'The Uncensored Take' - Two Natures... REALLY?

If the old you was crucified with Christ, why are Christians still being told he's alive inside them? We say you're a new creation. This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. We say the old has gone. We say your old self was crucified with Christ. And then, almost in the same breath, we say... 'But you still have an old sinful nature living inside you.' Wait a minute. Which is it? Did Jesus actually make you new? Or did He simply add something new to the old you? That's the tension at the heart of this week's Grace Uncensored episode. A lot of Christians have been taught that salvation leaves us with two spiritual natures fighting inside us. One wants God. One wants sin. One is righteous. One is sinful. And whichever one you 'feed' the most is the one that wins. It sounds reasonable because Christians still experience temptation. We still have old habits. We still react badly sometimes. We still sin. But does any of that prove there's an old sinful person still living inside us? Here's the Christian Double-Talk that bothers me. We say, 'The old has gone.' But then teach, 'The old you is still very much alive.' We say, 'You're a new creation.' But then describe the believer as though something fundamentally sinful is still sitting at the center of who they are. Paul says in Romans 6:6: 'For we know that our old self was crucified with him...' Crucified. Not restrained. Not repaired. Not put on probation. Crucified. Then 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!' That raises some questions we probably need to take seriously. If the old self was crucified, what exactly is the 'old nature' Christians keep talking about? Is the flesh the same thing as your spiritual identity? If an old reaction shows up, does that mean the old you came back? If you feel a familiar temptation, does that tell you who you really are? And if Christ lives in you, why do we sometimes talk more confidently about the power of an old sinful nature than we do about your union with Him? Here's a line I keep coming back to: Familiar doesn't mean identity. You can drive an old road without still living at the old address. You can react from an old habit without becoming the old person again. You can experience temptation without temptation getting the final word about who you are. And this matters far beyond theology. If you believe there's something fundamentally wrong with you at the core, every failure becomes an identity crisis. You don't just think, 'I did something wrong.' You start thinking, 'There it is. That's the real me.' And that can lead to shame, fear, self-condemnation, and endless spiritual striving. But what if growth isn't about fixing a sinful identity? What if it's about learning to live from a new identity that Jesus has already given you? That changes the entire conversation. It changes how you see temptation. It changes how you see failure. It changes how you see spiritual growth. And it may even change how you see yourself when you look in the mirror. I'm not going to give away the whole episode here, because the distinction between the old self, the flesh, and your new identity in Christ is where this really gets interesting. WatchEpisode 60: You're a New Creation... With Two Natures?at Then go to toGraceUncensored.organd catch up on past episodes, get the free Grace Uncensored Devotional, explore the free resources, and Support the Message if you'd like to help more people discover the freedom of grace. And if these conversations are helping you rethink some things you've heard in church for years, subscribe and follow Grace Uncensored. Here's the question I'll leave you with: If Jesus says the old has gone and the new is here... why are we still trying to figure out which old version of ourselves is going to win today? This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.