Of all subjects affecting us as Christians, there is possibly none of which we are so ignorant in practice as in our ability to distinguish between the old and the new nature, and to ascribe each motive which passes through our minds, and each act performed by us to its proper source. If there be some motives and acts so distinctly marked that it is comparatively easy to determine them, that only proves that it is the lack of spiritual discernment that prevents us from determining all. Nay more, it proves that the vigor of our spiritual life may be measured by our ability to draw this line of distinction, for " the spiritual man discerneth all things." Alas! we know how little we have attained to this; and yet, as I have already shown, our actual place is in the Spirit, and not in the flesh.
What, then, let us inquire in the first place, is this new nature which is imparted to us, and what is the relation and antagonism which the old man bears to it? Formed in us by the Holy Ghost, it is nothing less than the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect man, of which we partake in virtue of union with Him through His death and resurrection, by which He consigned the old man to the grave, and became the head of a new creation in the power of an endless life. It is His very nature, therefore called in 2 Peter 1 " the divine nature," and our conformity to His image, for which we are left down here, is not brought about by any fresh communication of that nature, but by the development of that which we have already received. This development is through the operation of the Holy Ghost, which, though distinct from the new man, is its power of action. Pure and holy a thing though it be, it is nevertheless necessary that the Holy Ghost, who planted it in the ungenial soil of fallen man, should give it that activity, development, and power necessary to maintain its due supremacy over the resisting elements, which it has continually to encounter. The gradual subjugation of the old nature to itself results in the conformity of the whole man, more or less, to the image of Him whose nature is thus possessed, and whom, when we see, we shall be like, not in the inner principle only, but in body, soul, and spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ walked about the earth as fulfilling every duty to humanity; and though Himself above man, yet as a real man walked with God on the earth. He is the head of the new creation, and as it is His nature, as such, that I possess, any feeling or act of mine which He would not have felt or done cannot properly be called an emanation of the new nature. He was perfectly human and possessed every feeling and capacity proper to sinless, unfallen humanity. To us, as fallen, there are certain conditions allowed, because of human infirmity, not evil in themselves, (unless taken up in the carnal mind,) which nevertheless we must not confound with the new nature.
All the activities of humanity ruled by the will of the flesh is what Scripture calls the old man, and this I have already shown to be alienated in feeling against God. (See No. 1 of this Series.) By this will of the flesh my mind and body in nature have been controlled and used: to it they have naturally yielded; so much so that it is extraneous and strange for either to respond to any other rule. But this is what both mind and body are required to do when I am born again, and when the Spirit, having planted the nature of Christ in me, sets up His rule, and the claim of that nature for due supremacy. The mind and body, hitherto accustomed to the rule of the old man which is contrary to God, used and tenanted by that which is against God, is now demanded by the new man as a channel and expression for itself. The members, heretofore yielded as " instruments of unrighteousness," must now be instruments of righteousness, yielded to God as those alive from the dead. What a transition is this! What a mighty work to achieve I For not only is the old man in actual possession, but it has the advantage of addressing itself to the human mind, and through it to the human body, in a way that the new cannot; that is to say, the will of the flesh addresses a man's mind in such a form as to make himself the object, (and we know how captivating this is to any being,) while the Spirit of God addresses the mind, making God the object; its starting point being Christ's lordship and ownership of both body and mind. We must remember too that the body and mind have undergone a change since the fall, apart from the question of actual sin, the body being liable to death and subject to continual infirmity, and the mind, through the action of conscience, being always uneasy, and apprehensive too of death in a way entirely unknown to lower animals; so that each is all the more ready a channel for the will of the flesh, the first action of which is to make man, and not God, its object.
Now in the Christian there is the introduction of another existence, even the life of Christ, and with this new existence the nature of a perfect man, which now by the Spirit of God would manifest itself through the mind and body of man, though deteriorated and fallen. The superior man is planted in the inferior; the holy thing in the failing vessel, and it is through the organs and machinery, so to speak, of the inferior, that the power and fashion of the superior must be developd; just as though a mill, which having hitherto been worked by horses to grind gunpowder, should now be worked by water or electricity to grind wheat. The mill is still the same, only impelled by a different power and for a different end. But this simile fails as a due illustration, for we must remember that the human machine is not like the mill, vacated by the old power on the introduction of the new, but that the former remains as an antagonistic principle and power, though gradually yielding in proportion as the new maintains its ground and place.
God having made man in His own image and likeness, that image must have been one adapted and suited for the expression of God's mind on the earth; but when the formation or machinery became corrupted in the principle which worked it, it was used against God instead of for Him, so that a new principle and nature is required to reset the instrument to its last key and harmony. This new nature demands an expression for itself through the earthen vessel, which, though suitably formed, was diverted by an evil principle from its primitive use. The new man is derived from Him who has borne the judgment due to the old man, and therefore He now claims by His Spirit to develop a perfect man derived from Himself, in that very body and mind which is still occupied by the principle of self-dependence and alienation from God.
If I have succeeded in making this elementary truth at all clear to the -apprehension, it will be seen how it cuts to the root of all the false notions of human perfection now afloat in the world; for in the light of this truth, what is it that man seeks to improve and to perfect? A thing so corrupt in principle, that all education and knowledge communicated to it is only made subservient to the exaltation of itself. Turning everything acquired to its own glory, it is ready to receive any knowledge which will contribute to its own elevation.
Even God's revelation will be listened to and received so far as its light may serve to minister to this one burning desire of the old man; and from his avidity and readiness to adopt truth and light, even from God, arises one of the greatest difficulties to a true judgment or distinguishing between the action of the old nature and the new; which, though so opposite in principle, arc often so similar in expression.
In order to form this judgment, it is most important to understand clearly what we have already stated, even that it is through the mind and body of the inferior man that the Spirit of God would develop the ability and grace of the superior. We shall thus perceive the nature of the difficulties with which we have to contend, and apply the remedies with the earnestness of one who feels its need of them.
Let us, then, consider the difficulties. The chief and leading cause of confusion in our minds arises from the fact, that all the new motives and acts must flow through the old channel; that channel which has hitherto served as an egress for the unholy ones, and which, alas! still does, more or less. Were we provided with a new intellect, and a new body, as a channel for the good-leaving the old for its accustomed evil-judgment and discrimination would be easy enough; but we are called as Christians to do the same things perhaps as other men do, but with different motives and power; so that two acts, similar in their expression, may be performed by two different natures, and to all intents and purposes may appear the same But why (a soul may reason) should I inquire into the motive since my act meets the case? Why? Because if the motive be from the old man, you have departed from the divine nature as your spring of action, and the consequences, like the fruits of a tree, will betray you; (for eventualities always disclose the origin) while your own spirit has forfeited the strength which it would assuredly have possessed, had it acted under the Spirit of God.
The great difficulty, then, as to discrimination consists in the sameness of the acts, which, regarded merely as to themselves, would never enable me to judge whether I am acting in the flesh or in the Spirit. Of course, I do not speak now of evil ones, which can easily be distinguished, but it is where the difference is least that judgment is most required. And how many acts, really good in themselves, would, when exposed to this test, be viewed by the spiritual mind as not only worthless but evil, because having their spring in the old man, whose object and center is self. The acts by which Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, were the same to all appearance as his own. It is the same body and mind which are ruled by two entirely-opposite powers, but with this important difference, (which leads us to another landing in the tower of difficulty,) that the inferior power is continually filching from the intelligence contributed by the superior in order to baffle it; that is to say, my old mall learns manners, appropriates feelings, and gleans intelligence from the new, in order to supplant it in excellence, and thus exert a counteracting influence over my mind; Satan aiding, when it is worth his while, in order to seduce me under the carnal motive which seeks self, and away from the divine one which seeks Christ.
The more we pursue this source of difficulty, the more we shall see that it is that from which we suffer most, and which most warps our judgment. It is hard to believe that the very same at may be performed by the same person, from motives so widely diverse, that they spring from two different and opposite principles of existence: one, human and corrupt; the other, divine and holy: one, objectively for self; the other, objectively for Christ.
Another difficulty less common and more easily detected, is when the mind has received a right idea as to any act, a real suggestion, it may be, from the new man, and is impressed as to the goodness and rightness of the object to be attained; but instead of waiting on God for the execution of it, which would insure its being carried out in the power of the Holy Ghost, the mind still, in a measure, under the influence of the old man, essays to undertake it according to the natural will, and that will must necessarily suggest some mode of execution which will distinguish self. Thus the carnal mind will make use of and seek to mar the very emanations of the new nature, and will often succeed; for that nature, holy though it be, is, as we have seen, as dependent on the Holy Spirit for action and development as the old man is on the adversary, who ever seeks to minister to its will and lusts.
Moses, in his first attempt to deliver his brethren, is an instance of this; he stumbled at. this difficulty, and we see what lengthened education he required before he learned God's way for executing the idea, received from a divine source, but undertaken in the energy of human will. Each order of difficulty requires in God's school a distinct order of discipline. But, interesting as is the subject, it is not my purpose to trace it here, so I will only observe, that when the idea is divine, having its spring in the new man, we may be sure that, however delayed by the intrusion of our natural will, it will be executed sooner or later, according to its own instincts and in the power of the Spirit; but if its source be in the old man, however good and plausible the idea, it must be brought to naught. For the Holy Ghost asserts the claim of that nature which He has Himself planted in us, to generate all ideas, as well as to carry them out according to God through His power and operation.
I now turn to the remedies or divine means which are afforded us in order successfully to overcome these difficulties. In the first place, if the old man is " not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be," if it always acts from and for itself, its energy being the will of the flesh, it is clear that God's expressed will is the first and simplest means of escape from it. Man, by nature, has no one superior to himself to turn to for counsel or help. Satan will only aid him to greater distance and estrangement from all that is good and true: so if I want to be independent of that nature in me, which is opposed to God, I must not listen to its suggestions for a single moment, but wait on God for instruction in everything. The unchangeable, unalterable purpose of my soul must be not to adopt an idea of anything but from God and His word. The word of God, searched and waited on for the enunciation and direction of every idea, is the first of remedies. It is the very food of the new man, and I cannot consider myself completely under the control of it until I can echo the words of our Lord; words which all the discipline and mercies of the wilderness during forty years were to produce in the soul of God's people as their great result: " Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live."
In conjunction with this there is another remedy embodied in that exhortation of the apostle, " Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Self-denial is absolutely necessary to enable me to discern and respond to, that " good, acceptable, and perfect will of God" which my new man delights in, but which my old man wars against. I must "keep under my body, and bring it into subjection," or its machinery will be necessarily engaged in the current and will of the old man; and while occupied with the inferior, it is never at the disposal of the superior. How many know a quantity of truth which is neither expressed nor practiced by them, simply because they are hindered from seeing its light and value on account of some worldly influence or attraction, which must needs be subdued, before the body and mind will be fit expositors of the truth. I may not know what the new nature is claiming or requiring of me; but whether I know it or not, there will be no outlet or opportunity for its action, if I am indulging myself according to the _ old. Hence the many vexations and sorrows which befall saints in their path here below: for we must be taught, not only the vanity of our own desires, apart from God's mind, but also, like Moses, the futility of our own plans even to carry out God's mind. We must relinquish, not only the offspring of the old man, but the investiture with which he would present and make use of the
offspring of the new. In the one instance we learn that all flesh is grass; in the other, that flesh will appropriate anything, however good and pure, for its own ends; and that our plans, like the cart provided for the ark, (2 Sam. 6:33And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. (2 Samuel 6:3),) will involve us in greater trouble.
God continually allows me, when I am acting in the will and insubjection of my old nature, to carry out my own counsel until I find out the folly and insufficiency of it; but for the subject soul there is one golden rule by which its course may be determined, be the perplexity ever so great. Some true souls think, when two opposite courses are open to them, that if they take the one contrary to their natural inclinations, it is sure to be right; but that is by no means a sure guide-the old man is so subtle, that it will not do to measure things either by his tastes or distastes. Others, again, seek counsel of their brethren which can seldom be relied on, and even when sound, tends to cloud the individual exercise of the soul with God. Whereas, one simple question, if asked in integrity of heart, will resolve all such problems; viz., " Which of the two courses open to me is objectively for the glory of Christ 7" Now, if I do not know what is for the glory of Christ, I am not walking with Him; and if not walking with Him, I cannot apply this rule. But in that case I cannot be honestly seeking His will: I am walking in the will of my old man, which must be in abeyance, before I can determine any questions or courses for the glory of Christ.
I have but briefly touched on the headings of this subject, so especially important in this day, which is so rife with delusions as to human perfection. The carnal mind has assumed for man a perfection, the idea of which is borrowed from God's revelation. The very manifestation of Christ in flesh-He who is the sole head and source of all perfection-is made use of to help the natural man to exalt himself into greater distinction and independence of God, by borrowing, without acknowledging, the glories of the only son of God. And so incorrigible is his desire of self exaltation, that even where he does in any measure acknowledge those glories, he will not allow that fallen man can only become partaker of them by a new creation, founded on the consignment of the old nature, root and branch, to the grave of Him who suffered in the flesh for this end, and who reproduces those glories in redeemed man; not in virtue of having assumed human nature as an incarnate Savior, but by bearing its penalty and judgment, which at once passes sentence on the old, and provides a new and risen, life to all who believe.
That we as Christians partake of a perfect humanity is incontrovertibly true; but if we desire to display this nature of Christ-the new, the heavenly man-we must yield to His word in everything, live by His counsel, and deny and mortify the members of the old man, which is corrupt according to its deceitful lusts.
May we seek to walk humbly with our God, denying our flesh, that it may be no barrier to the expression of the divine nature, and rejoicing that" through glory and virtue " are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might be made partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."