2. In the second place, let me say that _Sanctification is not the
eradication of the carnal nature_. We will see this when we come to
examine God's definition of Sanctification; for God has very clearly
defined what Sanctification is and when it takes place. Those who
teach "the eradication of the carnal nature" are grasping after a
great and precious truth, but they have expressed that truth in a very
inaccurate, unfortunate, and unscriptural way, and this way of stating
it leads to grave misapprehensions and errors and abuses. The whole
controversy about "the eradication of the carnal nature" arises from
a misapprehension and from using terms for which there is no warrant
in the Bible. The Bible nowhere speaks about "the carnal nature," and
so certainly not about "the eradication of the carnal nature." There
is such a thing as a carnal nature, but it is not a material thing,
not a substance, not a something that can be eradicated as you pull a
tooth or remove the vermiform appendix. "A carnal nature" is a nature
controlled by the flesh. Certainly it is a believer's privilege not to
have his nature governed by the flesh. Our nature should be and may
be under the control of the Holy Spirit, and then it is not a carnal
nature; but one nature has not been eradicated and another nature put
in its place, but our nature is taken out from under the control of
the flesh and put under the control of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore,
while it is our privilege to have our nature under the control of the
Holy Spirit and delivered from the control of the flesh, _we still
have "the flesh,"_ and shall have the flesh as long as we are in this
body. But if we "walk by the Spirit" we do not "fulfil the lusts of
the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). The 8th chapter of Romans describes the life
of victory, just as the 7th chapter, 9-24 verse describes the life of
defeat, when men are "_carnal_, sold under sin," but it is in the 8th
chapter where life "in the Spirit" is described (Rom. 8:9) that we are
told that we _still have_ the flesh, _but that it is our privilege not_
to "live _after the flesh_," but "by the Spirit," to "put to death the
deeds of the body." So we see that the body is there, but in the power
of the Spirit we do, day by day and (if we live up to our privilege)
every day and every hour and every minute, continuously "put to death
the deeds of the body."
3. So much as to what Sanctification is not. We will see exactly what
it is if we look at God's definition of Sanctification. We shall find
that the word Sanctification is used in the Bible in a two-fold sense.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account