Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of [breaking] all of it. |
Subject: Joe, who is ya, man? |
Bible Note: Joe, This is indeed a good question. In fact, I don't even know if I have an answer that you will find satisfactory. But I'll share what I think: Is this new nature inherently righteous or is it just oriented toward righteousness? The problem with using the term 'oriented toward righteousness' is that it is a nebulous term. What exactly does 'oriented toward righteousness' mean? And, if it is 'oriented toward righteousness' how much? How do you gauge that? At what point is it no longer oriented but righteous? As I see it, from God's viewpoint, nothing is almost righteous, nearly righteous, or oriented toward righteousness. God's moral righteousness is due to His character. That is why He cannot do something that is unrighteous. So I would have a problem using that term. Now the old nature was dead to God. It was separated from Him. Here again I don't think that it was just 'oriented toward evil.' I believe that it was independant of God and therefore evil. The idea that it was only oriented, leaning toward evil is almost humanistic in that humanism doesn't think that there is anything inherently wrong with man. It purports that man is innocent when born and is only influenced negatively or positively by the environment. But the Bible makes it clear the we are born 'dead in trespasses and sins.' This means that we are born separated from God at birth. Eph 2:5 - 'Even when we were dead in our transgressions...' Col 2:13 - 'When you where dead in your transgressions...' 1 Cor 15:22 - 'For as in Adam all die...' Our spirits are separated from God. And anything that is apart from God (who is total righteousness) is going to be what we would consider evil. So, this really only leaves 3 other possibilities: 1. The new spirit or nature is neutrally aligned. Again, I have a problem justifying this understanding. I guess the closest that I could come to defining this is that it would be 'innocent', knowing neither right or wrong. I do believe that this was the condition of Adam's pre-fallen spirit. He was not moral in the sense that he did not have a knowledge of right and wrong before the fall. But is our new nature created that way? I don't think so. If it was, we would have the capability of sinning and dying to God all over again like Adam did. And if this happened, then it would seem that Christ's work was all for naught. Why do everything thing He did if we would, as new creations, just make the wrong choice like Adam did? The outcome of this scenario is that if our new spirit were innocent and then, because of temptation, we sinned and it died to God, what hope would we have? Would God have to then keep recreating our spirit every time we sinned? I don't see any Biblical precedence for this. But what scripture does seem to support is that... 3. Our new spirit is created in righteousness and holiness - Eph 4:24. But let me add this: This new spirit, new nature, new identity is not created separate from Christ. So I don't think that we can pick it apart from Christ's spirit in us and examine it to see if it has it's own righteousness or not. It is indeed one spirit with Christ's Spirit - 1 Cor 6:17, and cannot be separated from Him. It is joined to Christ but it is also our identity, so much so that the Bible describes it as a new man, a new self. It is this new spirit created in righteousness that I think could be the 'gift of righteousness' that we receive from God. It is, I believe, inherently 'born of God's Spirit.' Jesus said that flesh gives birth to flesh, and Spirit gives birth to spirit - John 3:6. This new spirit is born of God - John1:13. 'For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable...' - 1 Pet 1:23. 1 John 5:4 - 'For whatever is born of God...' Just as a child is born inherently having the DNA and traits of his parents, how could God's new born children not be created righteous if He is indeed the Father? Remember, Adam was not born - he was created. And Genesis never implies that Adam's spirit was born or reborn. Granted, his spirit was created and our spirit is re-created, but I don't believe the Bible ever speaks of Adam as being 'born of God' like we are. So, if we are truly born-again of God, how could we be, at the spirit level, anything less than His righteousness, as righteous as He is? I'm not talking about our performance here. I am speaking of our identities, the core of who we are, saints. It is a fact that whatever has happened, it is so wonderful that the NT calls it new birth, a new creation. And as anyone knows, it is your birth, not your actions that determine who you are. I am a McCracken whether I act like the rest of my family or not. Birth, not performance, determines identity. Joe, I will attempt to answer the motivation question in Part 2. A new creation, Bill Mc |