Sharing the Divine Nature of God

THE ORIGINAL POST WAS MADE ON OCTOBER 31, 2014.  THE FOLLOWING ADDENDUM WAS MADE NOVEMBER 4, 2014 DUE TO RESPONSES REGARDING THE ORIGINAL POST.

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.

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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?