Rhapsody of Realities June 19

A Supplanting Of The Old By The New · THURSDAY 19 · Page Visits (432)
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).

Pastor Chris
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

: Acts 8:9-40 2 Chronicles 33-34

: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 Isaiah 5-6