The following "Question" was asked by an attendee at the 2005 Shepherds' Conference (a ministry of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California), and was "Answered" by John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from "General Session #4 John MacArthur - Q&A."  A copy of the CD, cassette tape, or MP3 can be obtained by going to:  www.shepherdsconference.org  ©2005. All Rights Reserved. Grace Community Church.

Questioner

Speaking of the [John MacArthur] Study Bible, I’ve got a quick question regarding the notes.  It speaks here in Romans 6:6, it says, “The believer does not have two competing natures, the old and the new, but one new nature that is still incarcerated in unredeemed flesh.”  And over in 1 John 3:4, there’s a note there that says, “Although genuine Christians have a sin nature...”  I guess my question is, does the old man indeed die at Regeneration or does every blood-bought, delivered one, are they a spiritual schizophrenic?

John MacArthur's Answer

Yes, I understand where you’re going and maybe it’s better to use some other terms than I used since “nature” is not a biblical term, to start with.  But what I was trying to say there is that you cannot view salvation as addition.  You cannot view salvation as, “Okay, I am this old man with this old nature and then I got saved, which means I got a new nature; my old nature remains unchanged, my old self is unchanged; I just have this new thing added to me.” The Scripture never describes Regeneration as addition; it always describes it as transformation.  The language I used in the Romans 6 note is the definitive language. That is not to say that we do not have “remaining sin” (as theologians call it) or “residual sin.”  It is not to say that we do not still have a sinful disposition, as R.C. [Sproul] was pointing out today—there’s not enough chalk to make enough marks to cover all of the ground of our sin—but I don’t want to see the nature of salvation as being simply addition because the language of the Bible is always transformation. 

So, in Romans 7, Paul says—and making, I think, a clear distinction: “Sin, it is in me.”  But he said, “It’s not I; it is sin that is in me.”  So, he understands that he is a new creation.  There is a new ego, there is a new “I” and its longings are holy and its affections are spiritual and its love is towards God and its longings are directed in the path of righteousness.  Its disposition or its bent is toward the law of God, which he “loves,” he says.  But he sees something inside of him warring.  So the way I express it there is that we are a new person, a new creation, created in Christ Jesus, with all new longings and desires and loves and affections, but we are incarcerated in this unredeemed humanness.  And that’s why in Romans 8, he says, “We are waiting for the redemption of the body.”  I think that’s the terminology that’s consistent with the way Paul writes. 

I think we understand that the glory of the future for us is not streets of gold.  I can’t get too worked up about streets of gold, even transparent gold and pearl gates.  I mean, I understand that John is trying to understand the indescribable.  What appeals to me about heaven is the redemption of the body and being liberated from this body of sin that hangs on.  That’s what appeals to me about eternity. 

So, I am a new creation.  I am unfortunately incarcerated in this unredeemed flesh—not just the physical, but all the things that go along with the flesh and my mind and my emotions and my feelings.  So, I’m only trying to make that distinction.  We still have a sin principle operative.

I remember I grew up and I heard, “You’re an old man and then you become a new person in Christ and you used to have a black dog and now you have a white dog, and the black dog fights the white dog and whoever you say ‘Sick ‘em” to, wins.  That was the illustration that stuck in my mind, and that is not what Regeneration is.  So I’m only trying to make that distinction.  We are whole new beings with all new affections and longings; in fact, Romans 8 goes on to say, that we have now in the power of the Spirit, the ability to fulfill the law, whereas prior to that, we had no ability to do that. 

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur's Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
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