The Bible teaches that upon faith we are born again. That simply means that the Spirit, who was on the outside, comes into the believer. That's why the Bible says, "the Holy Spirit who is in you"....

Now, let's look at this:

You are a sinner. You have a sinful nature. Yet, we are told, that the Holy Spirit resides "in you".

Since having a sinful nature is sin in itself, then doesn't the Holy Spirit become sinful?

No!

Why not?

Because you and the Holy Spirit are two different beings. He doesn't become you, but rather remains Himself. He is Holy and undefiled by your sinful nature. Why? That nature isn't His...it's yours.

Likewise, you (the sinner) do not become the Holy Spirit. Even though you grow in grace, you are still not sinless....Why? Because you are not the Holy Spirit.

Reverse this and you have the truth as it is in Christ.

Rob

If you reverse this truth you have the "in Christ" motif. Instead of God coming to live in believing sinners, Christ came to dwell in our corporate humanity. What does that mean?

All of us, male or female, share one life: The fallen life of Adam. Remember, Eve was taken from Adam's side.

At the incarnation God took Christ's Deity and mysteriously blended it with our corporate, fallen life that needed redeeming. He did this by placing Christ (who is sinless) into our fallen humanity (which is sinful).

Hence you can't say Christ had a sinful nature because it was never His. He assumed us, but He remained Himself (God).

EGW:

"He [Jesus as God] took upon his sinless nature our sinful nature..." [Medical Ministry, 181]

Note again it wasn't Christ's sinful nature, it was ours! So we must never say that Christ had a sinful nature because that would make Him a sinner.