Two Natures: Old & New

DAY 3

Make Christ King

Read Galatians 5:22-25; Romans 6:12-18; 8:26-28.
An apple tree produces apples. It can’t produce peaches because by nature it’s an apple tree.
Your new nature also produces fruit. That fruit is listed in two verses you should have memorized by now. Record them here.
Use your Scripture-memory card to check your memorization of Galatians 5:22-23.
Notice that the fruit of the Spirit isn’t what you do but what you are. In each case the fruit describes character, not activity.
Which of the ninefold fruit of the Spirit is impossible for you to counterfeit in your own strength?
Which of these characteristics seems to be weakest in your life? Highlight it in the verses you just recorded.
Do you believe Christ can become all these things in you? Of course He can! Recall when you became a Christian. God promised that if you asked Him to forgive all your sins, He would do it. You asked, and He did it.
Now that He has kept His word, you can be sure He will also do His work in your life. Undoubtedly, you’re aware that since you became a Christian, qualities you couldn’t counterfeit in your own strength are being revealed in your life. The mere presence of these qualities assures you that Christ is living in you.
Read Romans 8:26-28. According to verse 26, do you have to tell the indwelling Christ that you’re spiritually weak in a certain area? Why or why not?
Never let yourself make the excuse “I don’t pray much because I don’t know how I ought to pray.” Christ’s indwelling Spirit can express your innermost thoughts in silent prayer if you’ll let Him. The Spirit prays for us in “with unspoken groanings.”
Romans 8:27 gives you further assurance of the Holy Spirit’s help in prayer. Record the same word twice to complete this paraphrase of the verse:
__________
, who searches our hearts, understands what the Spirit means because the Spirit prays only according to the will of __________.Romans 8:28 states the result when your new nature takes control of your life:
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
ROMANS 8:28
Mark which of the following statements is more nearly correct.
☐
 Everything happens for the good of people who love God.☐
 God works out everything for the good of people who love Him.Did you mark the second statement? God doesn’t cause bad things to happen to you. Neither does He just let things happen. Bad things often happen to you because you or someone else acted outside God’s will. Even when those bad things happen, if you’ll let God take active control of your life, He will work in that situation for your ultimate good.
As a Christian, you must make a simple decision hour by hour, day by day: to crown Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life.
When you make that decision, Christ’s nature is in control, producing the fruit of the Spirit in you. You don’t have to struggle to be like Jesus. You simply let Him be Himself within you—the indwelling Christ, controlling all.
Sadly, undesirable words and deeds creep into Christians’ lives. You’re probably aware of instances in your life. How many times have you heard people excuse unchristian behavior and attitudes with “Well, that’s just human nature”? This excuse doesn’t work for Christians because they aren’t supposed to live according to their human nature. Christ is our new nature, and He changes our attitudes and actions day by day.
I’m not saying you don’t have a human nature. It’s still there, just as it was before you gave your life to Christ.
Read what Romans 6:12-18 says about the old nature.
This passage pictures sin as a sort of king who has the power to rule over you. According to verse 12, you choose who will rule over you.
Now look at verse 17. According to that verse, what happens to you if you choose sin to be your ruler?
Who is this King Sin in your life? The easiest way to discover his true identity is to look at the vowel in the middle of the word sin. Sin is an I problem. When I choose what pleases me, King Sin reigns. I obey sin’s lusts, and the members of my body become “weapons for unrighteousness” (v. 13).
You belong to your choice.
If you choose to let Christ reign, He who’s your new nature will cause His fruit to flow from your life. If you choose to give your body to King Sin (who in reality is King I), you become a servant or slave of that king. Under the control of King I, all you can expect is the result of disobeying God.
Your old nature is your human nature. It’s the nature of sin within you. It wasn’t destroyed when you became a Christian. Rather, for the first time it was dethroned. For the first time sin had no power to control you … except when you chose to become a slave to it again.
Check to see whether you understand.
Who’s the new nature within you?
Who’s the old nature within you?
Who decides which nature will reign over you?
The Christian Standard Bible translates Romans 6:12-13 this way:
Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.
ROMANS 6:12-13
You must not let “any parts” of yourself (v. 13) be ruled by King Sin. You must let “all the parts of yourselves” (v. 13) be ruled by the indwelling Christ.
Do you see how Romans 6:12-13 illustrates the statement “You belong to your choice”? Remember that King Sin is dethroned but not dead.
What do you think Romans 6:18 means by the statement that you’ve become a servant or a slave of righteousness?
A key word appears several times in verses 16-17. What’s that word?
Obey, obeyed, obedient, obedience—whichever form of the word you wrote, its meaning is clear: Either you choose to obey the sinful self, your old nature, or you choose to obey Christ, your new nature.
You become a slave to whichever nature you obey.
Are there areas of your life in which you need to make the conscious choice to dethrone self and enthrone Christ? Take time now to meditate and pray. Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the areas of your life in which you need to make Christ the King. Then bow before Him and ask Him to be the indwelling Christ in those areas, beginning right now. Tell Him you’ll live in a way that shows He’s the King in those areas also.