Dual Nature: The Great Lie

One of the most successful weapons of the enemy against the Church is the “Doctrine of Dual Nature.” “Dual” denotes the existence of two parts or elements: having a double character or nature. (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). The implication here therefore, is that the Sons of God have two natures; one of God, divine, and the other of the flesh, which can only be of Satan. If this is true then there is no hope for the Sons to ever come into the eternal purpose of God, which is for them to be conformed to the image of His first Son Jesus Christ. If the Sons of God are trapped inside of dual nature then the character of Satan, sins of the flesh, emotional trauma, and mental anguish will forever be the testimony of the Church. If this is the case, there is absolutely nothing that can be done except to adjust to these captivities and constantly repent for sin. Many of the more prominent Bible teachers have made it a point to fervently minister this doctrine.

They have thoroughly convinced millions of Christians that it is impossible for them to live a sinless life. These brethren are sincere in their quest to instruct the Body of Christ. However, the inference of such a doctrine is that God will never have a church that is holy, blameless, and without spot or blemish. This doctrine was birthed in error due to a lack of understanding in the revelation of the mystery of Christ. If it is your desire to know the heart and mind of our Father, then please allow the holy Word of God to be the authority and agree with what the scriptures have to say about this matter.

THEOLOGICAL THEORY

It is a gross error to develop a doctrine from observing the failure of men to produce God’s purpose as it is proclaimed in the Word.

The scripture says: For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).

“To be conformed,” means to be fashioned like unto. In composition it means completeness. The Father purposed or predetermined to fashion the Sons in the image of Christ. They are to be complete in Him, lacking nothing. There is a deception in the teachings that led to this perverted doctrine. This deception has to do with the perception regarding the indwelling Christ. Where there is a general consensus that no one is walking in the perfection of Christ, or living a sinless life, it is easy for men to come up with a scapegoat. In this case it is the flesh. It has been concluded that the fact that we are in this human body makes it impossible for us to live a holy existence 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Thus, we have a doctrine that was born out of failure. In order for the doctrine to appear meaningful however, the failure cannot be considered a failure; it must become a “non-expectation”. In other words, the Dual nature doctrine erroneously states that if a saint does not live a perfected life, it is not because he failed, but it is because he was never “expected” to do so. It must follow then from that flawed perception that it was not the intent of God to create a Son who was altogether free from sin; instead he is merely the same man, essentially a sinner who has now accepted Jesus Christ as a shield that protects him from the wrath of God that will come upon unbelievers. In this theory, the blood of Jesus merely covers our sin and the Spirit of Christ is only the seed or seal that identifies us as one who has accepted Jesus.

Although proponents of the Dual Nature doctrine teach the attributes of Christianity as written in the Word, such as the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes etc., the doctrine suggests that apparently God never expected us to fulfill those laws and attributes on a daily basis. It infers that at some point, He knew that we would sin, so He made Jesus Christ our advocate and intercessor. The doctrine implies the presence of a lower nature that is in constant battle with the divine nature that we have been made partakers of. This means that flesh was not in the least bit affected by the salvation experience.

The two things that stand to support this erroneous theory are:

• These are the same bodies we had before salvation.

•These bodies commit sin against the Lord.

All of this seems so matter of fact. It all seems like the perfect explanation for the spiritual condition of the Body of Christ, but it is all fiction; there is no God-defined purpose in this theory. It is the most blatant undermining of the purpose of God that we could ever experience. Millions of Christians have been made privy to this gross misrepresentation of God and His plan for man. It has robbed them of the very hope of being able to please the Father in their daily walk. It has bred an expectation to sin and dishonor the Lord. It is no surprise that Christians suffer from frustration, depression, lust, hurt and un- forgiveness. Although some people measure sin in degrees of severity, each time we sin, we put Him to an open shame.

Now that the foundation for the error has been established, let us see what God’s real intentions were.

THE TRUTH ABOUT SALVATION

An understanding of the salvation experience is what has eluded many ministers of the gospel. After all, this is the mystery that was hid in God before the foundation of the world: Christ in you the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

This mystery was revealed to the apostles first and then to the holy prophets for confirmation. It is now given to the church through apostolic order without deviation. The church has been mandated to continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. If an angel or any other creature teaches any doctrine other than that which was, and is, being revealed to God’s apostles, it is to be a curse to him.

The key to understanding the mystery of godliness is to understand what happened in the Garden of Eden.

We know that Adam and Eve were created innocent. God gave them a commandment, wherein He forbade them to touch or eat of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” He warned them saying, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

Eventually they did eat, throwing the whole human race into the captivity of sin and death.

Let us consider the following scriptures that will show the awesome power of God, as He worked His purpose in redemption.

ADAM SINNED BY CHOICE

Before the fall, Adam was sinless in nature and in deed. He lived a perfect, sinless life on a daily basis. There was no struggle in him to abide in righteousness. There was no driving force within compelling him to disobey. Adam succumbed to temptation outside of the body. He was willingly seduced by his wife. According to Paul, Adam was not deceived. He made a sober-minded decision to disobey his God. These facts ought to make you stop and consider that God was able to make a man who did not have the indwelling of the Holy Ghost; yet He demanded and expected that he live a perfect, sinless life forever. That’s right. God expected and even commanded Adam to live a sinless life forever and ever. Some persons believe that Adam was able to do this as he had the Spirit of God in him. To remove all the controversy concerning this issue, let us allow the scriptures to do what they do best.

1 Corinthians 15:45-48

⁴⁵ And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

⁴⁶ Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

⁴⁷ The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.

⁴⁸ As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

Paul clearly makes between the two Adams. The first man Adam was a living soul, natural (of nature) and earthy; he was not spiritual. The last Adam however is a quickening spirit; spiritual and heavenly. As we have borne and walked in the image and disposition of the first, now we shall walk in the mind of the second. Jesus said, “That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit” (St. John 3:6). We were born of the Spirit and our Father is the father of spirits.

Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? (Heb 12:9).

Sooner or later you must come to the place where you accept the fact that we, who are born of God, are spiritual beings. We are another race on the planet that is neither black nor white. We are new creatures, the Sons of the Most High God. If it had been impossible for Adam and his offspring to keep the commandments of God, then God would not have installed the penalty of condemnation as a consequence for disobedience. God is just and righteous in all His judgments. Why then is it so impossible to believe that He could birth offspring through a second sinless Adam, (one who has His Spirit), and expect them to live a sinless life? [I want you to keep this in mind as we continue to expose the truth about salvation.]

THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL: SIN, DEATH & CAPTIVITY

The human spirit was free from sin before the fall of Adam. It knew no sin neither did it crave sin. There was no evil concupiscence working in the members of its body. Adam disobeyed God however, and when he did, the spirit of Satan, which Paul calls the spirit of iniquity, took possession of the human spirit. It was this seed of Satan living and breeding in the human race that caused it to fall into darkness and despair. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth (Gen. 6:5, 12). The question worth asking is, “What caused flesh to become so corrupt and hideous in the earth?” It was the indwelling of the spirit of bondage and captivity. Jesus addressed this in His discourse with the scribes and Pharisees, “You are of your father, the devil, and it is his lusts you will do” (St.John 8:44).

John 8:38

38 And “I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father”

In His very first sermon, Jesus declared that He had come to preach deliverance to the captives, (St. Luke 4:18).

1 John 3:8

8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil

After sin entered the world, all who came from the seed of Adam came under the captivity of sin and death. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12).

The human body became the body of sin. Sin was in its conception, thus providing it with a sin nature. The testimony of the psalmist is that he was “born in sin and in iniquity his mother did conceive him” (Psalm 51:5).

In times past we walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others (Eph. 2:2-3).

When Adam fell, there was an actual occupation of his body. THE SPIRIT OF DARKNESS ACTUALLY LIVED IN MAN. It was this spirit living in man that changed his nature from one of innocence to one of sin. Once again, the important thing that should not be missed here is that the indwelling of a foreign spirit provided a new and sinful nature for the human race. Paul reminds also that in times past, we were by nature children of wrath, even as others. In other words, before we received Christ, we were of the same nature as those who have never accepted Him. Due to the sinful nature of man, Jesus was able to make this statement to the scribes and Pharisees. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it (St.John 8:44).

Jesus declared that Satan had become the father of the human race, and his lust is what worked in the flesh. In conclusion, the devil created a race of beings that were no longer subject to the laws of God. They took on the character and attributes of their father, Satan; thus man became a liar, a murderer as well as an enemy of God.

THE LAW OF SIN

SATAN WAS IN CONTROL OF MAN COMPLETELY: BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT. The strong man had gained control of the human spirit and rendered him helpless to the law of sin in his flesh. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (Romans 7:22-23).

THE EFFECT OF THE SPIRIT OF INIQUITY LIVING IN MAN WAS EVIL CONCUPISCENCE IN THE FLESH. The presence of the spirit of darkness in man did not leave him with a choice regarding sin. He was completely and thoroughly under the control of the spirit of iniquity - the strong man abiding within. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead (Romans 7:8).

The common thread here is concupiscence. It is more than occasional lust. According to Strong’s Concordance, “concupiscence” is a continual longing for those things God has forbidden. This was the consequence of eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Lust for the things of this world now began to work in the members of the body. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death (Romans 7:5).

This is the law of sin: evil concupiscence. It is emotions, influence and affection for sin continually working in the members of the body. Remember, Eve saw the fruit to be pleasant (lust of the eyes), good for food (lust of the flesh), and desirable to make one wise (the pride of life) (1 John 2:16).

The law of sin created continual lust in the flesh that could never be quenched. The law of sin brought man’s flesh into captivity. This evil could not be overcome by will power alone because the corruption within had corrupted the flesh. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death (Romans 7:5).

Let us ask ourselves these questions: Is this is the testimony we have now that we are born again by the Spirit of God? Were we reborn with the same sinful nature that characterized us as children of wrath?"

This is where there is a parting of the minds. Some theologians have erred here in their revelation of salvation. They have carried this evil concupiscence into the salvation experience. Were we reborn into the Body of Christ with dual or two natures? If we were reborn with two natures, then it is indeed impossible to live free from sin. It is amazing how the Body of Christ has accepted the fact that we are free from death in that we have inherited eternal life. Yet it simply refuses to accept that the Spirit, which gave us eternal life, is the self-same Spirit that has given us freedom from the bondage of sin.

CHRIST’S BODY

It might be easier to understand if we first look into the method, which is Jesus Christ. We know that the Holy Ghost overshadowed Mary and placed the seed of God in her womb. Mary supplied the seed with a body and the body that she provided became the body of Christ. That was a human body and so He could be called the “man” Jesus. The “body” is the only thing then that made Him a relative of the human race. What do we really have here? A one hundred percent human body, filled with the Holy Ghost. Thus Jesus is the “man,” and Christ is the “God in the man.” It is the seed of God that provided Jesus’ body with divine nature, but it was His submission to the Spirit that dwelled within Him that made Him holy and acceptable unto the Father. It is also the Spirit of God within the body who quickened that human flesh and made it alive unto God and godliness. Without the Holy Ghost, that body would have been like any other human, susceptible to the Law of Sin and Death. Because of the indwelling of the Spirit, however, and the obedience of the man to the will of the Father, the body itself remained sanctified unto God. My point here is that Jesus Christ was made like unto us, or rather; we have been made like unto Him in that we are now partakers of His flesh.

Ephesians 3:6

6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

Ephesians 5:29-30

29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

The Holy Ghost anointed the body that Jesus lived in therefore, He is called Christ. His body was the temple of God. It is the same Spirit of Christ who inhabits our bodies. There is only one Spirit who occupies many bodies. We all have the self-same Spirit within, providing us with the same divine nature. That makes us all the body of Christ. We have become His flesh and His bones.

THE SEED OF GOD CHANGED THE NATURE OF THE NEW CREATURE. In spite of what you may have believed, you must stay with scripture.

II Peter 1:4

4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

1 Peter 1:23

23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

I John 3:9

9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

No beloved, we no longer have the Adamic nature. We are born of the seed of God. We are His children and as such we are partakers of His divine sinless nature. He did not give us the Spirit of bondage again (Romans 8:15).

Once again I can hear the skeptic saying that we need to stop and consider that our flesh has known and experienced sin and that this is the difference with us and Jesus Christ. Some theologians argue that because Jesus never committed sin, it is logical to conclude that He had a sinless nature, which allowed Him to live a sinless life. As always these issues can be resolved by the prudence of God’s wisdom. Consider the following passages.

II Corinthians 5:21

21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Isaiah 53:6

…and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Here we have the man Jesus, who did no sin but definitely became sin by taking upon His body the sins of the whole world. There was and is no sin that was foreign to Him, He bore them all. Follow the Spirit here as we peer into the mind of the Father. Christ was innocent and He committed no sin during His walk here on earth. On the way to the cross however, He took on my sin, your sin and that of us all. Remember, He did not just die for the sins of the world: He actually carried our sin in His body, Having abolished in his flesh the enmity…(Eph. 2:15). It was because of the sin we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted (Isa. 53:4).

Now I ask you, did Jesus make a conscious decision to take on the sins of the world or not, knowing that this would cause Him to be separated from God and to suffer the penalty of death and hell? No, He didn’t commit sin, but He certainly chose to become sin for our sake. The penalty for such a choice was death and hell, and He submitted to both. But on the third day the Father retrieved His Son from the jaws of hell and declared, “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” We must consider the first part of the verse here as well; God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee (Acts 13:33).

And now add to this, John’s discourse from his vision on the Isle of Patmos, “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, . . . (Rev 1:5).

The bottom line is: Jesus was begotten again from the dead. After dying because of sin, he was raised or rather begotten again as the Son of God. Even after having become sin, He was raised the righteousness of God, with the nature of God. But look at this, He was the first begotten from the dead. We are also begotten again from the dead, by the same Spirit that raised Christ (1 Peter 1:3).

Why then is it so hard to accept that we also were raised the righteous, sinless divine nature of God? We are His offspring, how could we have anything less than a sinless identity? Furthermore, we often speak of the sinless identity of Jesus Christ because even though Mary provided Him with a human body, He was born of God and not man. The same is true of us, even though we live in an earthen vessel, as many as received him, to them (to us) gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them (to us) that believe on his name: which were born, (we were born), not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (St. John 1:12-13).

I want you to consider this; if the seed of the devil in Adam and all his offspring could produce children of wrath, how much more should the seed of God, which remains in us, produce the fruits of righteousness? At salvation the Lord set a new law in motion and that is the Law of the Spirit of Life. This change of nature included the flesh. Beloved you are only one person. Don’t accept a doctrine that divides you into two people. Your body is a part of your being and it too belongs to God. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's (1 Corinthians 6:20).

This theory of a dual nature is void of choice. Man has to blame someone or something for his own disobedience to the Father. The flesh with its history of sin is an easy fall guy, but this is not the reality of grace. The sin nature along with its affections, emotions and influences were done away with at salvation.