Written by Scott R. Swain |
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Viewing the Bible within the domain of the Word also enables us to perceive its purpose as “part of a divinely administered economy of light by which the triune God establishes and administers covenantal relations with its readers” “Scripture is a means of God’s self-presentation.” Fred Sanders’s book The Triune God demonstrates the hermeneutical payoff of adopting this standpoint. Sanders draws on G. K. Beale and Benjamin Gladd’s work on the biblical theology of “mystery” to anchor his understanding of the Trinitarian economy of revelation.

We cannot fully appreciate how “the Trinity is in the Bible” without observing how “the Bible is in the Trinity.” While the Bible is the cognitive principle of the Trinity, the supreme source from which our knowledge of the Trinity is drawn, the Trinity is the ontological principle of the Bible. The Trinity is not simply one of the things about which the Bible speaks. The Trinity is the speaker from whom the Bible and all things proceed: “For us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things … and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things” (1 Cor 8:6). All things in heaven and on earth, including holy Scripture, are ‘produced by the creative breath of the Almighty’ (See Ps 33:6. 2 Tim 3:16).
Recent work on Scripture and hermeneutics rightly locates the Bible and its interpretation within a Trinitarian economy of revelation. According to the late John Webster, “prudent theology will treat questions concerning the nature and interpretation of Scripture … as corollaries of more primary theological teaching about the relation of God and creatures.” Adopting this approach leads us to see “Holy Scripture and its interpretation” as “elements in the domain of the Word of God” a domain whose source and scope are Trinitarian in nature. “In fulfilment of the eternal purpose of God the Father (Eph. 1.9, 11), and by sending the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1.17), the Son sheds abroad the knowledge of himself and of all things in himself.”
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Depression tempts us to curve inward rather than reaching out to God. We easily succumb to this temptation because, after all, it is the ordinary human condition is to curve in on ourselves. In my experience, during the later stages of my depression, I became tired of calling out to God and soon became skeptical about the benefits of waiting on God. Eventually I gave up on “spiritual warfare” and chose merely to survive each day.

The first therapeutic assessment in my record, from July 2021, reads: “47 y.o. M with history of trauma and anxiety, with symptoms of PTSD, GAD, and depression.” In other words, some of this and some of that: post-traumatic stress disorder, general anxiety disorder, and depression. With a tip of the hat to my recent crisis, I am “prone to catastrophic thinking, presenting loss of interest, and exhibiting racing mind and heightened nerves.” There’s also a visual: “He is dressed casually in T-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. He makes good eye contact, is pleasant and cooperative, and communicates calmly, though sporadically tearful.”
Indeed, anxiety and depression slept together in my bed. But toward the end of my recent two-year struggle, depression eventually moved to the center, pushed anxiety to the side, and stole the covers.
I experienced depression as a dark cloud hanging over my life, sometimes emitting thunder, other times pouring down rain, still other times merely darkening everything in sight. It seemed to me that the cloud would never dissipate. The more I prayed, the worse things got. Or so it felt.
For me, as for many others who experience prolonged depressive symptoms, depression is a form of acute suffering. It affects us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. After all, we are psychosomatic beings. Whenever one “part” of us is negatively affected, the other “parts” of us feel the pain in one way or another.
Turning to God as Revealed in Scripture
For the first eighteen months or so of my two-year depression, I struggled daily to find spiritual reinforcement. I read through the Psalms twice, journaling my way through a devotional Psalter (Crossway). The Psalms gave me some hope. I especially resonated with the Psalmist when he wrestled God to the mat, when he expressed his feelings to God in a raw and vulnerable manner, when he cried out for the Lord to deliver him in the here-and-now.
I read through Hebrews 11 slowly. I gained some strength from heroes of the faith God delivered from immense challenges and trials (11:1-35). I tried to gain strength from the stories of faithful men and women who God never delivered in the here-and-now, who managed to be faithful even though God never gave them visible victory (11:35-40).
Turning away from God and toward a False Savior
Eventually, somehow and for some reason, I gave up. Though I am not aware of having made any such decision consciously, in effect I threw my hands up. If God would not lessen the nearly-unmitigated onslaught of negative circumstances, if the Great Physician wouldn’t provide any peace for my racing mind or balm for my frayed nerves, I would have to seek help elsewhere.
I turned to alcohol. I knew exactly what alcohol would give me. One drink would give a bit of relief to (what I now know as) my PTSD symptoms.
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Tony tells me, “I’ve given up. I can’t keep fighting.” He’s discouraged and worn out from his decade-long porn addiction.
A few days later, Lisa walks into my office. “I’m addicted to pornography, and I’ve lost all hope. God doesn’t seem to care.” She doesn’t know what to do anymore.
Tony and Lisa are weary soldiers who have spent years in a hard-fought battle against porn addiction. They’re infected with a defeatist attitude that results in a passive approach to their sin. “What’s the use?” they think. “I’ll just give in again. I won’t ever defeat this problem.” They assume that they’ll always struggle. Change is no longer possible. Their lack of success proves (in their minds) that they’re in a losing battle.
What do believers do if they’ve given up? How do they overcome the defeatist attitude that’s so characteristic of this problem?
Be Aggressive About Cutting Off Access Points
Hope often begins when the addict finds success in slowing down the addiction.
The first step is to be brutal about cutting off access points. Jesus tells us not to be passive about sexual sin. Our Lord uses graphic language to communicate the seriousness of getting rid of sexual sin: “If your right eyes causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away…If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away” (Matt. 5:29-30).
Strugglers do a poor job getting rid of access points. They cut out most access points, but they leave one or two lingering. Why is that? They’ve grown far too cozy with their sin and let it stick around. What happens in a weak moment when Tony is ruled by his lustful desires? Because he’s given up, he’ll give in to his desires, and he’ll act out yet again.
Jesus says to Tony, “Be radical. By my power and my strength, get rid of every access point. Don’t leave any behind.”
A defeatist attitude grows comfortable with sin. A gospel mindset is aggressive about cutting sin out.
Deal With the Shame
Shame causes a struggler to hide. Shame whispers in an addict’s ear: Run. Don’t let people see you. You’re worthless. Who would want someone like you? Sexual sin prospers in the darkness, not in the light. Mold grows in darkness, but it dies under the bright, hot sunlight. So also, sexual sin prospers and grows as a believer isolates himself and turns away (Prov. 18:1) from the provision of God’s people (Eph. 4:15-16) and God’s Word (Isa. 55:10-11).
If you struggle with porn, do you feel dirty and unclean? Have you been exposed? Do you act like an outcast? Do you feel rejected? Do you wallow in a sense of failure?
Hope comes when you turn away from the whispers of shame and run headlong to Christ. Jesus covers the naked and exposed (Zech. 3:3-5). He makes the unworthy and unclean clean (Matt. 8:1-3). He welcomes the outcast with open arms (John 4). He gives you a righteousness that’s not your own (2 Cor. 5:21), so you don’t have to live under your own unreasonable standards.
A defeatist attitude wallows in shame. A gospel mindset begs Christ for mercy.