Archive for May, 2009

The Monday Muse: Two Natures

0
Comments Posted on May 19, 2009 Last Updated May 19, 2009 Posted by Jeff Lash

In my last post I referred to Romans 7:14-8:4 where Paul discusses the war between two natures. As Christians, we have been born again and given a new nature that replaces the old nature. The process of replacing the old nature doesn’t happen all at once though. Paul makes this point clear when he describes the battle that takes place between the old nature of the flesh and the new nature of the mind. God has given us a new nature on the inside that will then manifest itself on the outside. Yet the new nature is enclosed within a sin-cursed flesh. Where the flesh and its desires held the place of prominence in an individual’s life, the new nature in Christ has become the driving force for the life of a believer. But the old nature won’t go down without a fight. So the two natures engage in a battle for supremacy in the life of a believer.

It has been debated as to whether or not Paul is speaking about a regenerate (saved) or unregenerate (unsaved) individual. Paul seems to refer to his own life since he uses the first person so often (though someone might make the argument that it is a hypothetical example being used to express a concrete truth). But let us assume that Paul is speaking of himself. Is he referring to pre-conversion or post-conversion Paul? Better yet…here’s our question for the week.

In Romans 7:14-8:4, Paul speaks of the conflict between the old and new nature. Is Paul referring to a person prior to conversion (from the perspective of the gospel), a person transitioning toward faith in Christ, or a person who is already a believer?

The Word 5.17.09

0
Comments Posted on May 18, 2009 Last Updated May 18, 2009 Posted by Jeff Lash

Today, our Sunday School class looked at Romans 7:14-8:4 concerning the battle of two natures. It’s a fascinating passage because Paul talks about the war between the law of sin or the flesh and the law of our new mind in Christ. Then he cries out asking, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” We have been renewed on the inside. However, our new nature is housed within the sin cursed flesh. The new nature is taking over yet the sinful flesh still remains. A war ensues between the new nature in Christ and the old nature of the flesh. It is an agonizing battle and Paul cries out for deliverance. Jesus has answered the call. It is Jesus who has delivered us from the power of sin. We are no longer bound and controlled by sin. We have been liberated from its control and this liberation will be completed the moment we die. Thanks be to God for the salvation that has been imparted to us through Christ’s shed blood.

Romans 7:14-8:4 (ESV)

7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Collision – Hitchens vs. Wilson

0
Comments Posted on May 14, 2009 Last Updated May 14, 2009 Posted by Jeff Lash

If you haven’t caught wind of this new independent documentary then here’s a taste of what you can expect. Collision documents the debate, discussion, and tour over this question: Is Christianity Good for the World? The main players are Christopher Hitchens (journalist, author, atheist) and Douglas Wilson (pastor, professor, author, Christian). As Wilson puts it in the documentary, the whole tour and interaction between then two of them is really more a collision of lives than a simple debate over a specific topic. There is no official release date for this documentary. However, you can read the correspondences between Hitchens and Wilson in their book: Is Christianity Good for the World?

COLLISION – 13 min VIMEO Exclusive Sneak Peek from Collision Movie on Vimeo.

Top Categories

Archives