I do not argue with your long post on our Advocate. Indeed IF we sin He will be our Advocate to restore us. This is what happened with Peter and Paul when they fell from their ES state.
I have already said we share in the energies of God to be as Him in holiness with a pure heart that does not sin. We never share in His essence. We never have His qualities as creator. We are returned to the state of Adam before he fell and that is the purpose of the resurrection.
I do not argue with your long post on our Advocate. Indeed IF we sin He will be our Advocate to restore us. This is what happened with Peter and Paul when they fell from their ES state.
I have already said we share in the energies of God to be as Him in holiness with a pure heart that does not sin. We never share in His essence. We never have His qualities as creator. We are returned to the state of Adam before he fell and that is the purpose of the resurrection.
The apostle adds in verse 6, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
Although Reformed Theology and Dispensationalism have been ardent defenders of the “dual natures” within the believer, there are a growing number in both of these camps that teach
the old man is eradicated upon our conversion to Christ. Therefore, they believe the child of God only possesses the new man, which is created in righteousness and true holiness. This position has come to be known as one-naturism. The following statement of John MacArthur, the voice of the Grace to Youradio ministry, is representative of those who hold this viewpoint: “I believe it is a serious misunderstanding to think of the believer as having both an old and new nature. Believers do not have dual personalities…there is no such thing as an old nature in the believer.” (John MacArthur, Freedom from Sin—Romans 6-7, Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, Pages 31,32.)
On this premise, the Holiness Movement teaches sinless perfection, but advocates of one-naturism concede that the believer can and still does sin, although in a diminishing capacity as he yields to the Spirit. Even though the old man is eradicated, they claim the remnants of original sin are still present in the believer. We might liken it to a man who fires a shotgun at a rotten apple—all that’s left are pieces embedded in the wall. They call this embedded behavior, the flesh.
While it is not our desire to enter into a dialogue over one-naturism, we do want our readers to understand that this position stands in opposition to one of the fundamentals of the faith. Our declaration of faith in the Grace Movement states: “By reason of Christ’s victory over sin and His indwelling Spirit, all of the saved may and should experience deliverance from the power of sin by obedience to Romans 6:11; but we deny that man’s nature of sin is ever eradicated during this life” (Rom. 6:6-14; Gal. 5:16-25; Rom. 8:37; II Cor. 2:14; 10:2-5).
The present tense of salvation, sanctification, has the idea to be set apart unto God. The family of words associated with this Greek word is: saints, holy, holiness, sanctify, sanctuary, etc. Here we must be careful to distinguish between positional and practical sanctification. These are two distinct lines of teaching in Paul’s epistles.
“But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (I Cor. 1:30).
Notice it is “in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us…sanctification.” This is a once-for-all act of God that takes place at the moment of our conversion. Therefore, we are the saints of God, holy, perfect, and complete in Christ (Eph. 1:4; I Thes. 5:23; Col. 2:10). Nothing in this life or the next can ever change our standing before God. The moment death sweeps us into the eternal presence of God we will appear before Him perfect because we are in Christ.
The present state of things, however, is a much different story. Our behavior as the saints of God is not always becoming of Christ. We are imperfect and incomplete on this side of glory. This is why the apostle admonishes the Corinthians and those at Thessalonica accordingly:
“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor” (I Thes. 4:3,4).
In the Old Testament, God never made a provision for presumptuous sins in the daily sacrificial system. There was only a provision made for sins of ignorance (Num. 15:27-31). The reason for this was clear: as far as God was concerned His chosen people, a holy nation, would never willingly sin against Him. But the fact of the matter is, they sinned again and again presumptuously against the Holy One of Israel, which thankfully was covered by the annual Day of Atonement.
We might say it this way today: surely a saint of God, who is set apart unto Him, would never willingly sin against the Lord. Sadly, he can and often does as the above passage demonstrates. You see, the believer is to appropriate by faith what he already possesses in Christ that he might not sin against God. This is how we have power over sin in our lives.
THE INNER CONFLICT
The mechanics of our identification with Christ are more fully developed for us in Romans Chapter 6:
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Rom. 6:6).
The “old man” is that which we have inherited from Adam at conception. Although some object to the usage of “old nature,” since it is not specifically used in Paul’s revelation, these two designations are one in the same. For example, a dog has a nature, which is the inherent character of the animal. The two are inseparable. Thus, we often hear it said that it’s the nature of a dog to bark. In similar fashion, the old nature is corrupt according to deceitful lust (Eph. 4:22). It naturally rebels against God and the things of God. The old nature is like the dog that returns to its vomit, it cannot be altered, and any attempt to reform it will always be futile.
Other names for the old nature are: the natural man, the (old) heart, the carnal mind, and the flesh. These designations merely describe additional characteristics of the old man, with which we are all too familiar. But Paul says, “Our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.” We are dead to sin. Do you believe this wonderful truth? We do—lock, stock, and barrel, as they say!
In the eyes of God, our old man was crucified with Christ; it’s dead and buried forevermore, positionally. Practically speaking, however, he’s alive and well within our members. This is why the apostle instructs us that since Christ died unto sin once, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin” (Rom. 6:11). Beloved, we would not have to reckon the old man dead if he has been eradicated, as some teach. We must count him dead because he is still present within us.
The conflict between the two natures may be compared to a ship, on which a new Captain has been put on board by the owners. The old Captain has so long held command, and his enmity to the owners is so great, that he has practically treated the vessel as his own; and kept the crew in perfect bondage. The crew has submitted to it, never having known any other authority, or understood what real liberty of service was. From time to time they have heard of it; they have passed other vessels which they saw at once were very different from their own.
But, now that the new Captain is in authority they begin to find out what the difference is. The new Captain henceforth always has control of the helm and the charge of the ship. The ship is the same, the crew is the same. Even the old Captain remains on board. The book of instructions which the new Captain has brought on board tells that the old Captain has been judged and condemned: but the sentence cannot be executed except by the proper judicial authorities, when they reach port.
They cannot put him ashore, or throw him overboard. But, he no longer “holds the helm or guides the ship.” He tries from time to time to get hold of the wheel, but in vain. He succeeds sometimes in putting forth his old influence by creating disaffection in some of the members of the crew; for he knows them and their weaknesses well from his former complete control of them. He occasionally bribes or deceives some of them into acts of insubordination which they afterwards deeply regret. But the old Captain cannot get at the “ship’s papers.” They are now put quite out of his reach, where he cannot touch them. He cannot succeed in altering the ship’s course, or change the port for which she is now bound. He does not read the book of instructions; and if he looks at it, he does not understand it (I Cor. 2:14).
The ship’s crew was once his executive, and carried out only his will; but there is now no obligation for any of them to obey his orders, or to recognize his authority. They are released from it; and henceforth they are under the orders of the new Commander. They are to “reckon” the old Captain as already condemned; and the sentence as only waiting to be carried out. As to his power over them, they are to reckon themselves “as good as dead” so far as he is concerned. (The Two Natures in the Child of God, E.W. Bullinger, D.D., published by Bible Doctrines to Live By, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Pages 26,27.)
The Lord has given me a number of opportunities to preach the gospel at the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. As you look out over that sea of faces, one cannot help but see the depths of sin. But, thankfully, "where sin abounded grace did much more abound." Consider for a moment a river that is
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