Earlier this week, I was learning with a friend about the two natures. The Old Nature and The New Nature.
The Old Nature refers to the flesh and its sinful desires, while the New Nature refers to the life of Christ which a person receives when he surrenders his life to Christ.
By default, every person is born with the old nature. No one needs to learn wrong deeds; it’s inbuilt. That’s the old nature. However, coming to Christ gives us the experience of a new life.
As we discussed, an equation came to my mind to depict the state of a person’s heart.
Old + New = 100, where Old is the Old Nature and New is the New Nature.
P.S. Old and New are inversely proportional, i.e. when the Old increases, the New decreases, and vice versa.
For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. (Galatians 5:17)
Before Christ, Old equals 100, there is no New.
However, when Christ comes in, the New comes into the equation.
As Christians, we have both natures, but what we devote our attention to, will determine what takes priority in our heart.
For example, picture Christian A who spends time in prayer, studies the Bible and has constant fellowship with other believers. We can assume New = 80, Old = 20. New + Old = 100.
Now, consider another option, Christian B who rarely prayers, has no time for Bible study and doesn’t have time for fellowship with other believers. We can estimate that the New = 30, Old = 70. New + Old = 100.
Are both people still believers? Yes. However, Christian B is prone to sinful actions, stagnation, and if the trend continues, he might even deny the Faith.
In his letter to the church in Corinth, Apostle Paul said, “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:1). The people were believers, but they were still worldly.
Also, in the book of Hebrews chapter 5, we read about the feedback given to a set of people. “Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food! For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:12-14)
The passages show that there is a room for growth. From worldly believers to people who live by the Spirit. From inexperienced infants to mature believers. God wants me to grow. God wants you to grow. God wants us to grow!
“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity…” Hebrews 6:1
