ADDENDUM
Friends of the author have correctly pointed out
that our old nature is never in a “coma.” The old nature is to be reckoned as
dead after our salvation: Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive
unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:11 (KJV). As long as we
are living in Jesus Christ we should count our sin nature as dead. However, as
humans we still struggle with our old nature almost every day. Paul said it
this way: I have discovered this
principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is
wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power
within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin
that is still within me. Romans 7:21-23 (NLT). Therefore, our old nature is
always alive but by faith in Jesus we are to consider it as dead in our
spiritual life. I am sorry I said it was in a coma in the original post…because
the sin nature is not in a coma. At times, when we are serving God, we may forget
about our old nature for a while.
Thank you
for your feedback.
ORIGINAL POST
When we claim to be born-again into the church of Jesus Christ it means that our old nature must be placed in a coma so our new life can actively begin to share the nature of God. Every real Christian is a very different person from the natural worldly people living around them. They change because they have been infused with the Spirit who is Divine. Our old nature will go into a coma the very instant that the Holy Spirit comes into us and begins to direct our life. Every Christian must repent of their old natural ways and ask Christ to save them from their sin. Then Jesus can be the Lord of their life. Some people in the church have failed to do this and they will miss-out on the promises of God. It only makes sense, that if we fail to comply with the ways of God we are not welcome in His family. Peter was the Christian writer who said it this way: God has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. 2 Peter 1:4 (NLT) In order to share God’s nature we must escape our natural corruption.
There are
many promises given to Christians in the Bible. However, the most important
promises are the ones that enable us to share the divine nature. Our Savior has
always been the most important promise to humans: The Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive
God’s promise of freedom only by
believing in Jesus Christ. Gal 3:22 (NLT) Jesus is the one who made it
all possible. We all know by experience that unless our sin is being overcome by
the power of the Savior we will never share in the promise of freedom from our
sinful nature. It was a fantastic day when God promised to send His own Son to
earth with the purpose of conquering sin for humans. The only requirement on
our part is to accept it by faith. However, this type of faith will always
cause us to dedicate our entire life God. Another almost un-believable promise
is: Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed
the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
Gal 3:14 This promise of the Holy Spirit living in us is what makes our new
live possible.
The
possibility of this new life is wonderful news but we must make every effort to
respond to these promises in the proper way. Because the Law has been
superseded we now need the direction of the Spirit in our life. For example, we
must live a moral life. This requires the knowledge of good and evil so we can
do what is right. In order to exercise our self-control the old nature must be
kept in its coma. During our lifetime we must have a lot of endurance or we can
become impatient and possibly give up the fight. Peter is encouraging us to
share the divine nature when he says: In
view of all this, make every effort to
respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision
of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge
with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, 2 Peter 1:5-6 (NLT)
He is talking about the battle every Christian has with their old nature. It
should be obvious that our old nature must be kept in a coma. If it is not, our
old sins will certainly interfere with the new life God has for us.
Some
people have asked how they can know that their life is pleasing God. This
answer is easy because it is about our actions and not our thinking. When our
daily actions are Godly, anybody can tell because they are completely different
from worldly people. Along with our Godly actions we will love our church brothers
and have a general love to see the salvation of the unsaved. Peter said it like
this: With godliness, and godliness
with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more
productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. 2 Peter 1:6-8 (NLT) We see that the purpose of our growing into the
divine nature is to use our maturity for the benefit of others. Christianity is
never to be a selfish life style. My friends, we are able to make great plans
in order to gain worldly positions. It only makes sense that we would find the
plans that God has for our life and work to accomplish them. Working for God is
an eternal investment.
Reinforcing
the call to gain a divine nature, Paul said it differently: We ask God to give you complete knowledge of
his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way
you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce
every kind of good fruit. All the while, you
will grow as you learn to know God better and better. Col 1:9-10 (NLT) Although
he does not mention our new divine nature he does pray for our knowledge of the
Lord to grow. Our knowledge will please God when we produce the right kind of
fruit. When Paul says “as we learn to know God better” he is talking about the
growth of our new divine nature. In another passage Paul says: Through
him(Jesus), God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent
words and all of your knowledge. This confirms that what I told you about
Christ is true. Now you have every
spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord
Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 1:5-7 (NLT) Having what we need for our new life should
give us a feeling of confidence.
Christians
are only able to carry the responsibility of a divine nature because the Spirit
of God fully supports us in our faith. Therefore, any godly fruit in our life
is actually produced by the Spirit. It will take the wisdom of maturity to
really understand what God wants to accomplish in our life. It seems almost as
if by knowing God better we become wiser and our lives will automatically
produce better fruit. Maybe we should not expect better fruit but it is certain
that every life that belongs to God will produce some kind of fruit. If we are
a Christian and have produced no fruit we have an emergency. This requires more
time spent with God. We must find out from God what we need to do in order to
get back on the straight and narrow. How long will our shame last, if we
neglect what God has for us?
