The doctrine of the old sin nature

1. Definition. The old sin nature is that which was acquired originally by Adam’s fall and subsequently acquired by us at the point of physical birth. It is the source of the soul’s rebellion toward God.

2. The essence of the old sin nature is specified in the Greek of Romans 6:6. Basically it is fourfold. There is an area of weakness which produces all personal sins — Hebrews 12:1 specifies the principle. The doctrine of hamartiology classifies three types of personal sins — mental, verbal, overt. Secondly, the old sin nature has an area of strength which produces human good in contrast to divine good. Human good is described in Isaiah 64:6 and the principle is mentioned in Romans 8:8. Thirdly, there is a lust pattern in the old sin nature — Romans 7:7; Ephesians 2:3. Approbation lust is the basic concept, the basic motivator of life and is why people seek to get attention from others. There is power lust, materialism lust, sex lust, and so on. Finally, the old sin nature has antithetical trends — trend toward lasciviousness, trend toward asceticism. One is as bad as the other, both are evil.

3. The biblical nomenclature for the old sin nature.

a) The flesh — Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 2:3.

b) Old man — Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9.

c) Carnal — Romans 7:14; 1 Corinthians 3:1-3.

d) Sin (in the singular) — Romans 5:12; 7:14; 1 Corinthians 15:56; 1 John 1:8.

e) Heart, generally used for the right lobe, occasionally for the old sin nature’s influence on the right lobe — Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 12:34,35; 15:19; Mark 7:21-23.

4. Principles of the old sin nature.

a) The old sin nature is a source of spiritual death in mankind — Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1,5.

b) The old sin nature is perpetuated in the human race through physical birth — Psalm 51:5; 1 Timothy 2:13,14.

c) The believer continues to have an old sin nature after salvation. There is no such thing as sinless perfection — 1 Corinthians 3:1; 1 John 1:8.

d) The believer under the control of the old sin nature is designated carnal — Romans 7:14; 1 Corinthians 3:1-3.

e) The old sin nature frustrates bona fide production in phase two — Romans 7:15.

f) The old sin nature is not found in the resurrection body of the believer — 1 Corinthians 15:56; Philippians 3:21; Colossians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

g) Divine judgement solves the problem of the old sin nature. Phase one judgement: Christ is judged for our sins on the cross — 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24. There is a phase two judgement: the believer’s sins in time are judged by the rebound technique — 1 Corinthians 11:31; 1 John 1:9. There is also a phase three judgement where the believer’s human good is judged.