Why Godly Christians Have Evil Thoughts




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	Evil thoughts and godly Christians! I would never have put those two things together like that until a prominent TV pastor said they belonged together. He said it was due to the fact that believers have two natures and one or the other is always in control. He rocked me when he further said that sin is as normal as breathing for every Christian.


	This pastor was scholarly and sound. So much so, I didn't challenge his words but went to the Holy Spirit. The next day as I was preparing my Sunday morning message, I ran onto something that proved to be God's answer. I was using the King James Version, otherwise I might not have seen His answer.




		My Bible was open to First John. On the left hand side of the page was 1:9,'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." What a fabulous verse! God is faithful to cleanse us from every bit of evil if we confess our sins. No Christian should have any trouble confessing to God, Who sees our hearts and knows us better than we know ourselves.


	The Lord Jesus taught that we need cleansing from daily defilement and this passage refers to His willingness to cleanse us. If we ever get the idea that we don't sin, the previous verse 1:8 takes care of that... "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves." And what's worse says the next verse, "We make Him a liar" (1: 10).

THEN MY EYES MOVED ACROSS THE PAGE

Chapter 3 verse 9 leaped out at me.


	*"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed (Jesus) remaineth in him and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."*


	Wow! Look what we have here! This verse says those born of God can't sin. And since you can't be a Christian without being born of God, it is a direct statement that CHRISTIANS CAN'T SIN! This is remarkable! One verse says flat out, that we're sinners. The other says we can't sin. And both of them practically on the same page, in the same book, by the same author.

IS THIS A CONTRADICTION?

I know what the newer editions have done with the Greek word for commit." They've changed it to read..."practice sin" or "continue in sin." Every Christian I know continues to sin. I certainly do. I have to ask the Lord for forgiveness everyday, and so do you. We're cut from the same cloth.

Translators cringe at the thought of making the text read: Christians "do not commit sin." They can't bring themselves to say that, for directly across the page it says: we do sin.

I grew up (spiritually) with the King James and love the power of its English.

The explanation doesn't lie in finding a way around the Greek text or altering the truth to make it fit our theology. The answer lies in making our theology fit God's Word. The fact is, Christians DO NOT SIN ... that is, the new man doesn't sin. Christians have 2 natures, one evil and one holy. Paul refers to them as: the "sinful nature" and the "godly nature;" the "old man" and the "new man;" the "spiritual man" and the "carnal man;" the "carnal nature" and the "spiritual nature"but they all are referring to the same two natures.

The King James is not wrong. It's right on. And the Revised English Bible remains loyal to the Greek text in making verse 9 read. "No child of God commits sin, because the divine seed remains in him, indeed because he is God's child he cannot sin." So where is the contradiction?

THERE'S NO CONTRADICTION!

Each of the two verses is referring to a different nature. 1:9 is referring to the old nature and 3:9 is referring to the new nature. Only the new nature is born of God. THAT'S WHY IT CAN'T SIN. It is God's own righteousness. The old nature is born of the flesh and does sin. The answer lies in the truth of the believer's two natures.

When you're born to your mother, you enter the world equipped with the only nature she can give you. That's why we all start off with a sinful nature. This is the only way any nature can be acquiredby birth. Then when we take Jesus as our Savior and are born again, the second birth gives us the nature of our heavenly parent God. No one can have a new nature until he is born again. The new nature is holy and cannot sinit's God's own nature.


	1. Mysteries about the Word. For example: Gal. 5:17-21, where Paul list all kinds of sins that Christians commit, then says those who do such things can't go to heaven. What's the mystery? We all do some of those things at different times.


	2. Mysteries about Jesus. How He can be God and man at the same time?


	3. Mysteries about yourself. How can some one who loves Jesus as much as you do, have such terrible thoughts at times; or say things you shouldn't; or do things you know are wrong... even if it's just a little gossip or fudging on your taxes?


	*Without a working knowledge of your two natures, these things always remain a mystery*.




OBVIOUSLY, THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS LEADING I saw why the Spirit lead me to First John with the good old King James at hand. He wanted to confront me with what seemed like a contradiction, so he could direct me to the explanation. As soon as it was clear in my mind, I set out to develop a set of lessons I could teach my people. I replaced the regular Sunday evening service with classes on the believer's two natures. I drew out the truths on a blackboard for a better grasp of the truths. Beyond that, I coached the sharpest ones and had them teaching classes in the homes. This brought new life to the church, a new excitement. People began making commitments to Jesus they couldn't make before. Their giving went way up without any coaxing from me. So with that settled, where is the seeming contradiction between the two verses?



THAT WAS MANY YEARS AGO Want to know what has happened since? The same teaching is going on right now in The classes. And the same excitement and enthusiasm is being generated in their lives. They won't be the same with these truths roaring in their spirits. And how are the truths being shared with others? In my book DYNAMIC TRUTHS FOR THE SPIRITFILLED LIFE. It contains everything I teach my congregation, the drawings are included.



HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS? There's no argument as to which is the greatest Bible truth ... salvation through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And that is where most preaching is concentrated. But if we keep the emphasis always on salvation, how will Christians grow? For believers, growth is far more urgent. It surely won't please God to have heaven loaded with spiritual infants. We've got to produce mature sons and daughters. This #2 truth of the Bible can lead them to maturity, the #1 truth can only lead them to salvation. Beyond what I've said in this article, there's another reason why this truth is critical. The knowledge of your old nature and how it works helps in defeating Satan. The devil is at home in the OLD NATURE, moving in and out as he pleases. From there he launches his attacks against you. If you want to be an overcomer and please God with what you DO, SAY AND THINK, you must understand your old nature and how Satan uses it against you. You'll acquire that understanding when you read DYNAMIC TRUTHS FOR THE SPIRITFILLED LIFE and DEALING WITH THE DEVIL. Again and again you'll find yourself saying, "Oh, now I see why I have trouble keeping my mind on the Lord" or... "Now l know why the Bible is so hard to understand. "Most of all, you'll be thanking God for the insights He's given for unlocking the mystery of why godly Christians... ENTERTAIN EVIL THOUGHTS *Go To Dynamic Truths* C. S. Lovett © C.S. Lovett 1999 *Go To Dealing With The Devil* Click here for an interesting question.



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	This article is Copyright 2000 by Dr. C. S. Lovett and is found on www.cslovettbooks.com