THE DIVINE

NATURE
AND
THE sIN
NATURE
Copyright 1985,1993,2001,2007
Crossroads Full Gospel
International Ministries

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by The International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Also used: The New Testament: An Expanded Translation (Wuest) translated by Kenneth S.
Wuest. Copyright © 1961 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Bracketed comments following some scriptures assist the reader in understanding the intended
meaning of these verses

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 CONTENTS
THE DIVINE NATURE............................................................1
THE FALL OF MANKIND..................................................1
THE SIN NATURE...............................................................5
ROMANS CHAPTER SIX.................................................10
ROMANS CHAPTER SEVEN...........................................13
HOW DO WE BEGIN TO LIVE IN THE DIVINE
NATURE ?..........................................................................15
THE RENEWING OF THE MIND AND THE
EDUCATING OF THE SPIRIT..........................................19
SALVATION OF THE SOUL.............................................24
GOD’S LOVE IN ACTION................................................26
THE SELFISH NATURE...................................................27
THE DIVINE NATURE......................................................31
THE POTENTIAL OF EVERY PERSON..........................35
 THE DIVINE NATURE
THE FALL OF MANKIND

Adam disobeyed God’s command and ate of the tree of the

knowledge of good and evil. Immediately, Adam and Eve were
introduced to the knowledge of sin, for their action brought shame,
fear and guilt into their lives. More importantly, however, it caused
Adam and Eve to become separated from God, which is another way
of saying that they entered into a state of spiritual death. Likewise,
Adam’s descendants were, as a consequence of his action, all born
into this state of spiritual death.

GENESIS 3:6 And when the woman (Eve) saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took
of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her; and he (Adam) did eat.

ROMANS 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin

entered into the world (through his disobedience), and
death (separation from God) by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned (are born in a
state of sin = death)

Note: “Adam was permitted to eat of the fruit of every tree in the
garden but one, which was called ‘the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil,’ because it was the test of Adam’s obedience. By it Adam
could know good and evil in the divine way through obedience; thus
knowing good by experience in resisting temptation and forming a
strong and holy character while he knew evil only by observation
and inference. Or he could ‘know good and evil,’ in Satan’s way, by
experiencing the evil and knowing good only by contrast. - Ed. The
prohibition to taste the fruit of this tree was enforced by the menace
of death.” 1
(underlines added)

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 “. . .Adam could know good and evil in
the divine way through obedience; thus
knowing good by experience in resisting
temptation and forming a strong and
holy character while he knew evil only
by observation and inference. . .”

Before the Fall, Adam and Eve each had a human nature that was
energized by God’s Divine Nature. After the Fall, both lost access to
the Divine Nature, and acquired in its place the sin nature. The
ability to know right from wrong could then only come through their
conscience.
Therefore after the Fall, man knew good but could not really
experience the good he knew in a Divine way, only at a human level
without the Divine Nature. His conscience bore witness to his
knowledge of good in certain areas. Sometimes the conscience can
be enhanced through receiving righteous input, or alternatively
become seared (hardened) so that it is unable to function as it should,
being unable to recognize good as good and evil as evil. Factors
which influence the development of the conscience include culture,
exposure to sin, education on righteous matters and maturity
(growing up intellectually). Eve was deceived (which was still no
excuse), but Adam knowingly transgressed his conscience - and
Adam, not Eve, was man’s federal head.
Adam was created as a perfect man with no sin nature. Rather,
he was a partaker of the Divine Nature. Adam was designed by God
so that his human nature would be at one with the Divine Nature,
giving him the power to both desire and then do as God willed. As a
free-willed being, however, he still had to yield to this Nature. He
was empowered to do this naturally, having no sin nature to wrestle
with, and therefore not needing to exert willpower against it.
Nevertheless His will was involved, as it is with us today, as the
trigger by which we can live in the grace of God - to do right by
God, so that our joy will be full. By Adam’s will he could yield to
the will of God or, as in the case of the tree, do as he desired which
was to yield to sin.

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 “. . .After the Fall, man knew good but
could not really experience the good he
knew in a Divine way, only at a human
level without the Divine Nature. . .”

The result of Adam’s high treason was death to himself, both

spiritual and physical, which he, as man’s federal head, passed on to
all his offspring through the bloodline. While spiritual death came
instantly, the nature of death also entered into Adam and Eves’
physical bodies. This meant that instead of living forever, as the
perfect human beings they were created to be, Adam, Eve and all
their descendants would age physically and eventually die. Such was
the gravity of Adam’s sin in terms of its consequences for both he
and every person born after him. Indeed the whole human race would
inherit Adam’s polluted blood. Therefore all who have been born into
the world have been born into this state of (spiritual) death.

ROMANS 3:23 For all have sinned (all are born in a

state of sin, also called spiritual death, and are sinners by
nature), and come short of the glory of God (are
deprived of God’s saving presence)

ROMANS 6:3 Know you not, that so many of us as

were baptized into Jesus Christ (this is baptism into
Christ, not water baptism: 1 Corinthians 12:13;
Galatians 3:27) were baptized into His death (through
identification, we die with Him and are raised with Him)?

ROMANS 6:4 Therefore we are buried with Him by

baptism into death (we are buried with Him - all past sin
is left in the grave): that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father (we too are
raised with Him, His Resurrection is our resurrection),
even so we also should walk in newness of life (now
having access to the graces and energies of God’s Divine
Nature).

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 The Cross of Calvary is the cross-road we should come to
every morning, before we start the day. Every day we should
remember the Cross, what Jesus accomplished there and who we are
because of it. This is where we were born again, where we became
new creations in Christ - but only after a funeral had taken place for
the old man. We are now new creations, new men and women
raised, after the death of the old man, into “newness of life.” This
new man whom we now are, has been given access to a new nature,
the Divine Nature, so we can be at one with God in spirit (our human
nature being energized by the Holy Spirit) and truth:

2 PETER 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding

great and precious promises (in the Word of God): that
by these (promises) you might be partakers of the Divine
Nature (implanted in us when we were born again),
having escaped the corruption that is in the world
through lust (by the graces of the Divine Nature, we can
live a sanctified life above the lusts of the flesh).

We can now overcome sin through this new Nature given by the
grace of God. It works through us as we yield to the Holy Spirit,
believing and reckoning to our account that this miraculous change
has taken place. We have been transferred spiritually from darkness
and death into light and life. This has taken place not only in a
positional sense, but as we say “Yes” to God in the course of our
lives, then the empowerment to live the saved life is made available
to us through the grace of the Divine Nature. This takes place as it
enmeshes with our human nature, thus providing us with the energies
and graces to both desire God’s will and then to do it (Philippians
2:12-13).

“. . .This new man whom we now are,

has been given access to a new nature,
the Divine Nature, so we can be at one
with God in spirit (our human nature
being energized by the Holy Spirit)
and truth. . .”

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 Only through focusing our faith on what happened at Calvary
can we begin a journey with Christ which provides us with today’s
answers, and the power needed to live a righteous life. Indeed the
Christian is meant to live in complete dependence upon God so that
through His power we can keep the sin nature dethroned. Then our
carnal desires will not hold sway, and we will thus please Him in our
daily walk, giving Him the glory for all that is righteous in our lives.
Note: The sin nature can only be enthroned in our flesh - it can
never touch the regenerated spirit of the person who remains in
Christ.

THE SIN NATURE

We as humans are eternal spirit beings, each person having a soul

that contains our mind, will and emotions. Thus man is a spirit and
has a soul, all this encompassed within a physical body which
functions in a physical world.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:23 And the very God of peace

sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When a man is born again, his spirit is regenerated to life by

the very presence of God (John 14:17-20). While his mind is then
positionally (or legally) saved, conditionally it is not saved until it is
renewed by the Word of God (James 1:21; Romans 12:2; Psalm
23:3). Therefore our soul (mind) is saved by the Blood of Jesus in a
legal or positional sense. But in colloquial terms, to cash the cheque,
our mind must be renewed in God’s truth by His power in order for it
to be conditionally (or experientially) saved (John 15:26, 16:13).
As a Christian, therefore, our spirit is positionally and
conditionally saved, washed clean by the Blood of the Lamb. As
stated, however, after salvation, it is up to us, as Christians, each day,
to “receive with meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save
your souls” (James 1:21), i.e. to renew our minds. Renewal means
that we seek and then embrace God’s truth by His grace. As a result,
our thinking becomes aligned with God’s thinking. By this means
we become “a work in progress,” as by God’s grace, our mind

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progressively receives God’s truth and so comes to line up with His
mind and His thinking.
The last installment of our salvation concerns our physical
body and will occur on the day that the Lord comes back for His
Church. Called the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13), this is the time of
the Rapture. On that day, all who are in Christ will receive a
glorified body, the same as Jesus received when He was raised from
the dead (1 Corinthians 15:52-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18).

“. . .Renewal means that we seek and

then embrace God’s truth by His grace.
As a result, our thinking becomes
aligned with God’s thinking. . .”

Our mind in the next life will be both positionally and

conditionally saved. It will therefore merely expand in holy
knowledge for the rest of eternity, continually progressing in regard
to God and His truth. In other words, there will be no areas of
darkness in our minds in heaven.
While on this earth in this dispensation, however, we may
experience difficulties in regard to mind renewal. For instance, we
may not be able to hear God properly, or alternatively, we may not
want to. From whatever inherited genetic negatives we possess
concerning memory function or the lack of it, to the dictates of
whatever worldly connection we are plugged into, or whatever tries
to influence us, physically or spiritually, all these factors will
contribute to the problems we will have with mind renewal.

Chapter 6 in Romans tells us that we, as Christians, still have the

sin nature to deal with. When we trust God, rely on Him and are led
by the Spirit, then the sin nature will remain dormant or deactivated.
This is when the Divine Nature is enthroned in our hearts.
At salvation the sin nature becomes legally dead to us.
Conditionally or experientially, however, is another story. If we have
accepted thinking in our mind that is contrary to God’s truth, then we
are, in actual fact, thinking without God’s influence. Therefore, in
that area (of sin), we are in spiritual darkness. This darkness will be,

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of course, in our mind and will not impact in any way upon our
regenerated spirit.
So it is in this state that we have entered, in our minds, into
spiritual darkness. This state provides us with what is known as “the
sin nature” - which can be defined as man thinking in spiritual
darkness. For the unsaved, this state is perpetual. For the Christian,
this is an optional state because we have an alternative.
The sin nature empowers man to sin when he does not seek to
embrace God’s Word of truth concerning the matters of life about
which God has spoken.
The sin nature also contains a “gravitational factor” or spiritual
weight which seemingly makes it easier to sin in the area of accepted
thought or embraced thinking. The more one meditates on wrong
thinking with the intent to embrace it, seemingly the greater the
gravitational pull which is exerted. So with more meditation comes
greater pull (gravity) toward sin and with less meditation comes less
pull (gravity) towards sin. As has been said before, the battleground
regarding sin is always located in the mind.

“. . .The sin nature also contains a

“gravitational factor” or spiritual weight
which seemingly makes it easier to sin in
the area of accepted thought or embraced
thinking. . .”

Man was originally created with a human nature, which is simply

the sum of qualities and traits shared by all humans. To function
properly and be complete, the human nature, contained in the spirit
of man, needs to be energized by the energies and graces of God’s
Divine Nature. This is how man was created to function at his
optimum capacity. In other words, we always needed this spiritual
influence to properly order our thinking and therefore our behaviour
in relation to both God and our fellowman - the vertical and the
horizontal.
Only as we are yielded to God will we be allowing Him to
energize us by the graces and energies of His Divine Nature. This is
when the Divine Nature is enthroned in our hearts. Without this
influence on our minds in a continual sense, we will be thinking in

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relation to accepted and embraced thought, by ourselves, in isolation
from God.
We were thus created not with a defect, but with an inbuilt need
to rely on God at all times. Even though we are free-willed beings,
we cannot reach our potential in any way without our Creator’s
influence on our thinking (Isaiah 55:7-9). We were created to
function in relationship with Him and dependence upon Him.
When man stepped away from the graces of God’s influence, the
sin nature - spiritual darkness - flooded into his life. The sin nature
was not created by God because God does not create evil.
Without God’s influence, we live with the sin nature, and as we
operate in isolation from God, from this nature flows all manner of
evil intent. When man remains in, or places himself into this dark
place, then dark thoughts emerge. When man has no connection to
God in his thinking, he is immersed in spiritual darkness. In this
state the sin nature dominates his life as he follows after his flesh
(Galatians 5:19-21).
Man is a free-willed being with ethical and moral accountability
to his Creator. Without God’s influence, however, he is unable to
discern, in a true sense, his responsibilities to his God and his fellow
man. He is unable to correct himself or self-regulate because he is
engulfed by the darkness in his mind and cannot think at a Godly
level.
The only possible answer to man’s dilemma came through
God’s grace and mercy. God in His love sent a Saviour into this
world for this world. In fact God Himself, the second member of the
Trinity, entered this temporal world, becoming flesh (John 1:14) and
dying as a man for us.
So it can be seen that man without the spiritual restraints of
God’s truths will be empowered to sin when the opportunity arises,
and the sin nature will come alive in that opportunity.

“. . .When man stepped away from the

graces of God’s influence, the sin nature
- spiritual darkness - flooded into
his life. . .”

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 When man enters into the dark cave of self, he becomes self-
absorbed and self-centred. By himself, and according to whatever he
may think, there are no moral restraints to obstruct or impede him.
Sin’s opportunity arises when man focuses on his own thoughts and
desires to the point of accepting and embracing them so as to act
upon them.
The power to sin comes from man’s unrestrained mind -
operating without God’s influence. Sin is therefore the result of man
thinking by himself so as to embrace thinking which is at odds with
God.

Man acts in accordance with the nature with which he was born,
and when given opportunity to sin will do so. In the Word we find
man described as a sinner by nature:

ISAIAH 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and

all our righteousnesses (so-called good deeds) are as
filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

PSALM 51:5 Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in

sin (original sin) did my mother conceive me.

JEREMIAH 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all

things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

JEREMIAH 16:12 And you have done worse than your

fathers; for, behold, you walk every one after the
imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken
unto Me:

Indeed Jesus identified the source of man’s defilement as being

his evil heart:

MARK 7:20 And He (Jesus) said, “That which comes

out of the man, that defiles the man.

MARK 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men,

proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

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 MARK 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness:

MARK 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and
defile the man (the heart of man is not good but evil).”

Without the guiding moral light of God’s truth and the grace
that accompanies it, man is defenceless against the onslaught of the
sin nature that ravages his character and lays waste to his soul.

“. . .The power to sin comes from man’s

unrestrained mind - operating without
God’s influence. . .”

Unsaved man can still be influenced by God from the outside to

some extent, as we see, for example, in the Old Testament - and his
conscience is still there to assist him in some way. But man will
continue to fail miserably without God on the inside. Therefore
Christ came so that God can make His abode on the inside of man,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to influence his whole being.

JOHN 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, “If a

man loves Me, he will keep my Words: and My Father
will love him, and We will come unto him, and make
Our abode with him.”

ROMANS CHAPTER SIX

The reality of Romans 6:3-4 must be kept alive in our minds

and hearts on a day-to-day basis, so that our feet move to the beat of
God’s heart. Only humble hearts can do this, and so with this
attitude reach the spiritual heights that our Lord wants His sons and
daughters to attain. All this can only come about through man first
kneeling at the Cross of Calvary and trusting in the finished work of
the Saviour. Not only has the ledger of our sins been wiped clear and
stamped “paid in full,” the power to rise above sin has been given to

10
us through the Divine Nature. Let us now read Kenneth Wuest’s
expanded translation of Romans 6:1-14:

ROMANS 6:1 What then shall we say? Shall we

habitually sustain an attitude of dependence upon,
yieldedness to, and cordiality with the sinful nature in
order that grace may abound?

ROMANS 6:2 May such a thing never occur. How is it

possible for us, such persons as we are, who have been
separated once for all from the sinful nature, any longer
to live in its grip?

ROMANS 6:3 Do you not know that all we who were

placed in Christ Jesus, in His death were placed?

ROMANS 6:4 We therefore were entombed with Him

through this being placed in His death, in order that in
the same manner as there was raised up Christ out from
among those who are dead through the glory of the
Father, thus also we by means of a new life imparted
may order our behavior.

ROMANS 6:5 For in view of the fact that we are those

who have become permanently united with Him with
respect to the likeness of His death, certainly also we
shall be those who as a logical result have become
permanently united with Him with respect to the
likeness of His resurrection,

ROMANS 6:6 Knowing this experientially, that our old

[unregenerate] self was crucified once for all with Him
in order that the physical body [heretofore] dominated
by the sinful nature might be rendered inoperative [in
that respect], with the result that no longer are we
rendering a slave’s habitual obedience to the sinful
nature,

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 ROMANS 6:7 For the one who died once for all stands
in the position of a permanent relationship of freedom
from the sinful nature.

ROMANS 6:8 Now, in view of the fact that we died

once for all with Christ, we believe that we shall also
live by means of Him,

ROMANS 6:9 Knowing that Christ, having been raised

up from among those who are dead, no longer dies.
Death over Him no longer exercises lordship.

ROMANS 6:10 For the death He died, He died with

respect to our sinful nature once for all. But the life He
lives, He lives with respect to God.

ROMANS 6:11 Thus, also, as for you, you be

constantly counting upon the fact that, on the one hand,
you are those who have been separated from the sinful
nature, and, on the other, that you are living ones with
respect to God in Christ Jesus.

ROMANS 6:12 Stop therefore allowing the sinful

nature to reign as king in your mortal body with a view
to obeying it [the body] in its passionate cravings.

ROMANS 6:13 Moreover, stop putting your members at

the disposal of the sinful nature as weapons of
unrighteousness, but by a once-for-all act and at once,
put yourselves at the disposal of God as those who are
actively alive out from among the dead, and put your
members as weapons of righteousness at the disposal of
God,

ROMANS 6:14 For [then] the sinful nature will not

exercise lordship over you, for you are not under Law
but under grace.

(Wuest K.S., The New Testament, An Expanded Translation,

underlines added)

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 In Romans Ch.6 the Holy Spirit reveals the workings of what
happens at the conversion of a sinner, and how we are to take
advantage of this new-found position in Christ.

“. . .Not only has the ledger of our sins

been wiped clear and stamped “paid in
full,” the power to rise above sin has
been given to us through the
Divine Nature. . .”

ROMANS CHAPTER SEVEN

Then in Romans Ch.7 the Holy Spirit reveals through Paul’s life
his failings, even after his conversion.

Wuest outlines Paul’s experience in Romans Ch. 7 in terms of

self-dependence. Victory eludes him when he does not use the
resources provided for him by the Holy Spirit to defeat sin in his life.
Wuest goes on to describe self-dependence as the “monkey wrench”
of the Christian life:

“THE MONKEY WRENCH IN THE MACHINERY

Paul says in Romans 7:15, “That which I do, I allow not.” He is
describing his experience as a saved person, but one ignorant of the
way of living the victorious life. The things he desires to do, namely,
good things, he does not do. Things he does not want to do, namely,
sinful things, he does do. The power of sin in his life has been
broken, and the divine nature implanted. But the correct adjustment
to these facts, Paul does not know. Hence the evil nature is still the
master. Paul says that this experience he does not “allow.” The word
“allow” is from a Greek word which means “to know by
experience.” Paul says in effect, “What I carry out I do not
recognize in its true nature, as a slave who ignorantly performs his
master’s behest without knowing its tendency or result.” Paul does
not recognize his experience in its true nature. He is acting blindly at
the dictates of another, like a slave who does not have the liberty to
determine the details of his life for himself because he is governed by

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another. He is somewhat of an automaton, not quite a machine, but
yet a human being without self-determination in his spiritual life. He
has the desire to do good but no power to put that desire into
practice. He rebels against doing evil, but does not have the power
to keep from sinning. He fights as one that blindly beats the air. He is
in a spiritual fog. He does not understand his experience, for he is
acting involuntarily.
Romans can be likened to a great factory. The sixth chapter
takes us to the floors where the machinery is located. There we have
the mechanics of the Spirit-filled life, namely, the power of sin
broken and the divine nature implanted. The eighth ushers us into
the basement where the power to operate that machinery is
generated. There we have the dynamics of the Spirit-filled life, the
power of the Holy Spirit. Chapters twelve to sixteen take us to the
upper floors of the factory where the finished product is on display.
Chapter seven is the monkey wrench which, if it falls into the
machinery, interferes with its working and thus prevents the
production of the finished product. That monkey wrench in the
Christian life is self-dependence. All the resources of the Holy Spirit
are there to put down sin and produce a Christ-like life, but they are
not appropriated because the believer is depending upon self.” 2
(underlines added)

“. . .Paul is describing his experience as

a saved person, but one ignorant of the
way of living the victorious life. . .”

We can struggle in our own strength to overcome the sin

nature and the carnal cravings we have because of it - but we will fail
until we, like Paul, discover God’s prescribed order for doing so. It
is only through dependence on the Lord’s grace, which comes to us
via the energies and graces of the Divine Nature, that we are able to
serve the Lord, overcome sin and walk in righteousness. As we yield
to the Lord and ask for His grace, the power we need will be made
available to us. The Divine Nature is implanted in us at the new
birth, through the internal presence of the Holy Spirit bringing this
grace to us. Access to the Divine Nature is part of our inheritance
according to the New Covenant in which we now stand.

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 “. . .The Divine Nature is implanted in us
at the new birth, through the internal
presence of the Holy Spirit bringing this
grace to us. . .”

HOW DO WE BEGIN TO LIVE IN THE DIVINE NATURE ?

Background Reading: Colossians 3:1-17

At regeneration, all pollution is removed from our spirit, and

through Divine connection, the Divine Nature is imparted to the
Believer, giving us the potential to love as God loves. We now have
the ability to operate in the power of the Divine Nature, but we must
will for this to happen.
We do this by choosing to listen to and act on God’s Word, rather
than listen and respond to the dictates of our flesh or our senses
(what we see, what we hear, what we feel like, etc.). It is the Word
of God which gives us the boundaries and principles which are to
govern our lives. The flesh and the unchecked senses will not
provide this light. We need to understand God’s Word, then we need
the power to walk in the spiritual knowledge which we have gained
from the Lord.

“. . .At regeneration, all pollution is

removed from our spirit, and through
Divine connection, the Divine Nature is
imparted to the Believer, giving us the
potential to love as God loves. . .”

To obtain this power, we must believe and reckon ourselves to

be dead to the sin nature, and we must yield to the Holy Spirit in all
that we do so that the Divine Nature will be enthroned in our hearts.
The Divine Nature will empower us to do God’s will, but only as we
yield to the Holy Spirit. As we yield, His Divine Nature will enmesh

15
with our human nature and we will receive the energies and graces
we need to do the will of God. As we focus on the Word of God, in
the power provided by the Divine Nature, we will come to think as
God thinks, which is to have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians
2:16). Our minds are renewed in this way through the faith God
develops in us - as we cooperate with Him. What is required is our
yielding and His grace! If we do not yield to the Holy Spirit, we will
not gain the spiritual power we need to walk in His righteous ways.
To yield and receive empowerment through the Divine Nature is to
live in the “newness of life” spoken of in Romans 6:4. The potential
to love as God loves was imparted to us at regeneration through
Divine connection. We are only able to love as God loves with His
help. To obtain His help, His empowerment, we need to take
advantage of the Divine Nature, of which we are partakers, by
submitting ourselves to the Holy Spirit. Then through this
empowerment we can walk in righteousness so that “henceforth we
should not serve sin” (Romans 6:6).

To know the will of God in our hearts, we must allow the

Spirit of God to speak to us and make us aware of truth, to make us
aware of Him and His ways.

1 CORINTHIANS 2:12 Now we have received, not the

spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that
we might know (understand) the things (truths) that are
freely given to us of God (by allowing Him to show us
His truths).

1 CORINTHIANS 2:13 Which things also we speak,

not in the words (or ways) which man’s wisdom (worldly
knowledge) teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches
(shows); comparing spiritual things (truths) with
spiritual.

In our position as true sons, God can truly communicate with

us (if we are open and allow Him to) because the blockage of death
and darkness has been removed from our spirit. The Light of God
expelled all darkness from our spirit when we gave Him permission
to enter. In other words, God’s saving presence, which is the essence
of God, the love and the Light of God, eradicated the darkness in

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which our spirit had been immersed. This darkness had blocked the
Lord from fellowshipping with us in the way He desired. Even when
we are saved, however, if the sin nature remains enthroned or
engaged, it will block God from communicating with us in those
areas it affects. The sin nature must be dethroned if we are to have
any proper spiritual communion with God. As this becomes a reality,
God will also be able to deposit “good treasure” (e.g. knowledge of
God’s will, truth, wisdom of God) into our hearts.

HEBREWS 8:10 . . . I (God) will put My laws into their

mind, and write them in their hearts. . . .

MATTHEW 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure

of the heart brings forth good things. . . .

So because all darkness (which causes the state of sin) has been
washed out of our spirit by God’s presence, we now have the
potential both to communicate with Him and to allow Him to deposit
good treasure into our hearts. However, even today, God can only
communicate with us, as Christians, and lead us, IF we will to listen
to Him. We also need to position ourselves or ready ourselves to
hear the Lord’s voice, through proper spiritual focus.

“. . .As we yield, His Divine Nature will

enmesh with our human nature and we
will receive the energies and graces we
need to do the will of God. . .”

To hear the voice of the Lord (to perceive the leading of the
Spirit, which could come in the form of inner conviction or a
knowing within), we need to be committed to renewing our minds
with the Word of God with all diligence. We also need to be
committed to fellowshipping with the Lord on a daily basis.

To begin to be led by the Spirit of God, we must purpose, in

His power, to walk in the light given - to walk in obedience to God’s
Word (James 1:22-25). As we yield to the Holy Spirit, the graces of

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His Divine Nature, energizing our human nature, will not only give
us the desire to do God’s will, these graces will empower us to do so.

As we know, babies may have the potential within themselves to

achieve many things when they grow up - but they must first
gradually mature into adults. Children must be fed and nourished,
physically, emotionally and spiritually for many years before they are
ready to fend for themselves and make a success of their lives. Also,
whatever is put into a child, physically and mentally, will usually
play a major role in determining that child’s future.

As a baby needs to grow, so too does our spirit - for the same
principle applies.

1 PETER 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere

milk (unadulterated, pure doctrines) of the Word, that
you may grow thereby (in your salvation)

Our spirit is only baby-like to begin with, and needs to grow

through receiving proper spiritual nourishment, as we see in
Matthew 4:4:

MATTHEW 4:4 But He answered and said, “It is

written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”
(Deuteronomy 8:3)

Only by receiving the nourishment of God’s Word can our

spirit become educated (come to be at one with the Divine Nature),
and therefore strong and mature enough to direct us wisely. We could
also then say that the spirit-man is energized as the human nature
absorbs the graces and energies of God’s Divine Nature.
The primary purpose of educating our spirit is so that we may
know God’s will on any matter - even to know how He thinks and by
what principles we are to live. All this will also help us in our
relationship with the Lord, and we will be better able to
communicate with Him as we, by grace, grow in knowledge, wisdom
and character, as Jesus did (Luke 2:40-52).

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 “. . .Only by receiving the nourishment of
God’s Word can our spirit become
educated (come to be at one with the
Divine Nature), and therefore strong and
mature enough to direct us wisely. . .”

THE RENEWING OF THE MIND AND THE EDUCATING

OF THE SPIRIT

The Divine Nature of God will slowly be manifested in our

lives as we live according to God’s Word, and yield to the Spirit.
This involves having our minds constantly renewed, and with the
Spirit’s empowerment, acting according to that renewal.

To be renewed in our minds is a commandment which applies

to all Christians. When we accept Jesus Christ into our life, our spirit
is regenerated and cleansed of sin, but our mind is not. Yes,
positionally we are saved, but our condition does not always match
our position. Ongoing daily sanctification is required if our
condition is to progress towards our position - and the grace of the
Divine Nature is needed for this process to take place. All this means
is that when we are saved, and even after this immediate time, many
of our attitudes, thoughts and beliefs will be at variance with the
Word of God. Because of this, our unrenewed mind will often cause
us, in the flesh, to oppose the desires of God. To change this
situation, we must be committed to the renewing of our mind.

Note: The Believer is saved conditionally in the spirit, for the

spirit is cleansed of all darkness at regeneration. Concerning spirit,
soul and body, the Believer is saved in all aspects in a positional
sense. Indeed the Believer in Christ is dead to the law of sin and
death (we no longer come under this law in a positional sense), but
the law is not dead to the Believer - for we can choose to sin and bear
the consequences of that sin. So where we are at positionally can be
very different to where we are at conditionally (our day to day
experience). Only as we abide in Christ and yield to the Spirit, so as
to absorb the heavenly graces of the Divine Nature, can our condition
be brought towards our legal position. Sin (or the sin nature) should

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no longer have any ascendancy over the Believer, because he or she
is saved from “sin.” To walk in victory, however, faith in Christ and
His finished work at the Cross must be our central focus. We also
need a total dependency on Him, and the Spirit’s empowerment in
our daily Christian walk if we are to experience ongoing
sanctification. It is something we cannot achieve by the self-efforts
of the flesh, otherwise called willpower.

“. . .Only as we abide in Christ and yield

to the Spirit, so as to absorb the heavenly
graces of the Divine Nature, can our
condition be brought towards our legal
position. . .”

God’s Word tells us:

ROMANS 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but

be transformed (changed) by the renewing of your mind
(the way you think), that you may prove (and know for
yourself) what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect,
will of God.

EPHESIANS 4:23 And be constantly renewed in the

spirit of your mind - having a fresh mental and spiritual
attitude (Amp.)

Once your mind is renewed in any area, this makes possible the
next step:

EPHESIANS 4:24 And that you (through your actions

of faith) put on the new man, which after God (in God’s
image) is created in righteousness and true holiness.

The renewing of the mind involves accepting God’s truths

wholeheartedly, grasping these truths aggressively or even violently
(Matthew 11:12). A renewed mind involves commitment to a truth or
principle, for the renewed mind is the mind which has learned to live
by God’s Word. Once the mind is renewed, it will see other points of

20
view but it will consider only one course of action, that which is in
accordance with the Word of God. The renewed mind puts all its
trust in God’s Word, for it has grasped knowledge which has been
revealed by the Holy Spirit. The renewed mind does not even
consider, in its analysis, anything else, no matter what others may
say or do. This occurs to the point where one becomes dependent
upon this renewal in any area so that we are able to “prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).
The renewed mind gives us only one answer to a problem. It is
after this renewal that we, through the Divine Nature, will have the
strength to say “Yes” to God’s will, thereby saying “No” to the
world, the flesh, the devil and natural circumstances. If unrenewed,
the mind will side with the flesh and natural circumstances. If
renewed, the mind speaks forth God’s Word and sides with the
regenerated spirit which is empowered through the Divine Nature.
This gives the voice of truth a strong means of expression. However,
even with a mind which is renewed in any area, the Christian still
needs to make a decision to act upon this renewal, and not to heed
the dictates of the flesh or the natural realm. This action necessitates
the person using their will. The will is the trigger, and the Divine
Nature is the source of power needed to effect change.

“. . .If unrenewed, the mind will side with

the flesh and natural circumstances. If
renewed, the mind speaks forth God’s
Word and sides with the regenerated
spirit which is empowered
through the Divine Nature. . .”

As we have said, the renewing of the mind causes the

regenerated spirit to be educated in the things of God - and thus
allow it, in the power of the Divine Nature, to have a greater and
stronger voice. Christians who do not bother to work on this renewal
process will still have unrenewed minds and baby-like spirits, even
after they have been saved for many years. We thus need to goal to
harmonize our spirit and soul together with God’s Spirit, through the
continual renewing of our mind. This, through the energies of the

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Divine Nature, will result in the continual process of “ongoing
sanctification” in the Saint’s life - until the day they go home to be
with the Lord.
As we have said, the regenerated spirit, also called “the
legitimate self,” wants to please God. Man was originally created in
God’s image, and before the Fall, man would originally have had an
all-consuming desire to please God. When a Christian is empowered
by the graces and energies of the Divine Nature, their spirit-man will
again have the holy desire and power to do God’s will. This is a
righteous and holy yearning (Romans 8:5-6).

“. . .Christians who do not bother to work

on this renewal process will still have
unrenewed minds and baby-like spirits,
even after they have been
saved for many years. . .”

We can, however, ignore or reject the voice of the regenerated

spirit until it is no longer heard. Sometimes this voice is expressed
through the conscience. If we act in opposition to our conscience for
too long, it can become seared or hardened in that area so that it can
no longer speak forth God’s holy standard through conviction, being
alienated from man’s thinking processes. Also, the voice of the
regenerated spirit may be small to begin with, but increases in
strength as we nurture our spirit, educate it and listen to it rather than
the dictates of the flesh, including self-desire.
Note: Sometimes our emotions which express strong wants can
be mistaken for our conscience, when, for instance, we say, “Well, I
feel this and this.” What we feel may be nothing but our flesh
speaking, as we operate under the government of self-rule. What God
wants for us and what He says should be our primary desire and
focus. But how can we know unless we first seek and discover
God’s will (Matthew 7:7-8).

A baby has a strong inbuilt desire for food. The baby does not
know much about this food, but when it is fed, its desire will be
satisfied. Our regenerated spirit can be likened to this baby. It has a
desire to be fed on spiritual food - it does not know much about this

22
food, but when it does receive spiritual food, the desire of the spirit-
man is satisfied. As we then continue to feed our spirit on good food,
it will grow and mature, and its voice will become stronger. With the
Divine Nature giving us the spiritual energy and graces needed, our
spirit will have a holy desire to do God’s will.

“. . .The voice of the regenerated spirit

may be small to begin with, but increases
in strength as we nurture our spirit,
educate it and listen to it rather than the
dictates of the flesh, including
self-desire. . .”

Thus through the renewing of the mind, our spirit grows to

maturity. Another way of looking at this is that the regenerated spirit
contains the God-given desire to serve Him (even though this only
becomes a holy desire through the Divine Nature energizing man’s
human nature). The Christian needs to allow this desire to come forth
in his life, or else he is cheating himself out of his primary creative
function. This desire must be channelled and harnessed by the Holy
Spirit, and properly directed. The renewing of the mind is vital to this
process, for it is in this way that we come to know the good and
perfect will of our Heavenly Father. We then need to have the
Divine Nature enthroned in our heart so that we receive the
empowerment we need to act on this knowledge.
So we all need to study God’s Word and accept its truths
wholeheartedly if we want to renew our minds through the gaining of
revelation knowledge. By this process we can have our spirit
educated, so that it will have a strong voice. In this way we can
channel the Godly desires of the spirit and be conformed to the
perfect will of God. Therefore renewing the mind and educating the
spirit will help us make decisions which side with God’s will and not
the dictates of the flesh, the world or the natural realm.

Thus: The renewing of the mind = Rejecting wrong ideas and

beliefs by allowing the Spirit to replace them with the truth of God’s
Word (which we then believe and trust in).

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 As we have said, through renewing our minds and acting on this
renewal in faith (through the Divine Nature of which we are
partakers), we will come to discover and to walk in God’s will for
our lives.

Note: Sometimes in the simple acceptance of truth, repentance

automatically takes place. At other times, we may need to mindfully
and deliberately repent of wrong ideas and beliefs that have hindered
our growth as Christians.

SALVATION OF THE SOUL

Background Reading: 1 Peter 1:13-23

Salvation of the soul at a conditional (experiential) level is
obtained by acting according to the transformation that has taken
place through accepting and relying on truth. This, as 1 Peter 1:22
tells us, is simply called “obeying the truth,” the truth found in
God’s holy Word.

“. . .Therefore renewing the mind and

educating the spirit will help us make
decisions which side with God’s will and
not the dictates of the flesh, the world or
the natural realm. . .”

As we accept God’s truths wholeheartedly and reject our old

carnal ways of thinking, then act upon this renewal in faith, thanking
God for the empowerment provided by the Divine Nature, we can
experience a type of deliverance called “the salvation of the soul.”
This means that no evil can continue to oppress us because of wrong
beliefs or wrong thinking. It entails complete freedom from
oppression of the mind, e.g. freedom from fear, anxiety, worry,
depression, anger, hatred, unforgiveness, resentment, etc. We must
always remember, however, that it is the grace of God at work in us
(having come to us because of Christ’s finished work) that brings
about our victory and God’s pleasure.

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 Positionally, all this happened at the Cross and was legally
imparted to us the day we were born again. Experientially, however,
many do not live in the victory Christ won for us at Calvary. Once
again, the condition of many Christians is, in many areas of their
lives, far removed from their legal position.
In relation to the salvation of the soul, the Word therefore exhorts
us:

JAMES 1:21 So get rid of all uncleanness and the

rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble
(gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word
which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains
the power to save your souls. (Amp.)

JAMES 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers

only, deceiving your own selves.

1 PETER 1:22 Seeing you have purified your souls in

obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love
of the brethren, see that you love one another with a
pure heart fervently.

We can have heart-knowledge that something is true. However

unless we act or purpose to act on that knowledge, nothing will be
achieved. Similarly, salvation of the soul at a conditional level cannot
take place unless we first renew our minds, then willingly act in faith
on this renewal when an opportunity arises.

“. . .Similarly, salvation of the soul at a

conditional level cannot take place
unless we first renew our minds, then
willingly act in faith on this renewal
when an opportunity arises. . .”

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 GOD’S LOVE IN ACTION

God’s nature is love - in fact the Word tells us that God is love
(1 John 4:8).
God’s love is not passive but expresses itself in action - and
God’s love in action manifests itself in total commitment and
sacrifice.

JOHN 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave

His only begotten (the One and Only) Son, that
whosoever believes in Him (Jesus) should not perish,
but have (with God) everlasting life.

MARK 10:45 For even the Son of Man (Jesus) came

not to be ministered unto (to be served), but to minister
(to be a servant), and to give His life a ransom for many.

JOHN 10:15 As the Father knows Me, even so know I

the Father: and I (Jesus) lay down My life for the sheep.

JOHN 15:13 Greater love has no man than this, that a

man lay down his life for his friends.

The Apostle Paul expanded on this in Romans Ch.5 when he

stated that Jesus died for us, not while we were His friends, but while
we were still enemies of God, sinners, and hostile to God in our
minds:

ROMANS 5:6 For when we were yet without strength,

in due time (at the appointed time), Christ died for the
ungodly.

ROMANS 5:7 For scarcely (rarely) for a righteous man

will (would) one die: yet peradventure for a good man
some would even (possibly) dare to die.

ROMANS 5:8 But God commends (demonstrates and

proves) His love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us (He died for those who
bitterly hate Him).

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 Jesus showed the Divine Nature that was within Him through
His works of faith and love. By His actions, Jesus was saying, “It
doesn’t matter what you do to Me - you can kick Me, spit on Me,
whip Me, you can do what you like to Me, but I’m still going to love
you, I am even going to die for you.” Even on the cross Jesus
displayed this love:

LUKE 23:34 Then said Jesus, “Father, forgive them;

for they know not what they do.” . . . .

“. . .God’s love is not passive but

expresses itself in action - and God’s love
in action manifests itself in total
commitment and sacrifice. . .”

Jesus’ total desire was to do the will of the Father and to

complete the work that He had been given. This too is the desire of
our regenerated spirit. This desire will come forth as we live in
God’s perfect will for us, nourishing our spirit with proper spiritual
food, and, under the influence of the Divine Nature, allowing the
voice of our regenerated spirit to be heard above the voice of our
flesh, the voice of our senses, the voice of human logic and the voice
of worldly wisdom.

THE SELFISH NATURE

Man is unable to live in the God-like image in which man was

originally created until he is regenerated (born from above).
However just because people are regenerated does not always mean
they will act according to this God-like image - for we sometimes see
non-Christians acting in a more Godly manner than some Christians.

The regenerated spirit has the desire to do God’s will. However,

without the Divine Nature energizing the human nature, there will be
no power to do God’s will as He would desire it to be done. There
will be willpower, but not the grace of the Divine Nature at work -
unless we yield to the Holy Spirit and use in faith the graces He

27
gives. Only then can the graces and energies of the Divine Nature
flow into our human nature so that the works we do will please the
Father.
While unregenerated, we were unable to live in the true, heart-
nature of God. This was because we still had, in our spirit, the selfish
nature which is part of the sin nature that Adam passed on to all
mankind. Scripture clearly shows us the tyranny of the sin nature in
our unregenerated state, a state in which we lived to gratify the
cravings of our sinful nature and follow its desires and thoughts.

ROMANS 5:12 Wherefore, as by (through) one man

(Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by
(through) sin; and so death (and the sin nature) passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned:

EPHESIANS 2:1 And you has He quickened (made

alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins (total
depravity due to the Fall and original sin); (E.S.B.)

EPHESIANS 2:2 Wherein in time past you walked

according to the course of this world (refers to the fact
that the unredeemed order their behavior and regulate
their lives within this sphere of trespasses and sins),
according to the prince of the power of the air (pertains
to the fact that Satan heads up the system of this world),
the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience
(the spirit of Satan, which fills all unbelievers, thereby
working disobedience): (E.S.B.)

EPHESIANS 2:3 Among whom (the children of

disobedience) also we all had our conversation (manner
of life) in times past in the lusts of our flesh (evil
cravings), fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind (the minds of the unredeemed are the laboratory of
perverted thoughts, impressions, imaginations, etc.); and
were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. (God’s wrath is unalterably opposed to sin, and
the only solution is the Cross.) (E.S.B.)

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 The potential to live in the power of the Divine Nature resides
in every “born again” Believer, for we are, in Christ, partakers of the
Divine Nature. The devil tries to deceive people into believing they
are living in love, and even finding favour with God, merely by
doing good works and not harming anyone. (Remember that we are
saved by grace, not works (Ephesians 2:8; 2 Timothy 1:9.) Without
Jesus in his life, man will have a selfish motive behind most of that
which he does. The reason for this is that man is inherently evil
(Jeremiah 17:9). The sad part is that people do not even realize their
motives are selfish, or self-centered.

“. . .While unregenerated, we were

unable to live in the true, heart-nature of
God. This was because we still had, in
our spirit, the selfish nature which
is part of the sin nature that Adam
passed on to all mankind. . .”

Man without regeneration cannot have God-like motives, for

man cannot love as God loves without God. It is impossible.
Unregenerated man has no way of pleasing God in regard to
righteousness, for he is steeped in sin and lacks the power source to
do so. Unsaved man has only a human nature, a sin nature and an
unreliable conscience. What else but sin could govern his life, and
form the foundation for self-gratification, self-promotion, seeking the
favour of men not God, selfish motives, lying, cheating, stealing, etc.
What hope has man without Christ – none! (Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah
17:9).

Now we cannot deny that many unsaved people do works which

benefit mankind, their neighbour or their own family. Such good
deeds spring from the fact that man was created in God’s image or
likeness. Following the Fall, in which Adam’s spirit was polluted
with darkness, and all his descendants thereafter also came into this
world polluted with death and darkness, only a shadow of the image
of God remained within man. This shadow gives man the ability to
love, to reason, to believe as well as acknowledge, to create and to

29
respond to an indwelling conscience in regard to moral issues. While
the shadow of the image of God has substance, however, it lacks the
power to turn good actions into holy (righteous) actions. This is
because without God’s grace (and therefore help), we will lack the
empowerment which only comes from the enthroned Divine Nature -
the graces of which are absorbed into our human nature so that we
can think as God thinks and act accordingly. So the shadow of the
image is a form, but lacks the spiritual power to fulfill its
inclinations. Man’s intent, therefore, is full of the desire to satisfy
and fulfill self, for every “good work” done outside of Christ is done
in the context of self-rule.

“. . .Man without regeneration cannot

have God-like motives, for man cannot
love as God loves without God. For
without Jesus in his life, man will have a
selfish motive behind most of that which
he does. . .”

If we are not yielding to the Holy Spirit and so not being

empowered by the Divine Nature, we as Christians can also do “good
works” in the context of self-rule. These so called “good works” will
be religious works - works of the flesh. All our works will be tested
by fire, and any lacking God’s standard (performed for self-gain, or
done in the flesh [by willpower], outside God’s will and timing) will
be burned up (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). For these extinguished works
we will receive no reward. Regarding the unsaved, however, there is
no Divine power working within to produce works which will please
God or be stamped in any way with His holiness. Such good works
may show forth the shadow of the image of God which remains in
man, but are of no eternal value, because “without faith it is
impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6). No good works will ever
justify man (Ephesians 2:8-9). And no good works performed by
Christians who self-rule will bring glory to God or please Him. As
Christians, therefore, we must be abiding in Christ on an experiential
level if we are to avoid self-rule, and produce fruit that will stand for
eternity (John 15:4-5).

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 In fact if anything is done in the name of the Lord, it must be
done in faith if it is to please Him. This involves following the
leading of the Holy Spirit with regard to that work and its timing.
Proper holy faith consists of the union of belief and trust which
comes through the grace of His Divine Nature. Therefore the person
believing and trusting must be at one, through yielding to the Holy
Spirit, with the Divine Nature within - and so absorbing the holy
energies and graces of this nature. Anything less than this may
constitute belief but not holy faith. What makes it holy? The Divine
Nature does this - God’s grace at work in, with and through us. In
other words we need to depend totally on God’s grace at work in us,
through being vessels yielded to His will, not ours. Works involving
self alone will never gain God’s favour or approval, and will be of no
eternal benefit.

THE DIVINE NATURE

The Divine Nature gives us the holy desire to do God’s will,

and then the power to undertake the commitment. Everything that
does not stem from this - God’s grace working in us through the
Divine Nature - is a counterfeit of good, and therefore false, no
matter how the works appear. Again, without Christ in our lives
(affording us regeneration), we remain bent sinners, destined only for
the judgement of God as “law breakers.”
Simply stated, to operate in the Divine Nature is to operate in the
selfless love of God, being concerned not only for our own needs but
also for the needs of others, even those who treat us unfairly or
oppose us. Therefore:

PHILIPPIANS 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife

(factional motives) or vainglory (conceit); but in
lowliness of mind (humility) let each esteem (consider)
others better than themselves.

PHILIPPIANS 2:4 Look not every man (only) on his

own things (his own interests), but every man also on the
things of others (the interests of others).

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 PHILIPPIANS 2:5 Let this same attitude and purpose
and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.
Let Him be your example in humility (Amp.)

Operating in the power of the Divine Nature will also cause us

to act without partiality (James 2:1-9). God’s Word tells us not to
show special favour in regard to those who could reward us in some
way, or who have higher social standing or acceptability in the
world’s eyes.
However, as we have said, just because people are regenerated
does not always mean they will act according to the Divine Nature of
which they are legally partakers. We see this clearly evidenced in
Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Church, where he accused them of
“envying and jealousy and wrangling,” of behaving not like
Christians but like unregenerated men (1 Corinthians 3:3). Such
carnal Christians have not renewed their minds and remain as
“babes in Christ,” still flesh and sense-ruled. They demonstrate
through their actions that they have not allowed the holy power of
the Divine Nature to come forth in their lives, having not counted the
sin nature as dead, and having not yielded to the Holy Spirit.

“. . .Everything that does not stem from

God's grace working in us through the
Divine Nature is a counterfeit of good,
and therefore false, no matter how the
works appear. . .”

Note also that new Christians cannot be expected to operate fully

(in all things at all times) in the God-type love of the Divine Nature.
We must grow and mature in God’s Word so that little by little, the
God-type love will emanate, if we allow it to, and this will show
forth in our actions of faith and love. A characteristic of Godly love
is that it will always express itself in action. Furthermore, how much
of God’s grace we are able to absorb from the Divine Nature will
generally be in direct proportion to the amount of deposited and
digested Word we have received from God through the studying and
hearing of faith (truth).

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 ROMANS 6:3 Do you not know that all we who were
placed in Christ Jesus, in His death were placed?
(Wuest)

ROMANS 6:4 We therefore were entombed with Him

through this being placed in His death, in order that in
the same manner as there was raised up Christ out from
among those who are dead through the glory of the
Father, thus also we by means of a new life imparted
may order our behavior. (Wuest)

Wuest’s translation of Romans 6:4 includes the following: “thus

we by means of a new life imparted may order our behavior.”

The Divine Nature is imparted to us through the saving

presence of God’s Light being given to us at salvation. Now “God is
Light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). His Light or
His presence incorporates the essence of God, the character of God
and the Divine Nature. In His Light, bathed in His presence, we can
absorb the energies of the Divine Nature, energies we need to walk in
righteousness. In order to gain access to these energies and graces,
however, we must have proper focus. We must acknowledge Christ’s
work at the Cross and that it is only in Him, being totally dead to self
and so reliant on Him, that we can do anything concerning God’s
will.
It is only in Christ that man gains access to the Divine
Nature. Believers are forever connected to the Divine Nature, and
have access to the graces of the Divine Nature through Christ. As we
yield to the Holy Spirit, we gain the graces that give us spiritual and
emotional energy and therefore a passion and a strength to do God’s
will - by this empowerment that has come through the Cross. In this
He alone will be given the glory, and we will gain the victory and
fulfill our potential for that moment - in Christ, by the power of God
at work in us.

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 “. . .The Divine Nature is meant to
become the power plant of our emotional
outlook and moral thinking. As we yield
to the Holy Spirit, we gain the graces that
give us spiritual and emotional energy
and therefore a passion and a strength to
do God’s will. . .”

When we say “being empowered by the Divine Nature” we mean

that we are allowing God’s spiritual energies, that give us faith and
passion of the highest Divine order, to be absorbed. Indeed we were
created as free-willed beings who are, by design, made to absorb the
goodness of God’s Light. In fact we were created to think like He
does, even to love and believe like Him. Awesome isn’t it!

The Divine Nature is meant to become the power plant of our

emotional outlook and moral thinking. Indeed its energies will
motivate us concerning goodness and the good of others, giving us
spiritual strength, holy purpose and a thirst for holiness and
righteousness. The Divine Nature was always meant to function as
God in man, in the Garden of Eden and after the Cross.
To make proper demands on the graces of God’s Divine Nature
will cause two beings to become one in thought and purpose. The
first person is of course God, and the second person is the Christian
yielding to the Spirit of Grace. In other words, the journey and the
goal are all about daily relationship through daily connection with
our Lord in an experiential way. Communication must be based on
the truth and wisdom of God’s Word, wrapped in the Anointing and
presence of the Holy Spirit. This is the only way to victory, and in
this the Father is pleased as we yield ourselves to Him as a son-
servant or a daughter-servant in Christ.

As we know, the Divine Nature is “implanted” or imparted

through relationship. Indeed we become a “partaker” of the Divine
Nature by Divine “connection.” Therefore, because we are in Christ,
we have implanted inside us the Divine Nature. Realize this - that it
is God Who owns the Divine Nature, but He chose at the beginning

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of the human race to create man to be complete only as He shares the
energies of His Divine Nature with him. Adam lost this source of
completeness and wholeness with God. Those who followed Adam
were likewise deficient. Through the Cross, God restored what sin
had taken from man, namely the grace of His Divine Nature.
The Saint is then able, as he seeks and finds, to embrace God’s
Word and will through and by God’s Divine graces. In this way, “the
image of God” that man was originally created with is restored via
the Cross of Calvary - through the graces of God’s Divine Nature.
Man cannot do it by himself for he is powerless to overcome sin or
walk in righteousness without God’s enablement.

“. . .We were created as free-willed

beings who are, by design, made to
absorb the goodness of God’s Light. In
fact we were created to think like He
does, even to love and believe like
Him. . .”

Man was created in the image of God. In order for that image
to gain proper expression, however, the created being must draw
from a power source that would cause him (the creation) to move in
the potential set forth for man to aspire to. Primarily, therefore, the
Divine Nature is the power source that would produce in man an
ability within to flow, walk and run in righteousness. It is this Divine
connection that is fused to the repentant born-again Believer at the
Cross, bringing the graces of God to his heart to order his thinking
and therefore his ways.

THE POTENTIAL OF EVERY PERSON

Background Reading: Ephesians 5:1-2

All people, whether they are Christians or non-Christians,

whether they are doing right or wrong, have been created in the
image of God.

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 GENESIS 1:27 So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God created He him; male and female
created He them.

As has been taught, a shadow of the image of God has remained

in man, and part of this shadow consists of moral knowledge in our
conscience. Note that the conscience of man also contains an inward
moral light which gives man a measure of awareness of God and the
ability to acknowledge a Creator (if man does not block off to this
inner light).
Man was created with a Godly conscience so he would know
good from evil at a moral level. Even before God’s laws were written
down, man’s conscience, if allowed, would have convicted him of
wrongdoing. For example, he would have known it was wrong to
steal, to murder, to commit adultery, etc (Romans 2:14-15). Through
our conscience we may perceive right and wrong, but this does not
then mean that because we know right, we automatically have the
power to do the right we perceive. In fact, man without God
struggles to do right. If he does the right thing in one area, he will
fail in another. So again we prove to God, ourselves and others that
we are law breakers. Being a law breaker in any area before a just
God means we are guilty of all (James 2:10).

“. . .A shadow of the image of God has

remained in man, and part of this
shadow consists of moral knowledge in
our conscience, which gives man a
measure of awareness of God and the
ability to acknowledge a Creator. . .”

Through habitual sin, man tries to erase the moral conviction of

sin (e.g. 1 Timothy 4:2; Hebrews 3:13). Some Believers even allow
the sin nature to be so enthroned that sin overrides their conscience
to the extent that they also become able to sin, in some cases, without
any sense of guilt. If Christians continue in sin, without repentance,
in particular areas, this will usually affect other areas and their
relationship with God as well. The more a person sins, the more that

36
person’s conscience will become seared so that they may even reach
a point where they feel no sense of guilt at all, their conscience
having become alienated from their thinking processes.
Concerning the heathen, there are even people who can murder
fellow human beings without a second thought, feeling no guilt at all
in regard to their actions. Others allow Satan to pervert their thinking
to the extent that they “call evil “good” and good “evil” ” (Isaiah
5:20). This is quite prevalent in society today where those who stand
up for God’s moral laws are often criticized and despised. For
instance, vocal and militant sections of the community promote the
cause of homosexuality as a valid alternative lifestyle, abortion as the
rightful choice of every woman, and euthanasia as an act of mercy
rather than the terrible devaluation of human life.
Even the unsaved who try to live according to their conscience,
and who do not habitually commit serious sin, still have the sin
nature permanently enthroned in their hearts. Even if they try to live
by good moral principles, they are doomed to failure in regard to
pleasing God - for good works will not satisfy Him. Man can only be
released from the bondage of sin through spiritual regeneration,
giving him the potential to please God through Spirit-led and
empowered works. Christians with the Divine Nature imparted
through Divine connection have the potential to live in righteousness
as they purpose to harmonize their wills with God’s will. It is
therefore the potential of every Believer, regardless of their culture,
background or circumstances, to live in this “newness of life.” No
one is excluded, but this potential can only be realized through Christ
and in Christ.
The potential of every person is a transformed life. Therefore
we are to be careful how we walk. We should be careful how we treat
people, saved or unsaved, because every person has been invited into
the Kingdom. We all began as sinners and are equal before God.
His grace has been extended to all, and no-one is better than another.
The scriptures tell us many times over:

MATTHEW 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever you

would that men should do to you, do you even so to
them: for this is the Law and the prophets.

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 MATTHEW 22:39 . . . You shall love your neighbour as
yourself (even if your neighbour hates you or is
“unlovely”).

ACTS 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said,

“Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of
persons (shows no favouritism):

ACTS 10: 35 But in every nation he who fears Him,

and works righteousness, is accepted with Him.”

“. . .It is therefore the potential of every

Believer, regardless of their culture,
background or circumstances, to live in
this newness of life. . .”

Some people may not be living or acting in a Godly manner, but

beneath this, each person has the potential, in Christ, to partake of
the Divine Nature to which man was originally given access. To live
our lives in the empowerment of the Divine Nature is to live a life
which pleases God through His grace and love at work in us!

May you have the victory in Christ. Amen!

For further information or teaching material to help you grow in

the Christian faith, please visit:

CROSSROADS INTERNATIONAL
FULL GOSPEL MINISTRIES
crossroadsministries.org.au

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1 Smith’s Bible Dictionary.
2 Wuest K.S., Word Studies From The Greek New
Testament, Golden Nuggets From The Greek New
Testament, pg.63.