Why do people do what they do, and why do they feel the way they feel? Establishing causation may be the most difficult task for the discipleship counselor and one that requires the greatest need for the integration of theology and psychology. For example, the following statement is commonly given to explain why Christians continue to struggle. “Of course we are going to sin because we are all sinners and after all, our hearts are deceitful and desperately sick.” That is not true and saying it would make the possibility of living a righteous life even more hopeless.
I realize that this teaching may be new to many readers and I am aware that you may need more explanation to be theologically satisfied. That is why I wrote, God’s Power At Work In You (Harvest House, 2001), with Dr. Robert Saucy, or if you prefer, there is a “Reader’s Digest” version entitled, Unleashing God’s Power In You (Harvest House, 2004). These books seek to explain sanctification, which is God’s will for our lives (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Everything we are attempting to do in our churches, including evangelism, discipleship and counseling must be consistent with the doctrine of sanctification or we will not see any fruit since we are not pursuing the same goal as God is.
In giving us a new heart, God has changed the very core of who we are in the inner person. We are no longer “in Adam” or “in the flesh,” we are now spiritually alive “in Christ.” Paul wrote, “You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:9 NASB). “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 emphasis added). “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:11,12). If this is all true (and it is) then why do we still struggle with the same old thoughts, feelings, and behaviors?
Since we were all born dead in our trespasses and sins, we had neither the presence of God in our lives nor the knowledge of His ways. Therefore we all learned to live our lives independently from God. From the earliest days our minds were programmed by the external world. That is why the heart of an unregenerate person is deceitful and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9). Then one day we came to Christ and everything we have explained so far concerning our identity and position in Christ became instantly true. We became children of God who are alive and free in Christ, but nobody pushed the “clear” button in our memory bank. In fact there is no “clear” or “delete” button for the “computer operation” going on between our ears. Everything that we previously learned and experienced before salvation is still recorded in our minds. That is why Paul wrote in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
