OUR SINFUL NATURE NEEDS TO BE DECLARED DEAD! - Chapel Chat

    We are born with a sinful nature; God calls it the old man, the flesh. To be saved we need to have that sinful nature killed, because it is against God.  When we repent and accept Christ as our savior from sin, we are put in Christ. We receive a new nature and become a new creation in Christ.  This is done by the Holy Spirit which Christ gives to all those who trust him for salvation. God considers the old nature dead because of the power of the Holy Spirit in the believer.

   All those living in the flesh, the sinful nature, cannot please God. In essence they are dead to God’s way of righteousness and the good news concerning Christ. They are pursuing the way of eternal death and judgment. Ephesians 4:18-22 lists the character of the “sinful, old man.” They are darkened, ignorant, alienated, hardened, insensitive, lustful and corrupt. We may not see ourselves that way but that is the nature we inherited through Adam. A main characteristic of the “old man” is self-will. Seeking to do our own will without regard to God’s will. We need to be changed.

    God changes us when we receive Christ as our Savior. When God

saves the repentant, believer: He forgives his sin, puts him in Christ,

declares  the old man dead, puts the Holy Spirit in him, giving him

the new nature and the ability to live according to the fruit of the Spirit. Have you been changed or are you still condemned in the old nature? Believe the good news. Read Colossians 3:1-10, Rom. 8:1-14.

Lewellyn Tewksbury, February 4, 2017