Do Christians have two natures?

from the old testament

• Being created by God, human nature started good. Genesis says, “God created man in his own image” and declared all His creation as “very good” (Genesis 1:27, 31). Humanity was made to reflect God’s character and to live in fellowship with Him. That design changed when Adam and Eve disobeyed, bringing corruption into human nature (Genesis 3:7–19). Their nature was no longer pure; it had been bent toward sin and self-rule. Note that they were still human but their nature became corrupted.
• From that moment on, every person was born sharing that corruption. For example, David confessed, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). Being corrupted, sometimes known as “original sin,” means that people are born already as enemies of God. After punishing the world with a flood because of its sin, God noted, “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). To be human, then, is to carry a nature twisted by sin and unable to restore itself.
• Though men and women cannot correct their nature, God promised that this condition would not last forever. He spoke of a day when He would change people from within, saying, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you” (Ezekiel 36:26). Jeremiah foretold a “new covenant” in which God would write His law on human hearts so they would truly know Him (Jeremiah 31:33-34). Each of these referred to a time when the corruption that plagued humanity would be reversed. People would have to wait until the New Testament to understand how God would do this.

from the new testament

• Paul taught that all people can know God through His creation, yet they sin anyway: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:20-21).
• Sin is inherent in every person, so that “there is none righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). Because of this, the problem of sin is universal—no one escapes. The corruption that began in Adam has corrupted everyone since.
• Jesus came to reverse what Adam’s sin had ruined. By living a perfect life and dying a sinless death, He became the new head of a redeemed humanity. Paul wrote, “As by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). In His resurrection, Jesus broke the power of sin and death, providing new life for all who believe in Him (Romans 6:4–5). The corruption of human nature can only be undone through union with Christ.
• Through that union, the Holy Spirit begins transforming believers from within. Paul said, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Spirit now indwells God’s people, producing “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). This inner work gradually corrects our desires, enabling believers to think and act more like Jesus. Although the old patterns of sin remain, the Spirit gives us the power to resist them and to walk in righteousness.
• Paul described his own struggle with sin: “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19). He was not describing two separate natures but one renewed person battling the lingering influence of sin. The believer’s human nature, once enslaved, now wrestles between obedience and rebellion. This tension shows that salvation has begun but is not yet complete—the Spirit renews, yet the flesh resists.
• Both Paul and John point to the final day when that struggle will end. Paul wrote that believers will be transformed so that their “lowly body” will become “like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). John said, “When he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). In that moment, when Jesus appears, every trace of corruption will be gone, and the redeemed will love and obey God perfectly. Human nature will not only be restored to what it was before the fall but made even better—forever secure in righteousness and incapable of sin. The work of the Spirit that began in regeneration will be completed in glory, when human nature fully reflects the image of Christ (Philippians 1:6).

implications for today

We might comfort ourselves into believing our sin comes from “something else” inside us, but Scripture teaches that it is still we who sin. The believer’s struggle is not with an old nature living inside—it is our own heart resisting the God who loves us. When you act selfishly, lose your temper, or fall into temptation, it is not an outside force that makes you rebel, but your own will choosing wrongly. Fortunately, God has not left you to battle your corrupted human nature alone. The Spirit who lives within you is patiently changing your desires and teaching you to walk in obedience.

Every time you confess sin and choose to obey, you are taking another step toward Christlikeness. Growth may feel slow, but it is real, because God Himself is at work in you “to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). Through daily repentance, prayer, and dependence on His Word, the old habits lose their grip and your new life grows stronger.

One day, that struggle will come to an end completely. When Jesus returns, you will see Him face to face, and every trace of sin will be gone. You will never again fight temptation or feel guilt—only perfect joy and love in the presence of your Savior. Until that day, keep trusting His grace and yielding to His Spirit, confident that He is helping you to put your old self to death once and for all.