Understanding
The Bible
STUDY REFERENCE
Clarence E. Mason's "Soteriology
II"
THE BELIEVER'S TWO NATURES |
BY THE AUTHOR
Dr. Clarence E. Mason, Jr.
Philadelphia College of Bible
1970
THE BELIEVER'S TWO NATURES
INTRODUCTION
The Scriptures teach that every regenerate being is the possessor of two
natures, one received by natural birth which is hopelessly and helplessly bad;
and a new nature, received by the new or supernatural birth, which is the nature
of God Himself and is therefore wholly good.
Between these two natures there is conflict as there is in all the world between
opposing principles.
- THE NATURAL MAN AND HIS FALLEN
NATURE
- The origin of the fallen
nature
We take it for granted that man was created sinless, Gen. 1:26-27. Gen.
2:16-17 - restriction of eating fruit of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. Gen. 3:6,11, 13 - the sin of Adam and Eve. Gen. 3:17-19,
22-24 - the curse accompanying the sin. Rom. 5:12 - by one man sin entered
into the world.
- The evil character of man's
fallen nature Ps. 51:5 - "shapen in iniquity, ..in sin" Jer.
17:9 - "deceitful above all things.. .desperately wicked" Mk.
7:21-23 - "out; of the heart proceed evil thoughts.. .etc. "
1 Cor. 2:14 - "natural (soulish) man receiveth not. . .neither can
he know" Rom. 8:7-8 - "enmity against God. . .cannot please
God" Eph. 2:3 - "by nature the children of wrath"
- The threefold incapacity
of the fallen nature
- He cannot understand
God, 1 Cor. 2:14.
- He cannot please God,
Rom. 8:8.
- He cannot obey God, Rom.
8:7.
The proof of the sinful nature of man is all around us. The law of
degeneration is active in this world. Man submits to the law of his
nature, which is a reversion to the lower, rather than a conversion
to the higher. The Bible recognizes: generation, degeneration, regeneration.
- THE NEW NATURE OF THE NEW
MAN
- The origin of the spiritual
nature
The believer, while still having his old nature, unchanged and unchangeable,
has received a "new man" or a new nature. This new nature is
a creation, not a transformation. It is the bringing in of a new thing,
not the change of an old one, Jn. 3:3; 2 Pet. 1:4; 1 Jn. 5:10-12.
- The character of the new
nature
Gal. 2:20 - "Christ liveth in me"
Eph, 2:10 - "Created in Christ Jesus unto good works"
Eph. 2:22 - "An habitation of God"
2 Cor. 5:17 - "A new creation"
Rom. 8:15-16 - "received Spirit of adoption. . .has witness of Spirit"
Col. 3:1, 10 - "risen with Christ. . .new man"
Col. 1:27 - "Christ in you. . .hope of glory"
Col. 3:4a - "Christ., .our life"
- THE CONFLICT OF THE TWO NATURES
This new Divine nature, which is Christ's own, exists within the believer
together with the old, and between these two natures there is a conflict.
- The nature of the conflict
Rom. 7:15-25 - Too much "I, " "me"; too little "Holy
Spirit" Gal. 5:17 - the only way out of the seventh chapter of Romans
is by the Lord Jesus Christ
- The victory in the conflict
How can victory over indwelling sin be accomplished? Rom. 8:2 - "For
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the
law of sin and death. " Rom. 8:12-13 - "We Eire debtors, not
to the flesh," ... but to the Spirit Rom. 6:11 - Reckon negatively
and positively Rom. 13:14 - "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. "
Gal. 5:16-17 R.V. - "Walk by the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill
the lusts of the flesh. "
If you feed one nature, the other starves. The new nature can't grow on
food of the old, and vice versa.
"Mason's
Notes"
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