Identifying the cosmic system, part 13 John 15:19; 1John 3:8-10.

Title: Identifying the cosmic system, part 13 John 15:19; 1John 3:8-10.

 

A Christian has an old nature from his physical birth and a new nature from his spiritual birth.

 

The New Testament contrasts these two natures and gives them various names: old man, new man; the flesh and the Spirit, the corruptible seed and God’s seed.

 

Spirit and flesh:

Mark 14:38

"Keep watching and praying, that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

 

John 3:6

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

 

John 6:63

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

 

 

Son and slave:

John 8:34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

This is a reference to the old nature. It is a slave of sin for that is its nature.

 

John 8:35 "And the slave [unregenerate] does not remain in the house forever; the son [regenerate - God’s seed] does remain forever.

 

John 8:36 "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

 

Outward and inward:

ROM 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.

 

ROM 2:29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart [cutting off of the flesh or current positional truth], by the Spirit, not by the letter;

 

First Adam, last Adam:

ROM 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one [first Adam], much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ [Last Adam].

 

 

Unrighteousness, righteousness:

ROM 6:12 Therefore do not let sin [OSN] reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts [strong desires],

 

ROM 6:13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

 

ROM 6:14 For sin [OSN] shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.

 

Slavery and freedom:

ROM 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

 

ROM 6:21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.

 

ROM 6:22 But now having been freed from sin [OSN] and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

 

ROM 6:23 For the wages of sin is death [spiritual death], but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

 

Spirit and flesh:

ROM 7:5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

 

ROM 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

 

Spirit and flesh:

ROM 8:4 in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

 

ROM 8:5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

 

ROM 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,

 

Death and life:

ROM 8:10 And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

 

Spirit and flesh:

ROM 8:12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — 

 

ROM 8:13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

 

ROM 8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

 

ROM 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

 

ROM 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

 

ROM 8:17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

 

Jesus Christ and flesh:

ROM 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

 

Spiritual and the flesh:

1 Cor 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ.

 

 

Union with flesh or the Lord:

1 Cor 6:16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? For He says, "The two will become one flesh."

 

1 Cor 6:17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

 

Outer man, inner man:

2 Cor 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

 

Flesh and new creature:

2 Cor 5:16 Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.

 

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

 

Spirit and flesh:

GAL 3:3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

 

Spirit and flesh:

GAL 4:29 But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.

Flesh and love:

GAL 5:13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

 

Spirit and flesh:

GAL 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

 

GAL 5:17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

Then the deeds of the flesh are contrasted with the fruit of the Spirit.

 

Spirit and flesh:

GAL 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.

 

Old self and new self:

EPH 4:17 This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,

 

EPH 4:18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

 

EPH 4:19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

 

EPH 4:20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

 

EPH 4:22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

 

EPH 4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

 

EPH 4:24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

 

False circumcision and true circumcision:

Phil 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

 

Phil 3:2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;

 

Phil 3:3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh

 

Death and life:

COL 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

 

COL 2:9 For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

 

COL 2:10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

 

COL 2:11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

 

COL 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

 

COL 2:13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

 

COL 2:14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

 

 

Old self and new self:

COL 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

 

COL 3:10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him

 

Corruptible and incorruptible seed:

1 Peter 1:23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.

 

1 Peter 1:24 For,

"All flesh is like grass,

And all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

And the flower falls off,

 

1 Peter 1:25 But the word of the Lord abides forever. "

 

1 Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

 

1 Peter 2:25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

 

 

Spirit and flesh:

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

 

Spirit and flesh:

1 Peter 4:6 For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.

 

James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

 

James 1:15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

 

Temptation appeals to our basic natural desires. There is nothing sinful about our desires, but temptation gives us an opportunity to satisfy these desires in an evil way.

 

It is not sin to be hungry or thirsty, but to satisfy them at the expense of someone else is sinful. That’s an easy one. It’s not a sin to have sexual desires but it is a sin to satisfy them or attempt to outside of the will of God. We have desires to be social, to be loved, liked, to be comforted, to succeed, to be noticed, to be attractive, to look upon beauty, to be happy, and there is nothing wrong with these desires. To attempt to fulfill any of them outside of God’s will become a sin. And satan is no dummy, for he knows that we have needs and desires and these are the places he tempts.

 

Look again at verse four; there are two words; carried away and enticed, both relate to hunting or fishing.

 

“carried away” - evxe,lkw[exelko] = to lure away, to draw away.

 

“enticed” - delea,zw[deleazo] = to catch or to lure by bait.

 

The first word I believe is used for getting you to look at the bait and then the second refers to the bait that you’re hungry for. Again, there is nothing inherently evil in anything it is the perversion of that thing outside of God’s creation purpose for it.

 

A fisherman has a box full of different lures and different types of bait. The wise fisherman knows which ones will lure certain types of fish. Satan is a crafty and wise fisherman.

 

In taking the bait, the animal or fish gets caught in the trap, or hooked. And the end is death.

 

Satan baits his traps with pleasures that appeal to the old nature, the flesh. But none of his bait appeals to the new divine nature within a Christian. If a believer yields to his old nature, he will hanker for the bait, take it, and sin. But if he follows the leanings of his new nature, he will refuse the bait and obey God.