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Biblical Change: Confrontation and Salvation in Christ · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome to the Dee Dive. This is where we take source
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  materials, research frameworks, secialized writings and really
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  dig into them to pull out the key knowledge for you.
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  We aim to give you the context, the core ideas, without you
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  having to wade through all the dense stuff yourself.
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  And today, yeah, we're diving into something quite specific.
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  We're looking at the foundational ideas for, well,
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  for real and lasting change. According to the Bible, the
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  source material we're using, it's all about in depth
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  discipleship, right? And it really contrasts what
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  people naturally try to do on their own versus what God
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  actually provides. It's a a stark difference
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  between human striving and God's enablement.
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  And the framework? The sources often call it
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  Reformed thinking. It sets out a very particular
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  way of looking at life, at conduct.
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  So our job today is to unpack the core arguments here.
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  Why does this view insist that real spiritual change has to be
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  completely God centered? Why are human attempts seen as,
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  well, just not good enough? And what exactly is this
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  necessary first step they talk about?
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  Let's start with the diagnosis, the basic problem according to
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  these sources. OK, yeah.
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  To get why this whole system of change is laid out this way, you
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  first have to understand how the source material views the human
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  condition. It's not seeing people as
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  basically good, but maybe a bit flawed.
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  You know, like a watch running slow.
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  Right, not just needing a minor adjustment.
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  No, it argues the issue is much, much deeper.
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  The spiritual problem that comes from sin.
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  It's described as a state of, well, complete separation from
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  God. Catastrophic separation.
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  That's strong language. It sort of immediately throws
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  out the idea that you can just, you know, try a bit harder or
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  make a few moral tweaks. Exactly.
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  The sources talk about the condition before Christ as one
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  of total inability. When they say someone is
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  hopelessly separated from God and spiritually dead in sin,
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  what does that death actually mean in practical terms?
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  Well, the practical implication is basically functional
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  inability when it comes to spiritual things.
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  Think of it less like being sick and more like the power is just
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  completely cut off. The spiritual engine isn't
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  running. So this spiritual death means a
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  person just can't respond positively to God on their own
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  initiative. They're, in a sense, trapped.
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  Let's maybe list out some of the specific limits that come from
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  this spiritual death, because this is where the teaching gets,
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  well, pretty radical and connects to everyday life.
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  What exactly can't a person do according to this view?
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  The sources lay out a few things that really challenge any sense
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  of self-sufficiency. First it says man is powerless
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  to overcome sins hold on his life.
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  So if sin is like this ruling power, the individual just can't
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  overthrow it by themselves. Can't stage a rebellion against
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  it on their. Own right Second, it says he's
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  unable to understand the things of God.
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  Spiritual truth just seems like nonsense or it's inaccessible.
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  You can't grasp it. Third, and this is really key,
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  he is unable to please God or to walk in his way.
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  Now since God's standard is perfection, alignment with His
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  character, any action that comes from a spiritual dead heart,
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  even actions that look good on the surface are seen as
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  fundamentally flawed because of the self focused driving them.
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  Wait a second, are you saying that even if someone is
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  genuinely trying to be kind, help others live morally, the
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  source material considers that insufficient, maybe even flawed?
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  That seems, well, completely opposite to what most people
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  value. That's actually a central point
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  in this framework. It argues the problem isn't just
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  the outward actions, it's the inner source, the heart's
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  orientation. If the heart is fundamentally
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  turned away from God, then even the best intentioned actions are
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  at the root acts of self-reliance.
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  Trying to earn points or feel good about oneself.
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  Yeah, seeking validation or sense of righteousness from
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  oneself or from others rather than from God.
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  The inability to please God comes from that basic lack of
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  spiritual life and this underlying state of opposition.
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  And it's not just a passive opposition, is it?
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  The sources bring in this idea of active spiritual conflict.
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  The person is described as hostile to God, blinded by
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  Satan, and even held captive to do his will.
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  How does that hostility show up in, say, an ordinary person who
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  might just think of themselves as reasonable, maybe even
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  agnostic? Often the hostility isn't
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  necessarily felt like anger, but it's functional.
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  It's rejecting God's right to rule your life and choosing self
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  rule instead. That's the core of it.
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  And when the sources talk about being blinded by Satan, it means
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  the person can't see the truth or the goodness of the necessity
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  of Christ. So they're sort of captive to
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  follow paths that ultimately go against God's design, whether
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  they recognize it or not. Their default setting is
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  rebellion. So the diagnosis is quite
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  severe. Total inability, spiritual
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  death, active hostility, all set against the backdrop of God's
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  justice. What's the unavoidable outcome
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  of this state according to the material?
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  Well, because God is presented as perfectly just, he has to
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  judge sin. It's part of his nature.
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  So this sinful, hostile, separated state means the person
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  naturally faces God's wrath and judgement.
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  The inevitable end of rebelling against a holy God is
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  condemnation. That's why the problem is framed
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  as so incredibly serious. It has eternal consequences.
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  It does paint a very stark, almost frightening picture,
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  which kind of leads to the question, if the situation is
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  truly that hopeless for the individual, why are we even
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  discussing solutions? Where does God's love come into
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  this picture of divine justice? And this is where the whole
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  narrative shifts focus entirely to God's character.
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  Yes, justice demands judgement for sin, but God is also
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  defined, the sources say, by perfect love and mercy.
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  And they stress that he doesn't want anyone to perish in that
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  state of sin. So he takes the initiative.
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  He actively intervenes and draws people towards the one single
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  solution he's provided for reconciliation.
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  Which is his son. His Son, Jesus Christ.
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  Exactly. And this tension, you know, the
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  absolute seriousness of the sin problem meeting the complete
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  sufficiency of God's solution. That's really what drives this
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  entire way of thinking. Without understanding the depth
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  of the problem, the solution doesn't make much sense or seem
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  necessary. Right.
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  The solution only seems radical if the diagnosis is equally
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  radical. So let's move into that second
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  part. Given this condition of
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  spiritual death we've talked about, the natural human
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  reaction is to try and fix things ourselves, right?
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  To sort out that inner turmoil using our own resources.
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  The source is called this the old self nature.
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  That's the term they use, yes. And its default setting.
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  Its orientation is always always focused on self.
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  This is really where this framework clashes with a lot of
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  modern thinking, isn't it? Because if someone feels unhappy
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  or anxious, the common advice is, you know, look inside, find
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  your strengths, solve it yourself.
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  But these sources say that's exactly the wrong way to go.
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  Why? Well, the argument is that it's
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  like trying to fill a God shaped hole with things centered on the
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  self. It just won't fit.
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  It won't work. Man's natural way of seeking
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  happiness, peace, contentment. It's always geared towards
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  satisfying the self, protecting the self, validating the self.
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  Because the engine is still broken like you said earlier.
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  Exactly. If the underlying spiritual
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  condition is death or separation, then everything
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  produced from that condition will be flawed in some
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  fundamental way. The material actually lists
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  several very specific common human tendencies that define the
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  self orientation things people do all the time.
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  OK, let's unpack that list because it's quite revealing.
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  It says the old self nature tries to please self, comfort
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  self, rely on self, fulfill self, forgive self, exalt self,
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  and love self. I want to pick out two of those,
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  rely on self and forgive self. What do they mean in this
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  theological framework? OK, relying on self is basically
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  the functional denial that you need God.
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  It's operating as if his sovereignty and his provision
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  aren't necessary. It's that feeling of I've got
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  this or I can handle this, whether it's dealing with
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  stress, fixing a relationship, or managing your career, right?
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  Independence, yes. It puts human wisdom, human
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  ability ahead of God's wisdom and God's help.
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  So when things go right, the old self takes the credit.
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  When things go wrong, it might take the blame and get down on
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  itself, but the focus always stays in eternal on the self
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  rather than looking outward to God.
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  OK, that makes sense. But what about forgive self?
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  This one feels particularly challenging.
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  Today we hear so much about self compassion, self forgiveness,
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  being essential for mental health, for moving past
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  mistakes. Why does this source material
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  classify forgiving yourself as part of the flawed old way?
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  It's challenging because the biblical understanding of
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  forgiveness is rooted in something different.
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  It views sin primarily as an offense against a holy God
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  creating a real debt owed to Him, not just a bad feeling
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  inside us. We need to get over well.
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  It's an objective debt, not just a subjective feeling of guilt.
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  That's the idea. So when the old self nature
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  tries to forgive self, it's essentially trying to cancel a
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  debt that only the offended party, God, has the authority to
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  cancel. It's like saying, you know what?
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  I've decided I wasn't really that wrong or I declare myself
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  OK now it. Bypasses the actual offended
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  party. Exactly.
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  It minimizes the seriousness of the sin against God.
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  It lowers the standard of His Holiness, and critically, it
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  dismisses the need for Christ's death as the payment for that
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  sin. It becomes a form of self
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  atonement, trying to fix the unfixable yourself, and
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  biblically that's just impossible.
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  Wow, OK steps in a very different light.
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  The whole system then this old self nature is designed to keep
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  the focus inward on me, myself and I.
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  And the sources claim that inward focus is precisely what
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  the adversary Satan wants. That's the connection they make.
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  This self-centered approach lines up perfectly with Satan's
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  goal. Keep the person absorbed with
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  satisfying self, pleasing self. Thinking about self, esteeming
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  self. Because if you're constantly
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  focused on your own needs, your own achievements, your own
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  comfort. You remain effectively separated
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  from God even if you look OK on the outside.
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  Precisely. The enemy doesn't always need
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  outright fish shaking. Rebellion, sometimes just
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  misdirected worship. Worship of the self is enough to
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  keep someone spiritually stuck. OK.
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  So that's the internal drive. What about the external efforts,
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  the things people consciously do to improve or find answers?
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  You know, philosophy, self help techniques, therapy, even just
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  being really sincere. Why are these human created
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  solutions seen as totally useless for spiritual problems?
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  Well, the core argument is that they only ever address the
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  symptoms, the surface level stuff, the fruit of sin, not the
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  actual root of rebellion against God, right?
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  So man's efforts, even his deepest wisdom, his most complex
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  philosophies, his clever therapeutic methods, his genuine
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  sincerity, his ways of managing people, the sources explicitly
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  call these things foolish and inadequate when it comes to
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  actually knowing God you. Can't use broken tools to fix
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  the engine. You can't use finite, flawed,
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  rebellious human tools to reach or satisfy an infinite holy God.
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  That's the idea. And the rejection of these
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  methods is quite strong. The sources state that man made
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  solutions for problems of the mind, heart and spirit are just
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  unacceptable to God. Why?
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  Because they only deal superficially with the real
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  issues, rebellion and disobedience.
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  Yeah, think of it like this. If your car's engine has
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  completely seized up, you can spend all day washing the
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  outside, polishing the Chrome, vacuuming the carpets.
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  It might look better, but it's not going to.
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  Run. They won't get you anywhere.
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  Right. Human solutions might offer
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  temporary relief from anxiety, or help change a bad habit,
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  maybe make life feel a bit more manageable, but they leave the
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  fundamental problem, that state of rebellion against God,
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  completely untouched. The solutions fail because they
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  don't address the root cause and they don't meet God's standard.
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  And that standard is absolutely non negotiable.
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  The material wraps up this section with a really strong
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  statement. It says any claim to salvation,
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  any claim to spiritual resolution outside of Jesus
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  Christ is like being a thief and a robber.
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  That's incredibly exclusive language.
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  It is. It underscores the idea that
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  there's no mixing and matching allowed.
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  You can't take a bit of human philosophy, add a dash of God's
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  grace, and hope for the best. It's one or the other.
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  According to this framework, yes, the divine plan is
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  presented as entirely exclusive and absolutely necessary because
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  the standard God requires perfection, demands a perfect
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  solution, something no human effort could ever possibly
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  produce. OK, so we've laid out the
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  diagnosis, spiritual death, the trap of self focus, the failure
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  of human solutions. Now let's pivot to God's answer.
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  It starts, you said, with recognizing the huge gap between
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  what God requires and what we can actually do.
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  What is that standard again? The standard is perfection,
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  absolute perfection. God's own holiness requires
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  complete, unbroken perfection in thought, word, action,
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  everything. An.
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  Impossible standard for human. Utterly impossible because of
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  sin. And because of this, a person
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  cannot save themselves. They can't do enough good deeds,
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  they can't be sincere enough, and they can't rely on any other
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  human being to save them either. No one else meets the standard
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  for them. So realizing this forces a
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  necessary conclusion. That you are completely helpless
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  on your own, utterly unable to bridge that gap yourself.
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  And acknowledging that helplessness, that's where the
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  first required action comes in, which the sources call
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  repentance. It's stressed quite a bit.
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  Repentance here means more than just feeling bad, doesn't it?
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  Oh, much more. It's presented as a decisive
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  turn, a change of mind and direction.
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  It means turning away from that self-reliance we talked about,
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  turning away from trying to save yourself or fix yourself, and
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  turning towards the only one who actually can save.
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  So it involves agreeing with God's assessment.
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  Yes, agreeing with God that you are in fact a guilty Sinner
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  according to his is standard and that you are incapable of
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  needing it. It's a surrender of
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  self-sufficiency. And that necessary repentance
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  then opens the door, so to speak, for the unique solution
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  God provided precisely because we couldn't provide it, which is
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  Jesus. He gave his Son Jesus as the
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  only possible answer for this helpless spiritual condition.
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  That's the absolute core of this whole framework.
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  The entire solution rests on what Christ has already done.
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  What did he do, according to the sources?
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  He paid the full price, the complete penalty that God's
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  justice required for sin. He did this by dying on the
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  cross. He took the judgement that we
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  deserved and the proof, the ultimate validation that this
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  sacrifice was sufficient, that it was accepted by God the
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  Father. God raised Jesus physically from
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  the dead. That resurrection is the
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  guarantee. It proves victory over sin and
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  death and secures the way for reconciliation.
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  And how does a person receive this?
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  The mechanism seems radically simple, especially given how
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  complex the problem was. The sources really highlight
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  that salvation is a gift receives by grace through faith,
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  not because of anything we do. So no one can boast.
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  Yeah. Why is that not by works part so
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  critical? It's critical because it ensures
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  all the credit, all the glory goes to God the Redeemer, not to
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  us. If our effort or sincerity or
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  wisdom contributed even a tiny bit to our salvation, we'd have
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  something to be proud of. Wouldn't.
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  We right? Look what I did.
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  Exactly, and that would undermine the sufficiency of
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  what Christ did by making it purely a gift received simply
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  through faith, which is just reliance, trust, dependence on
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  Him. God protects the purity of the
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  redemption and guarantees that it actually works for anyone who
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  believes. OK, so Christ's finished work is
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  the provision. What then is the necessary first
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  step for the listener, for the individual?
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  How does someone actually accept this gift?
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  The action required is the person's definite response to
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  what God has done in Christ, His demonstrated love.
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  It involves first, acknowledging your lost condition without Him,
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  second, genuinely repenting that turning away from sin and
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  self-reliance we discussed, and 3rd, believing.
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  Believing what specifically? Believing wholeheartedly and
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  sincerely on the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting Him, relying on
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  Him. So it's more than just
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  intellectual agreement. Oh yes, it includes sincerely
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  receiving the Lord Jesus Christ into your life, personally
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  welcoming Him as Lord and Savior, and acknowledging that
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  He alone can save you because He alone paid the price and met the
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  standard. It's a transaction of total
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  trust based entirely on faith in Him, not on your feelings or
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  your moral performance. And when someone takes that step
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  in faith, what happens? What's the immediate result?
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  The immediate result is described as regeneration, a
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  spiritual new birth. This isn't just deciding to turn
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  over a new leaf or try harder. The material is claiming A
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  fundamental change happens at the core of your spiritual
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  being. Can you clarify that?
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  What does regeneration actually mean or look like?
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  Does it mean you suddenly become perfect or is it something?
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  Else no, not instant perfection and behavior.
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  It's a radical change in your spiritual nature and crucially
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  your capability. Before the person was
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  spiritually dead, hostile, only capable of sin and self focus.
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  Fundamentally. After regeneration, through
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  faith in Christ, they become a new creation, spiritually alive.
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  They now have the capacity to live in a completely new way,
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  the ability to understand God, to obey Him, to please Him.
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  This capacity is given and empowered by the Holy Spirit
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  living within them. So this new birth sets the
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  believer status. It establishes their position in
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  Christ. What does that position include?
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  It includes being completely forgiven of all sins, past,
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  present and future. It means partaking of God's own
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  divine nature through the Spirit.
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  And it means being rescued, delivered completely from the
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  domain of darkness, from Satan's power.
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  So the old self nature, the one focused on self.
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  It's still there, it's still temps and struggles, but it no
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  longer holds the ruling authority.
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  Its power is broken. The believer is now positioned
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  and empowered for ongoing change, for growth.
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  Which brings us to the last section.
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  How does that change actually continue?
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  Right, sustaining the change. OK, so regeneration happens.
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  The person is made spiritually alive.
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  They have the capacity to change now, but where do they find the
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  instructions, the content for that ongoing change?
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  Because the old self is still whispering its ways.
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  The world is still offering its advice.
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  Yeah, the battle isn't. Over.
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  Not at all. And this framework argues that
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  the process of ongoing spiritual growth called sanctification has
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  to stick to the same principle of divine sufficiency that
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  started salvation. You don't start with God's power
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  and then switch to human effort. So where do we look for God's
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  solutions for the real problems people face day-to-day?
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  Anxiety, anger, selfishness, identity issues.
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  All of it. According to this material, you
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  have to look to the Word of God, the Bible, as the sole and
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  sufficient source. The sources make a very strong
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  claim here. Total sufficiency meaning
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  meaning that God's Word contains everything needed to address and
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  solve all of life's fundamental heart, mind, and spiritual
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  problems. This is a very deliberate, even
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  radical, rejection of the idea that you need to mix biblical
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  truth with secular psychology or worldly philosophy to get real
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  answers for spiritual growth. So the Bible isn't just one
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  resource among many, it's the resource.
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  It's presented as the unique, divinely inspired, fully
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  adequate resource for life and godliness.
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  OK, so if the Bible is the complete map, what's the actual
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  process of using it for growth? How does the disciple put this
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  sufficiency into practice day by day?
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  God's method for continuous change is described as a
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  two-part process happening simultaneously.
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  Really. It's often called putting off
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  the old nature and putting on the new nature.
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  Like taking off dirty clothes and putting on clean ones.
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  That's. The kind of analogy the Bible
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  itself uses. Yeah, it's the daily work,
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  sometimes the hard grind of discipleship.
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  It acknowledges that even though the old nature lost its ruling
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  power at salvation, it's still present and needs to be actively
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  dealt with. It's not eradicated yet.
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  Let's look at the putting off part first.
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  This seems to involve a major mental shift, a transformation
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  in thinking. The sources talk about renewing
• 19:49
  the spirit of your mind and being transformed by the
• 19:52
  renewing of your mind. That sounds like pretty intense
• 19:54
  internal work. It is.
• 19:56
  It's presented as cognitive and spiritual warfare.
• 19:59
  Essentially, renewing your mind means consciously identifying
• 20:03
  and rejecting the thought patterns, the assumptions, the
• 20:05
  desires that come from that old self focused nature.
• 20:08
  How do you do that practically? A key part is taking every
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  thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.
• 20:14
  So when a thought pops up that reflects self-reliance or pride
• 20:18
  or fear based on circumstances rather than God's promises, the
• 20:22
  renewed mind has to intentionally challenge that
• 20:24
  thought and replace it with truth from Scripture,
• 20:27
  redirecting the focus back to Christ and His standard.
• 20:30
  It sounds like it requires constant vigilance and frankly,
• 20:33
  self denial. Absolutely.
• 20:34
  The sources are clear. Spiritual growth involves
• 20:37
  denying self and following Jesus daily.
• 20:40
  It means actively laying aside the practices of that old self
• 20:43
  nature. So rejecting those those very
• 20:45
  things we listed earlier, the drive to please self, comfort
• 20:48
  self, forgive self in that unbiblical way.
• 20:50
  That's exactly right. It requires A continuous,
• 20:52
  deliberate turning away from self-centered approaches and
• 20:55
  choosing God centered ones instead.
• 20:58
  The disciple has changed fundamentally, not by therapy or
• 21:02
  philosophy alone, but by consistently taking in and
• 21:05
  applying the Word of God. And the proof of that change?
• 21:09
  It's seen in obedience. Obedience driven by love.
• 21:12
  Faithful and loving obedience to God's Word.
• 21:14
  That's the evidence that transformation is actually
• 21:16
  happening. So this whole process really
• 21:18
  boils down to a complete shift in life's purpose, doesn't it?
• 21:21
  Yeah. If the old self live for self,
• 21:24
  what's the goal of God's plan for the believer?
• 21:26
  The goal is making Christ absolutely central.
• 21:29
  The sources emphasize that the disciple is now to live for him,
• 21:32
  not for self. The main question changes.
• 21:35
  It's no longer how can I be happy or how can I feel
• 21:38
  fulfilled, but rather but rather how can I honor God in this
• 21:41
  situation? How can I please my Savior right
• 21:43
  now? Your whole existence gets
• 21:45
  reoriented around reflecting God's glory and His work in your
• 21:48
  life, not just satisfying your own desires or ambitions.
• 21:52
  And living for him, you said, has an observable result, a
• 21:57
  final marker of genuine growth. What's the ultimate proof that
• 22:01
  this God centered change is taking root in someone's life?
• 22:04
  The ultimate mark, according to this material, is being
• 22:07
  empowered by the Spirit to genuinely practice biblical
• 22:10
  love. And that means love as the Bible
• 22:12
  defines it. Sacrificial, putting others
• 22:15
  first. Action oriented, focused outward
• 22:18
  toward God and toward your neighbor.
• 22:20
  Not the inward focused, self gratifying version the old
• 22:23
  nature pushes for. Exactly.
• 22:25
  When a person starts to truly love others in that biblical
• 22:28
  self giving way, it's presented as clear evidence that they've
• 22:31
  been spiritually regenerated and are living as a true disciple of
• 22:34
  Christ. That's the goal.
• 22:36
  OK, so let's try and sum this up.
• 22:37
  What we've looked at today is a really integrated step by step
• 22:41
  understanding of spiritual life drawn from these sources.
• 22:44
  Yeah, it starts with a frankly shocking diagnosis of total
• 22:47
  human inability. It completely rejects all self
• 22:50
  help or self focused solutions as inadequate.
• 22:53
  It points exclusively to the unique finished work of Christ's
• 22:55
  sacrifice as the only sufficient answer.
• 22:58
  And then it defines the ongoing process discipleship as this
• 23:02
  life of rigorous Bible based self denial, mental renewal and
• 23:08
  obedience all centered on living for God, not self.
• 23:11
  That's a good summary and the core take away the foundational
• 23:14
  lesson from this kind of biblical self confrontation is
• 23:17
  really this. Yes, you can change biblically.
• 23:20
  Real, lasting change is possible, but.
• 23:23
  There's a condition. A big one.
• 23:25
  It's only possible if you begin with and continually rely
• 23:28
  entirely upon God's provision in Christ.
• 23:32
  The moment you try to mix in human substitutes, whether it's
• 23:34
  relying on your own intellect or psychological techniques apart
• 23:37
  from Scripture, or just your own sincerity and effort, you'll
• 23:39
  fall short because those things just don't fix the root problem
• 23:43
  of spiritual death and rebellion.
• 23:45
  We spent quite a bit of time unpacking the flaws of that old
• 23:47
  self nature, especially how it always seeks self comfort, self
• 23:51
  protection, self exaltation. You mentioned its tendency to
• 23:55
  try and forgive self, to kind of let itself off the hook,
• 23:58
  minimize its failures without really dealing with God's
• 24:01
  standard of holiness. Yes, that bypassing of God.
• 24:03
  So here's something for you, the listener to think about if the
• 24:06
  old nature. Wants to forgive itself.
• 24:08
  What does genuine daily repentance, turning from sin and
• 24:11
  relying on God's actual forgiveness through Christ.
• 24:14
  Look like especially. When you're facing those
• 24:17
  ordinary everyday frustrations and.
• 24:18
  Failures. How does?
• 24:20
  Relying on his forgiveness instead of trying to generate
• 24:22
  your own change how you handle messing up day-to-day.
• 24:26
  That may be a practical way to reflect.
• 24:28
  On this God centered. Framework for life and change.