What is our nature? Webster defines the word “nature” as “an individual’s fundamental character or disposition.” In other words, our nature is our natural propensity, inclination or tendency. It is what we would naturally do; however, it is not necessarily what we always do. It is possible, as the Bible teaches in Romans 1:26-27, 31 and 2 Timothy 3:3, to act contrary to nature. Thus, every desire we possess and deed we perform should not automatically be deemed indicative of our nature. For instance, sinners should not assume that they have a good nature because they occasionally possess good desires and perform good deeds. Likewise, Christians should not assume that they have a bad nature because they occasionally possess bad desires and perform bad deeds.
Assuming that a good nature is proven by the possession of good desires and the performance of good deeds, and that a bad nature is proven by the possession of bad desires and the performance of bad deeds, most Christians agree that they possess dual— both good and bad—natures, since they possess both good and bad desires, as well as perform both good and bad deeds. What seems to elude them, however, is that this same argument can be made with equal varsity for the sinner’s dual natures, since sinners also possess good and bad desires, as well as perform good and bad deeds. Yet, curiously, no one within Christendom today argues that sinners have a good nature fighting against their bad one, only that the saints have a bad nature fighting against their good one.
Contrary to the general consensus of today’s Christians, the saint’s occasional struggle with sin is no more proof of dual and dueling natures than the sinner’s occasional bout with conscience. The true indicator of our nature is not the sum of our desires and deeds, but how we struggle with our desires and deeds. Sinners can do good, but they have to go against their will or nature to do so (Genesis 6:5; 8:21). And even though they are capable of doing good, they are incapable of continuing to do so. Just like a “dog [returns] to his own vomit” and a washed pig “to her wallowing in the mire,” sinners will inevitably return to sin, because it is their nature to do so (2 Peter 2:22). Conversely, Christians can sin, but they have to go against their will or nature to do so (Romans 7:15-25). And even though they are capable of sinning, they are incapable of continuing in it. Anyone content to continue in sin cannot possibly be God’s child (1 John 3:9-10).
The notion that we no longer have a sinful nature subsequent to conversion is dismissed by most on the basis that the converted still sin. Convinced that it is impossible to sin without a sinful nature, most Christians presume that the retention of their sinful nature is the only explanation for their ongoing struggle with sin. The Bible teaches, however, that sin is possible without a sinful nature. For instance, Lucifer sinned without a sinful nature, as did a third of the angels who joined with him in his revolt (Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:11-15, Revelations 12:3-4). “Yes, but Lucifer and his coconspirators were angels,” you protest, “not men.” True, but how about Adam and Eve, did they not sin without a sinful nature (Genesis 3:1-6)?
According to the Apostle Paul, the absence of a sinful nature did not preclude Adam from sin or protect Eve from deception (1 Timothy 2:14). Likewise, the absence of a sinful nature does not preclude Christians from sin or protect us from deception. As long as we can be deceived like Eve we can possess bad desires and perform bad deeds. Herein lies the explanation for why Christians still sin. It is not because of dual natures; it is because of spiritual deception. This explains why Paul’s great fear for all Christians was that “the serpent” would deceive us as he had “Eve through his subtlety” (2 Corinthians 11:3).
As long as we are deceived into believing that we are spiritual Dr. Jekylls and Mr. Hydes, the devil can keep us under a thick, dark cloud of condemnation, condemnation being one of the most formidable weapons in our adversary’s arsenal. By attributing our evil thoughts to our sinful nature, we enable Satan to put evil thoughts in our minds and condemn us for thinking them. Furthermore, by attributing our evil deeds to our sinful nature, we enable Satan to deceive us into sinning and condemn us for the sins we commit. With us duped into believing ourselves as evil as our worst thoughts and deeds, our enemy, astutely dubbed by Scripture as “the accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10), is able to ruin our prayer life, rob us of our initiative and paralyze our faith.
Blackening our hearts to the shade of our worst thoughts and deeds has a devastating effect upon our prayer life. It robs our prayers of communion with God and confidence in Him. How can we commune with God if we believe He is always angry with us and appalled by us? Moreover, how can we approach prayer confidently if we believe someone like us has little chance of being heard and none of being answered?
Along with ruining our prayer life, spiritually appraising ourselves by our basest thoughts and deeds also robs us of our initiative and paralyzes our faith. Seeing ourselves as unfit for Christ’s service, we will have no initiative to exercise our spiritual gifting or to perform our God-given ministry. Additionally, we will have no faith to believe that God will ever make anything of us or do anything for us.
Thanks to the popular myth of the Christian’s dual and dueling natures, the majority of Christians today live defeated Christian lives. Misunderstanding their nature and being misled by their experience, they end up resigning themselves to iniquity and rejecting their Scriptural identity. First, they resign themselves to iniquity. Evaluating their future spiritual potential upon the basis of their past spiritual performance, they lose all hope of ever prevailing over sin, especially those besetting sins that so easily ensnare them (Hebrews 12:1). Convinced that they can’t help but sin and that their present spiritual predicament is as good as it gets, they throw in the towel to temptation and give up on living the victorious Christian life.
Besides resigning to iniquity, the majority of today’s Christians also reject their Scriptural identity, the latter proving far more spiritually detrimental than the former. The Scripture teaches, “For as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). Our behavior is determined by our beliefs about ourselves. In other words, we become what we believe ourselves to be. When the children of Israel saw themselves as grasshoppers, they became grasshoppers in the eyes of others as well (Numbers 13:33). When we see ourselves as spiritual schizophrenics, we will behave like we are spiritually disturbed and be seen by others as spiritually deranged.
As Christians we will never live as we should nor behave as we should until we know who we are and what we have in Christ. The Apostle Paul understood this crucial truth. This explains why he spent the first three chapters of Ephesians teaching us who we are and what we have in Christ, and the last three chapters of Ephesians teaching us how we should live and what we should do for Christ. Paul knew that until we are convinced of our Scriptural identity we will never live up to our spiritual capacity. Referring to Scripture as “the perfect law of liberty” and comparing it to the mirrored laver at the tabernacle in the wilderness, James taught this same truth in a more pointed way (James 1:22-25). According to James, when we look into the Scripture, which shows us our identity in Christ, it is like seeing ourselves in a mirror. Afterward, we are to go out and live up to all that we are in Christ. If we fail to do so, we are like someone who looks at himself in a mirror and then forgets who he is.
Before my brother and I could leave the house to go out somewhere, my father used to warn us, “You better remember who you are.” Dad knew, just like James and the Apostle Paul, that knowing who you are is your only hope of acting like you should. The problem with most Christians today is that they don’t know who they are. Defining themselves by their sins, instead of by the Scripture, they walk by sight rather than faith (2 Corinthians 5:7) and are hoodwinked into believing the accusations of the devil rather than the promises of God.
While Gideon hid in fear from his foes, God called him a “mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:11-12). Christ referred to Peter as a rock, long before he resembled one (Matthew 16:13-23). Likewise, what the Scripture says about you may not be readily evident in your life. Still, it is true nonetheless. The all-important question is: “Are you going to believe what God says?”
When asked by the Pharisees, “Who art thou?” John the Baptist answered, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah” (John 1:19-24). Notice, John believed what God said, confessing himself to be what the Scripture asserted. Consequently, he was able to live the life God wanted him to live and to do the things God wanted him to do. Like John the Baptist, you too must believe what God says, confessing yourself to be all that the Scripture asserts (see APPENDIX A: MY IDENTITY IN CHRIST). If you do, the victorious Christian life is within your grasp. If you don’t, you have no hope of ever realizing in this life all that is yours in Christ.