When people look at the word "flesh" in the Bible, they automatically think "sinful nature." That comes out of experience and not the Bible.
This may come as a shock, but we do
not have a nature! For that matter, nothing in this world has a
nature. Let's illustrate so we can understand this word.Take a look at a book.
Does the book possess a nature? If so, where might one locate it? Is it
within the pages, the ink, the binding, or the covers? When we discuss
the nature of an object, like the book, we're referring to the complete
essence of that book.
The book itself does not have a
nature. We simply give the basic definition of that book, the
materials that make up that book. It has paper, ink, dye,
stitches, and cardboard. We also know it is so many inches
wide and so many inches long, and might weigh between 1 to 1 and a half
pounds, etc.. That is the nature of that book compared to say,
your desktop computer.
What is the nature of your computer? It has
metals, wires, plastic, and is of a certain width and length,
etc.. Can we take the nature of the computer and put it in your
book? No. Are we able to give the computer two
natures? You may say we can take the computer and melt it down
and use it as a tray to hold objects. However, that would
not give it two natures, that would be two applications of the nature
of the thing. All you have done is change the use of the
computer. You may melt the computer down and make a door stop out
of it, but you have not changed the nature of it. All you have
done is changed the structure of it. You may have altered its
shape, but you have not given it another nature. What you have
actually done is recreated it when you melted
it. You changed the nature of it, but it's still of the same
substance. It wouldn't have two natures, it would have a new
nature. But the fact is, it does not have a nature at
all. Nature is simply a word to define the essence of a thing. The Webster 1828 dictionary defines nature as: The essence, essential qualities or attributes of a thing, which constitute it what it is..."
To speak of anything as having a nature is a contradiction of terms. To say we have a sinful nature really means nothing. If you want to say you have a sinful nature,
where is it? Is it in your mind? Is it in your soul?
Is it in your body? Where is it? If you could take the
sinful nature out, would you still have a nature? If you had
another nature, would you then have two natures? People actually
believe they have two natures! People will say, "It's an
inclination to sin." If it is in your spirit and mind, is that
the only nature you have? If you are a sinful nature, can
you do other than what is consistent with your nature? In other
words, would you always sin? Could you ever do righteous
deeds? Would there ever be a struggle between good and evil if
all you have is a sinful nature?
Questions: Where did you get that nature? Who created it?
You may answer that it was created when Adam sinned. Tell me, did Adam recreate his
nature? He created his own substance? For that matter, what is
sin made out of? Is sin a substance? Did Adam change the
substance of his soul, body, mind and spirit when he
sinned? Or, did God recreate him
when he sinned? Would not the same apply to
Eve? Did God retool Adam and reprogram him so that
all he could to from that point was to continually sin? If sin
will do that to you, if it changes your nature, and then that sin is
passed down to future descendants (as we are taught), then what about
when Cain sinned by murdering his brother? Did all his
descendants become murderers? What about when your father
sinned? Did you inherit his sinful nature as well? What
about your father's farther, his father, and his farther and so
on? Did each one recreate his own nature with every act of sin so
that ultimately we are the accumulation of all the sins of the
past? How do you explain that when a person gets saved and
supposedly gets a new nature, then has a baby, why is it
the baby still ends up with a sinful nature? If a Christian
gets saved, shouldn't saints beget saints? If the
baby is born with a sinful nature from saved parents, where did he
get it?
Nature is not a thing. Remember, the word "nature" is defined as: The essence, essential qualities or attributes of a thing, which constitute it what it is..." Nature
is not a substance, it is not a thing. The word "nature" is
similar to the word "definition." We can look at material things
and define it. But where is the definition? Where would we
find it? Take a look at your book again. Where would we
find the definition of that book? Is it inside the book?
Can you find it? Definition is simply describing the attributes of the book. The nature of the book is simply our observations about the general structure and nature of it. Nature is not an entity. Definition is not an entity. It's a word we use to describe the essence of something.
To further understand this point, look at
creation. Who created the sun, the air, wood, fire, heat,
etc.? We know God did. Has man given anything to
nature? No. However, we certainly can take an object and
work to rearrange it and misuse what God has created, but man is not a
creator.
Nothing has two natures. If something is
misused or misapplied, this does not constitute a change in its
nature. When Adam sinned, nothing changed in his nature. He
was still of the same substance that God created. Adam's nature
did not change in body, soul, or spirit. If it did, God would have
had to recreate him. The only thing that
changed when Adam sinned was his relationship to God. And because
of that sin, he and Eve were not allowed to stay in the garden where
they could continue to eat from the tree of life which sustained their
mortal bodies. That is why we grow old and die physically.
Because of Adam's sin, all his posterity is denied access to this tree of life as well. His nature did not change.
Another
question. How can a person feel responsible for something that
does not spring from his choice but rather governs his
choice? How can he feel responsible? How can you
approach a homosexual and tell him he is suppose to stop living
that lifestyle if it springs from his nature? How can we rebuke him and
encourage him to repent? He would only be acting within his
nature, which you tell him he has, a sinful nature! The fact is,
there no such adjective before the word nature in the Bible. One
may find it in the NIV, but the translators made an interpretation and
not a translation of the word "Sarx," which means "flesh," as in meat,
and nothing more. We have a body of flesh (Sarx) as animal have
flesh. The term "sinful nature" or "old nature" is Augustine's
theology that has infected the whole world for centuries.
We must watch the terms we use. The battle
that is fought over sin doesn't involve an “old man” vs a
“new man” or a battle between " natures". There is no carnal nature. There is no sinful nature. There is no Adamic nature. There is no old nature. There is no new nature.
You will not find these terms in the Bible. The only place you
will find these terms are in the fable teachings of Original Sin.
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. -Gal. 5:9
For further reading, see:
The Influence Of Greek Philosophy On The Development Of Christian Theology
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