Oh my goodness!  I’m on a roll and I can’t stop!  I never expected my blogs to be so much “teaching.”  And, like I said, the last thing I want to do is stir the pot with critics.  BUT I have to say the things I am sharing are near and dear to my heart.  There’s that word again! (Read my last blog for more info. on heart)

As Tim and I discussed my last blog something hit me like a ton of bricks.  Romans 6:6 says, “Knowing this that the old man (self) has been crucified with Christ…”  Well, that old man had a heart!  Did he die but his heart didn’t?  My problem with the teaching that says we still have a sinful nature is with the word nature.  Nature means the very essence of something.  And if I still have a sinful nature, what died?  The bible is clear that something died. (Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:4,6)

I believe the bible is clear that our battle is between flesh and spirit.  Our nature (the very essence of who we are) is now Holy, Righteous, Loving, Patient, Acceptable and like Jesus!  Do I always act that way?  No!  But my behavior does not determine my identity.  BIRTH DETERMINES IDENTITY!  Have you been born again into the family of God?  If so, you have a new nature and a new heart.  Ask God to convince you and to help you walk in it.  Or if you are skeptical, ask God to convince you of this truth IF it is true.  That is what I did, twenty seven years ago when I was acting anything but holy and righteous!  God heard my prayer and HE convinced me!  Now I am “working out” my salvation or my true identity!  God is conforming me into the image of Christ as he daily chisels off flesh and let’s the real me shine through my soul and body from deep inside the spirit where Jesus resides.