Sinful nature (28)

    Quotations from the writings of Ellen G. White with the phrase . . .

                s i n f u l    n a T u r e            (  5  RELATED  PHRASES  )                     

                   The  phrase  'sinful nature'  appears  28  times in the published writings of EGW                                                 See page on Original site                                                                      Related phrase:     our sinful nature  ( below )  - -  his sinful nature  ( below )  - -  Nature of Man  ( Fund. Belief # 7 )  - -  selfish nature  ( 36 )

   Our lifework now should be to prepare for eternity. We know not how soon our lifework here may close, and how essential that our low, sinful nature should be overcome, and we conform to the image of Christ. We have not one moment’s time to squander. We need to be daily preparing for eternity. Our lifetime is granted us to seek the boon of eternal life. God has granted us a probation, and, if we live our threescore years and ten, how short is this period to work out our salvation! Then compare this period with the life that measures with the life of God. The short period of our test and proving may end any time. Then how earnest should we be to secure a clear title to a home in the earth made new.... { TDG 117.4} 

 

 
  “Let every soul bear in mind the words of Jesus, ‘Without me ye can do nothing.’ We are wholly dependent upon the Holy Spirit for fitness to do the Master’s work; we must rely upon him for Christian fortitude, perseverance and grace. ‘By their fruits ye shall know them.’ Your words, your character, your conduct, your spirit, reveal the character of the tree, for these are the fruits you bear. The sinful nature is to be kept under the control of the Spirit of God. The transforming grace of Christ will bring the will into harmony with the will of Christ. The more closely we are brought into unity with Christ, the more clearly we shall discern the defects of our character. It is marvelous how deceptive is the human heart, how easily self-deluded, how easily led into sin. Be jealous of yourself, never become puffed up, never flatter yourself or accept flattering from any man or woman. When persons attempt to flatter you, tell them they are giving voice to the temptations of Satan. { GCDB February 6, 1893, Art. B, par. 14 }

 

  God declares, “There is none righteous, no, not one” ( Romans 3:10). All have the same sinful nature.  All are liable to make mistakes. No one is perfect. The Lord Jesus died for the erring that they might be forgiven. It is not our work to condemn. Christ did not come to condemn, but to save.  { 18MR 334.5 }  { HP 292.5 } 
 
  To the careless, the indifferent, the unconcerned, those standing on the precipice of ruin, Christ says: Open the door of your heart; give Me entrance, and I will make you a child of God. I will transform your weak, sinful nature into the divine image, giving it beauty and perfection.... { TMK 106.3} 
 
  To the careless, the indifferent, the unconcerned, those standing on the precipice of ruin, Christ says: Open the door of your heart; give me entrance, and I will make you a child of God. I will transform your weak, sinful nature into the divine image, giving it beauty and perfection. { YI November 11, 1897, par. 5 }

 

  The sinful nature of man was weak, and he was prone to the transgression of God’s commandments. Man had not the power to do the words of God; that is why Christ came to our world, that He might give him moral power. There was no power in heaven or in earth but the power of Christ that could deliver from the [sentence illegible in original]. He came to meet the difficulty and to remove it. His own arm brought salvation. God sent forth His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh that He might condemn sin in the flesh and reveal the fact to heaven, to the worlds unfallen and also the fallen world, that through the power of divine grace, through partaking of the divine nature, man need no longer stand under the curse of the law or remain in transgression. { 14MR 82.3 } 
 
“Let every soul bear in mind the words of Jesus. ‘Without me ye can do nothing.’ We are wholly dependent upon the Holy Spirit for fitness to do the Master’s work; we must rely upon Him for Christian fortitude, perseverance, and grace. ‘By their fruits ye shall know them.’ Your words, your character, your conduct, your spirit reveal the character of the tree, for these are the fruits you bear. The sinful nature is to be kept under the control of the Spirit of God. The transforming grace of Christ will bring the will into harmony with the will of Christ. The more closely we are brought into unity with Christ, the more clearly we shall discern the defects of our character. It is marvelous how deceptive is the human heart, how easily self-deluded, how easily led into sin. Be jealous of yourself, never become puffed up, never flatter yourself or accept flattering from any man or women. When persons attempt to flatter you, tell them they are giving voice to the temptations of Satan. { SpTB16 18.1 } 

 

Paul clearly presents the relation between faith and the law under the new covenant: “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh” —it could not justify the sinner, who in the sinful nature could not keep the law—“God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” ( Romans 5:1}  { BOE 182.1}
 

 

                                                  our  sinful  nature                                                                          

                   This phrase appears  12  times                Related phrase:   his sinful nature  ( below )
Christ says, My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me away from the byways of sin. As Christ worked, so you are to work. In tenderness and love seek to lead the erring to the right way. This will call for great patience and forbearance, and for the constant manifestation of the forgiving love of Christ. Daily the Saviour’s compassion must be revealed. The example He has left must be followed.  He took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature, that He might know how to succor those that are tempted. { MM 181.3} 

 

 
Men whom God favored, and to whom He entrusted great responsibilities, were sometimes overcome by temptation and committed sin, even as we at the present day strive, waver, and frequently fall into error. Their lives, with all their faults and follies, are open before us, both for our encouragement and warning. If they had been represented as without fault, we, with our sinful nature, might despair at our own mistakes and failures. But seeing where others struggled through discouragements like our own, where they fell under temptations as we have done, and yet took heart again and conquered through the grace of God, we are encouraged in our striving after righteousness. As they, though sometimes beaten back, recovered their ground, and were blessed of God, so we too may be overcomers in the strength of Jesus. On the other hand, the record of their lives may serve as a warning to us. It shows that God will by no means clear the guilty. He sees sin in His most favored ones, and He deals with it in them even more strictly than in those who have less light and responsibility.  Patriarchs and Prophets, page 238.2   Read entire chapter 21

 

Men whom God favored, and to whom He entrusted great responsibilities, were sometimes overcome by temptation and committed sin, even as we at the present day strive, waver, and frequently fall into error. Their lives, with all their faults and follies, are open before us, both for our encouragement and warning. If they had been represented as without fault, we, with our sinful nature, might despair at our own mistakes and failures. But seeing where others struggled through discouragements like our own, where they fell under temptation as we have done, and yet took heart again and conquered through the grace of God, we are encouraged in our striving after righteousness. As they, though sometimes beaten back, recovered their ground, and were blessed of God, so we too may be overcomers in the strength of Jesus. { AG 255.5} 

 

 
“The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” And “as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” When God gave Jesus to our world, He included all heaven in that one gift. He did not leave us to retain our defects and deformities of character, or to serve Him as best we could in the corruption of our sinful nature. He has made provision that we may be complete in His Son, not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ. In Christ every storehouse of knowledge and of grace is at our command; for in Him dwells “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” { HM March 1, 1898, par. 1 } { RH March 18, 1902, par. 1 }
 
When [God] gave Jesus to our world, He included all heaven in that one gift. He did not leave us to retain our defects and deformities of character, or to serve Him as best we could in the corruption of our sinful nature.  He has made provision that we may be complete in His Son, not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ. In Christ the whole storehouse of knowledge and of grace is at our command; for in Him dwells “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” { BLJ 327.2} 

 

He took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature, that He might know how to succor those that are tempted.—Medical Ministry, 181. { 7ABC 450.5 } 
 
Clad in the vestments of humanity, the Son of God came down to the level of those He wished to save. In Him was no guile or sinfulness; He was ever pure and undefiled; yet He took upon Him our sinful nature. Clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might associate with fallen humanity, He sought to regain for man that which, by disobedience, Adam had lost for himself and for the world. In His own character He displayed to the world the character of God.—The Review and Herald, December 15, 1896. { 7ABC 452.6 } 
 
Clad in the vestments of humanity, the Son of God came down to the level of those he wished to save. In him was no guile or sinfulness; he was ever pure and undefiled; yet he took upon him our sinful nature. Clothing his divinity with humanity, that he might associate with fallen humanity, he sought to regain for man that which, by disobedience, Adam had lost for himself and for the world. In his own character he displayed to the world the character of God. He pleased not himself, but went about doing good. His whole history, for more than thirty years, was one of pure, disinterested benevolence. By his words, his influence, and his example, he made men feel that it was possible for them to return to their loyalty and be reinstated in God’s favor. He led them to see that if they repented, if their characters were transformed after the divine similitude, they would win immortality. { RH December 15, 1896, par. 7 }

 

Clad in the vestments of humanity, the Son of God came down to the level of those He wished to save. In Him was no guile or sinfulness; He was ever pure and undefiled; yet He took upon Him our sinful nature. Clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might associate with fallen humanity, He sought to regain for man that which by disobedience Adam had lost, for himself and for the world. In His own character Jesus manifested to the world the character of God; He pleased not Himself, but went about doing good. His whole history, for more than thirty years, was one of pure, disinterested benevolence. { ST July 30, 1902, par. 1 }
 
Clad in the vestments of humanity, the Son of God came down to the level of those he wished to save. In him was no guile or sinfulness; he was ever pure and undefiled; yet he took upon him our sinful nature. Clothing his divinity with humanity, that he might associate with fallen humanity, he sought to redeem for man that which by disobedience Adam had lost, for himself and for the world. In his own character Jesus manifested to the world the character of God; he pleased not himself, but went about doing good. His whole history, for more than thirty years, was of pure, disinterested benevolence. { RH August 22, 1907, par. 1 }
 

 

                                                his  sinful  nature                                                                          
                   This phrase appears  6  times                Related phrase:   our sinful nature  ( above )
  After the fall, it had been impossible for man with his sinful nature to render obedience to the law of God, had not Christ, by the offer of his own life, purchased the right to lift up the race where they could once more work in harmony with its requirements. { RH September 27, 1881, par. 11 }
 
Today the Holy Spirit works upon some who are not as self-confident as this young ruler. There are men and women who are truly converted, as was Paul. He says, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.... For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” If the rich young ruler had seen by the light of the commandment that he was sinful; if, like Paul, he had honored God by obeying the commandments in spirit and in truth, his sinful nature would have been slain by the law, and he would have laid hold of eternal life. { RH September 11, 1900, par. 7 }

 

The apostle Paul clearly presents the relation between faith and the law under the new covenant. He says: “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh”—it could not justify man, because in his sinful nature he could not keep the law—“God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 5:1; 3:31; 8:3, 4. { PP 373.1}  { AG 140.4} 

 

 
Paul clearly presents the relation between faith and the law under the new covenant: “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh”—it could not justify man, because in his sinful nature he could not keep the law—“God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 5:1; 3:31; 8:3, 4. { EP 261.1 } 

 

The apostle Paul clearly presents the relation between faith and the law under the new covenant. He says, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,”—it could not justify man, because in his sinful nature he could not keep the law,—“God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 5:1; 3:31; Romans 8:3, 4. { RH October 17, 1907, par. 10 }
 

 

     

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Related Information

Nature (Separate page) Beauty of Nature (34) Divine Nature (1,568) Laws of nature (214) Nature speaks (15) Selfish nature (36)