Our New Nature

I spent the first many years of my Christian walk, believing that I was a terrible sinner, with no good to be found in me anywhere. I believed that Jesus was good and that through Him some good could come out of me, but essentially, I still saw myself—the nature of who I was—as a sinner. This caused me to doubt everything about myself. I doubted the desires of my heart, thinking that somehow they must be evil. I doubted all of my decisions and found myself very indecisive. I lived in fear of making the wrong choices and not pleasing God.

All of these beliefs were at one time (before I knew the Lord) the truth about who I was—the truth about my nature. Our nature, according to one definition in Webster’s Dictionary is an inner force or the sum of such forces in an individual. In other words your nature is what drives you on the inside. Without the power of the Holy Spirit in us we have a sin nature, we are driven by the appetites of the flesh and have no desire to live our lives in God’s truth. However, the Bible tells us once we have become one with Jesus, we are given a new nature; a new force that now drives us on the inside.

“For I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self [with my new nature].”
Romans 7:22

When we enter into relationship with Jesus, and we truly believe Him, we will take delight in God’s ways! The law of the God, under the New Covenant is not a written list of rights and wrongs it is being lead by the Holy Spirit from our innermost self. The Holy Spirit is continually transforming us so that our outward actions and character reflect what has taken place on the inside of us. Will we ever make mistakes, or choose the wrong way? Sure, but the new nature inside of us will give us the desire to make any wrong’s right, persistently driving us in the right direction. As we continue to build our relationship with the Lord that drive inside of us will continually grow stronger, until we naturally respond to all of life out of the same nature that Jesus did.

“No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God's nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God. By this it is made clear who take their nature from God and are His children and who take their nature from the devil and are his children: no one who does not practice righteousness [who does not conform to God's will in purpose, thought, and action] is of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother (his fellow believer in Christ).”
1 John 3:9-10

This is such good news for you and me! We can stop second guessing everything and open ourselves up to receive from the Lord. Not identifying with our new nature is one of the very reasons we do not see God’s abundant blessings, because we do not truly believe, and we continue to see ourselves as unworthy. When we begin to see ourselves and others the way that God does and trust the work that He has accomplished for us and in us, we will be able to live the rested life that God has given us.

Lets Talk Grace! How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself through God's eyes? Do you focus more on your outward behavior then you do the inner work that Jesus has accomplished in you? Do you struggle with believing you even have a new nature? Let's Talk Grace!