Cause and Cure For Spiritual Misery

    In his book, Spiritual Depression, Martyn Lloyd-Jones talks about miserable Christians and the reasons for their misery. We have, to varying degrees, experienced spiritual dryness. We continue go to church, pray, and serve but so lacking in passion and joy. What could be the possible causes of this condition?

Take a look at this list and see if any of these hold true in your life:

1. You have no clear understanding of the gospel

You know that Jesus is Lord and Savior but you do not see how he is Lord and Savior. You are not clear about the absolute necessity of the death of Christ. Neither are you clear about the doctrine of spiritual rebirth. You talk about these things yet you find that they are confusing. You are familiar with them yet you cannot truly see the truth about who you are in Jesus Christ.

2. Your heart is not fully engaged.

Though you pray and have read the Bible, you do not find happiness in Christianity and in the Christian position. You are not moved by it. You do not find joy in it. You find joy, if any, somewhere else. 

3. Your will is divided.

You renounce the old life and embrace the Christian life in general. Yet you find that Christianity constricting. Why does a Christian have to do certain things and stop doing others? You start arguing whether it is right for a Christian to do this or that. As a result there is no peace in the realm of the will.

The root of all these, according to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, is never fully accepting the teaching and authority of Scriptures. How great a tragedy it is to read the Bible but not knowing the truth contained in it and not applying its teachings in all of life. You embrace some of the Biblical teachings but continue to live portions of your life according to other ideas and philosophies from the world. You are not interested in doctrine and thus miss the truth contained in Scripture. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says,

"It is the doctrine that hurts, it is the doctrine that focuses things. It is one thing to look at pictures and to be interested in words and shades of meaning. That does not disturb, that does not focus attention on sin, nor call for a decision. We can sit back and enjoy that but doctrine speaks to us and insists upon a decision. This is truth, and it examines us and tries us and forces us to examine ourselves. So, if we start by objecting to doctrine as such, it is surprising that we do not see clearly."

A lack of harmony among musical notes turns music to noise that is painful to the ears. In the same way, spiritual misery comes because a tension exists in our lives resulting from the combination of two disharmonious or unsuitable elements.

    So surrender yourself to God. Submit fully to the authority of Scriptures. Hold on to its teachings and promises. Believe in the truth contained in it. Don't mix anything to them. Then you will see clearly. Then you will have passion and joy in your spiritual life.

    Dr. Lloyd-Jones concludes with this question, "Do you believe that the Son of God came from heaven and lived and did all He did on earth, that He died on a Cross and was buried and rose again, that He ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit, in order to leave us in a state of confusion?" The answer, of course, is no! Jesus did not come to give us misery. He came to save us from our sins and give us life and have it more abundantly.

Repentance is for Christians Too

    Repentance (metanoia) means "change of mind". This change is more radical than we think. Charles Spurgeon describes, "It is an entire and total change of mind, a turning of the mind right round, so that it hates what once it loved and loves what once it hated—it forms different judgments from what it always did before—and no longer puts bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter, darkness for light and light for darkness."

    Yet the act of repentance is misunderstood today. It's helpful to point out false forms of repentance and what true repentance is according to the Bible. You'll find that the phony kind of repentance is tolerated and even accepted by many people today. Now both John the Baptist (Matthew 3:2) and Jesus (Matthew 4:17) preached repentance saying, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand." Jesus also warned, "But unless you repent, you too will all perish (Luke 13:3)." Thus if repentance is a condition for belonging in the kingdom and if the eternal destiny of an individual hinges on it, then it is critical to understand what it really means.
   
WHAT IT IS NOT

1. Repentance and regret are not the same. Repentance does involve a feeling of regret but repentance is linked to moral deficiency while regret is not. For example, God regrets that he made Saul king (1 Samuel 15:10-11) but David repents of his adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11).

2. Repentance is not being sorry for sin because of the consequences that it brings to us. For example, King Saul repents from disobeying God hoping that his repentance can change God's mind about removing him from as king (1 Samuel 15). Neither is repentance feeling sorry because you got caught or that you failed to live up to your expectations.

 3. Repentance is not self-pity nor making excuses. When people make mistakes, they often admit that they're not perfect- thinking that it excuses their behavior. While it is true that no one is perfect, no sin is ever excusable to the God who is holy and perfect. Other excuses that people bring up instead of truly being broken and repentant over sin:

"I was just being honest."

"I'm just saying what I feel."

"I was only kidding."

"I misunderstood you."

"I didn't mean to do it."

"I'm having a bad day."

4. Repentance is not the atonement for sin. Penance and self-flagellation are forms of self-righteousness and that has never saved anybody. Displaying your misery does not earn the forgiveness of sins. Only the blood of Christ is the sacrifice of atonement that takes away God's wrath on us (Romans 3:25-26).

WHAT IT IS (List is excerpted from "The Gospel Powered Life")

1. Repentance is oriented towards God, not me.

King David realized that he had ultimately offended God with his sin. So he writes, "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight (Psalm 51:4)..."

2. Repentance is motivated by true godly sorrow and not just selfish regret.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

- 2 Corinthians 7:10 (ESV)

3. Repentance is concerned with the heart, not just external actions.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

-Psalm 51:10 (ESV)

4. Repentance looks to Jesus for deliverance from the penalty and power of sin.

"Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus"

-Acts 3:19-20 (ESV)

   Now repentance isn't just a one time act that occurs when we receive Jesus Christ in faith. Repentance is for Christians too. It is the way in which we make progress in the Christian life. If we make an honest self-examination, we find that there are new sins to address. We discover sins beneath sins. There are new enemies that must be defeated. Tim Keller points out,  

"The more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God's grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God's grace and acceptance in Christ, the more you are able to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions of your sin."

When repentance becomes a lifestyle, we live a life of faith as we rest solely on Jesus Christ's work that brings about forgiveness and grace.

Unfashionable Misfits

    Christians are not of the world yet they live in the world. Every moment of the day, we Christians deal with the tension that this brings to our lives. Tension arises because the ideas, fashions, trends, practices, philosophies, and opinions of this world will oftentimes contradict God's law. We do our best to be wise and discerning but we find that it's not easy. Writer and speaker Os Guinness comments,

Of all the cultures the church has lived in, the modern world is the most powerful, the most pervasive, and the most pressurizing.

-Os Guinness in Prophetic Untimeliness 

    It's hard to resist what the world has to offer today. Hence, we are hard-pressed to either take a stand or capitulate to the world's culture and practice. If we choose the former, we are unfashionable misfits that stand out but if we do the latter, we go astray in our faith and descend into worldliness. My professor in theology defines worldliness this way:

Worldliness is everything in a society that makes righteousness look strange and sin look normal.

    How does a Christian fall into wordliness? Os Guinness outlines four steps in this process and it is worth to look at it carefully:

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