Living with the old nature

A human being has capacity for both good and evil. And this is reality even after a person is born again by the work of the Holy Spirit. According to the testimony of Scripture sin dwells in our mortal body, and even after we come to faith it seeks to rule and direct our actions according to our old nature.

The terms may at times be a little challenging, but we can say that everything in us that is not born again is called flesh, of which the old nature mentioned above is a part. One can also speak of the natural person as the opposite of the spiritual person.

This natural person has both natural needs and sinful lusts. The apostle Paul writes how it is normal that everyone nourishes and cherishes their own flesh. A person needs, for example, food and drink and many other kinds of care in order to stay alive and be well. It goes without saying that meeting such “fleshly” needs is according to the mind of God.

But the same apostle writes that one must not take such good care of the flesh that sinful lusts are awakened. The born-again believer is no longer under Satan’s dominion, but he does seek to influence us through our old nature. And precisely for this reason Paul exhorts us to put to death our members which are upon the earth — that is, our old nature’s capacity for evil:

“Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things; but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth: lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings…”

Our old nature has been nailed to the cross, but the problem is that it would not like to stay there. I believe that this is precisely what Jesus referred to when he said: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

But the flesh is a real deceiver, for it also tries to take control through religious ways of acting. It seeks to guide us onto the path of works of the law, where a person drifts into slavery to religious thinking and formal practices. Again we quote Paul, who writes: “Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

Unfortunately many a person who thinks they are very spiritual is in fact a carnal Christian who needs to grow into the true freedom of the children of God. The best way to resist the influence of the flesh — our old nature — is to walk in the Spirit; that is, in continual and close fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

Luke 9 Rom 6, 7, 13 1 Cor 2 Gal 5 Eph 5 Col 2, 3