Being born-again, by no means, takes our inclination to sin (1) away. The inclination to sin is an inherent part of the sin nature that is passed down at conception (2) to what becomes our humanity at birth.

When the biologically-alive fetus is brought forth at birth, God (3) creates and places our soul in the body that our biological parents (4) had reproduced.

At birth, the fetus becomes a living-breathing human being (5), having taken in its first breath of life (6). Prior to that, the biological life of the fetus had been supported by the biological life of the mother.

After taking our last breath, the body becomes a corpse, destined to turn to dust (7), but the soul, having been created in the never-ending likeness (8) of God, departs the body and lives on.

The sin nature that was passed down to our bodies, becomes a force within us that is inherently hostile (9) towards God, and the things of God.

This force remains with us, until the soul is separated from the body, at the moment of physical death.
We bury (or otherwise dispose of) the body, but not the soul. There is no soul in any corpse, death bed, morgue, funeral parlor, urn, or cemetery.

The only connection between the departed soul and the bodily remains is that the bodily remains (or dust) will be raised up in resurrection form and reunited with the departed soul when the Rapture takes place.

There need not be any concern if the whereabouts of one’s bodily remains are not known or available, as this will not prevent the omniscience and omnipotence of God from raising it up in resurrection form.

As of the Church Age, the departed soul of a born-again believer is “absent from the body and present with the (Lord 2Cor. 5: 8 NASB2020,” in an interim body (10) until the Rapture (11) takes place.

The departed soul of an unbeliever, is also absent from the body, but finds himself or herself in the torments section of Hades (12), until the Rev. 20: 13, 15 event takes place.

Luke 16: 24 teaches that the unbelievers in the torments of Hades also have some type of interim body, as well.

As long as our soul is in the natural body, the fallen nature not only remains within us, but it increases its evil pressure to have its way with us, keeping pace with whatever progress that a born-again believer should make along the road to spiritual maturity.

The post salvation spiritual life of an advancing disciple, here on Earth, does not get easier. It gets more and more difficult as he or she spiritually matures.

The devil and the Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil can do nothing to undo the irreversible work (13) of God the Holy Spirit that takes place at the moment of salvation, nor can he or they do anything to recall the undeserved, unearned, GIFT of eternal life that the born-again believer has already received.

However, he and they can do much to impede the quality and the quantity of the divine good that God (14) desires to produce in one’s post salvation spiritual life. He and they do so, primarily by appealing to the fallen, independent, self-centered nature within us, that is inherently hostile towards God and the things of God.

The classic example of this “remaining” factor is documented in Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome (15), where he writes about his own ongoing struggle with this fallen nature, almost 30 years AFTER he was born-again, and towards the end of his outstanding 1st Century ministry.

We all have this evil nature within us, but what makes each one of us different from one another, is how the same fallen nature will manifest itself.

What may be a great temptation to us is of no interest to others, and what is a great temptation to others, is of no interest to us.
Humans can easily see the weaknesses of others, while being totally blind to their own, as well as the inability to see that from God’s viewpoint, we are all in the same boat (16).

End of Part One

(1) Gen. 6: 5 (2) Psalms 51: 5 (3) John 3: 6b (4) John 3: 6a (5) Gen. 2: 7 (6) Gen. 7: 22 (7) Gen. 3: 19 (8) Gen. 1: 26 (9) Rom. 8: 7 (10) 2Cor. 5: 1 (11) 1Thess. 4: 16 (12) Rom. 20: 13 (13) Eph. 4: 30/Titus 3: 5 (14) John 15: 5 (15) Rom. 7: 23ff (16) Rom. 3:23/James 2: 10