The Seed Within

We ended the last post by saying that Christ came to win the victory over sin. Yet, the battle over sin in our lives goes on - day after day, moment by moment - as we struggle to live like a Christian should. So what gives? Is there victory or not? Is there an answer to this battle that rages within us over sin, or are we left to live in defeat?

The answer is found tucked away here in 1st John 3:9-10, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

That’s kind of a good news/bad news situation The good news is this: God, at our new birth, gives us a new spirit – a new nature. That nature is immortal, it’s eternal, and it cannot sin! Praise God for that good news.

But the bad news is that the old nature still resides inside us too. Oh, it’s condemned, it’s crucified, and it’s dead; but still very much alive and sinful. And it is with us 24 hours a day. It’s like carrying around a 200 pound stinking, rotting corpse all day long. It kind of gets in the way. But in the middle of this sin, God, if we trust Him, implants a beautiful new life.

We can see this in Ephesians 2:1-2. It emphatically declares: “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”

Do you see? Into the midst of this sinful old nature, God implants a new nature. The old only wants to sin, but the new only wants to please God. And the natural result? Warfare - as the two natures collide within us.

The Gnostics John battled claimed (Somewhat rightly) that only the body sinned, and not the spirit. But they felt that let them off the hook – it took away their responsibility. “It wasn’t me that sinned, it was my body. I didn’t do it. I’m just an innocent bystander.”
We can somewhat agree with the Gnostics if we agreed on the definition of terms because truly, only the flesh/ the old nature sins, while the new nature never does. But we can’t agree that the flesh is synonymous with the body. Of course not, the body is neutral. The body can be used for either good or evil. Your mouth can preach the Gospel and spread encouragement, or it can slander and gossip. Your hand can punch someone or pat them on the back in encouragement.

But, the way your body is used is up to you. That’s what it says in Romans 6:12–14, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Who has control? You do! Amen! Praise God! You control what your hands and feet and mouth, etc, do. We’re under grace, and we don’t have to sin. But a method to that is found in Romans 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” You don’t feed the flesh, or give it any opportunity. You don’t pack it a sack lunch so that it has provisions for the fight against you. Starve it.

Ah, but why do we have such a hard time doing that? Even the greatest apostle of all, the apostle Paul, had a hard time. We’re not alone in this. In Romans 7:15, we see Paul’s testimony. See if this isn’t just like what you’ve experienced in your Christian life. Paul writes, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.”

What is he expressing? Frustration, anguish over his inability to get rid of sin. And the culprit? The flesh! Romans 7:17-20 continues with Paul saying, “But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” The flesh, that old nature, is the culprit

What is life in the flesh like? Romans 7:24 tells us, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” What is the answer? Romans 7:25, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Jesus, alone, can give us victory.

But how? Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

Ah, that’s the same answer as we find in 1st John 3:9, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” We who are believers don’t practice sin because God’s seed remains in us. That seed is the Holy Spirit. And to the extent that we walk according to the Spirit, we are free from sin.

We’ll talk about this more next time.