Eph 680 11/17/87
A. The trends of the old sin nature are derived from the individual lust pattern. There are certain areas in which we lust, and other areas where we do not.
B. The trends of the old sin nature are classified in two categories: legalism and lasciviousness.
C. The results of these two trends are classified in two categories.
1. Legalism unrestrained results in moral degeneracy.
2. Lasciviousness unrestrained results in immoral degeneracy.
D. Both trends in the old sin nature result in distortion and erroneous conclusions.
1. For example, moral degeneracy with its self-righteousness and self-vindication is often mistaken for the Christian way of life. People who are morally degenerate are often considered to be great Christians.
a. Morality originates from the laws of divine establishment, designed for the entire human race. Morality is designed for both believer and unbeliever.
b. Anything the unbeliever can do is not a part of the Christian way of life. The Christian way of life is a supernatural way of life and demands a supernatural means of execution, i.e., the filling of the Holy Spirit.
c. Virtue supersedes morality in the protocol plan of God. But if your trend is toward legalism, people assume you’re a great Christian.
2. There is also a distortion involving those with a trend toward lasciviousness.
a. Christians say such a person cannot do “those things” and still be a Christian.
b. Immoral degeneracy, with its fornication, violence, terrorism, murder, dope addiction, is construed as not being Christian.
3. So in the first distortion, people think that if you’re very moral you’re living the Christian life. In the second distortion, people think that if you raise hell you’re probably not a Christian at all. Legalistic shock concludes it must have been a “head belief and not a heart belief.”
4. Born-again believers still possess an old sin nature and still commit sins. If the believer has a trend toward legalism, he will commit sins related to moral degeneracy. If the believer has a trend toward lasciviousness, he will commit sins related to immoral degeneracy.
5. When born-again believers commit sins related to immoral degeneracy, they’re judged by their Christian peers as being not really saved. They erroneously allege, “a person cannot do such things and be saved.”
6. What determines the reality of one’s salvation is personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not the category of one’s sins.
7. The believer out of fellowship, living in the cosmic system, can actually commit any sin that his unbeliever counterpart would commit, i.e., an unbeliever with a compatible old sin nature.
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