2. He Made Us Alive (Ephesians 2: 1, 5)

(7) Our inner natures after we have become believers

Let’s pray:  Oh Lord, we are so in awe of your amazing great love and salvation for us.  Thank you for loving us so much, we are truly thankful!  Oh Lord, We do not understand, we have been saved and born again, have died and been raised with the Lord, our old-selves have been crucified and we are new creation now; why do we still have so many inner struggles?  Lord, we are here together to discuss our inner natures after we have become believers, Lord, please lead us in this discussion.  Thank you Lord, in Lord Jesus’ name!  Amen!  

We are so thankful that when we became believers there were many wonderful changes in our identity and status:  We were old-selves, now we are new-selves; we were controlled by sin, now righteousness is my master; we were prodigal sons, and now we are God’s children; we obeyed the desires of our flesh, now we obey the Holy Spirit; etc., for all these we give thanks to the Lord.  However, many Christians have these same feelings:  We have become believers; haven’t our old-selves been crucified with the Lord?  Is it true I no longer live but Christ lives in me?  When we first believed in the Lord we were so happy, we had peace and joy; but despite the peace and joy gradually we began to have many issues.  For example, I was so eager to do God’s work but physically I was so exhausted; I was so enthusiastic to serve the Lord but I couldn’t get along with co-workers; or I had family issues or even problems at church.  Since we say that “I no longer live but Christ lives in me”, then every Christian should have Christ in him or her, so why are your Christ and my Christ fighting?  We really don’t understand, why?

In this lesson I want to share with brothers and sisters our inner natures after we have become believers.        

1.      What is the relationship between “believing in Jesus” and “the new life”?  (John 3: 16; Romans 1: 17)

John 3: 16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  This scripture passage states that the moment we believe in Jesus, we have a new life.  But we must understand this new life is only at the baby stage.  We must pay attention to this point – it is not that once we become a believer then we are new men and everything will be fine and dandy from here on.  We must understand, at this time we are only a baby as far as new life is concerned.  If we use the teachings about Christ as an analogy, then we are just at the elementary level; if we use the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt as an analogy, then gaining eternal life through believing in Jesus is like the Passover lamb, because the Passover lamb took away God’s wrath for us. 

Romans 1: 17: “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”  “By faith”, at the moment of our believing in the Lord, we have the new life and God’s righteousness has been given to us so that we are justified by faith; from first to last that the righteous will live by faith.  After we received the new life, we should continue to strengthen our faith so as to grow our new life.

In summary, we shouldn’t think that once we believe in Jesus we are automatically in the beautiful land of Canaan, or once we believe then we are all grown up as a new-self; we must recognize that at the early stage of our faith we are just a baby in the journey of new life.

2.      Once we have believed in Jesus, sin cannot and shall not be our master, then where is the sin nature?  Who is our master and life?  (Romans 6: 6-7, 14, 8: 37; 1 Corinthians 1: 2; Colossians 3: 4)

      Previously we have discussed repeatedly the relationship between the sin nature and the old-self.  In the salvation plan that Lord Jesus Christ completed, our old-selves are crucified with him, so our old-selves are dead and we are freed from the control of the sin nature.  However, the sin nature did not die, it is still in us.  Because we believe in Jesus and are united with Christ, so Jesus Christ is our life – he is the Lord of our lives so the sin nature shall not be our lord.  We have talked about this in the previous lesson: When does the sin nature become our lord again?  It is when we live under law. 

3.      After becoming a believer, what are our two inner natures? (refer to Matthew 7: 7-27; Galatians 2: 20; Romans 7: 24; Proverbs 4: 18, 16: 25; Luke 11: 9-13; Galatians 3: 3, 5: 25)

After we have become believers, Christ is the Lord of our lives but the sin nature is not dead, it is still in us.  Therefore, there are two natures in us:  there are two roads, two lives, and two sources of power.

Matthew 7: 7-11: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  ‘Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’”

Lord Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 5: 1 -- 7: 29 announced the law of the kingdom of God, i.e. the moral behaviors that the citizens of the kingdom of God must possess.  He turned from the laws of the Old Testament – governing external visible moral behaviors, to stress the governing of our thoughts and motives:  Old Testament states, “You shall not murder”, Lord Jesus in New Testament says, “Do not hate but love your enemy”; Old Testament: “Do not commit adultery”, Lord Jesus in New Testament says: “Do not lust”; is there anyone who is able to abide by the law of the kingdom?  Lord Jesus pointed out a way for us: through asking, seeking, and knocking on the door, so that we will be able to attain the requirements of the law of the kingdom.

(1)   Two roads – two different ways leading to different goals and values:

Matthew 7: 12-14: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Here Lord Jesus points out there are two roads, one leads to eternal life, and one leads to destruction.  Brothers and sisters, please note that although these words of Lord Jesus apply to both believers and non-believers, but Bible scholars generally believe that they are for believers.  So why do believers even have a road that leads to destruction?  The word “destruction” here in the original text means “wasted, abandoned, and of no value”; “eternal life” means “having the value that last forever”.  So Lord Jesus here talks about the two roads, one has eternal value; the other is wasted and abandoned.  That’s right; all of us in the world are running around every day, but we shouldn’t run aimlessly, or fight by just beating the air; we should run on the road of eternal value and not on the wasted, abandoned road.  Only by taking the road of “asking, seeking, and knocking on the door”, will we achieve a result that is of value and meaningful.  Conversely, if we rely on our own reasoning or analysis, and on our own efforts, then no matter how much we may have accomplished, in God’s eyes we are still wasted, abandoned, and of no value.

(2)   Two kinds of fruit trees – two different lives bear two different fruits:

Matthew 7: 15-20: “Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recognize them.  Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?  Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”    

The first time we called on the name of the Lord, accepted Jesus Christ as our savior; that is we accepted Jesus Christ and his crucifixion, thereby crossed over from death to life with the Lord, and had the life that came from being united with the Lord – an infant of the new life.  From that moment, there exist two kinds of lives in us: the new life that comes from being united with Christ and the original old life that was controlled by sin (previously we have explained very clearly that we have been saved and born again so sin shall not be our master.  However, because the sin nature is still in us, so whenever we live under law the sin nature will resurface to control us and lord over us).

Here Lord Jesus uses two trees to represent two kinds of lives.  The good tree stands for the new life and the bad tree stands for the old life.  Lord Jesus points out that the tree of the old life bears the “self-centered” bad fruit; only the tree of the new life bears the good fruit.  The good fruit (the character that the citizens of the kingdom of God must possess) must come from the good tree (i.e. the new life), for “no one who is born of God will continue to sin.” (1 John 3: 9)  In other words, if you want to have the character that the citizens of the kingdom of God must possess, it is not by controlling yourself not to sin, rather you must walk the road of ”asking, seeking, and knocking on the door”, i.e. walking on the road of the new life then your good tree will naturally bear the good fruit.  Out of the bad tree – old life, it’s impossible to have the good fruit because the old life’s fruit is “self-centeredness”.  Brothers and sisters, too often we only proclaim with our mouths: “There is a God!  We believe in God, we must firmly believe in God!”  But once we encounter problems we ask: “Oh God, why does it happen to me?  Oh God, I just don’t know why it happens.”  This is the manifestation of our self-centeredness.

(3)   Two foundations – two different foundations (sources) of power for action and two different outcomes

Matthew 7: 24-27: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who build his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

This passage mentions two foundations, what’s the meaning of this?  Lord Jesus said: “everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice”, what words of the Lord are they?  If we read this line in its full context a few times, then it will be clear that Lord Jesus was referring to the words on: “ask … seek … and knock on the door …”  When we hear the words of the Lord and put them into practice, means we are walking on the “asking, seeking, and knocking on the door” road.  Luke 11: 13 mentions that “Father in heaven gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him”, so when we ask, the Holy Spirit will begin to work in us and we just follow the guidance of the Spirit to act.  Just like when we are saved and born again, the moment we “ask” – calling on the name of the Lord, confessing our sins, and accepting Jesus Christ as our personal savior, the Holy Spirit enters into us to cause our rebirth.  After we have been saved, we just keep on praying – asking, then the Holy Spirit will work inside us to guide and lead us to do the right thing.  If we take the road of “asking, seeking, and knocking on the door”, and obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit to act then in God’s eyes we are like the house built on the rock, strong and secure; conversely, if we don’t take this road and rely on our own reasoning and analysis, and act according to our likes and dislikes, then we are like the house built on sand doomed to collapse by rain, wind, and the rushing water of the stream.

(4)   Our two inner natures after we have become believers:  

One nature:  Christ is the lord of my life, I should submit to Christ; when I call on the name of the Lord, I am closely united with the Lord, my old-self has died with the Lord so I am freed from the control of the sin nature; I follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to act.  Sin shall not be my master but the sin nature is still in me.

The other nature:  I live as my own lord, relying on myself and don’t walk on the road of calling on the name of the Lord; I walk on the road of self-reliance so immediately I am under the control of sin -- it is my master, all my old-self conditions have reappeared, I follow the desires of the flesh to act.

4.      What is the relationship between our free will to choose and the sin nature?  (see Figure 3 and Romans 6: 12-14)

FIGURE 3.  My Choices and their Consequences

 (The Right and Wrong Way to Please God and Reach God’s Righteousness)

(1)    God longs and waits for our free will to choose to love him and submit to him, so that our new life may continue to grow:  Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed us and we are united with him through faith so he is the lord of our lives.  However, he does not control us like the sin nature, he longs for us to be united with him ever so closely.  The Bible says that the Christ’s love compels us to no longer live for ourselves but to live for the Lord who died for us and was raised again; it further says, “I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy ….”  With his mercy and love, God wishes to guide and lead us to him; he doesn’t want to control us like robots, rather he desires and waits for us to exercise our free will to choose to love him, surrender to him so that our new life may grow continually.   

Figure 3 describes the nature of life growth of a person after coming to the Lord.  Depending on the choice of our free will, trusting in God or relying on ourselves (by faith or by sight), there are two totally opposite outcomes: one is the growth of the new life, the other is a broken relationship between the Father and the son (the condition of being a baby who follows the desires of the flesh).  The new life will have a healthy growth under the condition of “by faith from first to last”.  It is God’s will for us to grow a new life – it is what pleases God.

(2)   If I choose “relying on myself”, what will be the outcome?  Let’s look at the upper branch of Figure 3.  We have stated repeatedly that when we live under law, we are in fact relying on ourselves, so we are controlled by sin again (refer to Romans 6: 12-14); our old-self conditions reappear and turn our body into a body of sin, thus we can’t help but commit sins leading to death – broken relationship between the Father and the son.  In other words, when we are faced with people, objects, and things of our daily life, if we follow the standards of the Bible and our own ability to act then the sin nature in us will be awaken to control us (see Romans 7: 5, 11, 21-24).  Please note that the sin nature controls us secretly and unlawfully, because our lawful master is Christ now.  Once we are controlled by the sin nature, our old-self nature will appear, making us obey the evil desires of our flesh and commit sins, the result is death (broken Father-son relationship).  This is what Romans 8: 6 means by “the mind of sinful man is death” – because the sinful man’s mind is only focused on sinful desires.  A person who is saved and born again and yet still lives by relying on himself then he is a sinful man.  The mind of a sinful man always seeks to use his own ways to deal with whatever he faces; it will lead to death (a temporary break in his fellowship with God).

(3)     If I choose to trust in God, what will be the outcome?  Let’s look at the lower branch of Figure 3:  I choose to rely on God, to call on the name of the Lord, to lift his name up high, to ask God to save me from myself, so that I am more closely united with the Lord and able to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit to act; then my mortal body will be made alive to live out righteousness and my new life may grow gradually.  When I encounter difficulties or issues in my life, I do not rely on myself; rather I rely on the Lord: “Oh Lord, I beg you to save me!  Oh Lord, I thank you and praise you, everything that happens to me is for the sake of building my character to be holy ….”  What will be the outcome?  We should thank and call on the Lord, for God will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him (Luke 11: 13), then we just follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to act.

      What does it mean to give the mortal bodies life again?  Although we have been saved but our actions are still self-centered, so our body is still under the control of sin hence it is mortal and hostile to God.  God uses everything that happens to us day in and day out to mold us; if we accept the Lord as our master and call on him, give thanks to him, and praise Jesus; that is, if we offer our bodies as the instruments of righteousness then we are united with the Lord in death and in resurrection to live by the Holy Spirit, so that our mortal bodies may gain life little by little through everything that we experience (see Romans 8: 11-13; 2 Corinthians 4: 14; Philippians 3: 9-11).  Our lives grow through this continual process of taking off the old-self and putting on the new-self (Ephesians 4: 22-24).  The deeds that allow you to gain life little by little are righteous deeds.  The righteous requirements of the law cannot be attained through our own efforts rather it is through our faith and obedience, that is to obey the holy Spirit and to live by the Spirit (refer to Philippians 2: 12; Galatians 5: 16, 25), as Galatians 5: 5 says, “by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope”; and Romans 8: 4 says, “the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit”.  Only through this step by step process (i.e., the righteous acts of the saints), the righteous requirements of the law can be met.

      Therefore, we can see that the correct path to please God and achieve the righteousness of God is to use our free will to choose “relying on the Lord”.  Often times we chose to rely on ourselves to please God and only ended up causing sins of the flesh: jealousy, quarreling, hatred, outbursts of anger, criticizing, judging, etc.

(4)   The relationship between our free will and the sin nature: When my free will choose “relying on myself” (living under law), I am secretly under the control of the sin nature, so sin is my master which leads to my old-self conditions resurfacing.  Now we are new-selves, have new lives – not revived old-selves.  Our old-selves have been crucified with the Lord when we were saved and born again, they are dead; what surfaces now are just the “conditions” of the old-selves.  When our free will chooses “relying on God”, we are tightly united with Christ so sin shall not be our master and the new lives will grow.            

1.      Explain the statement:  God’s will is for us to live under grace.  (Romans 6: 12-14, 19)

      Romans 6: 12-14, 19: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.  Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.  For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. … Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.”

      The above scripture passages point out: “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body; do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness; for sin shall not be your master; now offer the parts of your body in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness”.  So we are clear about God’s will:  Since God freed us from the control of the sin nature, we should not let sin reign in us, should not offer the parts of our body to sin as its instruments, rather we should offer them to God as instruments of righteousness.  How to be freed from sin?  Romans 6: 14 points out clearly: “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”  In other words, as long as we are under grace then sin shall not be our master,  Thus it is clear that God wants us to live under grace, exalt and look up to Christ as the Lord of our lives.     

2.      What is “living under law”?  “What is living under grace”?

(1)   What is “law”?  The narrow definition: the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament; the broad definition: the requirements of God; even broader definition: the requirements for being good.

(2)   What is “living under law”?  That is trying to attain the requirements of God through one’s own efforts (not limited to the Ten Commandments, also include the requirements of the New Testament, such as don’t lie, don’t be greedy, and don’t be jealous). 

(3)   What is “living under grace”?  That is, not to rely on your own efforts, but to rely on the mighty power of God to attain the requirements of God, rely on the great power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish all things.

(4)   The law is absolutely not to be changed and its requirements must be met:  “not living under law but under grace” does not mean that you don’t have to meet the requirements of the law, rather it matters which path we take to attain the requirements – we must meet the requirements of the law by grace.

7.      Under what circumstances while we try to meet the requirements of the law but end up being controlled by the sin nature?  (Romans 7: 11)

Romans 7: 11: ”For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.”

Sin picks the most opportune time – when you want to show your love for the Lord and when you are eager to do all you can to attain the requirements of the Bible, to put the commandments and the law in front of you and commands you: That’s right, a Christian should be like this or should do that.  This will bring out your old condition of “relying on yourself”; and you will try by all means to meet the requirements of the law, leading to being controlled by the sin nature, committing sins, and death (a temporary separation from God).  This is what it means to be put to death by sin.

We have discussed our two inner natures – two roads, two lives, and two sources of power.  When we are faced with the requirements of the law (i.e. the standards of the Bible), one road to take is by “asking, seeking, and knocking on the door”, or to be more closely united with the life of Christ: “Oh Lord, I ask you to save me from myself.  Lord, what should I do?  Lord, you lead me!”  Then you just follow the Holy Spirit to act.  If we do not take this road and try to meet the requirements of the law by ourselves, then we are relying on our reasoning and analysis, or relying on our own efforts, leading to being controlled by the sin nature again, the conditions of our old life will reappear and we obey the desires of the flesh to act.

After believing in Jesus, I am a new creation; I no longer live but Christ lives in me.  However, don’t forget the sin nature is still in us, we are only babies of the new creation.  How will this baby grow?  It is through constantly relying on the Lord to grow up.  Our natural life is to be “self-centered”, so “I” will always try hard to be good.  When “I” am challenged to meet a requirement for being good, “I” will immediately leap into action.  The moment you want to “do” something, you are relying on your efforts to meet that requirement and the sin nature will control you.     

8.      Under what circumstance does our sinful nature desire what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature?  (Galatians 5: 16-18; Romans 6: 12-14)

This lesson was written for those brothers and sisters who are “eager to please God”; we are not concerning ourselves with those who just want to do whatever they please.  Wanting “to please the Lord” means wanting to meet the requirements of the Bible, which is a good thing because the requirements of the Bible must be attained.  The question now is not whether we should but how we can meet the requirements of the Bible.  We already know there are two inner natures in us:  two lives, two roads, two forces, and two sources of power. 

(1)    What does it mean to say “the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit”?  When we encounter things the Holy Spirit will guide us in our hearts, move and show us to what God wants us to do; however, the next step is where the problem usually arises.  Do we rely on ourselves or on the Lord to reach God’s requirements?  This is the crux of the problem.  Put it another way: do we live under law or under grace?  If we live under law (meaning to rely on ourselves to meet the requirements of the law), we will immediately fall under the control of the sin nature, which indirectly controls our body so that we obey its evil desires (see Romans 6: 12).  As an example, I wanted to study the Bible thoroughly, so I spent a lot of effort to come up with a study plan.  Actually when I approached it this way, I was already being controlled by the sin nature and “my desires” would surface.  On one hand, I was very excited about what I was about to engage in, I had a plan to do it this way or that way, etc., but on the other hand when I was about to start the study, something interrupted me causing me to lose my temper, why?  Because I was still in flesh; though my heart wanted to study the Bible thoroughly which was what the Spirit told me, but in the end “I” wanted to “rely on my own effort” to get it done, so it became all about “my desires” which was of the flesh.  Not only that I didn’t get to study the Bible, I even got into an argument with others: “You are the devil, you interfere with my Bible study, oh Lord, tie up the devil!”  Have you had similar experiences?  This is an illustration of “the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit”.  When “I” surfaced, so did the sinful nature; if the sinful nature appeared while you were dealing with issues then you would lose control and not be able to do what you want.  In layman’s term, when we see or sense something inappropriate (the Holy Spirit at work), we immediately get angry (the sinful nature at work) – this is the meaning of the sinful nature (getting angry) desires what is contrary to the Spirit (wanting to meet the requirements of God).  Obviously, our aim is to attain the requirements of God but because of our getting angry we end up being a total failure.  Sometimes we even try to cover up our true nature of corruptness by saying that we are having a righteous wrath.  This is what we mean by “the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit”.

      So, how do we keep our sinful nature in check?  We should pray earnestly, take the road of calling on the name of the Lord: “Oh Lord, I long to live a life of prayer and Bible reading, please show me how to go about it.  Oh Lord, I want you to draw me a diagram showing my devotional plan; please lead me, guide me!”  All you need to do is just to pray eagerly until there is peace in your heart then you can start your devotional.  I’m not saying that you don’t need to have a plan; rather don’t just rely on yourself to come up with a plan.

(2)   What is the meaning of “the Spirit desires what is contrary to the sinful nature”?  The Holy Spirit, our dear Counselor, is always so faithful to us, he assists, cares, and nurtures us, even though we are ignorant, naïve, pathetic, and constantly involved in the tug of war between the sinful nature and the Holy Spirit.  Praise the Lord, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness, and he intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express (see Romans 8: 26).  Either through repeatedly exposing our sinful “self”, the Holy Spirit makes us admit that we are powerless, and need to look up to the Lord for leadership and guidance; or through the environment that we are forced us to turn back onto the road of resting and calling on the name of the Lord; or through anointing teachings in our hearts to remind us: “Listen to the Holy Spirit: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’ … There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work.” (Hebrews 4: 7-11)  The Holy Spirit turns us back to living under grace so as to be freed from the control of the sin, as well as freed from the evil desires of the sinful nature.