Living in the New Nature

Proverbs 26:11 says, "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness." This is a verse that most of us are familiar with, but I think we only apply it when, for example, we see someone getting arrested multiple times for the same offense. "Oh well, that's just a fool returning to their folly," we might think. But this verse doesn't just apply to those who break the law, it applies to every single one of us, every day.

The imagery of that verse is gross to us as people because it is not in our nature to do that. I don't know why dogs are "wired" that way, but they just are. It is natural for them to do this. So, what does this have to do with us?

I have heard several conversations recently from people who claim to know Christ, but who are reading books, watching movies, or being involved in things that obviously do not glorify God. For whatever reason, whether it's because of the "everybody else is doing it" excuse, or maybe just the thrill of finding out what will happen, like Eve taking a bite of the fruit, these people do not realize or have forgotten what God's Word says about the new nature we have been given in Christ. 

In his letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul told them that "you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature (literally 'the flesh') urges you to do." (Romans 8:9,12) Also, 1 John 2:15 - 17 says, "Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever." (emphasis mine)

My point is this. When we as Christians sin, in God's eyes it is just as bad, if not worse, than what a dog does as described in Proverbs 26:11. Just as it is in a dog's nature to do certain things that we might find repulsive, it is in the Christian's nature to find sin repulsive. If we have been forgiven and freed from sin, it shouldn't make sense for us to go back to it. Am I saying that we should be perfect? Absolutely not. As it says above, our flesh is urging us to sin each day, and I will be the first to admit that I sin and succumb to the flesh's urgings more than I should. But, through the Holy Spirit living within us, we can put these urgings to death. (Romans 8:13) So who do we turn to when we obey the flesh and sin? 1 John 2:1,2 says, "But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins - and not only our sins but the sins of all the world."


In closing, the nature we now possess through the Holy Spirit is not just about not sinning. It is about doing. "Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God." (Romans 7:4,6) When our faith is in Christ, we don't serve Him out of trying to be perfect, or "obeying the letter of the law" as Paul said. We serve Him out of gratitude for His forgiveness and grace that He gave to us on the cross. Let us live each day in the new, life-giving nature He has given us!