The Death of the Old Nature

I have lived in the Christian environment most all of my life. And one thing that I have noticed. Is that while most Christians have good understanding of the main idea of salvation. What I mean by that is that they know that accepting the gift of God grace is a fairly straight forward thing to understand. But what comes after is often the hardest part for people to both apprehend, and articulate, much less put in to practice. And that is what it means to put to death the old nature.

The Context of Romans 6:6

Introduction

Romans 6:6 is an important passage and one that, if it has not been controversial to you to this point, when I talk about it, it might become controversial, because there is something in this verse that I think is very applicable to the struggle of the Christian life. Romans 6:6 specifically talks about the death of the old nature as an accomplished fact already, and that’s going to relate to what I will refer to as the myth, the modern Christian myth, that believers still have in them the old nature. I think Romans 6:6 rejects that idea.

The Text of Romans 6

Let’s just look at the passage so that we can get a feel for what’s going on in the passage that surrounds this particular verse. Starting at verse 1, Paul writes,

ROM 6.1-14

Romans 6:1–14 (ESV)

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self (or old nature in some translations) was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Again, 6:6 is our key focus point—that the old nature, the old man, is in fact dead.

What does Paul mean by “old self” or “old nature”?

Paul contrasts what believers were “in Adam” and what believers are after receiving the gift of salvation in Christ in terms of their “old” and “new nature”

Terminology

This is an entry in DPL..

Few words are more dangerously ambiguous than “nature.” Because of this there has been considerable misunderstanding of the phrases “old nature” and “new nature” (see Rom 6:6; Eph 4:22; Col 3:9). Numerous popular explanations of Paul’s doctrine of the Christian life argue, or assume, that the apostle distinguishes with these phrases between two parts or natures of a person. Following this misguided thinking is the debate as to whether the “old nature” is replaced by the “new nature” at conversion, or whether the “new nature” is added to the old (see Psychology). ......These terms rather designate the complete person viewed in relation to the corporate whole to which he or she belongs. Thus these terms are better translated as “old person” and “new person.” The translation “old self” and “new self” (NIV, NRSV) is too individualistic, since the idea certainly means the individual Christian (Rom 6:6), but is much more than merely individual. They speak not of a change in nature, but of a change in relationship. (I would add not just a change in relationship to God. But also in relationship of souls to our bodies).

The “old person” is not the sin nature which is judged at the cross and to which is added a “new person.” The “old person” is what believers were “in Adam” (in the old era). The “old” points to everything connected with the fall of humanity and with the subjection to the distress and death of a transitory life, separated from God (see Life and Death). The “new person” is what believers are “in Christ” (in the new era). Paul directs us to the completely new, to the salvation and healing that believers receive when they are crucified with Christ and raised with him.

Issues in Romans 6:6

When we think about Rom 6, and chances are when you’ve heard Rom 6 preached—many Christians see only one benefit or result of union with Christ when they read through that passage. They typically think of salvation in terms of a future resurrection and eternal destiny (verses 8–11, for example); that is, that we are united to Christ through His death. He died on our behalf, died for our sins, and because He rose from the dead, we will also be raised from the dead to enjoy eternal life. That’s typically what most people get when they read through Rom 6—that point of theology.

The Immediate Benefit

Verse 6, though, points to an immediate benefit—not just a future benefit, but an immediate one. Verse 6 says, “We know that our old self was crucified with him.” Think about what that says. Paul says, “We know”—he puts an air of certainty about this—“we know that our old self” (literally, in the Greek text, it says, “old man”) “was crucified with him.” In the Greek language, this is an aorist verb. An aorist describes a point in time, a sort of a snapshot look at an event. It’s not an event that continues on or that is in process. It’s an event that happened; it’s complete. Paul is saying, “Look, our old self, our old man, was in fact crucified.” The old you, the old nature, is either dead, or it isn’t. I like to illustrate this with the movie The Princess Bride. Most people have seen this. There is this wonderful, funny scene where they go to Max, the miracle worker, to try to revive Westley, and he says, “Hey, you are in luck! He is not completely dead. He is just mostly dead,” and everybody laughs, because that’s just ridiculous. You are either dead, or not.

A New Reality

Let’s apply it to Rom 6:6. Your old self, your old man, is either dead, or it’s not. Paul says it’s dead; it was crucified. It’s crucified, again, “with him.” Because of our union with Christ, the old nature, when we become united to Christ, when we believe, our old nature is put to death. Again, it’s either dead, or it isn’t, and Paul says it’s dead. Paul says in

2 Cor 5:17

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

—and this is why he uses this language—that when you are in Christ, “Old things have passed away; all things have become new.” “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.” We have a new inner self. We have a new inner reality. Our old nature has been put to death, and what’s new about us inside? The Spirit comes to indwell us. The Spirit replaces that old nature. The Spirit converts, or restores—whatever word we want to use for it. The nt uses a lot of words for what happens inside a believer.

But the one thing that’s clear from Rom 6:6 is that the old nature, the old you, is dead. You can’t say it’s mostly dead. It’s dead. You, as a believer, are not a body with two internal natures battling it out (one of them is redeemed, and the other one is sinful). What you are is, you are a redeemed soul. The inner part of you is redeemed, it’s washed (again, using all these nt terms), it’s a new creation—but you are still living in an unredeemed body. That’s your flesh.

You don’t have two yous inside of you. You have a redeemed you, a redeemed soul, a redeemed, inner nature, but you are living inside an unredeemed body. This is why, in nt language, the rest of the verse says, “Our old self was crucified with him”—why? “In order that the body of sin”—the sinful body—”in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” The inner you, the redeemed, inner nature, is now supposed to battle and work in you to bring your body into conformity with righteousness.

The Inner New Creation

You get help. You don’t have two yous inside of you, fighting it out. You have an inner, new creation that’s now present in an unredeemed body. The inner, redeemed you battles against the body of sin, your flesh. Paul talks a lot about the flesh. He wants believers to crucify the flesh, in

Gal 5:24,

Galatians 5:24 ESV

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

the way the old man, the inner man, was crucified. This language is something we’re going to see in other parts of the nt, where the conflict with the believer is the redeemed internal reality now battling, fighting against the body, the flesh. You don’t have two yous inside of you. You have one, and it’s redeemed. The issue for the Christian life is letting that inner, redeemed self, through the power of the Spirit, bring the flesh into conformity with that redeemed reality.

Internal and External Redemption

Why do we sin? Why do Christians sin? Why do believers sin? Why the struggle? The answer is, we live in an unredeemed body. We have our flesh battling against the redeemed, inner nature, that which has been regenerated and converted. It’s the flesh against the spirit—your inner, redeemed spirit directed by the Holy Spirit against the flesh, which is your body.

Internal versus External

Spirit versus Flesh Look at what Paul says in other parts of Rom 6. He says in verse 12, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (the body’s passions). “Do not present your members” (the members of your body) “to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members …” (the parts of your body) “as instruments for righteousness.” It’s very clear that Paul is describing an internal versus an external, if you will. The internal, redeemed part of you—because the old man was crucified—the internal part of you now is the part that is under the governance, under the occupation, of the Spirit, but it’s your mortal body that presents the struggle.

This is why elsewhere the Christian struggle is presented consistently as flesh versus spirit—your body versus the inner, redeemed you. Think about what Paul says in Rom 7. Paul says, “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being.” Paul doesn’t say, “in the one inner being I have that’s redeemed, but that other inner being I have hates the law of God.” He doesn’t use language like that, because Paul knows that the inner person is redeemed.

The Unredeemed Body

The only thing that’s not redeemed yet is the body. Paul says, “I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see”—continuing in

Rom 7:23

Romans 7:23 ESV

23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

—where? “In my members.” It doesn’t dwell still in me, because Paul’s theology in Rom 6:6 is, the old nature is dead, it was crucified.

Then Paul says in verse 24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” He doesn’t say, “Who will deliver me from this other old nature that’s still in me, battling against my new?” He doesn’t say anything like that. For Paul, it’s consistently the redeemed, inner person versus the flesh.

Peter’s Parallel Passage

Peter says the same thing in.....

1 Pet 2:11

1 Peter 2:11 ESV

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Peter doesn’t say, “I want you to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which war against one of the two men still living inside of you.” There is no two natures inside the believer in these nt passages. It’s the flesh against the inner, redeemed soul.

Waiting for the Redemption of Our Bodies

It’s also why Scripture never talks about our future glorification as the redemption or conquest of the old inner nature, because the old inner nature died a long time ago. It died when you became a believer. It doesn’t need yet to be dealt with; it was already dealt with. You look at where Paul says

Rom 8:23

Romans 8:23 ESV

23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

It’s not “We wait for the redemption of our bodies and then that old nature that’s still alive in us.” That idea—it’s so common in Christian circles—is defied by these passages and the way Paul and Peter talk about what the spiritual battle really is.

Battling Sin

In practical terms, I think what we are talking about in Rom 6 is important. If we come to grips with the fact that “Look, we don’t have as believers an old nature still in us. We are redeemed. Our inner man is redeemed,” that helps us understand and know and realize that we don’t sin because our nature forces us to. There is no invisible force inside of us that we can’t control, that just compels us to sin.

The Flesh

We sin because of our flesh. We sin because of our body, and as James says, the more that we utilize our flesh—the more that we engage our flesh—in things that we shouldn’t be doing, it just becomes easier and easier and easier for that appetite in the flesh to be fulfilled, and it becomes harder for our inner person, the redeemed part of us, to resist. The real issue is our body. It’s unredeemed. It’s our flesh. Instead of looking at our sin problem and our struggle as saying, “I just can’t help it. This is my nature,” or “I just can’t help it. The old nature is in me, and I am not going to lose that until I am redeemed, so there is really nothing I can really do to deal with what I am doing here, to deal with my sin …”

Resisting Temptation

That is not the case. Flesh can be resisted. You can do concrete things to help you in your inner person, the inner man that delights in the law of God, as Paul says. You can do things to cultivate that power, if you want to use it that way, inside of you—that nature within you, that will help you control the impulses of your body. It is not a hopeless battle, in other words. I have met a lot of Christians that—they just essentially give up the Christian life, because they say, “Look, yes, I believe in Jesus. I have embraced the gospel. But what I really am—my old nature inside of me just essentially controls me and forces me to do this. I can’t control it. There is nothing I can really do, because it’s my nature to do these things.”

Retraining Our Minds

I think what we need to do is retrain our thinking to think of ourselves as an inner, redeemed person, a new creation. We don’t have to do what the old man wanted us to do. Now our battle is directly with our flesh, the appetites that we have, and we at least have a fighting chance, because we’re not alone. We do have this inner, redeemed part of us, indwelt by the Spirit, to empower us to live the Christian life.

Instrumental Changes

We often have a Gospel that is way too small. We think sin continues to reign in our souls when it does not if we say we follow Christ. The cross began as an instrument of destruction. Christ took it and made it an instrument of power in the life of the believer.

The Cross is not simply God’s provision for the forgiveness of sins. We begin to understand this when we see sin, not just as an offense or moral failure. But a power that has enslaved men and women since the fall of Adam and Eve. It has taken humanity as captives: from the first Adam to the second Adam (Jesus Christ), sin had reigned. The power of sin had defined our destiny. And place human beings and the rest of creation under the control of what Paul called the “powers, principalities and authorities” in Romans, Colossians and Ephesians.

So the Cross then becomes more than a provision for salvation. It becomes God’s power! This is why Paul can write,

Rom1.16

Romans 1:16 ESV

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

The power of the Gospel is the power of the Cross. An epic battle between 2 kingdoms. The kingdom of sin and darkness and the kingdom of Son and light. A revolution that ended the reign of sin, idolatry and unfaithfulness.

N.T. Wright put it this way,

“Dealing with sin robs the ‘powers’ of their power.

I have met many Christians who after accepting Christ, live their lives as if they are still defeated. Seemingly hopeless to move forward in any meaningful way to advance the cause of Christ.

The reality is, we too have been given the victory. Now this is not the type of victory you will hear preached from the word of faith movement . WIth it’s Name it and claim it theology.

But a life of value that finds its meaning in its affect on the lives and relationships of those we invest ourselves in.

We cannot say we continue to live in sin, if in fact we do not. At least not with respect to our souls. Until Christ returns and redeems this world and our bodies, we will continue to live in a world that will never be sinless. But by the power of the Cross we do have the ability to sin less!!!

Resources

Heiser, M. S. (2016). BI161 Problems in Bible Interpretation: Difficult Passages I. Lexham Press.

Dockery, D. S. (1993). New Nature and Old Nature. In G. F. Hawthorne, R. P. Martin, & D. G. Reid (Eds.), Dictionary of Paul and his letters (p. 628). InterVarsity Press.

Hailing, J.V. (2021). Your Gospel Is Too Small: Reframing the Gospel Toward Its Cosmic Grandeur. Wipf and Stock Publishers