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NASB | Romans 6:6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 6:6 We know that our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. |
Subject: Two Natures or One? |
Bible Note: Greetings Doc! Sorry for the delay my friend! The weekends are very busy for me. I'm not sure what you mean when you say that I have excluded broad categories of evaluation in favor of a purely ontological one. Could you clarify? How do the various authors define 'nature'? None of them actually give a definitive definition. However, consider the following. In Hoekema's response to Walvoord's article, he writes: "Walvoord interprets the 'old man,' or 'old self,' as meaning 'the former life' of the believer, and the 'new self' as meaning 'the new manner of life stemming from the new nature' (p. 208). I do not believe this view does justice to Paul's teaching. 'Old self' I understand to mean the total person enslaved by sin - this total person we Christian no longer are (Rom. 6:6; Col. 3:9). 'New self' means the total person ruled by the Holy Spirit." (p. 231) I understand 'total person' to mean everything that makes us 'us'. Hoekema also quotes Murray, "The old man is the unregenerate man; the new man is the regenerate man created in Christ Jesus unto good works. It is no more feasible to call the believer a new man and an old man, than it is is to call him a regenerate man and an unregenerate. And neither is it warranted to speak of the believer as having in him the old man and the new man. This kind of terminology is without warrant and it is but another method of doing prejudice to the doctrine which Paul was so jealous to establish when he said, 'Old old man has been crucified.'" (p. 81). As to physical changes, I know of no Scripture which details physical changes as a result of regeneration. However, that does not change the fact that these authors are speaking of our nature as being the 'total' of who we are before and after Christ. None of them, that I am aware of, have made the claim that every single aspect of our nature has changed - just that we no longer are the 'person' we once were. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |