reigns in us, because that great Light is now and forever shining upon us. We are always in the light. I feel that anyone who truly loves those whom they have the honor of mentoring or discipling would want them to experience this kind of faith life.
Let us turn from any wisdom, any addiction, any person as our source for Life, and realize that in Christ alone we find both freedom, satisfaction and Life abundant.
Grace=Peace,
Jeremy
