The Two Natures

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4.16

 The believer is of two natures, identified as the old/new man or, as here, the outward/inward man.  This new nature is the beginning of the resurrection in the believer, and the first fruits of God’s new creation.  It must be more than a rearrangement of the old nature, as free-willism would have us believe; and it must be more than the mere addition of new principles in the old mind.  All that belongs to the old/outward nature must and will die, but “he that believeth in [Christ], though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in [Christ] shall never die.”  So this new nature must be something entirely and radically new: something not at all of this cursed and dying creation.  That man, or nature, that is born of God will never die even though his body or outward nature dies and decays.

 The new man is a brand new work of God, yet it needs to be renewed or refreshed every day.  Every one of God’s creations needs His continual care and support, and it is no different for the new nature of the believer.  The old man is dying, for he receives no such care and support from God, but has, instead, been cursed.  Death is that nature’s unavoidable end.  But not so the new nature: throughout our earthly lives and into eternity, God will constantly refresh us, so that we never grow weary of believing, loving, glorifying and enjoying Him forever.