Part 5: Believers do not have a Sinful Nature: Gal 2:19-20

I know you might be curious to know why the topic says that if we are born again, we don’t have a sinful nature. I know that’s not what most of us were taught, but as always we will see the verses and see what the Bible tells us.

We are currently in Part 5 of this eye opening study on Galatians 2:19-20:

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

We already saw in the previous blogs on this same verse that we were crucified with Christ and we died. That means we are dead to sin, or we do not have a sinful nature.

You Died, You are Freed

Let’s read Rom 6:6

knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

This verse in itself should clarify this. It says that our old self was crucified with Him, and the consequence of that is

1. Body of sin has been done away with.
2. We are no longer slaves to sin.
3. We have been freed from sin.

How many of us hear that being taught? However, guess what’s being taught mainstream- that we have a sinful nature. It is a lie from the pit of hell. Our body is not sinful, out body is rather the temple of the living God. It has no allegiance to sin, but rather it is dead to sin.

Let’s talk about the sinful nature

Do Christians have a sinful nature? The short answer is no, we have a new nature. We are partakers of God. If you’re a believer in Christ, then you’re the new self. You’re a new creation.

But you still sin, don’t you? Why is that?

That’s because of old attitudes and old actions that you still adopt, the unrenewed mind, which is the flesh. You can still walk in worldly ways. You can think and act in ways that aren’t consistent with your new spiritual nature, but you don’t have two natures. You’re not two people. You don’t have two selves in there.

What’s up with sinful nature anyway? Well, the Greek word is sarx, and for years the NIV translation published it as sinful nature. Being a very popular translation, this got a foothold in mainstream doctrine and as a result believers started saying they have a sinful nature.However, the publisher Zondervan, realized that the correct translation isn’t sinful nature and corrected it to FLESH. That’s right!. They changed it.

I’ve got a new nature. I’m a new self. I’m a new person in Christ. And yet I might struggle. I might struggle with some worldly perspectives. Occasionally, we might walk by the flesh or set our minds on things of the world. Set our minds on the flesh, but our identity is in Christ. We’re in the Spirit. Now our spiritual nature is one with Jesus, Christ. We’re one spirit with the Lord.

Is this just semantics?

An emphatic no!

Imagine being told that you’re sinful, but you gotta live holy, that you’re bad, but you gotta live good. That’s a recipe for disaster. It’s a recipe for failure. What’s the truth? Well, you’re a child of light, so walk like children of light. Do you see? Do you see how this matters? If you believe you’re dirty and distant and sinful at the core, then you’re going to act. But if you recognize, you know what the old me is, dead, buried and gone. I’m a new creation. I’m different at the core, then you can think and walk in brand new ways, and when you do, you’re simply being yourself. You’re being who God made you to be. You’re being a child of God who is permanently in God’s Spirit.