Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, "In each of us two natures are at war--the good and the evil." Such was the start of Stevenson's book, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Most of us, I think, are familiar with the story. Dr. Jekyll tries to develop a formula that will eliminate "the evil nature," leaving only "the good nature." But this, of course, backfires...or so it is assumed as the story begins with an encounter with Mr. Hyde, as the strange mystery unfolds, revealing how such a hideous creature like Hyde would have any dealings at all with a moral man like Dr. Jekyll. We discover with time that the two men are one in fact, and that Henry Jekyll had produced this formula and had been consuming it only to bring out the evil, murderous, womanizing, vengeful, thieving, careless Hyde.
The truth about this whole story is that there are two natures; but they are not in every human being. There must be a partnership involved. There must be two people. You see, even Henry Jekyll's works are as filthy rags, no cleaner than the dreadful, deceitful, devious devices of Edward Hyde. Isaiah 64:6 makes this very clear, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." 2 Peter 1:4 is a favorite of mine. It says, "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
Do you see that divine nature phrase? Major W. Ian Thomas likes to refer to this as spiritual DNA—Divine Nature from Above. You see, it is necessary that we are born again not only that we might have a Heavenly Father, but that we might enjoy a new nature. I take Major Thomas' clever thought a step further, and say that we all are born with spiritual DNA as well; but this DNA stands for Depraved Nature from Adam. The Bible makes it clear that life is in the blood. Passages like Genesis 9:4 and Leviticus 17:11. We get this blood from our father. Not a drop of this crimson tissue comes from our mother. That is why the Bible is always accrediting the fall of man to just Adam, and not Adam and Eve. The Bible says, "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." It's funny, by the way, how people look at the story of Adam and Eve as something mythological; like it's a silly story, and something that could never have happened; and yet they can believe that the universe came from nothing. But at the very start, Adam sinned, and death passed over all men because "in Adam, all die" (1 Corinthians 15:22). But if we are born again...spiritually, we can enjoy a new nature because of a new man! I love what the Bible says in 1 John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." It looks as though it's talking about one man again, but notice carefully that spiritually "whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin!" How? "For HIS seed—That is, JESUS' seed!—remaineth in him—the born again Christian—and he cannot sin because he is born of God. I'm not going to expound on this because there is an article called THE IDENTITY THEFT CRISIS. If you click on that title, you can read about how sin works almost like the thief stealing a person's identity. It's a wonderful thing to know that the part of us that is born of the Spirit, that new man cannot sin because it has the DNA of Jesus Christ! So, as Christians, I will say it like Stevenson, and kind of reword it. "In each of us two natures are at war—the nature of Christ, and the nature of sin."
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, "In each of us two natures are at war--the good and the evil." Such was the start of Stevenson's book, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Most of us, I think, are familiar with the story. Dr. Jekyll tries to develop a formula that will eliminate "the evil nature," leaving only "the good nature." But this, of course, backfires...or so it is assumed as the story begins with an encounter with Mr. Hyde, as the strange mystery unfolds, revealing how such a hideous creature like Hyde would have any dealings at all with a moral man like Dr. Jekyll. We discover with time that the two men are one in fact, and that Henry Jekyll had produced this formula and had been consuming it only to bring out the evil, murderous, womanizing, vengeful, thieving, careless Hyde.
The truth about this whole story is that there are two natures; but they are not in every human being. There must be a partnership involved. There must be two people. You see, even Henry Jekyll's works are as filthy rags, no cleaner than the dreadful, deceitful, devious devices of Edward Hyde. Isaiah 64:6 makes this very clear, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." 2 Peter 1:4 is a favorite of mine. It says, "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
Do you see that divine nature phrase? Major W. Ian Thomas likes to refer to this as spiritual DNA—Divine Nature from Above. You see, it is necessary that we are born again not only that we might have a Heavenly Father, but that we might enjoy a new nature. I take Major Thomas' clever thought a step further, and say that we all are born with spiritual DNA as well; but this DNA stands for Depraved Nature from Adam. The Bible makes it clear that life is in the blood. Passages like Genesis 9:4 and Leviticus 17:11. We get this blood from our father. Not a drop of this crimson tissue comes from our mother. That is why the Bible is always accrediting the fall of man to just Adam, and not Adam and Eve. The Bible says, "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." It's funny, by the way, how people look at the story of Adam and Eve as something mythological; like it's a silly story, and something that could never have happened; and yet they can believe that the universe came from nothing. But at the very start, Adam sinned, and death passed over all men because "in Adam, all die" (1 Corinthians 15:22). But if we are born again...spiritually, we can enjoy a new nature because of a new man! I love what the Bible says in 1 John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." It looks as though it's talking about one man again, but notice carefully that spiritually "whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin!" How? "For HIS seed—That is, JESUS' seed!—remaineth in him—the born again Christian—and he cannot sin because he is born of God. I'm not going to expound on this because there is an article called THE IDENTITY THEFT CRISIS. If you click on that title, you can read about how sin works almost like the thief stealing a person's identity. It's a wonderful thing to know that the part of us that is born of the Spirit, that new man cannot sin because it has the DNA of Jesus Christ! So, as Christians, I will say it like Stevenson, and kind of reword it. "In each of us two natures are at war—the nature of Christ, and the nature of sin."