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Here's a post I made in another thread which explains how man, once saved, now possesses the same nature that Christ possessed and how that divine nature is victorious over the sinful nature (which is the flesh) when we learn how to surrender to the indwelling Holy Spirit. Enjoy! 
In order to fully understand that which I am speaking of, one must first understand the duality of Christ. Jesus was both human and divine simultaneously.
Because Jesus lived in a human body, He was tempted in every way as a normal human is however, scripture states that Jesus never sinned despite those temptations. According to the Apostle Paul, the human body, or as Paul calls it "The Flesh", drives our desire to sin.
In the beginning God created humanity with one goal in mind; fellowship, thus mankind was created for a single purpose that only God Himself could fulfill. Immediately upon creating mankind, God Himself provided for all of mankind's needs in the Garden of Eden. However, after the fall, man's relationship with God was severed. Man was forced out of the Garden and man was forced to provide for his own needs, an impossible task seeing as man's entire reason for existing is fellowship with God. Without God's presence or provision, man became a slave to his own physical desires, ie. selfishness.
Understanding man's fallen state and his inability to save himself, God took it upon Himself to set into motion a plan to restore right fellowship between Himself and humanity. That plan: to humble Himself and become a man in every way. Enter Jesus Christ.
Again, Jesus was both both man and God simultaneously. Because Jesus lived in a human body He could have sinned just as you or I. If this were not true then it would have been impossible for Jesus to have been tempted in the first place. Yet, despite being tempted in every way, Jesus still did not sin. How is that possible? What did Jesus have from birth that you or I do not?
Jesus, being both human and divine, also possessed the divine nature. Jesus owes His divinity to the Spirit of God that dwelled within Him from conception. Scripture records that when Jesus was conceived in Mary's womb, the Holy Spirit descended upon Mary and impregnated her. The Holy Spirit did not so much provide the seed that impregnated the Virgin Mary but rather, the Holy Spirit was the divine seed.
The Holy Spirit is the divine nature of God Himself that empowered Christ to live a sinless life thus He is the righteousness of Christ. Jesus himself taught that the "Son of Man" (Jesus' own humanity) could do nothing apart from God and that He did not seek to do His own will (fulfill the desires of His human body) but that He does that which He sees the Father doing (God's will) through His own divinity (the Holy Spirit). In other words, Jesus did not seek to fulfill his own earthly desires or will (the sin nature) but rather He surrendered Himself to the will of the Father (the divine nature).
The will of the Father for Jesus' life was three fold: (1) to lead by example of how one can live a life pleasing to the Father; (2) to sacrifice His life for remission of sins; and, (3) to restore right fellowship between God and mankind, thus allowing the Spirit of God to now reside in the hearts and minds off those who believe.
When we are saved, we receive the Holy Spirit which is the same divine nature which resided in Christ Himself. The Apostle Peter states in 2 Peter 1 (verses 3 & 4) ; " For His (Christ's) divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue)[/u]. By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature." The Apostle Paul echoes this sentiment in Romans 6, Romans 8 and Galatians 5. The Apostle John says virtually the same thing in 1 John Chapters 3 & 4. The Apostle James says virtually the same thing in the epistles of James Chapter 4. Finally, Jesus Christ Himself provides a full explanation of this in His own words in John chapters 14-17.
Please understand, the Holy Spirit that dwells in you after salvation is the same Spirit of God (divine nature) that dwelled in Christ. Because the Holy Spirit is in all ways divine, He does not need to impart righteousness, His very presence within is righteousness thus the moment the Holy Spirit enters into a new believer, that believer now possesses the same righteousness that dwelled in Christ. It is because the Holy Spirit is the righteousness of Christ that He was the ability to "seal" us for the day of redemption.
How do we know that the Holy Spirit is the divine nature? Let's look at Galatians 5, verses 22 -25:
[/quote]
[font size=+10]22 But the fruit [characteristics, evidences] of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,
23 Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.
25 If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.][/font][/quote]
Through the Holy Spirit, we now have access to everything we need to live like Christ lived and love like Christ loved. All we have to do to unlock the divine nature that now resides in us is to learn to follow Christ's example. We must learn to surrender (lay aside) our own will and selfish desires in favor of pursuing the will of God which can only be revealed to us through abiding (walking) in the Spirit. Both Romans 8 and Galatians 5 plainly state that those who walk in the Holy Spirit need not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. In the flesh, you and I can do nothing but sin because we are slaves to the flesh. However, in the Spirit, we are free from the influence of sin because we have become partakers of righteousness (the divine nature).
To sum things up simply, when we learn to submit to the indwelling Holy Spirit, the divine nature over rides the the sinful nature. As long as you abide in the Spirit, sin has absolutely no power over you. However, the moment when we take our eyes off of Christ, who now dwells within us, we make ourselves vulnerable to sin because we are walking in the flesh which in and of itself is the the sin nature according to Romans 7.
In ending, it my hope that this brief explanation of the Holy Spirit and the divine nature helps some of you understand just what it is Christ did on the cross and what exactly we have access to through right fellowship with God through His Spirit.
In order to fully understand that which I am speaking of, one must first understand the duality of Christ. Jesus was both human and divine simultaneously.
Because Jesus lived in a human body, He was tempted in every way as a normal human is however, scripture states that Jesus never sinned despite those temptations. According to the Apostle Paul, the human body, or as Paul calls it "The Flesh", drives our desire to sin.
In the beginning God created humanity with one goal in mind; fellowship, thus mankind was created for a single purpose that only God Himself could fulfill. Immediately upon creating mankind, God Himself provided for all of mankind's needs in the Garden of Eden. However, after the fall, man's relationship with God was severed. Man was forced out of the Garden and man was forced to provide for his own needs, an impossible task seeing as man's entire reason for existing is fellowship with God. Without God's presence or provision, man became a slave to his own physical desires, ie. selfishness.
Understanding man's fallen state and his inability to save himself, God took it upon Himself to set into motion a plan to restore right fellowship between Himself and humanity. That plan: to humble Himself and become a man in every way. Enter Jesus Christ.
Again, Jesus was both both man and God simultaneously. Because Jesus lived in a human body He could have sinned just as you or I. If this were not true then it would have been impossible for Jesus to have been tempted in the first place. Yet, despite being tempted in every way, Jesus still did not sin. How is that possible? What did Jesus have from birth that you or I do not?
Jesus, being both human and divine, also possessed the divine nature. Jesus owes His divinity to the Spirit of God that dwelled within Him from conception. Scripture records that when Jesus was conceived in Mary's womb, the Holy Spirit descended upon Mary and impregnated her. The Holy Spirit did not so much provide the seed that impregnated the Virgin Mary but rather, the Holy Spirit was the divine seed.
The Holy Spirit is the divine nature of God Himself that empowered Christ to live a sinless life thus He is the righteousness of Christ. Jesus himself taught that the "Son of Man" (Jesus' own humanity) could do nothing apart from God and that He did not seek to do His own will (fulfill the desires of His human body) but that He does that which He sees the Father doing (God's will) through His own divinity (the Holy Spirit). In other words, Jesus did not seek to fulfill his own earthly desires or will (the sin nature) but rather He surrendered Himself to the will of the Father (the divine nature).
The will of the Father for Jesus' life was three fold: (1) to lead by example of how one can live a life pleasing to the Father; (2) to sacrifice His life for remission of sins; and, (3) to restore right fellowship between God and mankind, thus allowing the Spirit of God to now reside in the hearts and minds off those who believe.
When we are saved, we receive the Holy Spirit which is the same divine nature which resided in Christ Himself. The Apostle Peter states in 2 Peter 1 (verses 3 & 4) ; " For His (Christ's) divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue)[/u]. By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature." The Apostle Paul echoes this sentiment in Romans 6, Romans 8 and Galatians 5. The Apostle John says virtually the same thing in 1 John Chapters 3 & 4. The Apostle James says virtually the same thing in the epistles of James Chapter 4. Finally, Jesus Christ Himself provides a full explanation of this in His own words in John chapters 14-17.
Please understand, the Holy Spirit that dwells in you after salvation is the same Spirit of God (divine nature) that dwelled in Christ. Because the Holy Spirit is in all ways divine, He does not need to impart righteousness, His very presence within is righteousness thus the moment the Holy Spirit enters into a new believer, that believer now possesses the same righteousness that dwelled in Christ. It is because the Holy Spirit is the righteousness of Christ that He was the ability to "seal" us for the day of redemption.
How do we know that the Holy Spirit is the divine nature? Let's look at Galatians 5, verses 22 -25:
[/quote]
[font size=+10]22 But the fruit [characteristics, evidences] of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,
23 Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.
25 If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.][/font][/quote]
Through the Holy Spirit, we now have access to everything we need to live like Christ lived and love like Christ loved. All we have to do to unlock the divine nature that now resides in us is to learn to follow Christ's example. We must learn to surrender (lay aside) our own will and selfish desires in favor of pursuing the will of God which can only be revealed to us through abiding (walking) in the Spirit. Both Romans 8 and Galatians 5 plainly state that those who walk in the Holy Spirit need not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. In the flesh, you and I can do nothing but sin because we are slaves to the flesh. However, in the Spirit, we are free from the influence of sin because we have become partakers of righteousness (the divine nature).
To sum things up simply, when we learn to submit to the indwelling Holy Spirit, the divine nature over rides the the sinful nature. As long as you abide in the Spirit, sin has absolutely no power over you. However, the moment when we take our eyes off of Christ, who now dwells within us, we make ourselves vulnerable to sin because we are walking in the flesh which in and of itself is the the sin nature according to Romans 7.
In ending, it my hope that this brief explanation of the Holy Spirit and the divine nature helps some of you understand just what it is Christ did on the cross and what exactly we have access to through right fellowship with God through His Spirit.
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