Anthony Pritchard
Well-Known Member
Do Believers Sin?
Scripture distinguishes between the old man, who is corruptible and tied to Adam, and the new man, who is born of God and created in righteousness. The old man sins; the new man does not. Paul’s struggle in Romans 7 describes the motions of sin in the flesh, not the nature of the new man. The question, “Do believers sin?” cannot be answered rightly until Scripture’s own distinction is honored. The believer is one man with two natures: the old man in the flesh, and the new man born of God. The old man is corruptible; the new man is incorruptible. The old man sins; the new man cannot sin.
Paul states this distinction with remarkable clarity. “Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me” (Romans 7:17). Paul is not excusing sin; he is identifying its location. He says plainly: the sin is not “I.” It is “sin that dwelleth in me”, in the flesh, not in the new man. The “I” is the inward man, the new man, the man born of God. The sin is in the members, in the flesh, in the old man tied to Adam.
Paul reaches the climax of this struggle when he cries, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). The problem is not the inward man; the problem is “the body of this death”, the flesh. And Paul answers his own cry: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:25). Deliverance is not from the inward man, but from the flesh. The new man does not need deliverance; the flesh does.
And Paul reinforces the same truth in Galatians: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:17). Two contrary principles. Two contrary natures. Two contrary sources. The flesh sins. The Spirit does not. The old man sins. The new man does not.
When someone asks, “Are you saying we do not sin?” the answer is simple: Scripture distinguishes the man from the flesh. Paul himself makes that distinction explicit. The believer experiences sin in the flesh, but the believer’s new nature, the new man born of God, does not produce that sin. The struggle Paul describes is the conflict between the old man and the new man, between the flesh and the Spirit, between corruption and incorruption.
~Tony
© A.K. Pritchard 1990 -
Free to use with proper attribution
Scripture distinguishes between the old man, who is corruptible and tied to Adam, and the new man, who is born of God and created in righteousness. The old man sins; the new man does not. Paul’s struggle in Romans 7 describes the motions of sin in the flesh, not the nature of the new man. The question, “Do believers sin?” cannot be answered rightly until Scripture’s own distinction is honored. The believer is one man with two natures: the old man in the flesh, and the new man born of God. The old man is corruptible; the new man is incorruptible. The old man sins; the new man cannot sin.
Paul states this distinction with remarkable clarity. “Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me” (Romans 7:17). Paul is not excusing sin; he is identifying its location. He says plainly: the sin is not “I.” It is “sin that dwelleth in me”, in the flesh, not in the new man. The “I” is the inward man, the new man, the man born of God. The sin is in the members, in the flesh, in the old man tied to Adam.
Paul reaches the climax of this struggle when he cries, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). The problem is not the inward man; the problem is “the body of this death”, the flesh. And Paul answers his own cry: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:25). Deliverance is not from the inward man, but from the flesh. The new man does not need deliverance; the flesh does.
And Paul reinforces the same truth in Galatians: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:17). Two contrary principles. Two contrary natures. Two contrary sources. The flesh sins. The Spirit does not. The old man sins. The new man does not.
When someone asks, “Are you saying we do not sin?” the answer is simple: Scripture distinguishes the man from the flesh. Paul himself makes that distinction explicit. The believer experiences sin in the flesh, but the believer’s new nature, the new man born of God, does not produce that sin. The struggle Paul describes is the conflict between the old man and the new man, between the flesh and the Spirit, between corruption and incorruption.
~Tony
© A.K. Pritchard 1990 -
Free to use with proper attribution
