In his classic work on the sanctification of the believer, Walter Marshall emphasizes the fact that though we are new creatures in Christ not all vestiges of the old nature are eradicated from within us. We still must battle sin and its effect in our lives. We must war against the flesh and its devices. Their are benefits to affirming the fact that we still have some of the old state in us, and Marshall touches upon some of them is the following quote from The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification:
We must know that our old state, with its evil principles, continues still in a measure, or else we shall not be fit for the great duties of
confessing our sins,
loathing ourselves for them,
praying earnestly for the pardon of them,
a just sorrowing for them with a godly sorrow,
accepting the punishment of our sins and giving God the glory of His justice,
and offering to Him the sacrifice of a glory and contrite spirit, being poor in spirit, working out our salvation with fear and trembling.
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