Notes for "Our Old Sin Nature is Dead"

Introduction:

The subject of this week’s chapter is, in my opinion, the most significant of all the material that is covered in our study book, Grace Land. It is the "Second half of the Gospel!" But unlike every other game that is either won or lost in the second half, this "game" was won in the first half and cannot be lost in the second half. But playing poorly in the second half is not the best choice…it’s like having a halftime score of 100 to 0 and finally winning 100 to 96.

The first half of the Gospel is the Good News that God, in Christ, paid the penalty for all our sins and declared that He would "not make us pay" eternally for any of our mistakes, because He placed all of our sins on Jesus and He paid the price for us.

The second half of the Gospel is our identity in Christ! God had to remove our unrighteousness and unholiness by His forgiveness in order for Jesus to be able to come and live inside us. And that’s exactly what He did…and Jesus now lives inside of every believer…whether they know it or not! Does a believer have to "know" that Christ is living inside to receive eternal life? I don’t think so. But knowing the truth makes the "abundant life" Jesus promised a certain reality. Without knowing the truth, there is no peace, no joy and no confidence. The second half becomes an endurance contest where we just "hang on" until the time runs out.

Understanding our identity in Christ, changes the second half into a wonderful and exciting adventure, instead of a frustrating cycle of commitment, failure, and rededication.

Why was it important for the Jewish men to be circumcised once they had entered Canaan?

God’s covenant sign under the old covenant of Law was circumcision and none of the men born during the wilderness wandering had been circumcised. In order for them to be "in covenant" with God, they had to receive the covenant sign in their bodies.

Explain what Paul meant when he said that Christians are circumcised by God.

In Colossians 2:11, Paul describes "circumcision under the Grace covenant" in this way: Also in Christ you had a different kind of circumcision, a circumcision not done by hands. It was through Christ’s circumcision, that is, his death, that you were made free from the power of your sinful self. The cross is the sign of the Grace covenant between God and humans.

Romans 6:1-6 (REM) "Since all our sins have been forgiven, should we keep on sinning so God can give us more grace? Of course not. That old nature of ours that constantly lived in sin has been removed by Christ and no longer has the power to keep us living in sin. Our baptism was the outward sign that we have reckoned the death of Jesus as the death of our old sinful nature. He has replaced our old self, whose nature it was to sin, with a new self that does not want to sin and cannot sin so that we are no longer slaves to our old lifestyle."

What part of us died with Christ on the cross? Does a Christian still have a sin nature?

Was it our physical body? Was it our soul? Neither. What died was our old sin nature, the spirit of death that we inherited from Adam. Christians don’t have a "sin nature" anymore, they have a new nature, a sinless nature that was given them by God when they accepted His Son Jesus as their substitute and trusted Him for eternal life.

1Corinthians 6: 9-11 Surely you know that the people who do wrong will not inherit God’s kingdom. Do not be fooled. Those who sin sexually, worship idols, take part in adultery, those who are male prostitutes, or men who have sexual relations with other men, those who steal, are greedy, get drunk, lie about others, or rob—these people will not inherit God’s kingdom. In the past, some of you were like that, but you were washed clean. You were made holy, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Can a Christian be an adulterer? A homosexual? A drunkard? Do any of these inherit the kingdom of God? Not according to Paul.

 

Can a Christian to behave like one these? I believe they can.

Does behavior determine identity? Not according to the Bible as I understand it. Identity is determined by birth, not behavior. (Transvestite example).

What would you tell a person who said that his dad was a Christian, but died an alcoholic?

I’d say that was impossible. Either he was a Christian or an alcoholic, but he couldn’t have been both when he died. He might have been an alcoholic who behaved like a Christian or a Christian who behaved like an alcoholic.

List three common lies that bind the average Christian today:

bulletThe lie that our past will always be a part of our present and future.
bulletThe lie that our behavior determines our identity.
bulletThe lie that God’s grace cannot accommodate certain sins, especially ones that continue to be repeated.
bulletThe lie that if we still find sin attractive, we can’t be saved.
bulletThe lie that victory over sins comes through personal commitment and dedication to trying harder not to sin.

Find three verses not mentioned in this chapter which indicate that the old sin nature has died:

Ephesians 4: 22-24 You were taught to leave your old self—to stop living the evil way you lived before. That old self becomes worse, because people are fooled by the evil things they want to do. But you were taught to be made new in your hearts, to become a new person. That new person is made to be like God—made to be truly good and holy.

Colossians 3:8-11 But now also put these things out of your life: anger, bad temper, doing or saying things to hurt others, and using evil words when you talk. Do not lie to each other. You have left your old sinful life and the things you did before. You have begun to live the new life, in which you are being made new and are becoming like the One who made you. This new life brings you the true knowledge of God. In the new life there is no difference between Greeks and Jews, those who are circumcised and those who are not circumcised, or people who are foreigners, or Scythians. There is no difference between slaves and free people. But Christ is in all believers, and Christ is all that is important.

1 John 3:8-9 The devil has been sinning since the beginning, so anyone who continues to sin belongs to the devil. The Son of God came for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s work. Those who are God’s children do not continue sinning, because the new life from God remains in them. They are not able to go on sinning, because they have become children of God.

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