Nature vs. Nurture

Well, you may have heard something of this debate in a psychology class or science class. However, let's bring it into the Church. We have discussed our environment, in terms of the media - the influence that the popular culture has on our mindsets. The way we think and act is heavily nurtured, by culture, to be self-centered, materialistic, jaded, etc... Now, we must look through the opposite end of the microscope:

If our mindsets are not what popular culture dictates, then what are we supposed to base our decisions on? How are we supposed to think? What qualifies a man as a man and a woman as a woman?

Obviously "the Bible" is the textbook, right answer. However, there is more to it than this simple answer. What does the Bible actually say? We are not just in the circumstance of having behavioral problems that we need to correct. We have fatal flaws in our nature that must be healed over time and were already justified by Christ's death. So, what do we do now?

Four points of interest with this subject:

1. We were created as beings in the IMAGE OF GOD! - what does this mean?
2. We are supposed to be living dead before salvation, if we accept that salvation is new life. - say what?
3. We need other Christians to live as the Bible dictates. - why can't we do it alone?
4. There is always new life in Christ. - so do you continually go back to the living dead and get re-saved? when do we know that we are at "the place" we are supposed to be at? What level is good enough?