Robert Farrar Capon - Author

His books include:
"Genesis, the movie"
"The Fingerprints of God"
"The Parables of Judgement"
"The Parables of Grace"
"The Mystery of Christ ... and why we just don't get it"

"The Supper of The Lamb ... a culinary reflection"
"Between Noon and Three"

Some lines from "Do Christians Still Have a Sinful Nature" by Ryan Rufus

http://newnaturepublications.com/


Our sinful nature circumcised by Christ, (i.e. cut off and thrown away, dead and buried)(Col.2:11).
The sinful nature can't re-vive,
so the idea that I have to keep dieing to it (e.g. taking up my cross) is untrue;
it is not there at all to battle against my Spirit created New self (2Cor5:17).
I can't be seduced by a Yin Yang theology of good me versus bad me, any more.
We participate in the divine nature (2Pet1:4)
Sinful nature can't enter Heaven.
(Ro6:7) any one who has died with Jesus is freed from sin nature.
Trust the Word of Jesus = Truth,
now, I know by Holy Spirit revelation 
that my sinful nature has been crucified with Jesus on that cross.

Anthropos (Grk) is my old inner self which was born dead to Jesus.
My old inner self was controlled by the sinful nature that believed the father of lies.
The sinful nature found even greater control of the old inner self under Mosaic Law.

The old man (old inner self) needed to be killed so the "body of sin" (sinful nature) could be destroyed. (R6:6) i.e. The parasite (sinful nature) can't survive if the fallen old inner self is dead.
I am raised with Christ, as a newly created inner self,
by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.

Sarx (grk) can mean sinful nature and it can also mean the human body, so its context is all important.
Galatians 5 says that my body (sarx) has NO control over my Renewed Spirit but my Renewed Spirit is freed so that the Spirit can produce fruit. This is because the sinful nature (sarx) with its lusts has been crucified with Jesus (5:24).

Dividing the Word of Truth includes understanding which references are speaking to our position as PRE-Renewed or POST-Renewed.
Wrong thinking on the positioning of my POST-Renewed self will give too much power to the appetites of my natural body rather than the power of the Spirit. This will deceive me into thinking I still have a sinful nature to battle.
Focusing on the desires of the body can lead to temptation which, uncontrolled, might lead to sin which is evil. (Ja.1:14)

Falling into sin can still happen to the Spirit Renewed self.

This sin is not a result of a sinful nature but a mind still re-newing.
(Be reminded, Adam did not have a sinful fallen nature before he believed the devil's lie.)  
Jesus has supplied forgiveness, forever, for our sin and its consequences,
for those wanting to be in His Joy.
The fruit of control is one happy consequence of focusing one's desire in the The Spirit of Jesus.
Being tempted to sin does not mean we have a sinful nature.
It is a consequence of living in this present fallen world.

The born again me, now has a choice to be "body led", "mind led" or "Re-newed Spirit led" in this world.
1Cor3:1-4 - Paul wants to address them as spiritual but they are worldly (sarkinos (grk) = fleshly without the sinful nature). Paul thinks their jealousy and quarreling actually identifies them as mere worldly (sarkikos = fleshly still with the sinful nature) men - - - Paul, the provocateur!!!

After the cross of Christ, God Almighty is never mad at you, but He is always mad about you!
We have His abundant provision of Grace Ro5:7
We are saved by His Gift, (not self-achieved) to us, of Grace. Eph2:8
We are justified freely by His Grace. Ro3:24
We stand at Peace with God through His Grace. Ro5:2
We are righteous only through His Grace. Gal.2:21

Grace always reigns over sin, no matter how much sin there is. Ro5:21
His Gift of Grace makes us righteous to Him no matter what.
The unforgivable sin is not allowing the Holy Spirit to draw one into being saved, in the first place.
Once I am born again, I can stop worrying that I might commit an unforgivable sin.
The heart of the Christian in the Gospel of Grace is knowing that sin is foreign to the renewed nature, not wishing it could sin because it might get away with it.
One who uses Grace to justify a lifestyle of sin is not born again.
True Grace justifies the sinner not the sin.
Greasy grace justifies the sin not the sinner.
True Grace says I CAN live free from sin even though I might sin.
I am dead to sin so why let it continue its harassment.

Grace doesn't make me not sin, Grace gives me the power to escape and live free from sin.
Sin is not my master because i am not under law but under Grace.
The Law expects me to produce fruits to prove my righteousness.
Grace says because I am righteous, I can bare fruits.
Now, God is not responsible for my negative actions,
devil is not responsible for my negative actions,
sinful nature is not responsible for my negative actions,
[I enjoy being responsible for my actions (blaming another is cheap) and 
Holy Spirit is my Helper/Comforter Who never condemns me to suffer under any sin.]
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+square brackets [ ] indicate my notes.

Some concepts from "Sanctification by Grace" - written by Ryan Rufus.

 http://newnaturepublications.com/

I am a spirit, who has a mind, and who lives in a body.
My spirit is totally renewed by Holy Spirit when I am born again in His Spirit.
At that event my renewed spirit is totally sanctified (separated into God),
and I am actually eternally positioned in Christ in Heaven. Ac20:32, Ac26:18,1Cor1:2,1Cor6:11.
My mind and body are in the process of being sanctified.
The mind wants to be in His Will, it is not told to do His Will.
The earthly condition of my mind and my body love to align with my Spirit man.
Jesus encounters with my perfected spirit not self effort renew my mind.
The mind or the body can not lead you into Christ-likeness.
Hardships endured won't make us mature, only encounters with Jesus.
The body loves feeling pleasure but it can't discern what is good pleasure from harmful pleasure.
The Re-Newed mind knows which pleasures are good for the body.
The Re-Newed mind knows to reject the corrupted thoughts of the fallen world.
The Re-Newed mind totally agrees with God's thoughts.
The Re-Newed mind waits for the leading of the Spirit man.

[ The Re-Newed mind absolutely knows we are complete in Jesus.
i also like John Crowder's understanding :
"Re-newal of the mind? 
Your mind is being Re-Newed to the reality that it is ALREADY the 'Mind of Christ' " 
(1 Cor. 2:16) the natural man can't know spiritual things, because they are spiritually discerned, they look foolish to him .... but we have the mind of Christ..  ].

The Spirit is totally sanctified and has an Heavenly position,
The Mind is being re-newed and has an Earthly condition.
The Body will be re-newed and has an Earthly condition.

The O.T. Law now has no authority and my sinful nature IS dead.
So stop being dramatic and re-dieing to something that has no authority.
The devil has tricked one into doing something that drives one further from God,
because it keeps one focused on a dead sin-nature, which condemns,
so robbing one of confidence in what Jesus is doing in one's new life.

[There is no sin nature in me now only Christ's nature.
This is a far superior fellowship we have with the Godhead now,
when Adam (with the God Nature) sinned he had no one to redeem his fall,
if I (with the God Nature) sin, Christ has already redeemed me.
This is not to say that there are no consequences on Earth for any sin i might commit,
there are governmental, social and relationship implications,
not to mention the condemnation from religious and political spirits.
As Andrew Wommack says "sin will cost too much and hang around too long."]

Using fear and conditional salvation to change a perceived sin nature is a return to law and performance and will fail eventually.
Spiritual encounters with Jesus are pleasing to the body, mind and spirit.
Salvation is always based His Faith to His Faith,  not my faith established by my works.
Now that I am saved by believing His Faithfulness,
I won't be working on keeping God happy or blessing me
by going to all the meetings, witnessing, reading, giving offerings, or caring for people etc.

(These things can and should happen in our lives as we go with Him but these things do not justify us.)
Father God is always 100% happy with me because Jesus has already qualified me in His Happiness.
Prophets need to be absolutely grounded in Grace otherwise they will abuse people.

Our salvation is an event which includes redemption, justification, adoption, regeneration and sanctification.

The enemy's attack will always be against the mind (e.g. lust), and the body (e.g. sickness)
of the True Born-again believer because The Spirit has 100% Re-Newed our spirit (un-assailable).

Putting rules on others is external manipulation and religion,
even if you think you have their best interests at heart.

Get baptised in the Holy Spirit, and receive His Power .
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square brackets [ ] indicate my notes.....
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Elitism is not Holiness ... and holiness is not elitism ...

Father God is actually Holy, Holy IS Him.
So holiness can't be a list of rules because Father God is not a list of rules.
To join a club, one must agree to a list of rules which define a certain standard expected.
One's worthiness is calculated by how well one aligns to or champions those standards.
One's esteem is measured by these rules.

Amping up any legalistic hearers, while actually getting rid of righteousness by rules, Jesus says:
"That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."Mt5:20
Then He bestows :
"let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life,
a life energetic and blazing with holiness.
God said, "I am holy; you be holy."1P1:16 

Long before rules Jesus Is.

Holiness is Jesus.
Holiness is not "not sinning" (no failures; not getting it right).
Expending effort on "not sinning" is focused on sin and will worship, not holiness.
Focusing on "not sinning" actually amps up sin's influence.
Holiness is extravagantly living out our position in Christ.
He has put us in His Spirit and He has put our spirit in His Spirit.
We are seated with Him in Heavenly places in our spirit.
He is in us, we are in Him, He is Holy, we are Holy. Jesus is so inclusive not exclusive.
Our spirit is separated into His Spirit, now our minds and bodies will catchup to this reality.
The by-product of this Holiness is that we will sin less because
we love being loved from our heavenly position in Jesus. yes yep and yeh.

["The be being" in His Lovely Spirit far outweighs "the do doing" for Him.]

[ See my post on "Quick grab on the Pastor" where the religious elitist spirit wants to separate into clergy and laity, the power over people model i.e.
"hate the works of the Nicolaitans (power over people)" Rev.2 ]

Kathie Walters' One Liners from her visit to Bayside Christian Family Church.

see my write up of her recent meetings at : http://friendsofjesus.tumblr.com/

"I want to raise up a generation of Wild Grannies in the Spirit."

"Don't pray just now, just yield to Jesus ... stop speaking, listen."

"I love being challenged, getting out of my comfort zone, it is outside that zone that Jesus meets you, you should have seen me in Siberia !"

"My main message is to get rid of the religious spirit."

"Religious spirits always want to distort daddy God's character."

"Some people are so religious they don't even to leave my meetings when offended."

"The angels that want you to worship them are always the fallen ones."

"You are not yoked to a ministry but to Him."

"Snuggle don't Struggle ... Nestle don't Wrestle."

"The ministry is not a hierarchy but a lower...archy."

"Your not working for Him but yielding to Him."

"You can't unqualify for something you never qualified for anyway."

" The self-conscious have no fun, the sin conscious have no Joy, the anointed have a call to enjoy Jesus."

Put up your spiritual antennae, listen ... Got it .. it's MINE."

Assess your present Spiritual Colour.

Tolerance and encouragement for diversity in His Body is essential to Church relevance.
Check this diagram from the book "The Three Colours of Your Spirituality" by C.A. Schwarz.

I think it helps classify some of the areas of our spirituality that we haven't been able to get our minds around.
I outline only one chapter of the book, below.

The author gives these meanings to the 3 large sectors in the diagram :

The True mostly aligns with a dogmatic value view.
The Good with an ethical value view.
The Beautiful with an aesthetic value view.


The 9 styles mean(approx) :

Sensory : the need to enjoy the Creation. 
Rational : the need for explanations.
Doctrinal : the need for dogmatic systems.
Scripture Driven : the need to proclaim God's Word.
Sharing : focus on outsiders.
Ascetic : sacrificial living.
Enthusiastic : openness to the supernatural.
Mystical : allowing the mysterious.
Sacramental : symbolic expressions


Now superimpose over these, the three colours which represent

Loving God with :
ALL your Heart = Blue
ALL your Mind = Green
ALL your Will = Red

After some contemplation and prayer; ask one's self :

Has this helped identify an intolerance, to diversity in His Body, in me?
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The aim of the book is to identify ineffective churches which can transform into radical lovers of Jesus.
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[We are most blessed when we love Jesus enough to allow Him to radically Love us.]
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