A laundry list of immoral behaviors is recorded in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, which the apostle attributed to the former lives of believers in the church of Corinth. But their unrighteousness was cleansed and their lives were changed–”you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). The church of Corinth was filled with people just like us. People who were not perfect, in fact far from perfect. Yet they experienced the life-changing power of Christ.

Sadly, some today misunderstand the effects of our fallen nature. They excuse their sinful nature as the way God made them. The most recent example of this is the statement made by Ray Boltz in his announcement that he was homosexual: “If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be ….”

We cannot excuse sinful behavior as being our nature. Of course it is, but that is no excuse. We know in fact this was not God’s design, but the fallen nature we inherited from our father, Adam. As believers, we are admonished to put to death this sinful nature and its immoral behaviors (Col. 3:5-10). The church of Colossi is another example of believers who abandoned immoral practices and put on a new life in the image of Christ.

We do not excuse the murderer who confesses he could not control his rage. Even though that is his nature, he is still accountable for his behavior and its consequences. Neither should we dismiss our natural tendencies for lust, gossip, cursing, laziness, drunkenness and greed. These things are natural, but as believers, we are called to be supernatural–through Christ.