James 4:9

9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

God’s mercy shall not only follow us, but hunt us, as it were, with a full cry, all our days. We are like the hare, that thinks she is escaped, but lo, the hounds are upon her. - John Trapp

In a life with Jesus, most of the time moving forward feels like we’re going backwards.

Fallen human beings enter into joy only through the door of despair. Fullness can be had only through emptiness. That happens decisively at conversion, as we confess our hopelessly sinful predicament for the first time and collapse into the arms of Jesus, and then remains an ongoing rhythm throughout the Christian life. - Dane Ortlund

James 4:9-10

9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

WE ARE ALL REAL SINNERS

Romans 3:9-18

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

If real change is available for real sinners and every human being is a ‘real sinner’, then why doesn’t everyone experience real change?

You will never make yourself feel that you are a sinner, because there is a mechanism in you as a result of sin that will always be defending you against every accusation. We are all on very good terms with ourselves, and we can always put up a good case for ourselves. - Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dunning-Kruger Effect:  a cognitive bias where people with low competence in a specific area overestimate their own abilities and knowledge, while those with high competence tend to underestimate theirs.

It’s basically the idea that people who don’t know much about something tend to think they know more than they actually do, and the people who are experts in an area understand that there’s so much they do not know.

Dunning-Kruger Effect Graph*

STAGE 01: DECEIVED

STAGE 02: DESPAIRING

STAGE 03: DELIGHT

Luke 18:9-14

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

STAGE 01: DECEIVED

This is one of the most deplorable results of sin. It injures us most by taking from us the capacity to know how much we are injured. It undermines the man’s constitution, and yet leads him to boast of unfailing health; it beggars him, and tells him he is rich; it strips him, and makes him glory in his fancied robes. - Charles Spurgeon

Some of us know just enough about Jesus to be dangerous.

For as long as he is persuaded that he himself can do even the least thing toward his salvation, he retains some self-confidence and does not altogether despair of himself, and therefore he is not humble before God, but presumes that there is—or at least hopes or desires that there may be—some place, time, and work for him, by which he may at length attain to salvation. - Martin Luther

STAGE 02: DESPAIRING

Luke 18:13

13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

Despair can be understood as us being given the eyes to see ourselves the way God sees us.

We take a painkiller and go to sleep when we think we have a headache; we undergo chemotherapy when we know we have a brain tumor. The severity of our condition dictates the depth and seriousness of the medicine we know we need. If you view your sinfulness as a bothersome headache more than a lethal cancer, you will see tepid growth, if any. You won’t see yourself as needing to grow all that much. But when we see how desperately sick we are and how profoundly short we fall of the glory for which God intended us, we have already taken the first decisive step in bridging the vast gulf between who we are and who we were made to be. - Dane Ortlund

Romans 7:14-20

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

The psychology of the Christian experience is wide-ranging, but essentially it is that of humble gratitude. We are humble because we know the truth about ourselves: our corruption, our weakness, our conflicts, our helplessness. We are also exceedingly grateful for what Christ has done and for what we have: peace with God, family membership, and eternal life. - Terry Johnson

STAGE 03: DELIGHT

Paul’s Progression through Despair

Galatians 1:11-16 (AD 48-55)

11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.[c] 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born,[d] and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to[e] me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles

1 Cor. 15:8-10 (AD 53-55)

8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.

Romans 7:15, 18-19, 24-25 (AD 56-57)

15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate… 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing… 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Ephesians 3:8-10 (AD 60-62)

8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in[b] God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

1 Timothy 1:12-13, 15 (AD 62-64)

12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief… 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

“I used to persecute God’s people.”

Galatians 1:11-16 (AD 48-55)

“I am the least of the Apostles.”

1 Cor. 15:8-10 (AD 53-55)

“Nothing good dwells in me. I do what I don’t want to do and I struggle to do what I know I should.”

Romans 7:15, 18-19, 24-25 (AD 56-57)

“Though I am the least of all the saints…”

Ephesians 3:8-10 (AD 60-62)

“Jesus came to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost…”

1 Timothy 1:12-13, 15 (AD 62-64)