1 Peter 1:23 “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”
One of the main differences between the spirits of believers and the spirits of unbelievers is in the area of sin. It is impossible for the spirits of believers to commit sin, for as the apostle Peter teaches us in the above quoted passage of scripture, the spirit of the believer is born of the incorruptible seed of God’s word. Incorruptible means exactly that, incorruptible. Seed can only produce what God intended for that seed to become. And so because the spirit of the believer is born of seed that is incorruptible, so it is that the spirit is itself incorruptible, i.e. it cannot be contaminated by sin. The apostle John confirms this same truth to us when he teaches us that those who are born of God cannot sin, for His seed remains in him (1 John 3:9). In John’s teaching he is also referring to the spirit of the believer, for it is the spirit of the believer that is born of God. And so we see that the spirits of believers are fully righteous, and it is for that reason that under the New Covenant that the Holy Spirit can reside in the spirits of believers, for the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in the presence of sin, for in Him is no sin (1 John 3:5).
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, (2) in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, (3) among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
The contrast between the spirits of believers and the spirits of unbelievers couldn’t be greater, for in the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul reveals to us just how sinful their spirits are. In this passage the Holy Spirit tells us that all unbelievers are sons of disobedience. In other words, they will always do that which is contrary to that which God’s word declares, which is why He goes on to describe them as being children of wrath. The reason that they are children of wrath is because their very nature is against God, and thus they will ultimately incur the wrath of God at the end of the age. Clearly the spirits of unbelievers only have a propensity for sin and have no inclination for righteousness at all. And so the only way they can be redeemed is to become new creations in Christ Jesus, i.e. born-again (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Michael E.B. Maher
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