What does the old Adamic nature only know how to do?
The old Adamic nature knows only one thing: to rebel against the things laid down by God Himself. The natural tendency is to listen to the old Adam, and consequently people become sinners—not because of what they have done, but because of what they are.
Les explains that the Adamic nature has a single bent: it knows only how to rebel against the things laid down by God Himself. Because the human natural tendency is to listen to the old Adam, people become sinners. Lostness is not finally measured by specific acts like drunkenness, cheating, stealing, or immorality; rather, people are lost because they are born in sin as children of Adam and have refused the remedy, which is the work of the cross. Paul constantly emphasizes that the cross has completed everything.