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A Discussion of Human Nature

Introduction:

Do Christians have a sinful nature? The question is important because one's nature defines who one is. Webster defines nature as "the essential character of a thing" (Second College Ed.). So the question might be stated, "Is your essential character sinful?" I submit that your answer to this question will shape your self-perception and influence your ongoing behavior.

I suggest that we begin with a biblical word study of several key words/phrases: (I realize that many of you may not appreciate the extensiveness of what follows, and you may feel free to skip ahead, but trust me, that for the point I am attempting to prove, this is necessary.

A. Related Words or Phrases

1. "Nature" would be the normal English word used for the Greek "phusis." "Phusis" occurs 15 times in the New Testament (Romans through Jude). In the following English translations the word "nature" occurs with a similar frequency:

a. King James Version (KJV) - 12

b. Revised Standard Version (RSV) - 21

c. New International Version (NIV) - 16

2. "Flesh" would be the normal English word used for the Greek "sarx." "Sarx" occurs 113 times in the New Testament (Romans through Jude). However, the English word "flesh" occurs a wide variety of times in this same section of the New Testament, depending upon translation.

a. KJV - 111

b. RSV - 83

c. NIV - 18

One should ask, "Why is there such variance between the KJV or RSV translations and the NIV translation?" The answer is, "Because of theological interpretation." The NIV is a less literal translation than either the KJV or the RSV, which means that it is more likely to use periphrastic phrases in place of literal "word for word" translation. This opens the door more widely to the influence of the translator's theological biases.

In order to better understand just what that theological issue is that caused the translators of the NIV to rarely translate "sarx" as flesh, we must consider a phrase, commonly used in the NIV to translate "sarx" but not at all in the other two translations noted above. The phrase is "sinful nature." (All bold phrases below are translations of the Greek "sarx."

3. "Sinful nature" is used 26 times by the translators of the NIV to render the Greek "sarx." (One of these 26 times it is translated "sinful human nature" and twice it is "that nature," with "sinful" implied.) Note again: the phrase "sinful nature" does not occur anywhere in either the KJV or the RSV.

  • Romans 7:5 "For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies."
  • Romans 7:18 "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature."
  • Romans 7:25 "So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."
  • Romans 8:3-9 "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man (sarx also; see below) to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man (sarx also; see below), in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man (sarx also; see below) is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind (literally, "the mind of the sarx) is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you."
  • Romans 8:12, 13 "Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die."
  • Romans 13:14 "...do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
  • 1 Corinthians 5:5 "Hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord."
  • Galatians 5:13 "But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature."
  • Galatians 5:16, 17 "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature."
  • Galatians 5:19 "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious."
  • Galatians 5:24 "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires."
  • Galatians 6:8 "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction."
  • Ephesians 2:3 "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts."
  • Colossians 2:11 "In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ..."
  • Colossians 2:13 "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ."
  • 2 Peter 2:10 "This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desires of the sinful nature and despise authority."
  • 2 Peter 2:18 "For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people...

4. "Sinful man" is a phrase used four times by the translators of the NIV to render the Greek "sarx." (One of these times, Romans 8:3, just "man" with the adjective "sinful" [Grk. "hamartias"]

  • Romans 8:3 (above) "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature (sarx), God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man..."
  • Roman 8:6 "The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace."
  • 1 John 2:16 "For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world."

The theological bias of the translators of the NIV led them to rarely translate the Greek "sarx" as "flesh" (only 18 of 113 times). 26 times they translated "sarx" as "sinful nature," "sinful human nature," or "that nature" (with "sinful" implied). In so doing, the translators changed the image of the Greek "sarx" from concrete (flesh) to abstract (sinful nature) and, further, they have implied that all people, including Christians, do indeed have a sinful nature. Is this the correct teaching of the whole of Scripture? I don't think so. While I will admit that in a few instances when "sarx" is used, the translation "flesh" seems inadequate, still I think that we would have a clearer, more biblical, understanding if we used "flesh" for "sarx" in all of these cases. To prove my point, I will take the above 26 references where the NIV uses "sinful nature" and substitute "flesh." The KJV uses "flesh for each of these references and RSV uses "flesh" for all but one of them.

5. Using "flesh" to translate "sarx".

  • Romans 7:5 "For when we were controlled by the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies."
  • Romans 7:18 "I know that nothing good lives in my, that is, in my flesh."
  • Romans 7:25 "So then, I myself in my mind as a slave to God's law, but in the flesh a slave to the law of sin."
  • Romans 8:3-9 "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in flesh in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of flesh is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. You, however are controlled not by the flesh but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you."
  • Romans 8:12, 13 "Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die."
  • Romans 13:14 "...do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."
  • 1 Corinthians 5:5 "...hand this man over to Satan, so that the flesh may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord."
  • Galatians 5:13 "But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh."
  • Galatians 5:16,17 "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh."
  • Galatians 5:19 "The acts of the flesh are obvious:..."
  • Galatians 5:24 "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
  • Galatians 6:8 "The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction."
  • Ephesians 2:3 "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts."
  • Colossians 2:11 "In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the flesh, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ..."
  • Colossians 2:13 "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ."
  • 2 Peter 2:10 "This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority."
  • 2 Peter 2:18 "For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of flesh, they entice people...
  • 1 John 2:16 "For everything in the world - the cravings of the flesh, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world."

6. Reflection upon the above.

  • It is through the appetites of the flesh (food, clothing, shelter, pleasure, sex, etc.) that Satan most often tempts us, as he tempted Eve ("When the woman saw that fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it." Genesis 3:6). Further, when Paul lists the "acts of the flesh," all are anchored in the bodily appetites (...sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions and envy; drunkenness orgies and the like." Galatians 5:19ff.) The flesh is our Achilles heel and Satan knows it.
  • 1 Corinthians 5:5 stands out as one Scripture where I think that the wrong notion altogether is given when "sarx" is translated with "sinful nature". Paul instructs the church in Corinth how it ought to deal with an unrepentant man: "...hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord." What is Paul suggesting that Satan will do with this man? Destroy his "sinful nature" or destroy his "flesh"(i.e., kill him)? Why would Satan want to destroy someone's sinful nature and what would a human be like whose sinful nature had been destroyed? Would he/she still be human? Wouldn't he be "Christ-like?" It makes more sense to think that this carnal Christian may be about to suffer physical death, but that his soul will be saved. (This may relate to the "mortal sin" mentioned in 1 John 5:16.) With this translation the natural contrast is maintained between "Spirit" and "flesh." Believers "hand this man over to Satan" as God may allow Satan freedom to take such a life (Cf. Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5).
  • Romans 8:3f. also merits special mention: "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful ("hamartias") man ("sarx") to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man ("sarx")." Notice that the translators of the NIV, with their penchant for using "sinful nature" or "sinful man" to translate "sarx" here encounter an awkward redundancy when Paul actually uses the Greek adjective "sinful" ("hamartias"). They end up translating "sarx" as simply "man," which is strange indeed, rare at best.

7. There are many other references of "sarx" where "sinful nature" would be wholly untenable as a translation.

1."The two will become one flesh." Matthew 19:5

2."A ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." Luke 24:39.

3."This bread is my flesh..." John 6:51

4."There was given me a thorn in the flesh..." 1 Corinthians 12:7

5.Etc.

B. Creation of Flesh and Spirit

In Genesis 2:7 we read, "The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath (Hebrew "ruah," "spirit") of life, and the man became a living being (Hebrew "nephesh," "soul")." This might be put into a simple equation.

Dust + Breath = Being
Or,
Flesh + Spirit = Soul (i.e. Human Nature)

Perfect human nature then experienced the effects of sin. The spiritual life principle (zoe) within the human nature of Adam (and subsequently, of all his descendants) died (Eph. 2:1) and the material life principle (bios) also became subject to death (Rom. 5:12). The effect upon the "image of God" in humans was devastating.

The mind = darkened (2Cor. 4:4)
The will = deadened (Rom. 3:12)
The emotions = debased (Gal. 5:19-21)
The body = subject to death (Rom. 5:12; 8:10)

Human nature became depraved. Its essential character was given over to evil. The soul (spirit plus body) was spiritually dead and physically dying. It was morally enslaved to sin and bound for eternal death, final separation from the Source of Life.

C. Redemption

"For God so loved the world that gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) Truly, "this grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (2 Timothy 1:10)

As believers in Christ, we are to offer our bodies (the fleshy, material, aspect of our human nature) to God (Romans 12:1ff.). We continue to live in the flesh; we "have this treasure in jars of clay" (2 Cor. 4:7). The appetites of the flesh war against the desires of the Spirit and we are challenged daily to submit our flesh to the Spirit. In so doing we consider ourselves "dead to sin, but alive to Christ." We no longer allow sin "to reign in (our) mortal body" (Rom. 6:12).

Redemption will be complete upon death and eventual resurrection - when the fleshy body is "sown perishable" and "raised imperishable" (I Cor. 15:42). We will no longer be plagued by the lusts of the flesh (Rom. 6:7). Still, until this final redemption, we will continue to experience the tension between the flesh and the spirit.

In Conclusion

What shall we say? There is an ongoing struggle to live the Christian life. No one denies this. But what are the warring factions? Are they the old, sinful nature vs. the new, redeemed nature? I think not. Our struggle is not between warring natures. We are not some kind of freakish Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We have just one nature and it is a "human nature," fallen, and needing to be redeemed. Even once redeemed our human nature is yet housed in flesh ("sarx") and there is struggle inherent in this. Our struggle however, to be exact, is "not against flesh ("sarx") and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph. 6:12) These forces are commanded by none other than the devil (1 Peter 5:8), and these devil-led forces find human vulnerability in the weaknesses of our flesh ("sarx"). By exploiting the weakness of the flesh these evil forces seek to destroy us. (Rom. 7:8-11).

Hence, before you came to Christ, you sinned because it was your basic, fallen, human nature to do so (I.e., you were a sinner). Now, however, when you sin, you do so against your nature - a human nature redeemed by Christ. You are not a "sinner" but you are to be identified as a "saint" who sometimes gives in to the appetites of the flesh and sins. ("Saint" is the preferred N.T. word used to describe Christians - 60 times in Romans through Revelation.). You have, and always have had, just one nature, not two. It is a human nature, fallen and then, through faith in Jesus Christ, redeemed. Still, and until Jesus returns for us,

"We have this treasure in jars of clay
to show that this all-surpassing power is from God
and not from us."
(2 Corinthians 4:7)

Thanks for thinking,
Don Reigstad