The Cause of Problems
Les D. Crause
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ife never goes the way we want it to. It is always filled with problems of different kinds. For the Christian, there is the blessed hope that one day we will spend eternity in the presence of the Lord, in a place where the problems of life no longer exist. But until that time, our years on this earth are filled with difficulties. Yet we do not have to accept these things as being our lot in life. We do not have to live with these problems. Because God has given us ways of overcoming problems.

In this study I am going to look first at the basic cause of problems in our lives. I am going identify some general principles to look for as well as some more detailed things you can examine to see what is causing your own problems. And as our source we are going to use the most important thing that God has given us to identify and deal with problems. That is of course His Word, the Scriptures or the Holy Bible as it is also known.

When we have finished looking at what causes our problems, then I will take another study to discuss how we can go about overcoming our problems. In these two studies we are not going to deal with specific problems. Rather I am going to look at problems in general. Because after all, no matter what your problem, the root cause is basically the same in every case. And the way to victory also follows a similar course in every case.

Once you have seen the basic causes and basic solutions to all problems, you will be in a better position to tackle the specific problems that you are facing right now. And we will not leave you hanging alone trying to solve them. We will be providing you with a detailed study on all of the main problems that we face in life. But first you must build a foundation. And that is what these two studies are about.

Flesh versus Spirit

Before I go into detail with this, I want you to look at a very important passage of Scripture. It is Galatians 5:16-25

 

16 [This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the desires of the flesh.
17 For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you want.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And those that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

What did Paul mean when he used the terms "Flesh" and "Spirit?" This is a subject that Christians often disagree over. But I would like to explain it to you in very simple terms. To understand this, you will need to take a look at how God made man a tripartite being, having spirit, soul and body. I have covered some of this elsewhere, so I am not going to repeat the facts here. What I am going to do though, is to give you a quick summary of how God made us, and how each part of our being works together to make up what we become in life.

Man’s Nature

God made man with three basic parts to his being. Each of these in turn has an additional three functions. As each part works together with the others, the functions in each part complement each other and work together to make us into what we are in life. We will look at each part separately and see what the functions are and how they work. Then we will see how they react together.

The Spirit of Man

The spirit of man was created when God breathed into him the breath of life. Gen 2:7

 

7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Man’s spirit is the part of him that came from God and has God’s nature. It is the only part that is capable of communicating with God. It is what makes man God-conscious. It is also the part that shows man how he should live according to God’s pattern. To help man do this, the spirit has three functions as follows,

Conscience

Man’s conscience is a kind of in built sin alarm system. It warns him when he is doing wrong by creating bad feelings and makes him feel good when he is doing right. It is an internal regulator of man’s behavior.

Intuition

Contrary to popular belief, this is not only found in women. It is an ability of the spirit of man to truly ‘know’ things. It shows itself by an inner confidence that has been called by various terms such as ‘hunch’ or ‘gut feeling.’ It is an inner voice that guides us in life.

Communion

Only man’s spirit is capable of communicating with another spirit, and specifically with God, who is a Spirit. This is the part of man that enables him to worship God and sense the presence of God. It also enables him to sense other spirits.

The Soul of Man

The soul is the part of man that makes up his personality. It is the part of him that is self-conscious. It appears to be the control tower in man, because it contains amongst other things, the will. But there are actually three functions in the soul also

Mind

The mind is the area where the thoughts are. This is not the brain, but the inner thoughts of a person’s heart. It is the seat of all intellect and the place where a person visualizes things.

Emotions

Although some seem to show them more than others, emotions are a part of every person’s soul. This is simply the area where desires and feelings come from. It is a very strong influence in most things we do in life.

Will

This is simply man’s ability to choose for himself. It is a very important area, and one that is involved in everything we do. It is this part that controls our body and makes it do things.

The Body of Man

Our body is the part of us that communicates with the world around us. It is the part that makes us world conscious. It receives information via the 5 senses that gets passed down to the soul and spirit. But the body also has three functions that are quite distinct.

Self Support or Nourishment

The body supports itself through nourishment and self-support. It is natural for us to want to eat and drink and keep our bodies healthy. You don’t have to tell your body to do this. It soon reminds you if you forget.

Self Protection or Defense

The body protects itself from harm by fighting disease and shielding itself from injury. When you come under physical attack you automatically defend yourself or protect yourself.

Self Propagation or Reproduction

The body is designed to reproduce itself. This is a natural process that takes places without any effort. In fact the passions are so strong that it is inevitable that reproduction takes place.

So you have then in a nutshell, the nature of man. But although we have three parts to our being, we are still only one person. You cannot touch one part of a person without affecting the other parts. They all work together. But the way the work together and respond to each other is going to determine what kind of life you live.

God’s Order for Man

Since the spirit of man is the part that is closer to God it stands to reason that God’s perfect design was for the spirit of man to be in control. This is how He made Adam and Eve. They were to live under the control of their spirits. The spirit then influences the soul and the soul in turn controls the behavior of the body. In the end the whole person is somehow coming under the influence of God, through his spirit.

When Satan came to tempt Eve to take of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he caused her to violate God’s order. This is a complete study in itself that I have also covered elsewhere so I am just going to mention briefly what happened. When Eve took the forbidden fruit, she violated her spirit, and caused her body to take control over her soul instead. She reversed God’s order. And Adam did the same.

From then on Adam and Eve lived lives that were controlled from the outside instead of from the inside. Instead of letting their spirit, under God, control them, they let their body, under the influence of the world around them, control them.

The immediate result of this reversed way of living was that problems began to appear in their lives that were not there before. The first thing they began to feel was fear and embarrassment. They hid from each other behind fig leaves, and they hid from God. In the process of time many other things began to appear. Every single problem that they faced came directly as a result of this violation of God’s order in their lives.

There are many other things involved, but I want to start by looking at these two orders in a person’s life, and how the changing of the order leads to different effects. The one leads to problems in life. The other leads to victory and the solution of problems.

Roots and Fruits

To help you understand the two ways of living I want to use the growing of a fruit tree as a picture. I want you to see several things that are involved in growing a tree, and I want to look at each part of the tree. We will look at it under these headings,

In this study I am going to look at what happens when a person lives a life that is contrary to God’s order. Paul called this ‘Walking in the Flesh.’ We will see how this affects each part of our being, and leads to all the problems we experience in life. In the next study we will consider the Scriptural alternative, which is ‘Walking in the Spirit.’ This is the key to solving all problems in life.

Tree of the Flesh

 

The Soil

The soil is of course the flesh, or more specifically Walking in the Flesh. Let’s see what Walking in the Flesh means. This is a subject that is misunderstood by many Christians and caused them to live lives that are either unstable and insecure, or totally self-oriented and legalistic. Every person who is born in this world, is born in the condition that Adam and Eve had after they sinned. This means that we are born with a tendency to let our bodies control us rather than our spirits.

This situation of living under the control of the body is known as "Living in the Flesh." It means being in a situation where the bodily desires are always in control. This is how all who do not know the Lord and have not been born again by the Spirit live their lives. They are in a condition called by various theological terms such as Original Sin or Total Depravity. Basically it means they have a sinful tendency that is built into them.

But when a person is born again a change takes place. I will deal with this in more detail in the next study on the Solution to Problems, but it means that the believer is no longer "Living in the Flesh." Paul tells us this in Romans 8:9

 

Romans 8: 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness.

The believer is in actual fact "Living in the Spirit" but that does not mean that he is not able to also "Walk in the Flesh." This is why Paul says in the first passage we looked at in Galatians 5

 

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

The problems of life in a believer come when that person walks in the flesh instead of in the Spirit. It causes this Tree of the Flesh that we are talking about to grow.

The Roots

The Tree of the Flesh, like any natural tree, needs roots to grow, and these roots are deeply embedded in the soil of the Flesh. It is very easy to see these roots. You can identify them without even looking at the Scriptures or the principles I will show you shortly. You just need to look at what motivates the world, and you will see them. Just take a look at an evening of television, or pick up a worldly novel and you will see very clearly that the whole world revolves around three basic motivations, which are the roots of the flesh.

They are of course Bitterness, Lust and Covetousness. You will find that the most popular TV programs have all of these in them. You will find murder and hatred central to most programs. Then comes sex and everything that goes with it. And of course there is Fortune and Fame. Money lies at the root of this one, although Fame and recognition are the main motivation.

Now let’s see what causes these things to rise up when a person lives or walks in the Flesh. Remember that the body has three main functions which are totally natural and have been built in to keep the body healthy. When these natural desires are controlled and subject to God they are never a problem. But when they go out of control and are allowed to dominate a person’s life, then the three roots are immediately obvious.

The natural desire for self- preservation becomes more than defense. It becomes hatred and aggression. It becomes the root of bitterness. The natural desire for reproduction, in the marriage relationship as God intended is something beautiful and a blessing. But out of control, it leads to all sorts of lustful and sinful behavior. And of course the natural desire for self-support and nourishment becomes a greed for possessions and position.

Because these roots are so clear and obvious it now becomes very easy to trace problems in the spiritual life back to them. Since all problems come from walking in the flesh, and since the flesh is controlled by three root causes, it stands to reason that every problem we face in life can be traced back to one or more of these root causes. That makes diagnosis pretty simple. But of course diagnosis does not mean the problem is solved. You need to know how to overcome these roots before you can solve your problem.

The Branches

The problem with roots is that they are usually underground where no one can see them. But you can see the outgrowth of the roots. You can see the tree and its branches. And of course you can also see the fruit that is produced. Paul gave us a list of what to expect when the tree of the Flesh is growing in a person’s life. He gave us quite a detailed list of some of the branches that grow from the flesh. Let’s just look at his list again. You will see that each of these can be directly linked to one or more of the roots.

The list of the works of the flesh shows us some of the behavior that can be found in people who are walking in the flesh. Many of these might seem to be severe and the kind of things you would not expect to see in the life of a believer. But don’t ever underestimate the power of the flesh. The moment you begin to walk in the flesh, you predispose yourself to some of these behavior patterns.

Having had many years of experience in ministry and counseling people, I have come to the place where nothing can shock me any more concerning people who are born again, and yet still walk in the flesh. The flesh manifests its evil in all who let it control their lives. And although believers do not need to allow this in their lives, it does still happen when they fail to walk according to God’s pattern.

The Fruits

I would like to compare the fruits of the tree to those things that manifest themselves in a person walking in the flesh. I am not talking about behavior here so much as the things that we normally consider counseling problems and needs. For example, depression is not listed as a work of the flesh, yet it manifests as a problem in those who walk in the flesh. Things such as inferiority, guilt, fear, worry etc are some of the things that arise as problems in a person walking in the flesh.

What we are looking at in fact is not so much the outward manifestation of the flesh in a person’s physical actions, but the effects in their soul. For the believer, he knows that the works of the flesh are wrong and might refrain from outward sinful behavior. But he struggles with the effects of the flesh in his soul and spirit. It is the pressures that come upon the mind, emotions and will that make life difficult and lead people to come for counsel.

When a person walks in the flesh, they block the beneficial effects of their spirit and deny their soul what it needs to function efficiently. This causes a conflict to take place inside the soul. And when that happens, happiness goes out the window, and life becomes miserable and difficult to bear. These are the true problems that a person faces.

The World’s Approach

Now that we have seen what really causes problems in a person’s life, we need to consider what is being taught in the world and why the Christian should be very careful about accepting help from the world system for problems that are spiritual in nature. We will be discussing the World’s system of solving problems in detail in our next study on The Solution to Problems, so I am just going to mention here how the world views the cause of problems.

The Medical Approach

Man tends to see everything from a physical viewpoint, so the world always sees problems as being physical in origin. Since sickness and disease attack us from the outside and we are victims of these things, they see problems in the same way. So they come to the following conclusions.

So you can see that the world does not have clue concerning problems. That is because they are blind to all spiritual truth. And because they reject the Word of God, that teaches them that they are sinners, they have also rejected the only place where they can find the true solutions to life’s problems.

The Psychological Approach

The field of psychology has grown phenomenally in recent years.  Now every behavior pattern is explained in terms of Psychology.  But once again the same basic conclusion is arrived at.  Man is considered a victim and cannot be held responsible for his behavior.  It is all an attempt at rejecting the clear teaching of God's Word, which makes man responsible for his actions.  It rejects the only true cause of all problems that man can face.  The dirty 'S-Word.'

SIN