Two natures?
Who's in Charge?
I recently heard a message regarding a "beast within" and it prompted a lot of thoughts and sent me to scripture for further study. Here is what I discovered:
When we equate the carnal (soul) nature with the sin nature, we end up with a philosophy involving a dual nature that is continually “fighting” and must “feed the one we want to win.” I used to believe this way, it isn't unusual but I don't think it's accurate and nor is it healthy. This ongoing battle cannot be the final result of saving Grace if we are going to use Scripture for our measure. We were not meant to live in this state.
(Immediately one might think in response, "Yeah, but Romans 7!" and to this "I say Yeah! Romans 8!" )
The initiation into the Kingdom of God (complete conversion) puts to death the sin in the believer. It changes not only the essence of a person (cleansing them from sin) it also changes the focus of life and brings to life the Spiritual nature of Christ in us and The Law of Spirit Life becomes possible in Christ.
The natural (carnal, flesh or soulish) self can still choose to not obey, of course. This is disobedience and those choices in thought and deed, need to be repented of and corrected, however that does not make a person have two natures or two sides of our personality always in conflict. The saved person is no longer labeled as “sinner” in the sense of an unconverted person whose sin was not removed at baptism. We are not a “sinner saved by grace” as an ONGOING characteristic. The “sinner” WAS saved by Grace (one time and done) is now considered cleansed of all unrighteousness.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
The sin nature was cleansed away, done away with, case closed. What is left is a person made right with God who now simply has thought patterns that need realigning with the Word of Truth. They are now righteous, made right with God, no longer condemned. Often times the idea of being a sinner and having to fight some "sinful nature all the time in order to be obedient is adopted. Why? Could it be an unconscious way to excuse oneself from to not living up to the Christ nature within… “Oh, so sorry, just a sinner saved by grace, no one is perfect… Right?" Possibly. More often than not, however, it is what is taught and understood when the Gospel is only partially proclaimed.
Experiences and our reactions/responses to them, create automatic pathways of thought and actions and are triggered continually throughout our life by circumstances and the feelings and reasoning it invokes from the past. It is the way we have lived and over a period of time became the way of dealing with the challenges and joys of life. Many do not know any other way to live. The concept of soul and Spirit is illusive even thought the Bible clearly indicates that we are spirit (come alive at conversion), soul (intellect, emotions and reasoning, the carnal mind), and body (our physical, fleshly self).
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:22-23
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
When I was young, I had a way of dealing with new places: schools, specifically. I moved often and developed a pattern of how to interact with new people and finding friends. Part of that pattern was to sit back and get an idea of who NOT to associate with given the social cues around me. Sometimes it meant taking a chance with participating in an event or decision of someone whom I deemed advantageous to be friends with. Everything was based upon my interpretation of the social cues: who was =ignored? Made fun of? Who was popular? And so on… My soul was making decisions. The first issue with the soul is perception. I had to interpret the cues and all I had to measure them by was my own experience and how I felt in the past experiences. Meeting new people, for example, wasn't an issue until I ran into someone who was a bit dominating in how they related to others. Because it hurt my feelings or encroached on my personal space, I made assumptions: "they don't like me" "something is wrong with me" and so on. ( I was a child, what did I know? My experiences were limited. However how I felt in the situation stayed with me and was used as a measuring rod for how to make friends--or not.
When making decisions according the the Spirit of Christ within leading rather than what has developed over the years and how we feel, it changes things. It's a bit easier to see where our perception of things may be different from someone else. It means we can recognize when we have reacted (knee-jerk decisions and actions) rather than responded in a way that is wise and uses the Word as our measure and not ourselves (Hebrews 4:12). Living in this way brings our focus up off ourselves and onto Christ and His Kingdom.
We can agree everyone has thought patterns, (accurate or not, edifying or destructive), and having been developed over a long period of time, they can be hard to set aside for better choices. In Philippians 3 Paul describes the sources of his own thought patterns he used as a measure for decisions and had to overcome with Truth of the gospel. Aligning our "usual way of dealing with things, is what I believe Paul meant when he said we should “take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ (His Word)." In doing this, the soul (by the Spirit unction and discipline) replaces old thought patters with new healthy ones. For me this was instrumental as I became more apt to think and act along spiritual means with Christ as my measure rather than myself and how I felt. It led to freedom from second guessing (though I do still at times), continual need to seek forgiveness, and the crushing sense of shame and guilt that would sometimes overwhelm me when I step out and make a stand for something.
It is the enemy of our faith that wants to keep us silent so we cannot overcome with the word of our testimony (Christ) and the blood (forgiveness). This enemy (satan) wants to remind us of our past, keep us in a prison of regret and fear and away from the grace and freedom that makes setting captives free. Especially when the captive is ourselves.
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1
But let me be clear, there are NOT two natures that we are dealing with within us. I have heard this preached often and it may sound good, but according to scripture, converts to Christianity (by confession, baptism and infilling of Holy Spirit), become a new creation (one creation). If we keep believing that we have a sinful nature as well as a spiritual nature, than we say all Jesus did was not enough and our sinful self is much stronger than the blood of Jesus applied through baptism to cleanse us from it. Can we still come boldly before the throne of Grace with this understanding? See Hebrews 10 and read slowly.
Am I saying we don’t make mistakes? Fall back into old patterns? NO, of course not. We make mistakes. But if we deny the saving power of Christ in our lives, by identifying as a sinner then we end up living according to the old law of sin and death, denying the fact that Jesus took the keys of sin and death AWAY FROM Satan, and we live as if the law of sin and death is still in effect for us.
If a person is living by the law, (and we can choose to) then we live as if our sins are only covered and never really done away with. Atonement is repeatedly sought for the one who believes this was. They tend to search for the assurance (at least I did) through various religious rituals and traditions as a sort of "penance" The example in my case was repeated trips to the alter for re-dedication to Christ. I wanted that feeling of being right with God that I once experienced when the first confession was made. It didn't solve my problem though. I didn't understand the full gospel message of what Christ had done and I didn't understand what "soul" and "spirit" really was. I guess I thought it was all the same thing.
I'm not saying trips to the alter or some things are wrong in themselves. It is just that the focus of the seeker can be misplaced because they do not realize that what they are dealing with is not a tenacious sinful self identity. Rather, what they are dealing with are old thought patterns that need realignment. They are not in the dangers of hell because they feel something. They simply do not believe in the totality of what Christ did for them, and how could they unless they knew the whole gospel message?
Many are still living in servitude to a law that was satisfied and put away. It would be like paying a mortgage on your house even though it had been paid it off completely long ago.
The word of God, when we say it out loud, study and learn its truth will overcome the old sinful thoughts and actions of the when it is applied to old thought patterns. In this way our thinking is brought into alignment with Truth.
As time goes on, we think more like Jesus, see the world through His eyes rather than our own and our perspective on things changes. Our responses to life and the decisions we make become more life-giving and we are freed from a life driven by the past and how we felt about it and look toward a future fill with possibilities because of Christ and all He has made available to us by His Spirit.
“What the law could not do, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as an offering for sin, He condemned the sin in the flesh (notice the wording) so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)
Flesh our soul is not sinful, God made those parts of us for a purpose, but they were never meant to be the decision maker or leader of our thoughts or behavior in the Kingdom of God of which we were adopted/made citizens of at conversion. And we do not have two natures. We can still be confronted with old thought patterns and soulish reactions when walking out our faith. The Spirit is saved, the soul is in the process of being saved. And the body will be resurrected on the final day when Christ hands the Kingdom back to the Father, complete, fully manifested through His church, in Him.
Blessings,
Anne
**Please note that my blog is only where my study took me and not meant to be a commentary on the particular message I heard or of the speaker of that message. I often take any message I hear and if inspired, will dive into a study of my own. I am sharing that study.
~ Anne
