Actually what I dislike is any conclusion deemed fully cogent and yet deficient in evidence and/or rationale.
One of the blatant instances of such travesty lies in the evangelical phrase "the sinful nature". No Greek phrase in the NT can be literally rendered "the sinful nature" - that phrase is the direct result of immaterialistic bias. How so? Paul's actual term for "the sinful nature" is the flesh. And by using that designation, Paul has literally - by means of a single word - annihilated any notion of immaterialism off the table.
For starters, if Paul had wanted to convey an immaterial sinful soul, the word "flesh" is the absolute worst possible choice because it literally screams matter. And the more we delve into Romans 7 an 8, the more it becomes clear that Paul viewed the human body as the actual sinful nature. Why would Paul do that? Because the material soul, is fused to the material body from head to toe. From that standpoint, any part of your body is capable of sinning - maybe later I'll comment briefly on James' discussion of the untameable tongue.
Understandably, then, Paul cries out in Romans 7, "Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Notice Paul doesn't say, "Who will rescue me from this sinful immaterial mind?"
As for regeneration, does it take place in an immaterial mind? Is that what the Holy Breath targets with regenerating Life? Or does He target the physical human body? According to Rom 8:11:
"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you."
Now, if this be true, your "sinful nature" actually has a physical shape. It is the shape of your body. That's what Paul confirmed at verse 3:
"God [sent] his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh".
You gotta love Paul, right? He certainly has a way with words. Two obvious things to note here:
(1) As everywhere else, the Greek word for "flesh" here is sarx. It occurs about 150 times in the NT, consistently in reference to animal or human bodies. In fact if you were to study all known languages, I think you'd find their term for "flesh", when used as a literal statement to designate existing substance, is never used for immaterial substance. No Platonist, for example, would ever refer to the immaterial realm as flesh. What is of import here, then, is that Paul accuses the flesh of being a sinner, because he calls it "sinful flesh".
(2) In what sense did Christ come in the likeness of sinful flesh? Did Christ arrive tainted with sin? Obviously what Paul is saying is that Christ came in a distinctive physical shape - the same physical shape as the sinful nature.
Verse 10:
"Your body is dead because of sin."
Physically dead? Did your heart stop? No. He means spiritually dead, that is, unregenerate. This proves that God regenerates the body, not some immaterial soul. This is clear from the very next verse, already cited above:
[He] will also give life to your mortal bodies (verse 11).
Verse 13 confirms the entire schema:
"For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live."
Misdeeds of - the body? My body is what actually sins? But didn't the theologians teach us that it is our immaterial mind that sins? Those theologians haven't been listening to Paul. They've been listening to you-know-who.
Let's roll back to chapter 7:
"For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death" (7:5).
Why didn't he say, "the sinful passions at work in our immaterial minds?" Is he really saying that my actual members are alive? That they consciously indulge in sinful passions? Take a look at Col 3:5:
"Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."
Put them to death physically? No. Spiritually. Foster in them the regenerating/sanctifying Life of Christ in order to quicken them. This means your body is not a mere machine. It is a moral agent in need of sanctification.
