Lynne Little Ministries - Higher Realm

Little by Little - Part One - Sin Nature and Spiritual Growth: Understanding the Human Condition

• Lynne Little

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Growing up is inevitable—physically and emotionally—but what about spiritually? In this thought-provoking episode, we begin our new series "Little by Little," designed to establish a foundation of Christian doctrine for believers at every stage of faith.

Have you ever wondered why Christians talk about sin nature? Or perhaps questioned the fairness of being born with an inclination toward rebellion? You're not alone. When I first encountered these concepts as a young person, they felt like personal accusations rather than spiritual truths. This episode tackles these complex questions head-on, creating clarity where confusion often reigns.

We explore the origins of sin nature in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve's disobedience permanently altered humanity's relationship with God. This pivotal moment introduced not just physical death but spiritual separation—a condition passed down through generations. Through powerful Scripture passages from Romans and Ephesians, we examine how this innate tendency toward wrongdoing manifests in our daily lives, even when we desire to do right. As the apostle Paul laments, "I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do."

But this isn't a message of despair. The beauty of Christian doctrine lies in its coherence—every problem has a solution. Our sin nature finds its remedy in God's grace through Jesus Christ, who offers deliverance from this spiritual dilemma. Understanding these foundational truths helps us grasp why spiritual growth matters not just for us but for the entire world, which "waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed."

Ready to move from spiritual milk to solid food? Join us on this journey as we build our understanding, line upon line, precept upon precept, little by little. Subscribe now and discover how doctrinal clarity can transform your faith walk from infancy to spiritual maturity.

Introduction to Little by Little

Hello and welcome. There comes a moment in everyone’s lives when we awaken to the lamentable truth that it's time to grow up. All at once, we seem to weary of playing childish games. We begin to act like adults in the physical, emotional, and perhaps intellectual sense. And yet, a part of us often still suffers from stunted growth. That part just happens to be the real us. I am referring of course to the human spirit, the component of us that lives forever. For some it may be time to finally get serious about our spiritual growth, because as it happens our spiritual maturity is important to more than just us. In fact, according to scripture, our emergence as strong believers in Jesus Christ is eagerly awaited by the whole world. Romans 8:19 tells us: “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” Now I don't mean to suggest that our lives are important to the entire human race, but we're certainly important to those in our sphere of influence. And beloved, they need us to become everything we were meant to be. 

Today I'm going to begin a series entitled Little by Little. As promised, this is a series on basic Christian doctrine designed for both new and older believers alike, actually for anyone who desires a deeper understanding of the ways of God. I believe it is relevant as a refresher because it never hurts to reaffirm what we believe. The point is for us to eventually land on the same page or at least a similar one. Christians should be in agreement about basic beliefs. 1st Corinthians 1:10 states: “Now I plead with you brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you'd be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in this same judgment.” So, the same word same is repeated 3 times. 

Now of course it's absurd to assume that every human being who knows the Lord will be in complete agreement about every single tiny little detail. But there are general and important concepts agreed upon by Christians who base their lives on the Bible. As I've stated before, doctrine outlines the paths through which God relates to mankind and mankind to God. A scripture found in 1st Corinthians 14-8 provides an important reminder of the need for clarity in this area. The New International Version puts it well. “If a trumpet does not sound a clear call who will get ready for battle?” An army cannot perform their mission in an orderly manner unless someone sounds the unifying note.

I've chosen Isaiah verses 9 and 10 as the capstone scriptures for the series. “To whom will He (meaning God) teach knowledge and whom will He make to understand doctrine? Those that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little.” These passages simply compare new believers to babies in need of milk. This depiction isn't meant in any way to be derogatory or demeaning, after all no one in their right mind would ever blame a child for childhood. It simply means that with a new life in Christ a person is starting out as a newborn. There is a certain charm in that concept because we all did get a fresh start when we received Christ; we do begin again. But the Isaiah reference describes being weaned, which is the healthy process of advancing steadily in the progression of our faith from infancy to adulthood. This is accomplished a step at a time and thus the reference to mastering or growing from one principle or concept to another. 

First Peter 22 admonishes new believers this way: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” Regrettably many Christians who have put the time in the faith are still in the milk drinking stage of spirituality. They have become stalled for a myriad of reasons with a result that their growth has been stunted. Hebrews 5:11 through 12 talks about believers who were disinclined to listen. Verse 12 spells out the results: “In fact though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's Word all over again. You need milk not solid food.” 

Well, if that's you, no worries. It's never too late to learn, and we'll work to get it all sorted.

Some of the topics of this series will include the following questions:

 What is sin nature?

 Where did original sin begin?

 Why do people need to be saved?  What does the term born-again mean?

 How and why are people baptized?

What is God's will for me, and how can I find it?

Today, we'll tackle the first question, “What is sin nature?  When I first heard the word saved in the context of Christianity, I remember wondering what the human race was allegedly being saved from or saved to. The same with the term born-again, and there was no one around to ask. It took years to finally get some understanding. But what really tripped me up at the outset was the concept of sin nature. It was while attending youth group as a middle school student that I first heard the term. I was just aghast at the description of what it meant! We were told that we were all sinners by nature and that we could never be good enough to please God. Well, that was news to me, and without being given further clarifications the idea felt like an insult. The thought of being something other than good was deeply disturbing. I once ventured to ask my mother, “Do you think I'm a good person?” I could just imagine what she was thinking “Ohh here we go, this one is my problem.” Anyway, her predictably favorable answer, “Of course you are,” did little to assuage my fear.

I rationalized that a mother who was not God would naturally endorse a less exacting standard of behavior especially in view of the fact that most of my childish transgressions, the more egregious ones in particular, were committed entirely without her knowledge. Yet, somehow her answer did not satisfy me. I still wanted to know the truth. It felt like I was under a sentence of judgment and indeed, realistically, that's what it was. It was only much later that someone finally communicated any good news to me.

The definition of sin nature is essentially mankind's inborn inclination to sin, their tendency to rebel against God. Scripturally speaking, we're all born with this sin nature. Chapter 2 of the book of Ephesians describes this at length, if you wish to read it in the full context. According to the Bible, humanity’s fallen state came about as a result of an incident known as the original sin. The perpetrators of this were Adam and Eve and the cause was their rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden. Now putting to one side for a moment whether you believe the account is allegorical or literal, you must admit that the sequence of events— temptation, decision, consequence— is undeniably reenacted daily in the multitude of moments that comprise the human condition. 

We find the story in Genesis chapters 2 through 3. God provided the couple everything they could possibly want or need in this garden paradise yet gave them a strict order to avoid eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He warned them that disobedience to his directive would result in their deaths. The reptilian embodiment of Satan in the form of a serpent, tempted the woman to eat from the tree and she and her husband did. Immediately, paradise was over. 

Imagine for a minute the privilege of enjoying face to face encounters with the Creator. That relationship was unlike any other relationship ever between God and man. They were newly created and they had a wonderful relationship with God; nothing stood between them. But when Adam and Eve partook of the tree in defiance of a direct order from God it resulted in a permanent rearrangement of this relationship. Much like betrayal in a marriage, the couple had decided to change their allegiance and were no longer in a close and companionable relationship with God. They did face physical death as an eventuality which was an event unknown up to then, obviously. But more importantly they died spiritually. This spiritual death was the ultimate separation from God. What occurred in this faithful event, in this fall of man, was the inception in mankind—in all of us—of a nature, or tendency to wrongdoing that is at cross purposes to God's design. Think of what a Pandora's box they opened! The act of rebellion was emblematic of so much destruction. Death had never existed, neither had sin. Adam had to go to work, and Eve had to go through childbirth. Generations were saddled with sin nature. 

Romans 5:12 states: “Therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned.” We understand more fully this nature when we honestly examine the existence of evil and its occurrence through human agency. There are many who do not agree that evil exists within; they view mankind as essentially good. That children, in particular, are innately good and the tendency to wrongdoing is learned behavior. Parents would probably disagree. They know that self-will is evident even in infants. But the issue rests more on whether we believe that evil exists within us.

But back to my story. Hearing all of this I reasoned that if we were all born under sin and had this sin nature, how is that fair? We know that God is just, and we do believe in justice. I mean none of us have faith in a system that doesn't serve justice. But since justice deserved the judgment, who was going to take the wrap, me? So, I found myself hung on the horns of a dilemma. When I read scripture portions like the following the case just kept building. Ephesians 2:1-3 reads: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world, and of the ruler of the Kingdom of the air. Let me pause here and explain that in scripture, Satan is called the prince of the power of the air. To continue, “…the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest we were by nature deserving of wrath.” 

Now a close inspection of this verse seemed to me that God's anger was targeting a nature, not necessarily us, but rather our inborn tendency to sin. Paul the apostle famously states this truth in Romans 7:18-21. “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do but the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I don't want to do it's no longer I who did it but the sin in me.” 

Later on he states: “Oh wretched man that I am, who would deliver me from this body of sin?” He goes on to identify who The Deliverer is, which is of course Jesus Christ. God's infinite wisdom considers the failings of the human species to perfect ourselves; it is simply not doable in our own strength, as Paul the apostle clearly points out. The doctrine of original sin however does not absolve us of personal responsibility for our actions, but do we actualize to the point of knowing that we need help that can only come from God? When Paul says, “I'm a wretched man in verse 14, he asks, “Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? “Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 

So here is where I began to see a glimmer of hope. I realized that though I might not have any choice about how I was born, I did have a choice about my sins, and here it was. Ephesians chapter 2:4 reads this: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

This passage presents a remarkable picture of the unchanging love of God for all of us even as he is angered by our sin nature. It’s like a parent who consistently loves their child even when angered by the child's actions. That love was incredibly evidenced when he sent Jesus. We've talked at length before about how Christ agreed to be our substitute and received the judgment of God in our place. No one is excluded from this merciful offer of rescue. The decision alone rests with us. Have you made that decision? As always, we welcome your questions and comments: lynnelittleministries@gmail.com.

 Thanks for listening. See you next week.