Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2
Corinthians 5:17).
There‘s an erroneous doctrine of "the dual
nature," believed among some Christians. They believe that the Christian
has two natures: the old nature and the new nature, and that if he yields to
the old nature, he’ll do the wrong things, but if he yields to the new nature,
he’ll do the right things. That’s not what the Bible teaches. The Christian
doesn’t have two natures. When you were born again, the old nature of sin was
supplanted with God’s nature of righteousness. The Bible declares in 2
Corinthians 5:17, "…old things are passed away; behold, all things are
become new."
Some Christians, upon acting contrary to the Word,
would say, "The old man in me rose up." If you’re born again, you no
longer have "an old man"; you’re a completely new species; one that
never existed before. You only have one nature, and that’s the divine nature.
Your body may look the same, but every ounce of human life in it has been
replaced with the divine life of God! Therefore, you’re not supposed to be
subject to the elements of this world or the vagaries of nature; you’re to
live above them.
In Romans 6:6, the Apostle Paul shows us something
striking and remarkable, that fully debunks the erroneous notion that the
Christian has two natures. He writes, "Knowing this, that our old man is
crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we
should not serve sin." God’s mirror—His Word—shows your real picture in
Christ. It shows here that the old nature has been crucified in Christ; it’s
not hiding somewhere deep down inside you, waiting to be reactivated. Your
conduct as a Christian must now reflect your new personality in Christ
Jesus—your new nature, which is that of righteousness.
Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for giving me
your righteousness as a gift, and inspiring me to be righteousness-conscious.
I’m dead to sin, but alive to God, having put on the new man, which is renewed
in knowledge after the image of Christ, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
further study: Romans 10:6; Romans 6:13-14
1 Year Bible Reading : Acts 8:9-40 2 Chronicles 33-34
2 Year Bible Reading : 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 Isaiah 5-6
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