What is the believer's only hope for controlling the old sin nature?
The believer’s only hope for controlling the old sin nature is that God has intervened with something that will help control this old Adam and keep him defeated. Though the old nature remains a viable force in our living, God reckons it crucified and provides a new divine nature.
Les explains that although God reckons old Adam as dead and sees him no more—so that justification means it is just as if we have never sinned—in our experience as a believer, the old nature is still there. The only hope is that God has intervened with something that will help us control this old Adam and keep him defeated. This follows Paul’s teaching that the sin nature can be crucified, literally by faith committed unto God to have Him put it to death, and that God then puts within us a new nature, the very mind and nature of Christ Himself, making us Christlike or Christian.