How do sincere Christians get derailed?
In many of my discussions with sincerely godly parents, they will shake their heads in dismay as they reflect on the poor spiritual condition of their children. Children are creatures that make their own choices. Simply look at Adam and Eve. You see two people who had no sin, lived in a perfect environment, and had a perfect Father. Yet, they fell into sin.
This chart to the right from the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) illustrates the normal digression that can occur in anyone's life, including a Christian. God creates us to have a strong spiritual drive that will direct the mind, will and emotions. These in turn will provide the control over the sensual drives.
We all have God given curiosity. God has placed no limits to our curiosity except in things that are evil, Romans 16:19. God intended that we know evil not by experience but by discerning that it is foreign to His Spirit within us, 1 John 4:1. When we follow curiosity into areas of knowing about evil, we are drawn away by our own lust and enticed by sin, James 1:14. Our conscience alone will bear witness to the error of these steps. When we ignore Scriptural commands or even our own conscience and pursue wrong values and deeds we practice licentiousness. This means that we give ourselves the license, permission to do that which is not right.
When we are drawn away from God, we will be tempted by Satan to focus on our lusts, James 1:13,14. Remember that Scripture comments on Eve's lustful look upon the forbidden fruit. The first thing Satan will do during this lustful desire stage is to question God's authority. Thinking about Genesis 3 we can see that Satan implied that God was holding something good from her. As the sensual focus continues, lust conceives and brings forth a violation of God's law, James 1:15.
The specific violation will vary from person to person, yet the resulting guilt will be the same for everyone. The violation of conscience produces the awareness of personal responsibility before God. This forces the person to choose between God's response or a poor one, Romans 2:15. The human system was not made to carry the emotional strain of guilt. We must respond to it. We can attempt to appease God by doing good to make up for it, or we can rationalize the offense away. Both of those are inadequate because they issue from self to serve self. They fall short of what God wants. The correct step would be to repent of the transgression that produced the guilt and confess the sin. This enables us to receive God's cleansing for our guilt, 1 John 1:9
If a person fails to respond to guilt correctly they proceed down the path of a reprobate. Even those who appear to have repented or become religious will spiral downward and increase their bondage and lose more of their true freedom and love. This happens because they have an incomplete repentance of licentiousness. This occurs because there is sorrow over the consequences of sin but not over the sin itself. The Bible says that the beginning of wisdom is to hate evil, Proverbs 8:13; 9:10. Repentance for only the consequences of sin soon produces the secret envy of those who live a fantasy of unpunished sensuality. Galatians 6:7.
Since incomplete repentance does not remove the guilt, there is an attempt to atone for the sin by religious activity. Proverbs 7:14ff. Note how the prostitute will practice religion and her immoral trade. This partial repentance also prompts self-inflicted hardships as an attempt to receive some discipline that the soul craves. Even though there is a sincere attempt to start fresh, the sensual appetites now demand fulfillment. This produces frustration and double mindedness, James 1:8,15. There is a continuous mental effort to justify personal moral behavior on the basis of the existing moral code. Thus if the code can be reinterpreted to "updated" standards so the previously immoral behavior is now moral the mind will accept it. Those who have redefined God to fit in with their immorality will be quick to advance their ideas in order to enlarge their world. They have decided what is right and what is wrong. Truth has become relative and not absolute. These have corrupt minds. Titus 3:10,11. They willingly believe a lie. 2 Thessalonians 2:11
One of the most confusing traps for Christians is the apparent mismatched drives that attract each other. Godly girls seem to attract the most deadbeat sensual boys, and visa versa. These poor matches develop because Christians are not aware of the power these inner drives have. Someone who is spiritually strong is very attractive to a spiritually poor person. Those spiritually poor people are attractive to Christians with strong spirits or at least strong wills, because they need what the Christian has. This is best illustrated in the chart from IBLP to the right.
Note how the equality of mind, will, and emotions can be reasonable justification for common ground. However, the dangerous imbalance of the spiritual and sensual drives demonstrates the potential danger and destruction of the godlier one. If anyone thinks they can stand firm, read 1 Kings 11 and learn from the horrible mistake of the wisest man in the world. The prideful thought that the godly one can help the ungodly one can be a snare. It is also quite often, a cover for a growing secret enjoyment of sensual pleasure. Since the relationship is not founded on God's standard and principles, guilt and conviction will dominate any spiritual search. It is obvious that the conflict of the spiritual and sensual drives will either lead to conflict in the relationship or compromise.
