By James G. Owen
Why do I stumble? Fail? Why do I keep falling into sin after living by faith for a season? These are the questions I have asked myself these questions many times after receiving salvation. Before getting saved, being forgive by Jesus, I did not have these experiences nor thoughts of failure because I was in sin and did not know the wonderful blessing of being in a relationship with God Jehovah and his son Jesus.
What was the problem? I did not have the knowledge and understanding of scripture at the level where I am now. Growing up I needed the maturity that scripture and prayer to give me the strength I needed. I also cared what people thought about me when I should have been strong and let myself be myself. The other problems are that I let the sin capture me and keep me in bondage. I knew sin had pleasure attached to it and I kept looking over the fence. So, realizing all this what have I been doing to understand? I sat down and wrote a definition of the sin nature from my experience and studies.
What is the Sin Nature of Man?
Before defining we need to know the origin of the sin nature. In Genesis we find Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden. Both God had instructed Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of good and evil. The serpent we call Satan began to tell Eve that if she ate of the tree of good and evil, she would know the difference between good and evil and will become like a god. Adam, I believe was sitting there with her and heard the exchange of the conversation. Like any human, curiosity fed the imagination of how it would taste. The longer she thought about how the fruit tasted the greater was the temptation. Eve made the decision to eat of the tree. She enacted the free will that God gave all of us to whom we will serve. Either we search God Jehovah or Satan. That was the choice. As soon as Eve ate of the fruit her eyes was opened. The veil of innocence fell from her eyes. Her innocence was stolen by Satan who lied to her. Adam soon partook of the fruit as well. Scripture does not record why he did not object or direct Eve not to partake of the fruit, but scripture records the fall from perfection into sin.
The Sin Nature of Man Defined
The sin nature is a fallen position. A position that man fell from God’s safety, goodness, love, and a perfect world. The fallen position is the separation of man from God. The purpose of humanity was to worship God and be totally in his image. God created man to multiply and to oversee all of creation on earth. This was man’s habitation. From the soil of earth to the boundary of the first heaven—the sky. When man fell, he was no longer the subject of God, but in bondage to a new master, the slave of Satan. Man had dominion over the earth until his sin, but now Satan has dominion over the world. The Earth was a state of perfection before sin entered, and man went from a perfect creation, a glorified state, to a fallen state into darkness. With God man was always in his light and had direct access to all God possessed. Now Satan wants to illuminate humankind with his gloomy light. Now that sin entered the world and universe, the future generations of man defiled by the sin become part of every human being because the situation did not have a remedy. Sin is generational and has become innate. It is not genetic but is a spiritual transformation. The remedy is an atonement, a blood covenant, and a perfect sacrifice to die for man. No animal or sinful human is perfect. Only God’s son Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. He is pure. There is no spot or blemish, no defilement because he has never sinned. Yet, he took sin upon his shoulders for you and me to deliver us from sin and bring those who accept him back into perfection by believing in him and accepting him. Justification is now in place for those who accept him.
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Genesis 2:17
“So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
Genesis 3:24
The tenets of sin are pride, selfishness, the rebellion against God, his word, and the image of God. Sin is about the destruction of innocence and causes man to be guilty before God and accountable to his rebellion. The nature of sin is humanistic using pleasure to enslave humanity and keep him in depravity. The type of pleasure is varied and affects the psyche of man causing a perversion in his thinking process, imagination, and spirit. Hate, rebellion, disobedience, selfishness, and pride enters the spirit. Now, man has a desire for power to control mostly because of pride. The prideful man is about controlling other men, and nations. Their desire is to be a dictator, a god, that other men look up to as a savior and worship. This is an antichrist type and destruction of God’s creation is the goal. We have seen in world history men who came to power considered themselves as god as evident in the Roman Caesars, and other prominent dictators as recent as the 20th century. The sin nature is enmity against God. It is against God’s image to usurp his position while working to destroy man who was created by God in his image. Man was originally created above the angels, yet when he sinned his position was lowered below the angels.
Going further into the realm of sin, its claws grab ahold of mankind’s heart and brings upon humanity spiritual bondage. Humankind imprisoned by Satan’s control and now man is a prisoner, a peon, slave to sin and control. Man’s heart now deceives him since the seed of sin has been planted. Man’s master now is Satan because of sin imprisons.
” His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.”
Proverbs 5:22
The spirit of man is now at war within himself. He may want out, but his flesh and mind war against each other. This is the prison. Within this prison we have become defective, ineffective, and impaired, not being able to function as created.
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
Romans 6:16
” But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”
Romans 7:23
The sin nature, a prison, a prison within ourselves that we cannot shake. We cannot provide the answer, the remedy, because of defilement and not in the perfect state. All of creation is wailing and groaning because what man has done. The remedy came in the form of a man and God. He has given his life as a reconciliation and broke the chains of death by giving his life on the cross. He further brought sin to its knees by his resurrection and procured eternal life for all who believe in him. Those of us who want out of the spiritual prison we have found ourselves can now choose the remedy and be set free from sin’s dominion. When we are set free our master becomes Jesus and the reward is eternal life. The sin nature of man will bring him to eternal death. Death being the penalty, the eternal death of separation eternally from God. The first step to a decision to eternal life is realizing and understanding the sin nature of man. Now, we know what holds us. Liberty is at hand.
Notes: All scripture has been taken from the King James Version. Public Domain. BibleGateway.
James G. Owen, Author 