Understanding How the Sin Nature Works

The sin nature resides in the flesh and attacks through our soul, 1 Peter 2:11. “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.” The soul is our emotional part and is swayed by the desires of the flesh. Touching, seeing, feeling, tasting, and hearing are all going to affect our emotions. When your mind is framed on who you are in Christ, it is easier to detect when a desire from your soul is being swayed by the sin nature. You do not want to ignore you emotions, but you should not be controlled by your emotions either. Emotions should always be considered second place to your reasoning.

At this time, your spirit is saved and has the ability to receive the things from the Holy Spirit; however, you soul is not saved. 1 Corinthians 2:16 “for who knows the mind of the Lord, the one having been knit together with him? And we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:9 “…receiving the end of our faith; the salvation of our souls.”Because of this, you need to filter your emotions through your mind. The soul is still in a state of being separated from God – remember, death is separation, when Adam died, all three parts were separated from God; body, soul, and spirit. Because the soul is still in a state of death, it can be manipulate by the sin nature. As a matter of fact, it is the only way the sin nature can affect your thinking. Once your thinking has been changed to desire the things of the flesh, you will begin to yield your members to fulfill those desires.
Now that you know how the sin nature works, it may be tempting to react to a thought that comes from the sin nature by putting a law on it. Take for instance, you have a desire to have something that someone else has. Perhaps your neighbors just bought a new boat. They are always getting new and expensive things, things that you have always wanted. This makes you very envious of them. Well, you know from Galatians 5:19-21 that envy is a work of the sin nature. Rather than reframing your mind and yielding to righteousness, the thought comes into our mind is , “A Christian is not suppose to be envious of others.” This thought seems innocent enough, and it is true; however, if you use this thought against the sin nature you are not going to get the reaction you desire. Rather than overcoming the sin nature, you will find out that the sin nature's appetite becomes greater and harder to resist. Why? Because you are putting a law up against the sin nature, rather than living by grace.