I have discovered something very interesting that the Lord has shown me about the natural man. It is in some of the teachings in the church today. Not in all churches, but some. If the congregation that you attend pushes any of these three verse, they are pushing the natural man, not the spirit man.
- Romans 3:10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
- Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- 1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Did you notice that none of these verses are life and it more abundantly? Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn it, but to save it. 1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
In my book that is coming out later this week, The Unforgiving Heart, I go into detail regarding the forgiveness of sins and who our war is really against. This may surprise you, but our war is against sin. Not calling the person a sinner as that would make our war against flesh and blood, rather, against the very sin itself. This is why forgiveness is so powerful. If you can’t forgive someone, how the do you expect Father to forgive you? Mark 11:26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Before a person becomes a Christian, Scripture calls them the natural man. They have no ability to worship or serve God. After salvation (born again of water and spirit) a believer can be led by the Spirit or be a spiritual man.
Video of a modern day parable of the unforgiving servant