If I Still Experience Same-Sex Attraction, Will I be Ready for Jesus to Return?

Have you ever wondered any of the following questions?

"Will my depression go away by the time of the latter rain, and if it doesn't does that mean I haven't been faithful to Christ and I'm being sifted out? What about my same sex attraction, or my persistent feelings that feel just like jealousy or anger?"

When a person is fully changed into Christ's image at the time of the latter rain, will they still experience these feelings, or will they finally be free of it at that time? Will there be some people whose characters are fully formed into Christ's image who still have depression, or is that not possible?"

We need to talk about the difference between nature and character in order to answer this question.

Having a Fallen Nature, Sinning, and Being Sinful are Three Different Things
Let's talk about what it means to have a sinful nature vs. having sinned, or possessing a sinful character. These are all actually three different concepts, and it's in the conflating of the three that someone can run into dangerous territory, including some false ideologies that have lead some people to conclude they were lost and hopeless, from what were purely biological conditions, and were not actually sin at all.

This is of course the last thing we want to see happen. The Word of God is one's safeguard against ideologies that paint a person into a hopeless corner without solutions. The truth reveals no such corner exists, for God has promised forgiveness of sin and victory to every person who comes to Him.

Is sin biological? Can we be a sinner simply by having a sinful nature?

Did Adam Pass Sin Down to Us?

Is sin genetic; did Adam pass down sin to the human race? While unfortunately it is all too common for people to believe that sin is genetic; it's actually not. Some people seem to have the idea that anything destructive, harmful, out-of-alignment with God's plans and designs is sin. While many of those things are closely rated to sin, can accompany sin and are the result of sin, those things are not synonymous with sin.

The Bible gives us the definition of sin. As we talked about in the article "What is Sin?" sin is the transgression of the moral law.

"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."

1 John 3:4

There are two main points summed up in the word 'transgression.' They are both found in the Bible verse in James 4:17. The first is that one must know what the right thing to do is, and intentionally choose to neglect that right thing, or do something that goes against that right thing in order to be sinning.

A fallen nature does not fit that definition. The two components of agency and knowledge of right and wrong are not both present in a fallen nature.

In a fallen nature one has knowledge of right and wrong, but they have not used their agency to do wrong things. They merely have a fallen nature; they have not sinned. Until of course they commit their first sin. And then they have sin on their record, and they have a record of wrong-doing before God. Is it at this point that their whole nature becomes corrupt, and they can be said to be sinful.

Sin Nature vs. Fallen Nature
I think much of this confusion of thinking we are automatically sinners just due to our nature is perpetuated by a misunderstanding of the term 'sin nature' or 'sinful nature', which by its name seems to mean that it is our nature itself that is sinful, thus since we possess a human nature right from conception as we are human beings at that time, people conclude we must be sinners from the point where our nature comes into existence.

Sin nature is used synonymously with fallen nature, thus many people conclude that our nature at conception is not just fallen but also sinful.

This is not the case though. It is not until a baby is conscious enough to think its first sinful thought that the nature of the baby becomes corrupted morally and the baby is then sinful in character. Until that happens the baby has a fallen nature but not a sinful one.

But Didn't David Say He Was Sinful Since His Mother Conceived Him?

At this point in the article some of my readers may be thinking "But isn't there that verse in the scriptures where David says he was sinful since his mother conceived him?"

Let's take a look at that verse...

Psalm 51:5

Strong's Hebrew English Morphology

2005 [e] הֵן־

hên- Behold Interjection

5771 [e] בְּעָו֥וֹן

bə-‘ā-wō-wn in iniquity Prep-b | N-cs

2342 [e] חוֹלָ֑לְתִּי

ḥō-w-lā-lə-tî; I was brought forth V-Pual-Perf-1cs

2399 [e] וּ֝בְחֵ֗טְא

ū-ḇə-ḥêṭ, and in sin Conj-w, Prep-b | N-ms

3179 [e] יֶֽחֱמַ֥תְנִי

ye-ḥĕ-maṯ-nî conceived me V-Piel-Perf-3fs | 1cs

517 [e] אִמִּֽי׃

’im-mî. my mother

In the original Hebrew language the wording is that he was "brought forth" in iniquity, and "in sin my mother conceived me". Nowhere in the text does it say David was sinful as an embryo that had just formed when his father's sperm met his mother's egg. The subject of who is sinful is his mother, not him. It says his mother was sinful and he was conceived "in sin". This makes sense. It's a reference to being born into a world where everyone sins and no one is righteous. Every act we do in this world is stained by our sinfulness. We don't think any perfectly pure thought, we don't engage in any actions done perfectly or with perfect motives. So even the act that produced his conception - even though it was between a married couple and it wasn't fornication - was not a perfectly sinless one, neither was his mother a perfect being, but she was a sinner.

But since sin is a transgression, David could not have sinned as an embryo, before his brain had developed enough to have will and agency, before conscious thought emerged.

A Verse That Does Show Babies Sin, But Not at Conception, Some Time After That

A better verse to use to show that babies can sin is Psalm 51:5, which is the original Hebrews clearly states that:

"Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies."

If you look into the original Hebrew language, birth is specifically mentioned. Unlike Psalm 51:5 which mentions sin at conception but links it to the mother and not the embryo, this verse in Psalm 58:3 links the "going astray" and the "spreading lies" with the baby in the womb and at birth.

This tells us that it is by the age of birth - or perhaps a short time before that - that people sin their first sin and "go astray".

This lines up with what is known in neuroscience about the brain of babies at each stage of development in the womb. At conception there is no brain activity, but at 9 months old or at birth, the baby is thinking conscious thoughts, and responding to its mothers voice, kicking and making conscious movements. They have a very basic, rudimentary knowledge of right and wrong at this age.

And so the Bible is telling us here that as soon as a basic knowledge of right and wrong is present, people give in to their predisposition to do sinful acts, brought about by their fallen nature and their disconnect from Christ, and they sin their first sin. It's then that a person becomes a sinner, not before this.

We see John the Baptist express a personality and show agency as a 6 month old in the womb. He leaps for joy when in the Presence of the Messiah...

"For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy."

Luke 1:44

And the Bible tells us he was filled with the Holy Spirit since before his birth

"...for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb." - Luke 1:15

Notice that it doesn't say John would be filled with the Holy Spirit at conception. It says it would happen sometime when he was in his mother's womb. At conception an embryo doesn't have consciousness to respond to the Holy Spirit, but at 6 months old - the time when baby John clearly responded favorably to the Holy Spirit's conviction that he was in the presence of the Messiah - neuroscience does back up the idea that a baby in the womb is conscious and has a personality and a will. Babies born prematurely at this age can even survive outside of the womb.

When John reached the age when he could understand basic right and wrong, he clearly chose the right! However, of course he was still a sinner and it was at this point that he sinned his first sin.

So we don't know the exact age babies in the womb are when they can think their first sinful thought and have their first sinful desires, but we know it is by 6 months old, and as soon as they are able to think we all sin our first sin.

It is then we have a record of guilt before God, that we all fall under the power of death, and that we then have a sinful character.

What Does it Mean to Have a Sinful Character?

A fallen nature means we have a predisposition or tendency to be attracted towards sin. It doesn't mean we're yet guilty. An embryo at conception has a fallen nature, before they have consciousness and agency.

Some other words that describe our nature besides fallen are a malfunctioning nature, or a nature subject to death.

The Bible says the world became subject to decay when God cursed the world as punishment for Adam's sin.

"For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God."
Romans 8:20-21

Mental conditions, such as same sex attraction, biochemical depression, or dysregulated feelings like persistent feelings of jealousy or anger, are conditions of the body. They happen because there is now malfunction in the physical world, including our physical bodies.

Medical interventions can help! Julia Ross has a book called the Mood Cure, that goes into depth on what she calls 'false moods' which are aberrant moods that come over a person due to imbalances in neurotransmitters. She suggests treating these moods with amino acids. I did her protocol and it was a game-changer for me in lifting depression and lowering my strange moods and perceptions I'd been experiencing that felt surreal and out of place.

Moods and feelings can never be sin. Biochemical things cannot be sin. As explained in the article "What is Sin?" and mentioned here too, sin has only one definition in the entire Bible "the transgression of the law." It is therefore attitudes, thoughts, and actions which can be sins.

Feeling depressed is not a sin. But choosing to doubt that God loves you, this is a sin. Feeling a feeling we've come to associated with jealousy is not a sin, but choosing to have an attitude of jealousy towards a friend who has an easier marriage than you is a sin.

After a baby commits its first rudimentary sin, it no longer just has sinful inclinations, it is now a sinner, and it has a sinful character.

To have a sinful character means the person is sinful. When there were only inclinations towards sinful actions the person's character was pure, but once they commit their first sin they now are impure as a person. Sin is now within the person.

We know what sin is, but what is being sinful, and how is this different from sin. Sin – a moral transgression – is a noun and a verb. But being sinful is an adjective. They are related concepts but they are not exactly the same thing.

The only way to be sinful is to have sinned. We are not sinful at conception, because we have not yet sinned. We become sinful after we commit our first sin, and it is the act of committing that first sin that makes us sinful.

As we go through life and sin more and more, these sinful acts harden our hearts and change our character so that we become more sinful.

'Sinful' is a state of being. While no one has sinned by simply being and existing...yet if they sit there long enough they will eventually sin in their thoughts...simply existing is not sinning.

However, once one has sinned, they are now sinful even while sitting there. Sin is now in the character and they are it. They are sinful as a person. And it is a very personal problem, which is why it brings so much misery to a person.

Many believe that sinfulness can be passed down from Adam, but this is not true. To become sinful, or to possess sinfulness, one must have sinned. So before we commit our first sin we cannot be sinful, as we are not yet sinners at that point.

Sinful Nature in the Bible
At first I though the term "sinful nature" was in the Bible in several passages. But when I looked them up in the Greek it translated to "in my flesh", not "sinful nature."
“For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature... For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”
Romans 7:18

I looked into the original Greek language for this verse, and it actually just says “in my flesh” there dwells no good thing. It doesn't say “sinful nature”.

And similarly the other verse that in English is translated “sinful nature” is also “flesh” in the Greek. This is Romans 7:25.

"Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature [in my flesh in the Greek] a slave to the law of sin."

I could not find the term “sinful nature” or “sin nature” in the Bible.

Sin Nature an Invented Term Like Trinity
So this a term that Christians have adopted to convey Bible concepts; it's not directly in the Bible. There's nothing wrong with this of course. Our use of the term Trinity, while not in the Bible certainly makes it easier to refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together without needing to be lengthy and mention them all by name each time we refer to them.

While the term 'Trinity' is not in the Bible, the doctrine of the trinity – or three eternal united divine persons – certainly is!

But the doctrine of the 'sin nature' – meaning a nature that is sinful before we are old enough to commit our first sin, a nature that is inherently sinful by virtue of our faulty DNA – this is not a biblical concept.

After we sin our first sin, the term 'sin nature' becomes accurate. But before we sin that first sin we have a 'fallen' nature, but not a 'sinful' one.

More Correct to Refer to Our Nature at Conception as 'Fallen' Rather than 'Sinful'
It is really much more correct to refer to our nature as a fallen nature – meaning the same way Adam's sin caused the whole world to malfunction and caused the animals to have propensities to kill one another, it gives people wrong inclinations too at the genetic level, but it doesn't make our nature sinful. We become sinful in nature when we give in to those fallen inclinations and start thinking our first selfish thoughts. Now we have sinned, we are a sinner, we are sinful as a person in character, and our nature is a sinful nature.
An embryo in the womb has a fallen nature, not a sinful nature.

Personally, I've actually used the term 'sinful nature' synonymously with 'fallen nature' for many years because to me it just meant the same thing. The same way we might say cancer and hurricanes exist in this world because we live in a sinful or fallen world – and we don't see the world as being the sinner when we call it 'sinful'...this is how I used the term sinful nature when referring to babies in the womb who were not old enough to understand right from wrong.

But since starting my online ministry and coming in contact with many, many Christians who really do believe we are sinners at conception, I'm changing my terminology so as not to be confusing, and to be as clear as possible, and I now refer to babies in the early stages of development as possessing a fallen nature, not a sinful nature.

What Would it Mean if Sin Were Genetic?

Think about it...if sin could be passed down, what would the implications of that be? It takes both the bite and the guilt out of sin. It makes sin out to be morally neutral, like cancer or diabetes; it becomes a condition and not a chosen act. It takes away the dimension of guilt with sin, and makes it out to not be a personal act of evil towards God. It makes it impersonal.

In reality sin is the exact opposite of morally neutral. In fact the Bible specifically calls sin 'wrongdoing.' In the book of First John we read that “All wrongdoing is sin". (1 John 5:17)

Not only would it take the bite out of actual sin people are choosing to do, but it would also mean that if you inherited same sex attraction due to faulty genes, and then stressors in your life such as abuse or getting Lyme disease turned on the expression of those genes and you began experiencing same sex attraction...then you would be guilty of sin for having the attraction.

This is a dangerous lie that has in the past taken lives, with some people who suffered with gay attraction concluding they were an immoral monster for having these attractions, and attributing guilt to themselves for them. They concluded they were hopelessly sinful and took their own lives.

This view of sin being anything other than the willful chosen transgression of the moral law is a very dangerous one, that doesn't allow true sinners to see their need for repentance, or people struggling with a condition that is biological and biochemical to see their innocence.

So What Did Adam Pass Down to Us Then?
From this question it becomes clear that Adam didn't pass down sins to us. He passed down something else. What was it that got passed down to all people? The malfunctioning nature; the predisposition and inclinations towards sinful things. The malfunction the animals and all of creation experience that made the world a "fallen world", is actually the same condition people find themselves in. Before the fall animals were harmonious and harmless; after the fall they were oriented towards harm and violence. The same thing happened in the nature of human beings. Our brain, desires, and biochemistry are now oriented wrongly. An orientation that is out of alignment with God's original design is not sin...It is only if that orientation is acted upon with moral knowledge and agency that it becomes sin.

Sin is Inevitable
Sometimes when I explain that sin is a willful transgression people take it to mean that I don't believe sin is inevitable for every person, and that someone could potentially choose not to sin in this life and go through life a spotless, unstained individual. Such a belief would go directly contrary to the gospel and to Jesus being the only spotless one and has blasphemous implications. I am not saying this at all! Sin is absolutely inevitable for fallen people. The Bible says "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Everyone with a fallen nature will sin. But this doesn't mean that sin and a fallen nature are the same thing; they are distinctly different concepts. And it's important we differentiate between the two, or tragedies like Christians with same sex attraction committing suicide can occur, as well as a whole host of other things. A right understanding of sin is foundational to what Christianity is, and differentiates it from false religions. We cannot even repent and be converted without knowing what sin is and that we've sinned and are in need of a Savior, thus a wrong definition of sin will interfere with living a life of holiness.

The Bible explains how when and how we all became sinners. While our world was a fallen - or malfunctioning - world due to Adam's sin which altered our inclinations, we were not under God's wrath merely by being conceived in a fallen world.

The explains the process this way "...sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—"

Romans 5:12

Notice it doesn't say "death came to all men because we inherited sin." Or..."death came to all men because we had Adam's fallen DNA"...or "Death came to all men because we were all born of sinful parents." No! It says death came to all men because "all sinned".

While it was possible for an unfallen Adam to choose of his own will to not eat the forbidden fruit and sin, since we are born with a fallen nature inclined towards sin, we all go the natural way of our inclinations.

Contrast this with Christ who was born with a fallen nature, but because He was divine could resist that fallen nature and not sin. We cannot do that. We are not gods. Thus we go the natural way of our fallen nature and commit our first sin.

It is at our first sin that we became sinners (I know this probably sounds redundant but a lot of people believe that one can become a sinner before having actually sinned!), that we fall under the power of death, that we incur guilt before God, and that we now have a record of wrongdoing before God that only a Savior can forgive and erase.

When are We Promised a New Nature?
So what is promised by the process of sanctification? Right before Jesus comes the latter rain will be poured out upon everyone who is breaking up the fallow ground of their heart, parting with sins, and getting right with God and their fellow man. This latter rain will grow up the characters of God's people to the fullness of Christ. They will part with all sin and be spotless when Jesus comes for them a short time later.

In these promises about the latter rain God tells us He will give us a perfect character. He does not say our whole nature will be transformed; only the part of our nature where our character resides. We will still tire. We will not bodies or minds that work perfectly like Adam's did before sin. Thus all the conditions related to our nature we may still have at that time. Someone could have depression in their mood, but they would not allow their mood to move them to actually doubt God in their minds. A person who has alcoholic genes may crave alcohol, but they will not allow that craving to move them to drink alcohol. A person may have same sex attraction but they will not allow this inclination to bloom into fantasizing or acting out this inclination.

The Need for Glorification
People suffer from all kinds of mental inclinations now that will be gone forever when we are given new bodies and brains at the Second Coming. We have a very real need for glorification.

The need for glorification is a big one. People tend to forget that we can't have total fulfillment and joy in this world as long as we are in our earthly bodies. Satan often tempts people with worldly plans and aspirations, promising fulfillment in this world. Along with the fact that selfish ambition and selfish pleasure is a sin and can never satisfy for that reason (it brings us great guilt which destroys happiness), we also forget basic things like the fact that our brains aren't even capable of taking in and understanding the wonder in the world the way they were created to, and the world itself is degraded from its original beauty. Our dopamine receptors aren't capable of generating and processing pleasure the way Adam and Eve originally were. The truth is, due to our earthly bodies affected by sin, we are missing out in every way in this life. Not only in spiritual matters like lacking peace if we engage in unrepentant sin, but also physically we can't experience the pleasure or biochemical joy that Adam's perfect brain before sin could experience.

Those of us with biochemical depression may feel strong feelings of shame and a feeling of hatred for our bodies. Not because of any sins we've done - we may be right with God - but just due to biochemical imbalances. Histamine toxicity can bring on these strong feelings of being dirty and shameful. Supplements to lower histamine and seeing Functional Medicine doctors can reduce or alleviate this suffering. And we should seek to reduce suffering whenever possible. But the fact remains we will suffer in this world in some ways due to our earthly bodies.

Those with OCD are troubled by the images, even after they come to realize they can have this condition and still be right with God. They don't want to see those images pop into their minds. Those with gay attraction don't want to be tempted by this unholy desire all through their lives.

These are types of suffering that our glorified bodies will take away. In this world we can be holy in heart if we obey and follow Christ. This will alleviate the suffering of sin and guilt, the actual state of being in the wrong and carrying one's guilt. Then our glorified bodies given to us at the end of time will alleviate the suffering of things like feelings of guilt and shame, hallucinations, uncontrollable compulsions, and other mental illness symptoms, along with all physical symptoms as well. We will enjoy the benefits of eternal youth, a brain that can delve far and wide into Christ's character of mercy and justice, and His eternal law and understand these deep truths with a far greater understanding than we are now capable of, and without any cognitive distortions or errors in thought processing that we experience today.

What You're Really Fighting
When someone with same sex attraction is tempted to lust after someone of the same sex, what they are really being tempted to do is to give in to the inclination. In a perfect person at the end of time who is still in a body that has distorted physical desires and perceptions, the person will not have any desire to give in to the same sex desire. Satan will have nothing in them, as he had nothing in Christ. There will be no part of their character that will want to give in to those temptations. The same will be true of a man with heterosexual desires at the end of time who has a perfect character. While his body will still be sexually attracted to women, he will have nothing in his character that wants to give in to that desire.

The battle against sin is not in our body or the parts of our nature not directly involved in character. It is in our character.

The Bible describes temptation this way...

"Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceive, it gives birth to sin; and sin when, it is full grown, gives birth to death."
James 1:14-15

The desire spoken of here is the sinful character. Notice that desire is not sin. It is only when we are enticed by Satan and give in to the desire and perform a sinful act or thought that we have sinned.

As we go through life we have sinful characters, and God is recreating our sinful character into His image of love through the process of sanctification. But being sinful is not the same thing as sinning. A sinful character will sin as long as it is sinful, so some amount of sin is inevitable, but we are also told we can put to death the deeds of the flesh at the same time, and have an upward trajectory where we sin less and less.

As long as we are sinful in our character there will be something in us that desires evil at the character level, and Satan can entice us and play on these desires.

But when we have been made perfect, our character will be sinless, and then even if our body has desires that are purely biochemical in nature, there will be no corresponding desire in our character for those evil things, and Satan will have nothing to play on.

"Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me."
John 14:30

It is only when desire has conceived that sin has occurred. The Bible is using the metaphor of pregnancy here. The sperm and the egg must meet for a conception to take place. The sperm alone doesn’t cause in a pregnancy. An egg alone doesn’t result in a pregnancy. But when the two meet a pregnancy has occurred. You’ve probably heard the expression “I’m pregnant with an idea.” It’s the same concept here. That of something taking root in the heart of the person. The person agrees with and lets in this idea or this cherished thought of doubt or hate or selfishness. They let it take root in their heart. Instead of just having a desire for something, or an inclination towards something, they actively lust after it and pine after it, allow their thoughts to dwell on it, let their minds become “pregnant” with it, and cherish an unholy attitude of rebellion or doubt against God or another person.

Desire gives birth to sin. This means that if you have a sinful character that character will inevitably cause you to keep sinning, because it has sinful desires, and it will act on those sinful desires because it is itself sinful and corrupt. The only way to stop sinning is to be converted and have your heart renewed and sanctified each and everyday. The selfish character must be changed or you will keep sinning.

And if you’ve been given a new ‘heart’ and have begun to form a new character, you will not continue to sin.

No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
1 John 3:9

Here John uses the metaphor of a seed, taking root, and springing up first into a tender young plant, and then into a stronger one, until it finally grows into a strong and stately tree.

This is what God does in the heart when we have been set free from the laws that make in impossible for us to do righteousness – the law of sin and death – which requires us to perish and pay the penalty for our sins, and which can give no power to do righteous acts, and through Christ sin now no longer has dominion over us. His Spirit is implanted in us like a seed, a new heart is given, and we can do the righteous acts we could never generate on our own.

The new desires of the renewed heart produce new attitudes, new motives, and express themselves in righteous actions.

“…through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 8:2

“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death [notice here another reference to being planted like a seed], we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

For he that is dead is freed from sin. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
Romans 6:4-7, 11-14

Desire is not sin, but the desires of a fallen heart will produce sin, and the desires of a renewed heart will produce righteous actions.

Thus the answer to our sins is to be set free from the inability to do righteous actions, which Christ won for us by His death and righteous life. We can now through repentance die to the penalty of the law – the penalty that was on our account – and rise a new person who is not under the death penalty, and who has a new heart that can do righteous actions and has the power to do so through Christ.

So as we are sanctified each day, by surrendering selfish desires and not letting them take root, not allowing yourself to become pregnant with them and entertain them, our character is changed. And we sin less and less because our character is becoming more and more holy.

So character is behind the whole process.

The book of James has some powerful key scriptures that illustrate this truth.

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?

You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
James 4:1-3

Once again, it’s the desires of the sinful character that produce active sins.

Jesus gives several key statements that really make this truth plain.

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.

Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
Luke 6:43-45

“There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable.

And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,

since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.

For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”

Mark 7:15-23

Where “Within” Is
Notice how Jesus specifies where “within” is. “Within” is the heart which means the mind. And we know it's the part of the mind involved in the character and the will because of the sins mentioned which show moral knowledge. evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, etc. all involve moral judgment and understanding of right and wrong.

The immoral desires of the character produce active sins.

The character is formed when we, knowing right from wrong, use our will to choose to do right. To surrender immoral attitudes to Him rather than cherish them. To give them up.

If we do choose to cherish jealous or evil attitudes in our heart, that choice grieves God’s Spirit and hardens our hearts, making our characters more selfish and evil.

Some Things That are not the Heart
There are a lot of things that are not the ‘heart.’ If you sick with a strep infection that goes to your brain, and this causes you to have strong emotions of anger and rage, this is not your heart.

If you’re bitten by a tick and develop Lyme disease and it tanks your mood and you become severely depressed, this depression is not your heart.

If you have sexual urges that are biologically based this doesn’t make you a fornicator for having a sexual body. This also is not the heart.

There are many different feelings and experiences that are not the heart or the character.

The heart, the part of the mind where reason and the will reside, is not the same part of the brain as where raw primal urges take place.

The character is in the frontal lobe; it’s the higher parts of the brain that make moral choices. It’s not the involuntary processes and unconscious processes of our brain and body, what might be called the lower or "animal" feelings and inclinations. If your leg involuntarily twitches that wasn’t a conscious jerk you chose with your will.

If you have the urgency to go to the bathroom, this wasn’t a conscious choice of your will.

If you feel very angry all of a sudden from histamine dumping in your brain, this also wasn’t an act of the will.

If you feel depressed because you have histamine toxicity and it’s chronic, your will and character also aren’t involved in that.

Notice that it is only the desires of the character that can corrupt a person, not the feelings of the person or their emotions.

Character desires are desires that stem from the moral state of a person’s heart. These are either righteous or sinful desires, they aren’t neutral like the lower urges, such as having a sex drive is neutral. If a person has a corrupt character they will have sinful, selfish desires. It’s these desires that are in the heart that defile a person, not the feelings or inclinations of the lower, animal nature of a person.

And even desires are not sin unless the person “conceives” them, choosing to actively fantasize about immoral things, or to do behaviors that are immoral.

However, until we have perfect characters, the desires of our flawed and selfish characters will result in us doing sins. We can begin to change character and put to death these desires through Christ, and so we will have less and less of them as we engage in the sanctification process and are transformed in character.

What Implications Do These Important Concepts Have With Mental Conditions?

What implications does this have with mental conditions? Well, it means we can have mental symptoms, mental malfunction and dysfunction, even while having new characters in Christ.

Mental symptoms can affect cognition as in the case of psychosis, where the person loses the ability to think logically and believes nonsensical things.

And they can affect emotions, as is seen in the case of emotional dysregulation which is often a very core component of mental illness.

Let’s go back to the original scenarios at the start of the chapter, and answer some of those questions.

Is a person a jealous person if they feel a feeling of jealousy? Is a mother a moral monster if she feels no feelings of love for her newborn baby, just numbness?

Are feelings of jealousy jealousy? Are feelings of hate hate?

The answer is no, a person is not a jealous person if they feel feelings of jealousy. They are a jealous person if they choose to think jealous thoughts and have a jealous attitude towards others. Usually feelings will accompany these chosen thoughts and attitudes, but the feelings are not what makes the person jealous.

Remember the definition of sin is an action, thought, or attitude, not a feeling.

Feelings will accompany chosen attitudes and thoughts in a healthy brain.

But in a mentally unwell brain or even for something as simple as insomnia or stress, feelings can be dysregulated and not match up with our chosen attitudes and thoughts. Or feelings can be entirely absent.

Someone has not sinned by having a feeling sweep over them, or even one that persistently stays with them. In major depressive disorder, a person may have a feeling of hate that accompanies them for years or months, caused by their inflammatory state. They have sinned if they are harboring an attitude or thought of jealousy or hate, not if they have a feeling of hate.

When it comes to emotional dysregulation, I’ve personally experienced the whole spectrum. I was depressed pretty much from day one as a kid, then at age 12 I developed crushing unrelenting depression that felt as sad as if my whole family had died that persisted for 8 years, along with feelings of loneliness that weren’t attached to any real situation. After that at age 20 I developed total and complete emotional numbness where I couldn’t even cry when my father passed away. I felt nothing, no sadness, or joy. I could still feel anxiety and that was it.

I’ve also experienced feelings of guilt when I hadn’t done anything wrong, feelings of strong shame caused by my inflamed physical state when I hadn’t done anything shameful. These are feelings that do usually accompany shameful and wrong actions, and they felt exactly the same as the ones I’d felt when I did actual wrong, only they were much stronger.

Than interestingly, I had an experience a couple years ago when I took a collagen supplement where I felt profound righteous indignation for minor annoyances. My mom making what I perceived to be too much noise in the kitchen, evoked a emotional response from me that felt like Moses throwing down the Ten Commandments in deep, holy anger.

I hadn’t known that righteous indignation could come about from biochemical imbalances – in this case the histamine raise that occurred from the collagen. I’m already histamine dominant and it was too much histamine for my brain.

I was used to more superficial feelings of rage and frustration and agitation coming from histamine toxicity as I had experienced this before, but I didn’t know righteous indignation, which felt so holy and serious – just as it would feel if you found out a church elder had murdered someone or did something else profoundly wrong – could be evoked by biochemical imbalance. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.

All of our feelings are at their root physical. And that means that anything that disrupts a person’s physicality and biochemistry could potentially stir up and dysregulate these feelings and emotions.