"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." -- John 3:6.

There is some controversy concerning the writings of Paul, and in that regard I find it interesting that we do hear so much about what is called "the teaching of Jesus," and why does that interest me? It interests me because there is an attempt to set it above and against the teachings of Peter, James, John and Paul.

But there is something about all this we should recognize, and that is this: Christ never wrote one word for us to read. All of the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the gospels and Revelation were written at the direction of the Holy Spirit after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and this is the same Holy Spirit that gave inspiration for the writings in the epistles of Paul, Peter, John and James.

So we might well ask, why is it that mere men give more weight to what is written in the Gospels and Revelation than to the rest of the writings given by inspiration of the same Holy Spirit? Perhaps men talk like this, not because they desire to know or to obey the teaching of the Lord Jesus, but because they wish to lower the authority of the teaching of God by Paul, and to get rid of what they call Pauline Theology.

On the other hand, in some cases, if we bring these same people face to face with the actual teachings of the Lord Jesus, they will have none of that either. In fact it will cause some to do what is recorded in John 6:66 which says that "many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him," and as we read in Luke 4:28-29, they will be "filled with wrath," and seek to do away with Him.

What kind of teachings by Christ am I talking about? In John 3, we have the teaching of the Lord Jesus on a fundamental doctrine, but it is one of those truths which the natural man will not have, and so let's read John 3:2-6:

"The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
"Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

What is the fundamental truth I want to address in these verses? In verse 5, Christ specifically addresses Nicodemus' question, which had to do with being born in the flesh from the womb of one's mother. Christ's answer acknowledges that man is born from his mother and here it refers to that birth as being "born of water," and hopefully it is understood that being born from woman is a water birth without going into any details on the subject.

In any event, this water birth is a birth of the flesh. It is a mortal birth and it is a birth filled with sin and corruption -- and certainly not the kind of birth Christ is referring to when he talks of "that which is born of the spirit is spirit."

In reference to being born of flesh, in 1 Corinthians 15 and 21, we read that "by man came death," and "in Adam all die," and so, in John and Corinthians, the declaration is that since, by nature, we are descended from fallen Adam, then we are partakers of his fallen nature.

Thus it should be obvious to us that being born of the flesh from Adam, we possess the nature of our fathers and as such we are flesh. But what does this mean to us? In John 6:63, Christ teaches us that "the flesh profiteth nothing," and while the literal words are ignored by most scholars, Christ's words are quite a condemnation, aren't they. You see, the literal words "the flesh profiteth nothing" condemn absolutely everything that pertains to the flesh, and this seems all too obvious when we read what Paul recorded for us in Romans 7:18:

"For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing:..."

Please keep in mind that this is Paul's own description of himself, and Paul does not refer to days gone by, to a time before his conversion when he was persecuting Christians. No, Paul speaks in the present tense saying "I know that in me..." In other words, now, at this time, "I know that in me... dwelleth no good thing." This is quite serious friends, because if this was true of Paul, then it follows that this is true of all men.

What Paul is basically saying is that in regard to his natural desires, there was nothing good in him -- all was evil. Remember, this was obviously true before his conversion when his desires where under little or no control, but now He is speaking these words after his conversion, at which time he exercised some degree of control over his lusts.

The point is this: from Paul's perspective all within him was evil, and what evil was within him was not less evil under the influences of the Gospel of Christ. That's tough meat to chew on isn't it. And yes, I recognize that Paul's statement is about as strong a statement as could be made in support of the doctrine of the total depravity of man, and that's why we need to look a little closer at the nature of man born of the flesh.

What I have been telling you is not the pulpit-correct opinion, as most preachers and teachers would declare that there is some good thing in man, and that all we have to do is to discover and improve it. Of course, when we stop and think about it for a minute, it is difficult to understand how evil can be improved upon -- except for the worse.

Now having said that, I must also state that if there is any good thing to be found in man, it must be first put in man by God. In other words, what I am saying is that if there is good within us, that good must be "born of the Spirit," and when that "good thing" is thus born and found in a man, then it partakes of the nature of the father who gave it -- our heavenly Father that is. So whatever goodness we might possess, has a spirit nature and is divine.

What we are talking about here are the two opposite natures within us -- one being the nature of flesh and the other being the nature of the spirit, and both of these natures are in constant conflict with each other. Fortunately, this ongoing conflict is described for us in Galatians:

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Galatians 5:16-17

Here these two natures within us are referred to as "the flesh, and the Spirit." And since these two natures are so opposite in their origin, they bear a lot of explanation. As we read our Bibles we will find that each of these natures have several names, and each name reveals some fresh trait and some additional truth. So with that in mind, let us first look at the names by which man, by nature, is spoken of.

We have already looked at one title, "the flesh," and we have seen in John 3:6, that "that wich is born of the flesh is flesh." Again this flesh nature comes by birth, and concerning this flesh we are told in Romans 8:8, that it "cannot please God." In fact there is quite a discussion in Romans 8:8 on this subject and it would not hurt you to read about it, but for now I must move on. Then in John 6:63, we read that the flesh "profiteth nothing," and finally, in Romans 7:18 we are told that there is in this flesh "no good thing."

With that I am going leave the flesh and look at another word used to describe the old nature, "the natural man." To understand these words we will look briefly at 1 Corinthians 2:14, but first of all, in verses 7 and 8, we read that "none of the princes of this world" knew the wisdom of God, as it was hidden, and as verse 9 states:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthains 2:9)

In other words, God's wisdom concerning things of the kingdom, were not within man's capabilty to even dream about -- much less think of on his own. We come to the point in verse 14:

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthains 2:14

In this verse we see that the words "natural man" stand in opposition to the "spiritual man," and represent those people who are influenced and governed by natural instincts. In other words, the natural man is influenced and governed by the animal pasions and desires of man, and this is opposite to those people who are influenced and governed by the Spirit of God. We could also say that the words "natural man" refer to those who are influenced by the senses, and in that regard, in James we read that:

"This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. James 3:15

While we are at it, we should also read Jude 19, because there we read something similiar saying:

"These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. Jude 1:19

Thus we see that the words "the natural man" seem to denote those who are under the influence of the senses, meaning those who are governed by the passions, and animal appetites and natural desires.

So what happens when "the natural man" hears the wisdom of God? Such a man either despises it or sees it as folly, and certainly he does not perceive its beauty and wisdom.

I have quoted these verses to show you clearly, what the character, the inclination and the condition of the natural man is -- the nature of man as he is born into the world.

But what are we taught to do about this natural man? To answer that, let us read Ephesians 4:22, where we are told more about the nature of this natural man:

"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; Ephesians 4:22

First of all we need to understand that the word "conversation" does not mean to hold a verbal converstaion with someone, but actually means conduct, and so what Paul is refering to here is the former conduct of what he calls here in Ephesians 4:22 -- "the old man" -- the idea being presented to us is that we are to lay aside all that pertains to the fallen nature of man, and we should especially notice that Paul describes the conduct of this old or natural man as that "which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;"

Now that covers a whole lot of territory -- doesn't it, and I say that because today the word "lust" has a limited signifiance, but in days gone by it had a much wider application, referring to any ungodly passion or inclination of the heart, as well as referring to everything from selfish ambition to the carnel lusts of pleasure. The idea being presented to us here is that the "old man" was under the control of all kinds of fleshly desires.

We can say, then, that the "old man" is full of desires and lusts which are deceitful and contrary to the ways of God, His Spirit, and His word, and we can also say that the nature of this "old man" is also contrary to the new nature which we receive in the form of the Spirit of God, which is within us.

Perhaps this is why we also find this old nature called the "outward man" that we read about in 2 Corinthains 4:16:

"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

What we have here is a contrast between the "outward" and the "inward" man, and we are told that "our outward man" is perishing, and that this perishing outward man is known to us by two things: 1) by sight as we watch him age and untimately die, and 2) we recognize him by what he does -- that is by his works.

Remember, we have already seen that the old nature is lustful, deceitful, and the like, and that being the case, it is not too difficult for us to identify a person who has not received the "Spirit" nature of God. But, on the other hand, this verses also tells us that the "inward man is what? Well he is renewed "day by day" and that means the "outward man" should be perishing "day by day.

The point I am trying to make is this: as long as we are in the flesh, we are going to suffer this burden, that is this conflict between the two natures, and in this regard, the earthly mission would be as Ephesian puts it -- we are to mature:

"... unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: Ephesians 4:13

In other words we strive to be Christ like or Spirit like.

There are just two more words I want to examine as it pertains to the old man, and the first is the word "heart." You know the heart, that thing that pumps blood through the body, and to begin, let's look at Jeremiah 17:9, because here we will find a few pearly words of wisdom on the subject. Jeremiah tells us, starting with verses 7 and 8, then 5 and 6:

"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
"For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

" Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
"For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Jeremiah 17:5-6

We see here that Jeremiah has provided a contrast for us -- a contrast between the man that "trusteth in the Lord," and the man who "trusteth in man," and perhaps we should ask ourselves, if a man is so blessed as we read in verse 8, why would he, as verse 5 says, trust in man and in so doing "maketh flesh his arm."

We have already covered this, as it is the old nature that causes man to be worldly, but Jeremiah, in verse 9, puts it this way:

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9

What is meant here is that man paves his way in this world by being boastful, by being crafty, shrewd, cunning, and deceitful, and of course he does these things to make himself look better or to gain possessions, status, or power. In other words man strives to avail himself of every available opportunity to gratify his propensities towards things like pride, ambition, evil desire, and all other kinds of corruption.

Friends, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand this, and modern-day examples are in abundance -- aren't they -- just look at the actions of almost any member of Congress, or even the president and his wife, for that matter -- because I think that their actions illustrate very vividly what I am talking about.

Scripture has more to say about the heart, and as an example, turn to Matthew 15:18-19 and read what Christ had to say:

"Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
"But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
"For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: Matthew 15:18-19

In verse 17, the point made by Christ is that, if a person eats food with unwashed hands, he might take into his mouth some dirt or other foreign particle, but it certainly does not defile the person and make him a sinner. In fact, a person may even get sick as the result of eating without washing his hands, but even then he is just a sick Christian -- not a sinner.

But in verses 18-19, we are told that things that do defile a man are things that proceed out of the mouth, as they come from the heart.

In other words, the words that we speak demonstrate to others our true nature, and of course our actions do the same thing. I think the point is this: any sin is always perceived in the heart before it is spoken or acted upon, and that being the case, there is no hope that a man will abstain from evil sayings and deeds until his heart has been throughly cleansed.

On the other hand, I am not so sure there can be such a thing as a changed heart. Pretty strong language isn't it. But I don't think man's heart can be changed any more than a leopard can change his spots or an Ethiopian can change the color of his skin. And so, if the heart is a symbol of the nature of man, then what we need is a new heart, a heart that is a symbol of being Christ like.

I am going to leave you with that thought and move on to the last the last word I want to consider that describes the old nature of man, and that is "the carnal mind" of man, and we find this used in Scripture at Romans 8:5-8, which states:

"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8

First of all, the contrast given us here in verse 5, seems a little bit too obvious as here we are dealing with those who follow or "mind the ways of the flesh," and those who follow or "mind the things of the Spirit," or actually "mind the ways of the spirit."

Then in verse 6 we see that the reason for their actions has to do with the state of mind of the individual, and so it can be said that those who follow after the ways of the flesh are "carnally minded," and those that follow after the ways of Spirit are "spiritually minded."

I took the time to look up the Greek word for "carnal," I found that it is literally defined as:

"Flesh, as stripped of the skin, i.e. the meat of an animal."

This may be confusing but when flesh is covered by skin, the skin hides the nature of raw flesh, but once the skin is removed, or as the definition says, once the shin has been stripped away, what is exposed is raw flesh. Have you ever noticed that most people do no relish looking at raw flesh?

The other thing that is interesting is that the definition refers to the "meat of an animal," and so the conclusion is that to be carnally minded is to be as an animal and follow after the desires and pleasures of the flesh. In other words, "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow, we die."

I think that this aspect of the old nature could be considered as being even more serious than some of the others, and I say that because the other attributes refer to acts, conditions, and character; but the carnal mind relates to thoughts; to the mental activities, and to the reasonings and imaginations of the natural man (Rom 8:7). We have an example of this and it is best described to us in Genesis 6:5:

"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5

This is about as depraved as a society or a person can get. Generally most people have at least a few good or kind thoughts in their mind from time to time, but not in this case, as so evil was man, that even his "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil." How could anything be more evil?

We also find a like passage in Isaiah 55:7-8:

"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. Isaiah 55:7-8

Verse 7 makes it clear that the subject we are dealing with is in pardoning others of the wrong they do us. You see, the natural man is never willing to pardon the transgressions of others, and while we say we pardon slight offenses against us, we really hesitate to pardon the graver things people do to us. This is because it is the nature of man to not pardon others but to be continually offended by their actions, be they slight or grave.

But the point is this: our thoughts are not God's thoughts because when we think, we think from a fallen nature, the old nature of man.

But, we need to recognize that our mind is the source of all our thoughts, and our thoughts become the source of our actions; and as fallen man, our thoughts are contrary to the thoughts of God, and thoughts and deeds which are contrary to God is what we call sin.

Speaking of sin, the first 8 chapters of Romans deal with that subject, as basically the first five chapters deal with "sins" which are considered to be the outcome of the old nature, and the last three chapters deal with "sin" of the old nature. The difference between the plural and singular forms is that "sins" are the fruit of "sin," and "sin" is the root of all sins.

And yes, Paul deals with sins and he shows us how they are put away, and just how we are saved on the principle of faith, instead of by the principle of the law. But, even though the sinner is justified in Christ, man is not free from the old nature as he still feels the working of the old nature, and he still experiences the conflict between the old and the new nature.

With that I will close our look at the old nature of man by quoting from the works of E.W Bullinger, who wrote the following:

"... though we still see the fruits, we are to regard the old tree as though it had died, and to reckon that we died in Christ's death. No change has taken place. The root still remains. The change is in our standing before God. We now stand on a different plane: "we walk by faith;" and by faith we reckon that, though the flesh is in us, we are "not in the flesh;" and, in spite of the fruits which we see from time to time, we believe God when He tells us that the tree, in His sight, is condemned.
"A new graft has been put in, which can only produce "fruit unto God;" while all that is produced from the old stock (below the graft) is worthless, and is cut away as such by the great Gardener's hand. We are His "husbandry." He grafts in us the new nature; and we believe Him when He tells us of all the wonders of the work which He hath rought.

What you have read is only the first message of 8 messages on this subject. The entire study on “The two natures of man” is only available on audio tapes. It consists of eight 45 minute messages recorded on four 90-minute audio tapes and is packaged in a convenient and attractive cassette album.

To obtain the series “The two natures of man,” enter Tape Album A012 on the order form.

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