The Old Man Has to Go

 October 29, 2024

Tuesday

I hear people say things like, "Everybody is basically good." Are they? What basis are we saying that everyone is good? Do they think that everyone who comes into this world is good until something bad make them bad? That certainly isn't what the Bible says.

The Bible says that everyone one of us inherited our sin nature from Adam. We come into this world with an inherited sin nature. For example, I have a big nose. My dad had a big nose. I inherited my nose from him. I didn't do anything to get this nose. It didn't look like such a big nose when I was born. Yet, it was there all along even when no one could see it.

That's the way the sin nature is. We are born with a sin nature. You can't see it when we are born. It continues to show itself as we get older. It was there all alone even when no one could see it. Our sin nature came from Adam through whom sin entered the world.

It should not surprise us that sin becomes prevalent in a world with people who inherit a sin nature. The sin nature is present and can't be improved. The effects from the sin nature may be quietened but they will not go away. The sin nature will guarantee that we will sin. A sin nature doesn't mean that we will become as bad as we can be. It guarantees that we will not live a spotless life. It guarantees that every person needs Jesus.

Yet, it is the same sin nature that fights becoming a Christian. Maybe that is why most people become Christians before they are adults. The sin nature hasn't put down roots as deep in the young. It is much less likely that an adult will trust in Christ even though an adult should understand more clearly why they need Jesus.

Think about it: you become a Christian and the Holy Spirit moves into your life where the sin nature was able to do what it wanted. There must be a radical change or there is going to be a great war. The flesh, our old lives, listened to the sin nature. Our spirits now hear the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Spirit and the flesh are in opposition to each other. Something has to change if the Christian wants to live in true peace. The Christian must surrender to the Holy Spirit. The sin nature doesn't go away. It is just less prominent.

So, how are you doing with your sin nature? Are you filled with the Spirit and the sin nature no longer rules or are you void of the fruit of the Spirit and you look as if you are a non-Christian? Is there true joy in your life or are you fighting for happiness?

Yes, you know if the sin nature is in control. Are you going to do something about it?

Romans 5:12 (NASB 2020)¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned—