Great Doctrines of the Bible
Special English Version

Lesson 14
THE BELIEVER’S TWO NATURES

INTRODUCTION
It surprises many believers to find out after they are saved that they still commit sins. They are still weak in living for the Lord. The same temptations still come into their minds. This makes them feel discouraged. Sometimes they don’t know what to do. Why does the fight never end? Why do we have this war inside us that never stops? Is there a peace that will stay? Can the believer win this fight? In this lesson you will learn the reason for this war that goes on all the time. You will also learn how you can win this war and have peace.

IMPORTANCE OF THIS LESSON

• Every new believer must learn about his two natures. When he learns about them he is not confused and disappointed. We must teach this to new believers very carefully. Many Christians, who were saved years ago, do not understand this teaching of two natures.
• Some people believe that when a person believes on Christ and God sets him apart from the world, he cannot sin anymore. They teach that a believer loses his old nature. This teaching is wrong. This teaching has caused some people to kill themselves. It has made other people crazy. The Bible teaches that every believer has two natures--The old and the new.
• This does not mean that God gives him permission to sin. We will see that a believer can win over sin. Christians cannot understand or explain the war that is going on all the time but they know it is there.
• The believer must obey the Holy Spirit. He must use the power of Christ to set him free. He must think of himself as a person who is free already. He must think of himself as dead for sin. When he thinks this way, he can understand this very important teaching.

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THE LESSON

I. EVERY PERSON IS BORN WITH A SINFUL NATURE AND HE KEEPS THIS NATURE ALL OF HIS LIFE.
Where does it come from?

1. In the beginning God created a world that was perfect. He created a perfect man and woman (Genesis 1:10,12,18,21,31).
2. God did not make man like a machine. Adam and Eve were able to choose. They chose to act against the One who made them. They chose to disobey His Word (Genesis 3:1-6).
3. Sin came into the world because Adam and Eve sinned.
   1. Romans 5:12 – Sin came into the world by one man, Adam. Sin brought death with it. Death spread to all men, because all have sinned.
   2. 1 Corinthians 15:22 – Every person died as Adam died.
4. All people became sinners because Adam sinned. Every person, since the time of Adam, has his sinful nature.
   1. Roman 3:23 – Every person has sinned.
   2. Isaiah 53:6 – We have ALL wandered away just like sheep. Every one of us has turned to his own way.
   3. Isaiah 64:6 – We are ALL like an unclean thing. ALL the good things we do are like an old dirty cloth.
   4. Romans 3:9 – “…for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are ALL under sin.” There are no exceptions.

II. THE BIBLE TELLS US HOW GOD LOOKS AT OUR SINFUL NATURE.

1. Jeremiah 17:9 –The heart is full of deceit, more than anything else. It is very wicked
2. Romans 3:9-12 –Everyone has sinned. Nobody is right with God. No one understands. No person in this world tries to find God. Everyone turned from the right way. Everyone has turned away from God. All of them are not good. No one does what is good.
3. Job 15:16 –The unbelievers do things that God hates—things dirty with sin. To them sinning is no more important than drinking water.
4. Psalms 14:1-3 –The unbelievers deserve God’s hate. They all do the works that come from hate. None of them do good things. They have all become dirty.
5. Ephesians 2:1-3 –At one time we were dead in our sins. We followed the sinful ways of the people who do not believe. We obeyed the leader of the powers that we cannot see. We obeyed the spirit of the devil who now works in the people who do not obey God. At one time we all lived the way they did. We did what our bodies and our minds wanted us to do. We were sinful from the time we were born, just like all other people. God was angry with us.

III. THE BIBLE HAS NAMES FOR MAN’S SINFUL SELF.
1 Corinthians 2:14--It is the man who lives to satisfy himself. It is the person who is not a Christian and does not understand the words from the Holy Spirit.

1. John 3:6; Romans 13:14; Romans 7:25 - The flesh – The sinful desires
2. Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9; Romans 6:6 - The old man – the old sinful self The sinful self he received from Adam
3. 1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:12 - These verses teach that we received our sinful self from Adam.

IV. THE BIBLE TELLS US WHAT OUR SINFUL SELF IS LIKE.

1. Jeremiah 17:9 - The sinful self fools us
2. Ephesians 4:22; Psalm 14:1 - The sinful self destroys us
3. The old person is sinful from the beginning.
   1. Psalm 51:5 –David says that he was made in sin. This does not mean that it is a sin for women to get pregnant. It means that we are sinners from the very time life begins.
   2. Psalm 58:3 – These men are born as sinners. They wander away from God as soon as they are born. They speak lies.
   3. Genesis 8:21 – The ideas in a person’s heart is sinful from the time he is a child.
4. Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21; James 4:4 - He is an enemy of God .
5. John 6:63; Romans 3:12 - He is completely worthless.
6. There are three things an unbeliever is not able to do:
   1. Romans 8:7 - He cannot do what God wants him to do . He is fighting against God.
   2. Romans 8:8 - His sinful self cannot do anything to make a holy God happy.
   3. 1 Corinthians 2:14 - He cannot understand God. 1 Corinthians 2:11--The sinful self is blind to the things of the Holy Spirit .
7. Because of this, every person who has not believed is lost (Isaiah 53:6). God is going to judge every sinner (John 3:18). God’s anger rests on every person who has not believed (John 3:36).

V. BUT CHRIST CAME TO GIVE EVERY PERSON A NEW LIFE. HE MADE THEM A NEW CREATION. FOR THIS THE BELIEVER CAN PRAISE GOD.

1. 2 Peter 1:4 – This verse says that the believer has God’s own life in him.
2. This means that the Spirit of Christ lives in us.
   1. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that God makes the believer a new creation, a new person.
   2. Galatians 2:20 – In this verse we read that Christ lives in the believer.
   3. Romans 13:14 – Here we read that the believer must put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Any person may receive this life of Christ. Christ came into the world to give his life to people.
   1. John 10:10 – This verse says that Jesus came to this earth so that believers can receive the life of Christ.
   2. 1 John 5:12 – Here we read that the person who has the Son has Life.
   3. Ephesians 3:17 – Paul says that he prays that Christ will live in their hearts by faith.
   4. Colossians 3:4 – Christ is our life.
4. The life of Christ in the believer is called “THE NEW MAN”.
   1. Colossians 3:10 – This verse says that the believer has put on THE NEW MAN which is always learning more about Christ. You are being made more like Christ. He is the One who made you.
   2. Ephesians 4:24 –The believer must put on THE NEW MAN. The new man is right with God and he is holy. God created the new man in that way.
   3. Every person who repents and believes in Christ as Lord and Savior becomes a new creation. He becomes a new person and receives the life of Christ. God does this in a person’s spirit. A person does not change on the outside. The Holy Spirit gives the life of Christ to every believer. This is what “Born Again” means (John 1:12; 3:3-8; 1 Peter 1:23).

VI. THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT THERE IS A WAR BETWEEN THE OLD SELF AND THE NEW SELF. THIS WAR IS GOING ON ALL THE TIME. IT WILL CONTINUE UNTIL CHRIST COMES BACK AND WE RECEIVE OUR NEW BODIES.

1. The Bible does NOT teach anywhere that the believer can lose his old sinful self.
   1. Some people teach that a believer loses his sinful self when he is filled with the Holy Spirit. They say this happens when he receives baptism in or with the Spirit. This teaching is completely false. It leads people away from God. It is not found in the Bible. It destroys a believer’s Christian life and makes him discouraged.
   2. The words “to change your heart” are not found in the Bible.
   3. The Bible never says that the believer can make the old self better. He cannot change it or make it new.
   4. The Bible says that the believer is “in Christ”. In Romans 6:6 Paul writes that our old sinful self was nailed to the cross with Christ. God destroyed the power of sin that held us down. This is the believer’s position. The believer must think of himself as dead to the power of sin
      (Romans 6:11).
2. Note that the war is going on all the time.
   1. Romans 7:15-25 – Paul says in these verses that he does not understand himself. He says, “I want to do what is right, but I do not do it. Instead I do the very thing I hate. So I am not doing it. Sin living in me is doing it. I know there is nothing good in me, in my sinful self. I do not do the good I want to do. I find a law deep inside me that fights with my mind. This law of sin holds me in its power because sin is still in me. Paul asks the question: “Who can set me free from my sinful old self?” The answer is in the last verse of the chapter. Here we read, “I thank God I can be free through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Read all the verses carefully and pray for God to help you to understand. See how the verses show exactly what happens in your own life.)
      • Romans 7 shows us this war that is going on in every true believer. This is difficult to understand but it is true. Romans 8:2 tells us how we can win over sin.
   2. Galatians 5:17 – The old sinful self fights against the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit fights against the old sinful self. These two are against each other. Therefore you cannot do what you want to do. The problem is that in every believer the old self stands against the new creation. God has made every believer a new creation. The question is, “Can a believer win this war?” “Can there be peace?”

VII. AGAIN THE BELIEVER CAN SHOUT “HALLELUJAH”.

1. The believer does not fight this war by himself. The Holy Spirit comes to live in every person who believes in Christ (John 14:16-17; Romans 8: 9,11, 15-16; Galatians 4:6). Study these verses carefully. The Holy Spirit helps us with this new life in Christ. His power sets us free from the power of sin.
2. Romans 8:2 – This says that the power of the Holy Spirit makes me free from the power of sin and death. This power is mine because I belong to Christ Jesus.
   1. John 6:63 – It is the Holy Spirit who gives life.
   2. Romans 8:4 – This verse says that Jesus did for us what the Old Testament law could not do. We do not live according to the old self any more. Now we do what the Holy Spirit wants us to do.
   3. Galatians 5:16 – Paul tells the believers, “Let the Holy Spirit lead you. Then you will not do what your sinful old self tells you to do.
      • The believer can win the battle. He must know that the Holy Spirit lives in him. He must depend on the power of the Holy Spirit every day. When temptations come, he will not do what the old sinful self tells him to do. People will see the fruit of the Spirit in the believer when he lives in this way (Read Galatians 5:17-25).
3. The believer can find power over the old sinful self in other places.
   1. This is the power of the Word of God.
      1. John 17:17 - In this verse Jesus prays for the believers. He says, “Make them holy through your truth.”
      2. Ephesians 5:26 – He made us clean with the washing of water, by the word.
      3. Psalm 119:9, 11 – Here we read that a young man can live a clean life by doing what the Word of God tells him to do. We can memorize the Word of God and know it well in our hearts. Then we can recall it when we are tempted to sin against God. It is important for a believer to read, study and enjoy the Word of God. It will give him power to win over sin.
   2. The power of the blood of Christ.
      1. 1 John 1:7 – The blood of Christ causes the believer to be clean from all sin.
      2. Hebrews 10:19 – Because Jesus shed His blood for us, we, by ourselves, have the right to come into the presence of God. The blood of Christ is the source of our victory.
      3. Revelation 12:11 – We defeat Satan by the blood of Jesus Christ.
         Satan works in the sinful human nature, but by the blood of Christ we are able to defeat him.
   3. The Power of Prayer
      1. James 5:16 – Prayer can do great things.
      2. Philippians 4:6-7 – Prayer removes worries that come from our sinful human nature. Prayer gives the believer peace.
      3. James 4:2 – You don’t get the things you want because you don’t ask God.
      4. Luke 18:1 – Believers should always pray and never lose hope.
      5. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – Never stop praying.
      6. Matthew 21:22 – Prayer sets the power of God loose and causes the Holy Spirit to be able to operate in our lives. (Read also Romans 8:26-27.)
   4. Last of all, there are the two ways in which the believer must see himself.
      1. When Christ died, the believer’s position changed from being in Adam to being in Christ. Our sinful human nature, which we received from Adam, died with Christ. Now the believer does not have to be a slave of sin any more. This fact becomes true in the life of a person as soon as he believes.
      2. By faith we say that we are forgiven. By faith we say that we have eternal life. By faith we can say that our old sinful self has died with Christ. When the believer sees that he is dead to sin, he is able win over sin. He can do this because Christ died on the cross.
         Romans 6:11 says that the believer should see himself as being dead to the power of sin. He should see himself as being alive for God through Jesus Christ.
         • The believer must consider this change in position to be a fact and he must live according to his new position, which is “in Christ”.
         Galatians 2:20 – I am crucified with Christ.
         Galatians 5:24 – Those people who belong to Christ have crucified their old selves.
      3. I should consider my old self as dead. My old self died with Christ. I must put it off like an old dirty shirt. I must put on my new life in Christ. I must not make room for the old sinful self (Romans 13:14; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9, 10).
      4. The believer must see himself in two ways. On the one side he must see that he is responsible to put off the old sinful self. On the other side he must see that he is responsible to be alive for God (Romans 6:11).
         • Christ causes me to be alive (Ephesians 2:1). By faith, we must see ourselves to be “alive for God”. This means that we must pay attention to God in our lives. We must be willing to receive everything that God has for us and what God wants to do through us.
      5. As the believer sees himself in two ways, he must realize that God is present in his life. The life and power of Christ flows through the believer all the time. He must realize that the power of the Holy Spirit flows in him and upon him all the time. This power sets us free from the power of “the law of sin and death”.

CONCLUSION
Even the most spiritual Christian is never free of the war inside him. But he has no excuse for failing to win over sin. He can win over sin for the following reasons:

1. When the believer realizes that the blood of Christ cleanses him from sin and causes him to be able to stand before God.
2. When the believer prays in the Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit works in him.
3. When the believer reads and obeys the Word of God that sets him apart for God.
4. When, by faith, he realizes that the old sinful self died with Christ.
5. When the believer walks in the Spirit.

When the believer does this, he is able to win the battle over sin. He will have peace and joy in his heart. Christ died not only for our sins but also for our old sinful selves.

Live like a winner. Live like a “dead man” who is “alive” (Romans 12:1). Never stop praying. Allow the Holy Spirit to control you. Use the power of a person who has been raised from the dead (Romans 6:4) Take what God has given you in Christ and be “alive for god”. Say with Paul, “Yet not I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

I pray that God will cause this lesson to be a special blessing to you and that His power will come into you through the study of this lesson.

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