Human Nature part 3
I really want to destroy this idea that we are born with a "sin nature." That "human nature" is to do all of the bad things that think of as "sin." And I want to destroy this idea because I think it's damaging. I don't want to hear people say, "I'm just a sinner saved by grace." Because if you think of yourself as a "sinner," you are giving in to the fact that you are GOING to sin. And then you shrug your shoulders and say, "Of course I messed up. I'm only human." But if we can STOP defining ourselves that way... if we can stop believing the lie... then we can begin to experience what it means to truly be humans. We can begin to enjoy ABUNDANT life. Eternal life. Everlasting life. Resurrection life. I did a quick Bible search on my computer today and I found out that the words, "sin" and "nature" never occur in the same verse in the King James Version of the Bible. So this idea that we base so much of our lives on--that we are born with a sin nature and have to overcome that "human" side of ourselves in order to be holy--doesn't really hold any water. Let me quote 1 John 1:8 before I go any further, because I want to build something here. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." That verse LOOKS like it says either we admit we're sinners, or we're liars. Which SEEMS to give credence to the idea of a sin nature. But you have to understand that John was writing to unbelievers. He was writing to say that until you acknowledge your own failure, you'll never be able to accept Jesus as your Savior. Which, really, was the whole point of the Law of Moses. The Law wasn't given so that we might keep it, and earn righteousness through our actions. The Law was given as a school master to bring us to Christ. To show us that we CAN'T keep it in our own power, and to produce faith in the One who DID fulfill the Law. Basically: Jesus did it (for us and as us) because we couldn't do it. He finished the work. He did what needed to be done in order to bring us out of the power of darkness (the bondage of sin and death) and into His glorious Kingdom. He who was without sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. Not self righteousness earned through our actions, but God righteousness received through our faith. Let me ask you this: Did Jesus--the Lamb of God who TOOK AWAY the sin of the world--take away all of the "bad actions" that people do that we usually associate with sin? Of course not. Look around and you will see people doing "bad stuff." Jesus didn't take away our actions. He took away our unbelief. That's what sin is: Not what you DO, but what you BELIEVE. And Jesus took away our sin (our unbelief) by giving us something (Himself, love) to believe in. He filled us with His Holy Spirit--our love receptor--so that we could know and believe the love of God. So that we could stop looking for love in all the wrong places and instead go straight to the source. On the cross Jesus showed us what love really is. He destroyed sin (unbelief) and He showed us who we really are. Not an Old Man with a beast nature, but a New Man with a love nature!