Do Christians have two natures?

Of a truth, this is an important question which is worth our consideration. There are many people out there who believe that a Christian possesses two natures, namely his new and old nature. But is this view in line with what God's word teaches? Others also have a contrary view, they are of the opinion that a Christian has only one nature, which is the new nature. 

To them, our old sinful nature was completely severed when we became a new creation. But is this view scriptural, is it consistent with other parts of the scriptures? Both views cannot be right, one view must be right whiles the other view must be erroneous. 

"A great part of sanctification is to be aware of this, to recognize it, and to contend with it, keeping the old locked up and silent. Lose this concept, and we lose precious understanding for sanctification"-- Dr. Peters Master. But what saith the scriptures, the scriptures is the ultimate standard of authority by which every doctrine must be tested and examined.

I believe strongly that every Christian has two natures, our sinful nature and the new nature which we received at our new birth. 

Our sinful nature

I am of the view that every Christian has a sinful nature. If not then, why do we still have the desire to sin, why are we drawn to commit certain sins? All this sinful inclinations to do that which is contrary to God's will proceeds from the old man or our sinful nature.

Our sinful nature is still there, but it has been dethroned from it's seat, it has been weakened by reason of our new birth, but yea, it is still there, and if we lose guard it will break loose and take control. If you fall into sin as a Christian, it is not you, but sin which dwells in your sinful nature, because in your flesh or sinful nature dwells no good thing (Romans 7; 17-18).

Our new Nature 

At the moment of salvation, we became a new creation, we received a brand new nature, but our sinful nature or the old man (Ephesians 4; 22) is still there. So now, we have two natures, the old man and the new man, or you can say it this way, the sinful nature or flesh and the new nature or the new man, they mean the same thing. Our new nature is created after God in righteousness and true holiness. It is implanted in us by the Spirit, and it that part from whence proceeds every good thing. Our new nature is the part of us which loves God genuinely and seeks to please him, it the part of us which loves others with the love of Christ, loves righteousness and longs to serve the Lord and to be with him in eternity. Our new nature is who we truly are, it is the real me, it is our regenerate spiritual self which is in the process of being conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8; 29, Colossians 3; 10).

Internal struggle 

Our sinful nature and the new nature are both living in the same tent. They are contrary to one another, the one desires to sin, whiles the other desires to please the Lord. Paul wrote this: For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin-- Romans 7:14-25

This was not Paul in his unregenerate state as some thinks, but as a regenerated man, as an apostle of Christ. The truth is that we all go through this kind of struggle which is an indication that we're truly born again. Anyone who does not struggle with sin is not born again. The apostle also wrote somewhere else: For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please--- Galatians 5; 17

So you can see there is an internal struggle going on within us, it is a war between our old man and the new man, but the good news is that the old man can no longer exercise it's dominion over us, like it did when we were not born again, because of the emergence of our new nature. What we need to do as Christian's is to submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit, and the fruits of the Spirit will be more and more evident in our lives, see (Galatians 5; 22). Our sanctification is imperfect and it will continue throughout this life, and we will make progress perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord, because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us which works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

So are there two natures in a believer? Yes there are two natures in every Christian, and this two natures are in opposition to one another. The idea of a one nature doctrine is completely unscriptural and illogical. God bless you 

A thought to ponder 🤔 

The idea of a one nature doctrine is completely unscriptural and illogical

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