Two Natures ReRevisited: Though I have written on this before regarding the supposed two “natures” in the believer, if that is even the right term, I generally prefer not to keep circling back to the same topics. Yet I heard something today that left me puzzled. A dear brother recommended a message to me by a preacher whose name I had heard of, though I had never listened to him before. I found that message exceptionally clear on the doctrine of imputation, and I told my friend how thankful I was that he had shared it with me. Several of the points were stated with real clarity. So this morning when I got to work, I downloaded two additional messages by the same preacher from SermonAudio. While I have little interest in fault-finding or picking sermons apart, certain statements I heard seemed too significant to ignore, especially since the message had been put into PDF form, suggesting these expressions were intentional and thoughtfully chosen.
Now I know that many brethren I esteem hold a different conviction regarding what is commonly called the two natures in the believer, the old man and the new man. For many, this is not merely one doctrine among others, but an interpretive framework used to explain ongoing sin, spiritual conflict, and growth in grace. This brings me to an important clarification. Just because someone holds that framework does not mean they carry it where this message seems to carry it. Honestly, I imagine most do not. Many use the language in a far more restrained and careful way.
As I look over this message repeatedly, several points should be gladly recognized as true and scriptural: believers have an inward man – II Corinthians 4:16; believers delight in the law of God inwardly – Romans 7:22; Christ is our righteousness and sanctification – I Corinthians 1:30; and the flesh remains a present reality in believers – Galatians 5:17. These are real truths. The difficulty lies not in the truths themselves, but in the framework into which they are arranged. Here, in my judgment, certain truths are overextended.
There was one paragraph that especially caught my attention, because it seems to gather this whole way of thinking into a few short sentences. Here is what was said: “The good news of the gospel is that God knows us as the inward man that He has created. Christ is the holiness of the new man by dwelling in us. Christ is the righteousness of the believer through faith. We have a sin nature that is the same as it has always been and will always be until it returns to the dust. But it is this new man, this new heart, which believes and depends upon Christ alone for righteousness and holiness, that God looks upon.”
There are truths touched here, which is often why such language can seem correct at first hearing. Scripture does speak of inward renewal, the mind being enlightened, new desires and affections, and the believer’s conflict with remaining corruption. Yet the paragraph arranges these truths in a troubling way, as though God’s regard rests chiefly upon a newly created inner self within the believer, rather than upon the believer as accepted in Christ. To say that God chiefly looks upon the “new man” within us is to speak beneath the glory of the gospel. God’s regard toward His people stands in Christ. We are accepted in the Beloved, complete in Him, and blessed with all spiritual blessings in Him. The eye of faith is directed upward to Christ enthroned, not inward to locate some holy self.
Paul nowhere speaks as though the sinful flesh acts while a holy inner self remains untouched. Rather, he speaks personally and honestly, saying, “I am carnal, sold under sin… O wretched man that I am.” He is expressing conflict, helplessness in self, delight in God’s law, and deliverance only in Christ. The warfare is true enough, and the struggle is real, but it is the struggle of one man who feels his corruption deeply, not two separate selves living within him. The danger in such overdrawn language is not merely theoretical. It quietly trains the mind to look within for what God esteems, rather than unto Christ, in whom all the believer’s acceptance stands. The gospel does not send us inward to inspect some holy component of self, but outward to Christ Himself, in whom we are complete. Colossians 2:10. This is not to deny the gracious work wrought within the believer, but to keep such things in their proper place.
Scripture speaks of inward renewal and real conflict, but it nowhere teaches us to divide ourselves into compartments and locate peace there. Our peace is a Person. Our righteousness is a Person. Our standing is a Person. Christ is all. Obviously, there is much more that could be said here, but many of those points were dealt with in earlier writings. I have no desire to chase every side road. It is enough to say that whenever the soul is turned inward as the ground of comfort, something of the glory of Christ is obscured.
I was just about to close this out, as I really have no desire to stir these murky waters again, and these matters can quickly lose clarity when too many byways are pursued. I had intended to let that one quotation bear the weight of the argument, though I had written down a few others. As I was about to delete that small cluster of quotations, I read through them once more to be certain I had missed nothing, and they only strengthened the concern. I have decided to include them as well, to show that this is no isolated expression.
“The way Paul was able to confess to God that he was carnal, sold under sin, that in his flesh dwelt no good thing, that he did not do what he would, but what he hated, is because God created a new, holy spirit in him in which was no guile. He confessed to God that he was the sinner and Christ was all his salvation.”
“God will keep us yielded to Christ. It’s by him that we have a new holy heart, and he made us obey the doctrine that was delivered to us. And he freed us from the dominion of our sin nature. So rather than making us want to sin that grace may abound, the gospel creates a new heart and makes us yield our members to Christ.”
“Paul says, “For we know.” Only “we” who are born of God, given the unction from the Holy One, and sanctified by the impartation of a new holy spirit, “know” this. Before, Paul talked in the past tense of himself before he was regenerated. Here, he speaks in the present tense as a sanctified believer born-again of God.”
‘I am carnal, sold under sin. This is the confession of a sanctified believer in whom a holy heart has been created. We did not know this about ourselves until God gave us a pure heart with no guile and no sin. Then we understood the law is spiritual but in my sin-nature, ‘I am carnal, sold under sin.’ In the new man, the new holy heart, the law makes us behold that the nature we received by our first birth is sin. For the first time, we understand in the new man what the law says of our old man.”
“The law cannot make a fallen sinner holy nor can it make a regenerated man holy. We need Christ’s righteousness and Christ’s Holiness! Christ is formed within us and a new holy man is born. Then we worship God in the new spirit which is holy. We worship God in newness of spirit. From the new holy man which the Spirit created in us in regeneration, we behold our sinful nature is vile.”
Expressions like these especially caught my attention: “God created a new, holy spirit in him in which there was no guile” – “it’s by him that we have a new holy heart, and he made us obey the doctrine that was delivered to us” – “sanctified by the impartation of a new holy spirit” – “this is the confession of a sanctified believer in whom a holy heart has been created” – Christ is formed within us and a new holy man is born. Then we worship God in the new spirit which is holy.”
It almost seems, after reading these statements together, one can hardly avoid a certain confusion, for they all appear to move in one direction – toward the notion of a sinless inward self within the believer upon which special emphasis is placed. Without attempting to dissect every sentence, I think the overall tendency is plain enough. Again and again the language moves toward the idea of a sinless inward entity, a “holy spirit,” “pure heart,” or “new holy man” within the believer, as though this inner principle becomes the true self upon which God chiefly looks. Whatever measure of truth may be touched in speaking of inward renewal, Scripture does not frame the believer’s standing in this manner.
The believer’s comfort is not found in searching for some holy component of self, but in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our righteousness, our standing, and our peace before God. Whatever gracious work is wrought within us, it is Christ alone who remains the object of faith and the ground of acceptance. MPJ