According to Nature

Our interest in such passages should not have to do with the wickedness as such, but rather has to do with the divine “paternity suit” that follows on the basis of it. If some covenant members are children of the devil and others are not (as the quotation from 1 John indicates), then there must be a divide of nature—different fathers require different natures, and vice versa. Now I am aware that some may want to reject the very idea of “nature.” But such a rejection is problematic in discussions of regeneration because it is impossible in discussions of generation. We generate according to our kinds, we generate our nature. A fig tree bears figs, according to its nature, and does not bear oranges, which would be contrary to its nature.