II Corinthians 5 ~ What “old things” have passed away?
After discovering so much, one would think my struggle to walk in holiness and bear good fruit would be over. I had seen I was righteous, but I had to admit that sin was still showing its ugly head in my life. Was this just ‘positional’ righteousness I’d received? Practically speaking, was I still the same? From all indications, it appeared so. Did I, in fact, still have a sin nature?
The controversy concerning this continues to this day. Is it any wonder? We have so much evidence to confirm this in our Christian lives. Additionally, we have other sources giving further support to the theory. The NIV version of the New Testament translates sarx, the Greek word meaning “flesh”, used in Romans and Galatians as “sinful nature”, leaving the impression that we still have the sin nature we were born with. Nevertheless, I could not escape what I saw in the Word of God. My old man, my sin nature was indeed dead and gone!
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live… Galatians 2:20a
…knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him… Romans 6:6a
There are indeed two sides to the truth spoken of in II Corinthians 5:17…things have become new, and old things have passed away. If we don’t know both sides, we don’t know enough to walk in victory. It is vital that we know, beyond any doubt, that our old self…our sin nature is, in fact, gone.
So, what was the problem? After all I’d seen, how was sin still getting the best of me? If a sin nature was no longer the source of sin in my life…then where did the problem lay? From where was this sin originating?
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