From Depression To Sanctification
God’s Way Bible Study
The Journey from Depression to Sanctification
Tuesday March 24, 2026
DIDID: Deception- Independence-Distraction-Indiscipline- Depression
Deception
Isaiah 54:17 NKJV No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me," Says the LORD.
Of all the enemy's weapons, the first and so far the most potent is deception. Sadly, this is the weapon we most often ignore. We think very little of the lies of the enemy and therein lies its virulence. Deception recruits a person and makes him work against himself.
We must be on our guard against deception.
Deception often draws a straight line to depression. Anytime we find our spirits depressed, anytime we are discouraged, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us where we are being deceived.
It is a straight line, but it is not a direct flight. There are three stopovers along the way. At any point, we are free to discontinue the journey and take a different flight back home.
The airport of departure is Deception. The first stopover is Independence. From Port Independence, the flight lands at the very beautiful modern airport, Distraction, for the second layover. The third layover happens at a weird airport called Indiscipline. This airport is weird because from this airport, all the flights go to only one destination. This final destination is Depression.
One good lie leads to another, and another.
You don’t believe every lie of the devil. He will throw different lies at you, all in the attempt to discover your weak point. He will lie about everything that concerns you. He will appeal to your pride, or your fears, to your shame and to your accomplishments. When he finds one that works, when he finds the one that you believe, he calls that a good lie. From that entry point, he will begin to introduce more and more lies. We should constantly ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us where we are being deceived.
Deception invites Independence.
Genesis 3:1-7 ESV
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" [2] And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, [3] but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" [4] But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. [5] For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." [6] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. [7] Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Eve was satisfied and happy in the Garden of Eden until she was deceived.
When the enemy deceived her, he sowed the ideas of independence from God into her heart. She could do her own thing apart from God. God was mischaracterized as the deceiver, as the enemy from whom she needed to become free. She was deceived into believing that once she ate the fruit, she would become wise and have no need for God any longer.
When the spirit of Independence captures a person, it provokes a desire to get free from God.
Psalm 2:1-3 NLT
Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? [2] The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the LORD and against his anointed one. [3] "Let us break their chains," they cry, "and free ourselves from slavery to God."
They want to break free from God, but they will gladly submit to some other power. When children want to be independent, they don’t listen to their parents, but they listen to their contemporaries. Some will replace their pastor’s counsel with those of their favorite celebrity on TikTok.
Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord, “Who take counsel but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not by My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin.
2 Peter 2:19 NLT
They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.
Independence leads to Distraction
For the first time, Eve saw the fruit in a new light. Prior to this time, she had seen the tree from God’s perspective, as something to avoid, but now her perspective is changed. She is distracted from God’s viewpoint. The power of deception is its ability to change what and how we see. Things that never mattered now matter. Things that were wrong and dangerous now look attractive and seductive.
Proverbs 29:18 LSB Where there is no vision, the people are out of control, but how blessed is he who keeps the law.
A lack of vision is not the same thing as a lack of sight. There may still be sight, but one does not see the right things. One does not see well. One looks but does not see. One no longer sees through the eyes of God.
Matthew 13:14 LSB And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
A deceived person is distracted. He looks but does not perceive the truth. What he sees now is a lie. Good looks like evil and evil looks like good.
When one’s vision is tampered with, restraints are cast off. One is now out of control. One is now indisciplined. The guardrails that have kept them safe are now seen as restrictions that need to be uprooted and done away with.
Distraction leads to Indiscipline
Once distracted, Eve was now encouraged to come out from the Lord’s discipline.
James 3:16 NLT For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
Galatians 5:19-21 NLT
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, [20] idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, [21] envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Indiscipline leads to Depression
Once restraints are removed and one goes out of control, bad things begin to happen. A rejection of guardrails opens one to untold dangers. A life lived without said controls soon ends up with bad outcomes. Physical health, and even more so mental health, are at risk. Finances are depressed. Relationships are damaged. One is now depressed by one’s life.
No one is immune from the risk of being deceived. Prophet Elijah entered into deep depression, because he believed a lie. He became convinced by the enemy that all of God’s people had been killed. Even worse, his own life would end in a similar way. He spiraled into suicidal ideation.
1 Kings 19:4 ESV But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers."
This prophet of God asked God to kill him. He did not ask God if there were other prophets anywhere. He thoroughly believed the lie that they had all been killed,
He did not ask God if his work was done. He completely swallowed the lie of Jezebel that he was a dead man. All he had left now was to negotiate with God on the manner of his death. He sounded godly, quoting David, saying,”I’d rather fall into the hands of God than fall into the hands of Jezebel.” But in his deception, he misquoted David. David did not ask God to kill him but to spare him because of God’s mercy.
The Power of Deception
The power of deception is its deceitfulness. The deceived do not know they are deceived. Nobody is deceived by a known lie. We are deceived when we confidently mistake a lie for the truth. If we are doubtful, there is hope for us. But the deceived are never doubtful. The deceived are fiercely loyal to the lie, sincerely devoted and even fanatical in their convictions.
Sanctification, God's Answer to Deception
“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free,” is not a general, free-for-all promise. The truth is empowered by sanctification. If a man is not sanctified, no matter how much exposure he has to the truth, he will not be free from the bondage-forming power of deception. Anybody can quote it and claim it, but only the sanctified will realize its benefit.
John 17:17 ESV Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
To be sanctified is to be separated unto the lord, to be different from the common, to be dedicated to holy use.
Noble, but not sanctified.
It is easy to see a lack of sanctification when deception sets in. Sanctification and deception are mutually exclusive, they do not cohabitate. Regardless of gender, race, education, socioeconomic status, or even religious fervor, all deceived persons have one thing in common: they are not sanctified.
They may be nice people, friendly, generous and morally upright, but they do not live for God. To be sanctified is to live for God.
2 Corinthians 5:15 And He died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.
Unsanctified people are not even necessarily selfish. Many of them are great humanitarians and philanthropists. They work hard and give much towards alleviating the sufferings of others, be they victims of war, religious persecution, human trafficking or famine. Some have great concerns for animals and the earth.
No matter your noble cause, if you are not living for the Lord, you are not sanctified.
Sanctified against Deception
John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your word. Your word is truth.
Since only the truth, God’s word can sanctify, anyone not living for God is deceived.
If you are not sanctified, you are deceived, you just don’t know it.
sanctification.
The truth sets one apart from the noble, deceived hordes. The truth causes one to live for God. That is what it means to be sanctified.
Of course, one who is sanctified will necessarily be morally upright. However, his morality will be different from the morality of the unsanctified. The raison d’etre, the basis or motivation of his morality is essentially different. The unsanctified may be morally upright for any number of reasons.
He may just be a highly disciplined person, who adheres to the moral teachings of his cultural upbringing. Maybe he loves the personal satisfaction his moral superiority affords. His morality is his bragging right. Perhaps he avoids wrongdoing so he can maintain the respect and honor his reputation has secured for him. All this is well and good, but differs in essence from the morality of the sanctified.
Holiness is a consequence of sanctification.
The sanctified is more moral because God is moral. God said "You shall be Holy for I the Lord, you God am Holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)
Since the sanctified lives for God since all he wants to do is to please God. That is the reason for his moral uprightness. Any benefits that accrue from his morality, (and there are many more than what has been previously mentioned) his original and ultimate reason is because he is sanctified-separated unto the Lord.
Holiness is a consequence of sanctification.
Holiness is a result, a fruit of sanctification. Without sanctification, holiness will be difficult, next to impossible.
The big question then is not one of HOLINESS, but one of SANCTIFICATION.
Are you sanctified unto the Lord? If not to the Lord, any other is not good enough and will prove insufficient.
Deception from self-interest
Every deception is presented as good for you. One is deceived and scammed by offers of quick, easy profit. When a man is devoted to God, sanctified unto the Lord, , even good things will not appeal to him as much as his desire to please God. All he would need to do is what Eve failed to do. He would simply ask God, “Is this offer from you? Will it be pleasing to you if I partook of this? Will my participation in this venture bring you glory?”
We have too many promises in the scriptures about God’s response to these kinds of questions. 2 examples will suffice.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; [6] In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
James 1:5 ESV If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
Some will get anxious while waiting for God’s response. They do not want to miss out on the opportunity being presented to them. You asked God and He did not answer in a timely fashion. Or perhaps even worse, He did not answer in the affirmative. At this point, many believers enter into depression. They didn’t get their hearts’ desires.
So what if you missed out on a golden opportunity.
Isn’t it your highest goal to please God? Doesn’t God’s response, whether late or negative, mean that the opportunity is not His will for you?
The truth is that such anxiety reveals that their hearts are not yet fully given to the Lord. We all have some growing up to do in the matter of our sanctification.
