Can the new man in Christ be depressed?

D

docs May 3, 2016

I know now beyond any doubt that I suffered from depression for many years after being saved and still battle it at times. Some times more intense than others. This depression was at many times what people would term as "clinical" depression. It was such a part of my life probably from even elementary school that I didn't even really know what it was. It just had always been that way. So I was bascially unaware of the ins and outs of it and after being saved was told that when one becomes a Christian all those type of things go away and shoud not bother you anymore. So I developed a sort of spiritual tought guy type of attitude that tried to toe the line of I was delievered when I became born again. And toeing that line, in spite of lingering problems, takes more emotional energy which can actually deepen the cycle as emotional energy is spent on maintaining a false front. I'm sort of milling about these things and pondering them lately because much to my suprise I've had some experiences with the Lord lately that are giving me more insight into my pysche than I have ever had before. It came from His iniative and was unexpected and is leading me to consider and embrace the new man in Christ more than I ever have. Yet if one is born again, what sometimes for many many years still hinders one from being delivered from say depression, continuing anger against others, low self esteem (why continuing to maintain outwardly we are accepted in the beloved) or a tendency to still sin uncontrollably in certain areas? What is the blockage? Is it part of the new man still struggling or are the wounds and heartbreak of the old man, supposedly gone, still playing a dominant role which tends to kill faith? I'm not trying to get "psychological" here in any worldly sense. That's the last thing I want to do.

1) Can the new man/person in Christ still be depressed and blocked from seeing the love of God in Christ or is that the old man still hanging about?

2) Is it wrong to teach forthrightly that when one is born again that all these type of things automatically are to disappear?

Though longing for it and even panting for it as the Psalm says, why is the unconditional love of the Lord for us still elusive to many of us? I'm not trying to lay a trip on folks you know or engage in worldly self introspection or pyschology. I can't speak for all but something has been going on im me that is taking my breath away to a degree and melting stony places in my heart I wasn't even aware of or didn't want to acknowledge. Man, being in the world was a bad trip! Life is rough for all of us even in Christ and many wounds can accumulate. Is ths type of broken heartedness still in us the new man or the old? Probably the old but I'm just seeking out the opinions of others. Nothing is set in stone here. David Wilkerson said he used to preach the unconditional love of God to many manmy thousands at once and go home and wonder if he really believed it. He said also that many times nationally known ministers have sat in his office and lament that they still wondered why they were unable themselves to believe in the love of God for their own selves. If these things be so, what will remove the barrier and what can heal us individually and corporately? If Christ came to heal the broken hearted then it isn't wordly psychology. It must involve Ephesians 3:14-19. And I know the cross and whatChrist bore there is supremely important in any true revelation of God's love for us.

I have lumps in my throat these days and find myself wanting to cry for no reason and it usually is accompanied by looking back and remembering and understanding better the wounds from the past and how thay have affected me until now even in Christ. Yet I didn't start this it just has begin to happen to me. There's a great unwordly warmth inside of me and it makes me not know how to act and makes me want to cry as I go about. What's going on?

sermonindex May 3, 2016

Dear brother

I speak also as a sufferer of depression and anxiety from as long as l can remember and have gained insight into it from my studies of biochemistry and since l found, from having my genetic defects tested by myself from 23andme, explained, that l have problems in folate metabolism which result in these problems. They can be relieved by providing the nutrients needed to enable the missing enzymes to be restored and working on what is called the methylation cycle.

So this is the way to correct the biochemical defects but l myself have had them overcome miraculously as well as on a practical level by walking in the Spirit for some time.

We are first of all spiritual beings and it is when we are rightly related to God by the true baptism of the Spirit that we have the peace and joy promised but not obtained sadly by the majority of believers.

sermonindex May 3, 2016

Bro David,

It sounds to me that the Lord is doing a deep work in your heart. Praise His name. When the tears come brother, just weep and allow the Lord His way. I remember being on a scaffold with other Brickayers laying brick, and here comes one of those moments. Inside I was shouting " oh not now Lord," yet there it was. Our sanctification can be a lifetime of healing from the wounds of the world and our childhood and our sin.

Can a man or a woman be depressed after they are saved? Yes indeed. Does ignoring it or denying it help? No. People who say you cannot be depressed after you are saved are, to me, akin to the name it and claim it folks or the word of faith people. Each journey with the Lord is unique, because each of us are unique. The Lord knows where we come from. He knows us inside and out. Our whole walk is a process of surrendering into His arms. I always remember the story of the woman weeping at Jesus feet. The explanation was that those who were forgiven much, love much. Just pondering that reveals so much truth. Brother, I wept for the first six months of my salvation, even just at the sound of His name. One day, twenty years after my son died, I wept uncontrollably in a shower and my wife thought I was having a nervous breakdown. Truth was that God was dealing with my pain and grief because when he dies I was in the world and drugs and alcohol had been the cure. Yet here I was several years after being saved, suddenly dealing with it. It is all a wonderful mystery. To simply trust God despite how we feel, whether we feel good or whether we are depressed. Now if the darkness of depression overwhelms me, I have a high tower to run to, a refuge from the savage storms. We may get down brother but the Lord lifts us up. We overcome because He overcame. Our solution now is Jesus. In the world it would be drugs of one kind or another, but in the Kingdom of God it is Jesus. God bless you for your openness to talk about this, it is a sure sign of the deepness of our Lord in your life.................bro Frank

sermonindex May 3, 2016

David,
I know that Spurgeon often said he battled with depression, but always wondered if it was really mostly discouragement (reading about his life & testimony as a minister of the Gospel). I know this: until I truly understood the relentless & unconditional love & Grace of God in Christ, I had trouble falling to lust & discouragement. I know others who have struggled similarly. Seeing His love for me in salvation & giving me a new heart & making me a new creation was enough to set me free instantaneously from violence, drug addiction, hatred, etc. But the inner workings in me of rejection & abandonment (my own hippie chick mother didn't want me as a child & I knew it, and was adopted after being left at babysitters repeatedly, etc.) took further, deeper healing to really understand the depth of His love for me, that it wasn't like the "love" of man. It wasn't until after a period of backsliding & thinking (because of my flawed theology at the time) that I was "done", had "crossed the line", "was given over", etc. & THEN He came & spoke to me, loved on me, & restored me that I was set free at an even deeper level because now I not only understood His love mentally, but by Rhema, the revealing of it to me personally by His Spirit. We are all so broken. But He is such a good & gracious God. May we all submit to His dealings in humility & dependable so that His work may be done & complete, lacking nothing. Hang in brother & cling to the hemn of His garment. He is our strength, our deliverer, our healer, our restorer, our peace, our redeemer, the lover of our soul! I am not saying as a blanket statement, but I know for me that when I have struggled with great discouragement, taking it to the Lord in honest prayer & worshipping Him in song & praise helps lift my eyes up to heaven on Him. As the Word says, "Put on a Garment of praise For the spirit of heaviness". This is what I do in such circumstances & what I see King David doing throughout the Psalms. I will be praying for you too brother!
In Christ,
Jeff

T

TMK May 3, 2016

David-

If you say you are/were depressed, I certainly believe you. So the simple answer to your question is "yes."

The next question is whether it's from the Lord. That gets a little dicier.

T

Theophila May 3, 2016

Dear One,
Please listen to this sermon by Brother Keith Daniel.
He mentions a lady who suffered depression even after she was saved and how she was delivered of it.

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?lid=9367

I trust in the Lord's goodness towards you.

S

Sree May 3, 2016

The old man is dead, still the habits of old man can haunt us. When we are born again God frees us from so many sins miraculously. I have seen people who were saved from Chain smoking instantaneously and now not even tempted to return back. In my life too the Lord did such work in one area where I could not have got victory myself.

But there are other areas in which we have to fight. God expects us to fight such sin and be victorious. I can think of so many such areas in my life where I have to depend on him daily to be an overcommer. If I stop resting on him then I fall immediately.

Regarding depression, I strongly believe it is a work of Satan and not really a mental condition like how the psychiatrists make us believe. If you are struggling and believing that these are mental issues then hard to get healed. But if you believe that it is a sin that Satan has put in you then you can battle it with the power of God.

Again not everyone believes that depression is a sinful state. I am fine with it. I do not want to hurt anyone who does not agree with me.

D

docs May 4, 2016

I appreciate the care and concern and encouragement in your answers. I may have given a bit of a not quite right presentation of my present struggles. I know now I meant to use the word depression in sort of a represenative way. I can recognize depression now when it comes my way and usually have to make some personal adjustments and catch up on my rest at times which usually brings on depressive bouts just because of physical weariness. I've struggled with it for sure but am doing pretty good against it now though I want a deeper healing from this things that has run through my fsamily even in past generations. I could have as well titled my remarks, "Can the new man in Christ still not really believe they are accepted in the beloved.?" Or, "Can the new man in Christ still harbor tremendous grudges and unforgiveness against those who may have harmed them in the past?" If so, how does this play n with we are new creatures in Christ. Are these things just the old man exerting itself in areas of our heart that the Holy Spirit has not renewed yet? But if I say "has not renewed yet" we have all been told we are completely "new" when born again and ALL THINGS have passed away from our former life. If so, why do we still carry these "old" things even in our "newness?" There is body, soul and spirit and these things may well just be bondages of the soul or thought life when the spirit is secure and well because of the indwelling Christ joined to our spirit. I am probably rambling a bit here and am not setting anything in stone. Yet, can we be born again and washed of our sins and positionally seated in Christ yet still have areas of our heart that are unconverted for lack of a better term? Anyway, I'm just musing a bit there and thank everyone much for their comments and ecnourgagement. May God fill you with hope in believeing but if there are still areas you can't seem to believe in that is what I am in. What causes these continuing areas of unconversion and oldness of heart. How much do these things hinder the body of Christ from going on to the fullness and maturity the scriptures speak of?

"And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God." (Ephe 3:19)

For some reason the Lord has chosen lately to show me by revelation this love of Christ which surpasses knowledge (and coan only be known by revelation) and all I can say is WOW! I thought I knew before but I had only scratched the very surface. This love is very pure and gentle and TENDER and all encompassing and is a wonder. I just went to know more. There is not a single iota of a reason why we should be afraid to give ourselves completely to this wonderful God. He isn't going to harm us or takes things from us just to be mean and test us. He is going to transform us so we can "see" Him in more and more areas of our heart. He's the God of judgment and fire etc. but He is also very TENDER and COMPASSIONATE and is truly the lovers of our soul. We can trust Him.

"The heart needs to be converted anew in far more reaching inner areas every day, or we fail to grow in Jesus. Indeed, that is our primary defintion of growth in Christ - further and further death and rebirth through "continuing" inner conversion."

"One might ask, "Isn't it confusing to insist that we need to be converted anew when we have already been converted?" It may be, but we don't know a better way to say it." (John and Paula Sandford - from "The Transformation of the Inner Man")