I'd call him and ask. Yeah, he's a pastor of a small little Baptist church in California. I called him, left a message. He called back. I'm like, here's what happened though. So I was on my phone and I had called him and I took up my phone to look at the calendar and just as I hit to hit August, he had called and so it hung up on him. And I went, no! So then you think, what do I do? What's the protocol here? So I call him back, and he answers. It was God's will, okay. He said, you know, this is Dr. Barslis. What is the heresy I'm accused of now? And so I said, no sir, there's no heresy. And so he was in between lectures at a Founders Conference, and he calls me back. So I quickly tell him who I am and where we are and who we are and what I'd heard on the, I said, you said this. Oh yeah, yeah. And I said, well, here's what I think you mean. And then I went through it all. I said, is that right? He goes, he goes, Mr. Kelly, that's, that's, yes, that's exactly right. You've actually went beyond what I said. And then he accused me of having a, well, I had it wrong, but it's called a hermeneutical hangover. Okay, where you go so far in surmising the means that you just get. Kind of weird, but it was a delightful conversation. He called me back, super humble, godly man. And so I just wanna say that that's where this message comes from today. You never know what you find when you go running, okay? All right, so does a believer have two natures? Well, we're gonna read here in a moment, Romans chapter seven, verses 14 through chapter eight, and then we're gonna read Ephesians four, 17 through 24, because I don't think that we can answer truthfully understand, I should say, Romans 7 until we grab and understand Ephesians 4. I think Ephesians 4 helps us to understand Romans 7. Before I do, as I do always through this series, and we only have a few more verses left to go, why do we do this? Why are we so concerned with this? Why are we going through it? So there's a problem in the church today. The problem is a failure of 21st century Western Christians, and I put 21st century specifically because the other ones in past centuries didn't seem to struggle with it as much as we do. Not to say they didn't, let's just say that it's very severe now. The struggle or the problem is to understand and apply the doctrine of sanctification to personal holiness. So we take with the truths of sanctification and we apply it to our need of personal holiness in our everyday life. So how we live in this world. The result, if we do not understand this or do this, is a result is a weak and lethargic church with no power, no passion, and an ever-increasing conformity to the world around them. And I know that you all would agree, we do see that happening today in the church. So in honor of God and His word, let's stand and let's go through some scripture. We're going to read in Romans chapter seven, beginning in verse 14, and go through chapter two and we'll stop. But like I said, you could really continue forward, but let's read in verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual, Paul writes, but I am carnal, sold under sin. And he's going back to slavery there. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. If then I do what I will not to do, okay, I agree with the law that it is good, because the law is good about that. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I want to remember that verse for later. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do. But the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Gonna wanna remember that one. I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God. There's the answer, verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. You're gonna wanna remember that one. Keep track of all that. There is therefore in verse eight, this is why you need to go through with chapter seven into chapter eight. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit for the law of the spirit of the life of Christ in Christ. Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. And you're going to want to remember that one. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. For your word, we praise you for the goodness and richness of it, but we also understand that you intend for us. To search out those truths that are in it to labor in the work of the word and to listen to what the Spirit teaches us as he brings to illumination the word which you have preserved. So Lord today, teach us about this subject in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. So just to kind of break into this a little bit. In verse 17, Paul writes, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. And then he says in verse 19, uh, Oh, I'm sorry, verse 20. Now, if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. And then he comes down into verse two. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. What in the world is going on here with him? Because he sounds like a crazy person. It sounds like someone suffering from an identity crisis. Now this passage of Scripture in Romans 7 is hotly debated, as you would imagine, among theologians today and throughout church history it has been debated. Is Paul talking about his own personal experience as a Christian? Or because of the context preceding this chapter? Talking about the goodness of the law. Talking about how it shows our sin. Is he trying to make a case to the Jews that follow the law that they're going to have this kind of conflict. You want to do good but you never will. You're going to fall short every time. You are incapable of keeping the law for atoning purposes. You will fail. So who's supposed to deliver you? So on one hand, then, you have the theory that Paul is referring simply to the Old Testament law as it is made applicable by the Old Testament Jewish mindset that says, I keep these things, I'll be right with God. It's all about me keeping the law. Or is it his experience? Like this is how he lives, this is what he experiences. And so I would say, we're going to go somewhere in the middle, okay? You're probably like, wow, pick a side. No, mm-mm. No. Now, so we've covered that. Let's then transition over to the book of Ephesians. Verse 17, chapter four, Ephesians chapter four, verse 17 through 24. Ephesians four, 17 through 24. It's funny, I talk to Jeff quite often and he'll say, oh, you know, Romans is my favorite book. And then talk to him later, oh, Hebrews is my favorite book. And if you talk to him later, I go, Ephesians is my favorite book. I wanna say, the more you study your Bible, it's all your favorite book. Okay, it all is just a favorite book. So in verse 17 of chapter 4, Paul himself again is writing and he takes up this issue of the new man, the new nature. He says, this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind. Having their understand darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. We have to remember when people are lost in sin, whether they be Jew or Gentile, they have a blindness of heart, okay? It's not about appealing to their intellect. It's about the scripture going forth in its converting power as the truth of God is illuminated by the Holy Spirit that penetrates the blindness of their heart and frees their mind to think with the truth of God. That's what conversion is. And he says, who being, who, in verse 19, who, comma, these people who being past feeling, they don't feel stuff anymore, they don't feel it. have given themselves over to lewdness to work all uncleanness with greediness, so much like our day, okay? But, in verse 20, there's a but here, but you have not so learned Christ. You, who's you? The you that has had the freedom bestowed upon you of Christ's truth to show you your blindness where you realize your separated state from God because of your sin, you whose mind has been set free, you whose soul has been freed from the slavery and bondage of sin, you, you have not so learned Christ to be that way. That's just good. You have learned and have been blessed with the pure light of the gospel upon your soul. You have seen it. You have been standing in a dark room all your life. You weren't even concerned there was light because you had no concept of it. But then suddenly, by the mercy and grace of God, he shone in you his truth and you could see it. And now you go, wow, I was in darkness. I was blind, but now I see. And he says, and he qualifies, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. So you have to be taught by him. That's the beauty of being a Christian, is you're taught by Jesus. And then verse 22 is where we're gonna get our big old crescent ranch out here, okay? That you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that, what does it say in verse 24? You put on the new man which was created according to God. and true righteousness and holiness. So everyone on the same page? Okay, I'm gonna fix to show you one of the greatest lies I think that's invaded Christianity in probably the past 100 years that we're probably a lot of us guilty of. And if you've already been here, just don't steal my thunder because this has been illuminating for me personally in my own Christian walk, which is why God is good at ministering the word to us. There's not a single problem we don't have that the Word of God cannot remedy. Okay, you ready? Okay. The lie of the two natures in the believer. Don't throw rocks at me. I'm going to share with you an old proverb. I've heard it's Indian and I've heard it's not. But within everyone there are two dogs. The one that barks the loudest is the one you feed the most. Who all has heard that? Or something like that? Like I said, it's been attributed to Indian folklore and it's been attended to, you know. I don't know if Mr. Hayes ever said anything, or Haywood. What's his name? Heywood. Did he ever write on this? He should've. But this is a thing in us. We walk around with this notion, I did, that I have this old man in me. Now the Bible says it's dead. Romans 6, we're gonna look at in a minute, but in various other places it's dead, but he's still there because I still do bad things. I still sin. and he's constantly fighting the new man, okay? He's like, for those of you who are of the generation that remember the Rocky movies, okay? He is, the new man is Rocky, the little Rocky fighter, and the old man is, what was his name? Buster, Mr. T, remember? I don't remember what his name. What? Clever lane, that's right, thanks Jared. Okay, but in every one of the Rocky shows, Rocky's always in the corner, just getting beat to death. Okay, he's just, he's getting thrown around by Hulk Hogan, he's just getting beat to death. He's the new man, he's the better man, he's the stronger man, but first, he has to get beaten nearly to death. And then he comes out of nowhere swinging, and he knocks the big creature down. And everyone goes, oh, and they always end the same way. but I always watch them over too. And that's kind of how I always thought of my struggle, my spiritual life. I've got this new man, but the old man is dead, but somehow he's able to function, and he's just clubbing me some days. He's got me in the corner, on the ropes, bam, bam, bam. And if we were honest, we would all feel like that. So the problem with this is that Romans chapter six, verses six through seven, which we'll look at, and Colossians chapter three, verses three and then verses nine and 10, and Ephesians four, 22 through 24 that we just read, all of those verses dispel that notion. The old man is dead. D-E-A-D. There are no dogs either. There are no dogs. None. So let's look and see why this is so emphatic. Number one, In Romans chapter six, verses six through seven, here's what the verse says. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves of sin. For when we died, look at the vernacular there. What does died mean, Brian? Does, so it means dead. Died does. Died means dead. Okay, with Christ, it says we were set free. We were emancipated from sin's hold. No chains. From the power of sin. Now that's Romans 6, 6 through 7. Colossians 3, and I kind of put these together. For you died, there it is again. and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Do not lie to one another since you have, notice this terminology, since you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him." So there's Colossians 3. And then Ephesians 4, that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind." There's the connection to the mind being freed up to think that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. And I'll tell you what I'm about to share with you, you really don't... need, but it will help you to understand that I'm not making this up. And I think it's going to help you to get free from some of that bondage that you may be under. But first, John Murray. John Murray writes in his Dynamic of the Biblical Ethic, it's just a very flowery title. The old man, he says, has been crucified. And this is one of the ways in which Paul announces the definitive cleavage or the break with the world of sin, which union with Christ ensures. Because if you're born again, your union with sin is terminated. You are not bound by its power anymore. Christ ensures that. Christ owns no slaves to sin. He owns slaves to himself. You understand? The old man is the unregenerate man. The new man is the regenerate man, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which we all agree with, and amen. It is no more feasible to call the believer a new man and an old man than it is to call him a regenerate man and an unregenerate man. That would be like saying, I am saved, but I'm not saved. Well, what are you? In the middle. Well, what are you doing about that? Working towards it. Well, how do you know if you win? Don't know. You're not competing there. You don't have, you're either regenerate or you're unregenerate. You're saved or you're lost in sin. You're either trapped and in servitude to the bondage of sin, in which case you don't give a care about what I'm having to say. or you are saved by the power of God through the gospel of Christ, your mind has been illuminated, and you see who you are, and you're agreeing with hearty amens to everything so far. Okay. The believer is a new man, a new creation, but he is a new man not yet made perfect. Sin dwells in him still, and he still commits sin. He is necessarily the subject of the progressive renewal, because we're being renewed day by day, right? He needs to be transfigured into the image of the Lord from glory to glory. So here's what I heard when I was running down the road that caused me nearly to fall. Richard Barsalus is preaching along. He's talking about these very things. I'm saying amen. And he said, if the old man is dead, and there's not a third party stuck in you feeding the two dogs, so who would that be? If you have two dogs, someone's gotta feed them. Who does that? Who? It's getting really psychological. Who does that, right? So you have your two dogs, you got someone. So if there's no old dog, if there's no old man, and there's no third party, Who's doing the sinning? The new man is doing the sinning. And when I heard that, I just, like I said, I worked on it for two or three days, went over my Bible over and over it. And it occurred to me, nowhere does it ever say that the new man is perfect. It has lots to say about pursuing holiness, about being renewed day by day, about being transformed into the image of Christ and ongoing progressive work. And so it finally hit me. Do you know what the two main differences are between the old man and the new man? The old man, number one, is A slave to sin. A slave. The new man is free in Christ. The old man is dead in sin. The new man is alive in Christ. I think what happened to me in my thinking, and some of you may share the same thing, is that we tend to passively think of the new man as perfect? And that when we sin, it's not really me that's sinning in my new man, because he can't sin. That's mistaken, but we think that. So my old man clearly is still around. You see, he's buried, but he's got an arm sticking out of the grave. And I'm literally walking, dragging that arm and the grave wherever I go. trying to run towards Jesus as I'm dragging behind me this decay of the dead man who still somehow has strength. And that just doesn't make any sense. But we can't just go off sense, we have to go off scripture. So let's see, how about some Greek stuff? Oh joy, everyone's just sprung up out of there. This is where this comes handy. In Romans chapter six verses six and seven, now hang on with me, just because I said Greek stuff doesn't mean that you have to say it's all Greek to me, I'm tuning out. Please pay attention, okay? The phrase in Romans six, six and seven, was crucified, your old man was crucified, and we were set free, right? These are both verbs in the aorist Passive indicative tense and you're like, oh there you go with that. Well, let me just tell you That's important to understand. I won't tell you what it all means just yet But that language is there this is what the scripture said this is the this is the Greek on the subject Now, let's look at Colossians 3 The phrase you died you you died and died means what? Dead? Dead, thank you. It hasn't changed? Somewhat alive. A little bit alive? No. Wiggle? Okay. And then the phrase, having put off the old man, having put on the new man, are also verbs in the aorist active indicative sense. Because of what has happened The Bible says, as he goes on in this verse, you show that death every day. So the way you live, you show that you died every day. If you're alive, you show this death. You are becoming what has happened to you in the past by acting on it in the present. You are being dead, if you will. You are being dead. And in Ephesians chapter four, that you put off and put on. Remember, we were talking about put off the old man, put on the new man. This is a verb. It's in the aorist case, middle infinitive. And here's what that translates to. By your own actions, you are appropriating what was done to you and in you. You are acting it out in real time. You are being alive. Now, here's why that matters. According to scripture and according to the Greek verbs in the Aorist sense, the passive part is when you were saved, this is just rich, okay, there you were, you were going along your life like every other dead corpse of a person, okay, and God in his mercy saves you. You were passive in that. He came to you. Now on this side of the reality, we see things like repentance and we, that's where we get into the language of like making decisions and all that kind of stuff. But the truth of it is, God is coming upon you. He's animating you. He's regenerating you, making you alive. You're just coming along. Because you want to. He makes you willing. You want to. You see? He's doing the work. And it's happening to you. And your old man is being dead. So when it says that you died, God did it. He killed you. So why would he strap that thing to your back? Who are we to dig up bones? Randy Travis hasn't got anything on this. Okay, does anyone know who he is anymore? Okay, so, because I'm 49 and I feel like those things are becoming black and white. But anyway, that's happened. That death is a fact. You died. And the same thing is in Colossians 3. You died. but also you've put on a new man. That's a fact too. I wanna tell you a little bit about the aorist tense verb in the Greek. Think of it this way. There was a man named Con Campbell and he had a word picture that he liked to tell people. He said, you're in a helicopter. Some of us can identify with helicopters and you're flying however high. And you're overlooking a parade. You're looking at the parade as a whole. Whether if you were down on the ground, you might be at this end, or maybe you're on that end, or maybe you're in the middle. But when you're in a helicopter, you can see the whole parade. And you take a picture. There it is. That's the parade. That's the heiress tents. Right there. It happened. That's the reality. Finished. New man's on. In Christ, it's on. You get a new nature, it's on. There's another part of this, though, too. You're looking at the reality of what God did from the outside as a whole, rather from the inside. So, it is a completed action. And in, of course, the Aorist tense, Depending on the verb or depending on the on the on the sense in which it's used You can then say this action happened and here's what it looked like from this point of view And here's what it looked like from that point of view But it's still a completed act Here's the parade there it is It's it's often used of the past Your salvation, your old man being dead is a past thing. If you're in Christ, he died. He's gone, it says so. When you get down into Ephesians 4, that you put off and that you put on, now this is a verb in the Aorist, middle infinitive, which simply means because of what has happened to you, because of the reality of that death of the old man, because of the real reality of the life of the new man. Live it. Be being alive. As I say here, by your own actions, you are appropriating what was done and you are acting it out in real time because your old man is gone. How can he go on living? And your new man is the one with whom you live from, if you're in Jesus. Therefore, the old man isn't the one you're sinning from. It's the new man. The one who is being renewed day by day. Now there's a third thing I want to add to you. Hang with me guys, this is heavy. You have something else, other than freedom, and other than life, that the old man did not have. you have the infusion of the Holy Spirit of God. In essence, oh, this is just, we could take another two hours, but in essence, you gotta go back to the garden. Adam was our first federal head. He could sin and he could not sin. He was free. He could choose to sin, he could choose not to sin. Our second Adam, Jesus, right? He could choose to sin or he could choose not to sin. But us, because of Adam's fall, we can only sin. When we become Christians and we're born again, now suddenly we have something we never had before because we're a new creation. The Bible says, all things have passed away. All things become new. There's no dead men here. We have the Holy Spirit and we're being renewed day by day. And even though we can still sin, we don't sit on it. We can't allow it to be there. 1 John talks all about that. So that's why I say living things live. grow and you can't you a born-again Christian born again being born after the Spirit of God cannot continue in sin if you can continue in sin you have an old man not a new one I don't care what you've thought how much you've acted or what you've learned You are new creation. All things have passed away. You've been given the Holy Spirit. You were designed to grow. And grow you should. Grow you should. I'm gonna finish this up. G.K. Beale wrote an interesting piece on this in his Biblical Theology of the New Testament. He said, when persons have identified with Christ, their position in the old sinful creation has been destroyed. And they have begun to be part of a new creation. If Paul's addresses were both an old man and a new man at the same time, there would be redemptive historical and psychological schizophrenia. And he's absolutely right. Sadly to say for a long time I kind of live like that. Rocky getting beat to death in the corner because the old man somehow sprung out of that grave and had enough energy to pound on me. It's a lie. The true believer is someone who is no longer an unbelieving old man but instead is a believing new man. It is true that sin remains but the power if the new is dominant, or I'm sorry, the power, that's my fault. The power in the new is dominant. So Christ's power in the new man is the dominant power. That's important. Is the Holy Spirit not more powerful than you? He is. And if you're born of the Spirit, he's the dominant force. So yeah, we can sin, but you can't stay there. Why? Because God's gonna see to it. The power in the new man is dominant, and slowly, perhaps, but surely, it will dominate over the sinful impulses, though perfection will never be reached until the final resurrection of the body at the end of the age." So, two natures? Well, depends on how you use it. That's why I'm in the middle here. If you're saying that you still sin, because I mean, look, we're in this body of corruption, right? I don't look like I did when I was in my 20s. I had hair, and I had more muscle, and just a strapping lad. Rindy thought so, okay? And now, I saw myself in a picture the other day, and I thought, oh my heck. Hey. You know? Who are you? Well, so we're in this body. As long as we're in this world and as long as we're in this body, there's sin all around. But we have a dominant force. Our bodies are passing away, but our inner man is being renewed day by day. So I'll tell you what, what I may not look like on the outside, you ought to see me on the inside, okay? Because the one on the inside, he's beginning to look a lot like Jesus. Same for you. Praise God. Praise God for that. Is that not just encouraging stuff? And that's pure meat. Kim, it's pure meat, isn't it? That's just right off the bone. You could gnaw on that for a month, okay? I'll close with this, this is out of the Westminster Confession, don't tell our Presbyterian friends. Sanctification then, in light of all we said, is throughout your life. It's throughout in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life, there abiding still some remnants of corruption in every part. whence arises a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, in which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail, yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying spirit of Christ, because he's dominant, the regenerate part does overcome. And so the saints grow in grace. Perfecting holiness and the fear of God. Your old man isn't got an arm out of the grave around your ankle. He doesn't. He's gone. He's gone. There are not two dogs. There's you and there's Jesus. And he's the dominant force. And when you sin, you have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, who says, when the devil accuses, Jesus says, ah, yeah, but he's mine. She's mine. She isn't what she will be, but she isn't what she was either, because she's changing. Now, I think with that being said, we can finally understand how to go through Romans 7. Do you know Jesus like that? Does the hope in you look like that? Do you know Jesus as to say, I'm not what I will be, but I'm not what I was. That old man is not dogging me anymore. I don't have to believe that. That's there. I just have me and I've got Jesus. And He is greater than all my sin. Do you know Christ like that? Oh, I pray you do. I'm going to ask JT to come and close this. If you have a need to pray about anything that's been said today, the altar is open. If you know that if you leave here today, that You do not have hope of eternity, of knowing Christ, then I would plead with you. Tell him. Tell it to Jesus. Say, Lord, save me like that. Make me a new man. You come as JT plays.