You Don't Have Two Natures!

Well, we're going to start out tonight talking about a lie and a truth.

And the lie is that the flesh, you know, that term in the Bible, the flesh.

Well, the lie is that the flesh is your sinful nature.

Now, a lot of Christians believe that, and I'll tell you why.

Since the mid-1980s, there was a particular version of the Bible that emphasized sinful nature.

In fact, it translated the word flesh as sinful nature.

And, of course, that translation of the Bible went on to sell millions and millions of copies.

So for decades and decades, we Christians ran around using the term sinful nature.

But if you look back at the original language, what do you see? The word nature is not really there.

It's simply the word flesh.

Well, what is the flesh? Well, the flesh is actually just leftover programming.

It is stinking thinking.

When we look at the New Testament, what do we discover? The flesh is a way to walk.

Romans 8 says, "...those who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." And then we see that the flesh is also a way to set the mind.

We're told not to set our minds on the flesh, but set our minds on things of the spirit.

And so if we live by the spirit, let us also walk by the spirit.

So can you see how the flesh is not who you are, but the flesh is a way to set the mind.

The flesh is a way to walk.

The flesh is a worldly way.

Now, that's very different from saying that you have two natures or that you have two spiritual hearts or that you are two people, the old self and the new self.

That's not biblical.

It's not accurate.

It's not scriptural.

It's not the truth.

The truth that sets us free is that we really are born again.