S T U D Y G U I D E

Dealing with
Difficult Problems
R.C. Sproul

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 1

Knowing the Will of God

INTRODUCTION
Before we can understand the answer to the question: “How can I know the will of
God for my life?,” we must understand the question itself. What do we mean when we
say the will of God? In this lesson, Dr. Sproul will deal with some of the underlying
issues that contribute to the problems in our lives, as he begins looking at “Knowing
the Will of God.”

LESSON OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the variety of ways the Bible uses the concept of the will of
God
2. To show how the Scriptures provide wisdom and guiding principles by which
to discern the will of God upon our lives
3. To know that the ultimate will of God is our sanctification

SCRIPTURE READING
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to
us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
—Deuteronomy 29:29

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the
passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong
his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told
you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in
holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his
Holy Spirit to you.
—1 Thessalonians 4:3‑8
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4  Dealing with Difficult Problems

LECTURE OUTLINE
A. How to know the will of God is a common question for Christians.
1. The Bible speaks about the will of God in several different ways.
a. The English word will translates two different Greek words.
b. The “will of God” can refer to “the counsel of God,” or to “the plan of
God,” or to “the desire of God.”
c. Deus revelatus refers to the revealed will of God which He has made clear.
d. Deus absconditus refers to the hidden will of God which He has chosen
not to reveal to us.
e. The “active will of God” refers to His bringing about certain events under
His sovereignty.
f. The “passive (or permissive) will of God” describes cases in which He
allows some things to take place.
g. The “decretive will of God” pertains to God’s sovereign decree, which is
unchangeable and must come to pass.
h. The “preceptive will of God” pertains to the laws that God has ordained
for men, but that we choose whether or not to follow.
i. The “will of disposition” expresses God’s attitudes, desires, and delights.
2. The passive/permissive will of God often results in confusion for theologians.
a. It does not suggest that things that take place completely outside the
scope of God’s providential government.
b. There are times when God actively involves Himself directly in the affairs
of men and in the course of human history.
c. Permissive does not mean that He ever grants permission to sin but He
sometimes does not intervene to stop us from violating His law.
3. The preceptive will of God should be our focus.
a. When God expresses His law to us, it is an expression of His will for His
people.
b. The Old Testament saints realized that the law of God flowed from His
character out of His goodness defining what is pleasing to God.

B. The Scriptures provide wisdom and principles by which we are to make evaluations.
1. All gifts come from God allowing us to discern His call upon our lives.
a. Searching God’s principles leads to application for our lives.
b. Some moral dilemmas must be decided upon the basis of principle.
2. People often look for an escape hatch to shape things to fit their desires.
a. We should never look to the Almighty to sanction a sinful enterprise.
b. Too often we try to get the will of God to fit what we want to do.
c. It must be a priority to know God’s precepts, desires, and Word.

C. There is a liberating dimension of the law of God concerning His will.

1. Studying the law of God leads to the freedom to make proper decisions.
2. Things done unto the Lord are to be performed with a responsible judgment.
1—Knowing the Will of God  5

D. Ultimately, the will of God is our sanctification.

1. God wants a life of obedience.
a. Seeking after the kingdom of God and of His righteousness should be the
main and central business of our lives.
b. We should fix our faces as flints towards that goal of seeking the righ‑
teousness of the kingdom of God because this is the will of God.
2. Conformity to the image of Christ through our obedience is His will and the
rest should be left to the providence of God.

STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Which of the following is the most common question Christians ask Dr. Sproul?
a. How can I be saved?
b. What is God’s will for my life?
c. What vocation should I choose?
d. Whom shall I marry?

2. Which of the following translations of the Greek word for “will” does Dr. Sproul
not mention?
a. Counsel
b. Desire
c. Plan
d. Resolution

3. Which of the following refers to the “hiddenness” of God?

a. Deus absconditus
b. Deus revelatus
c. Protos
d. Thelema

4. When people disobey God and resist His will, that means God has granted moral
permission for their sin.
a. True
b. False

5. The aspect of God’s will that brings to pass His sovereign decrees is which of the
following?
a. Decretive will of God
b. God’s hidden will
c. God’s will of providence
d. Preceptive will of God
6  Dealing with Difficult Problems

6. The aspect of the will of God that refers to the commands of God is which of the
following?
a. God’s will of disposition
b. Immutable will of God
c. Preceptive will of God
d. Salvific will of God

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Can you think of any incidents in your life in which biblical principles clearly
revealed what you should do in a specific situation? What current decisions
or circumstances are causing you to seek God’s will? Which biblical principles
clearly address those situations?

2. When you face a choice between two rival goods, what are three specific steps
you should take before making the decision? Having done these, if you still can‑
not determine which would be the better choice, what should you do?

3. What specifically did the saints of the Old Testament turn to when struggling
with questions about personal guidance? Is it any different for New Testament
saints or for us today?

4. Why is your sanctification mentioned as an overarching principle of God’s will

for the life of His people?
 2

Understanding Suffering

INTRODUCTION
When you face suffering at any level, how do you handle it? Do you deny its existence;
become indifferent to its effects; cover it up; or courageously take it head on? In this
lesson titled “Understanding Suffering,” Dr. Sproul explains the different responses
people have to suffering, and what the biblical response should be.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
1. To equip Christians with a proper perspective on how suffering fits into life
2. To avoid certain secular approaches to suffering
3. To understand the biblical responses of trust and obedience in the midst of
pain

SCRIPTURE READING
Though he slay me, I will hope in him.
—Job 13:15a

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is
the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
—Ecclesiastes 7:2–3

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will
have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
—John 16:33

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8  Dealing with Difficult Problems

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond
all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are
unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are
eternal.
—2 Corinthians 4:17–18

LECTURE OUTLINE
A. W
 e have become so accustomed to the mercy of God that when suffering occurs, a
crisis of faith often results.
1. Christians are not promised immunity from sickness, pain or affliction.
2. The Galileans in Luke 13 asked the wrong question about the falling tower.
a. We all tend to assume that God owes us a life free of suffering.
b. Pagans along with the righteous (e.g., Job) all face lives of suffering.

B. Secular views of suffering fall into four categories.

1. The Docetic view of suffering denies its reality and treats it as an illusion.
a. An example of this would be Christian Scientists, who claim that suffer‑
ing is only in the mind.
b. This view has little value to somebody suffering in a hospital bed experi‑
encing real personal pain and sorrow.
2. The Stoic view of suffering sees man as a victim of impersonal forces like fate
and karma.
a. It suggests responding with imperturbability by controlling all emotions.
b. This view results in keeping a stiff upper lip and bearing all things in
quietness.
3. The Hedonistic view of suffering tries to counteract pain by maximizing plea‑
sure like a man who drowns his sorrows in “wine, women, and song.”
4. The Existential view of suffering sees life as meaningless but faces it with
courage anyway.

C. The biblical view of suffering for Christians is that pain and sorrow are never futile
but redemptive.
1. Christians should have a different response to suffering.
a. The Christian faith is born out of suffering as we participate in the suffer‑
ings of Christ.
b. Grief is a legitimate emotion for a Christian, unlike the stoic who sup‑
presses it.
c. We are not to praise God for the suffering but to praise Him in the midst
of suffering.
d. God uses tribulation and pain not simply to punish us, but to polish and
sanctify us.
2—Understanding Suffering  9

e. Our present sufferings are momentary compared with the glorious things
that God has stored up for those that love Him (2 Cor. 4:17).
2. Christ as “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” is the model of a godly
response to suffering.
3. The relationship of sin to suffering is clear in Scripture.
a. Although suffering is a result of sin, there is not a direct one-to-one cor‑
respondence between the amount of one’s sin and suffering.
b. Affliction can be used as a means for God to us low for correction or
discipline.
4. God has called us into a fallen world to minister into a world that is a full of
tears and pain.
a. We must trust and obey God with our lives in the midst of pain.
b. God never promised any of us that we would never go into the valley of
the shadow of death but that He would go with us.

STUDY QUESTIONS
1. What key word best describes the nature and purpose of Christian suffering?
a. Coincidence
b. Futile
c. Punishment
d. Redemptive

2. The Docetic view originally denied which of the following?

a. The existence of suffering
b. The physical body of Christ
c. The purpose of suffering
d. The suppression of pleasure

3. The Stoics sought after which of the following?

a. Imperturbability
b. Maximum pleasure
c. Minimum pain
d. Solace in suffering

4. Suffering is the direct result of personal disobedience and unfaithfulness in life.

a. True
b. False

5. The view of suffering that teaches the maximum pursuit of pleasure is which of
the following?
a. Cynicism
b. Existentialism
10  Dealing with Difficult Problems

c. Hedonism
d. Nihilism

6. The emotion that is allowed in Scripture is which of the following?

a. Bitterness
b. Despair
c. Grief
d. Self-pity

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. In relation to Job’s suffering, what can we say about his sin? What can we say
about God’s righteousness?

2. What are some of the consequences of suffering in a Christian’s life? In other

words, how does God use suffering for His own purposes? (See Luke 13:1‑5;
John 9:1‑3; 2 Cor. 1:3‑5; 1 Pet. 5:10)

3. Christ commands us to be of good cheer. The writer of Ecclesiastes, however,

says it is better to mourn (7:2‑4). How do you reconcile these sayings? How do
they relate to suffering?

4. How do we distinguish between grief and self-pity? How do we have only grief
and avoid self-pity and bitterness?
 3

How to Deal with Guilt

INTRODUCTION
A universal problem shared by all people is guilt. The effects of guilt can be more
than one can bear. So what do we do when experiencing the problems associated
with guilt? And, what if we do not feel our guilt; does that make us innocent? In this
lesson titled, “How to Deal with Guilt,” Dr. Sproul helps us distinguish the difference
between guilt and feelings of guilt, and how to deal with both.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
1. To clarify the difference between guilt and guilt feelings
2. To consider how Christians are called to live by God’s standards regardless of
the cultural views
3. To help understand the role of conscience

SCRIPTURE READING
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so
that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the
law comes knowledge of sin.
—Romans 3:19–20

LECTURE OUTLINE
A. T
 he problem of guilt is one that is universal, debilitating and paralyzing to our per‑
sonal growth.
1. Paul often spoke about the universality of human sinfulness.
2. Unbelievers may try to deny the reality of their guilt while knowing deep
down that they are living daily with unresolved guilt.
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12  Dealing with Difficult Problems

3. The majority of psychiatric problems are all bound up with guilt and its para‑
lyzing and unresolved consequences.

B. There are two types of guilt that affect people.

1. “Objective guilt” is the reality of being in the wrong regardless of guilt
feelings.
a. Guilt is incurred when the law of God is broken.
b. We break the law of God and incur guilt either by failing to do what the
law requires or actually doing what the law prohibits.
2. “Guilt feelings” are subjective and describes the inward response to our per‑
ception of guilt.
a. Human or civic laws of our society do not always agree or correspond to
the law of God.
b. Our human courts do not operate by how one feels about their guilt.

C. Society’s morals and ethics are constantly changing.

1. Revolutions have come and gone throughout history resulting in a relativism
that gives everybody the right to do their own thing.
a. A radical disjunction resulted between personal and social ethics.
b. People felt like victims of an outmoded, Victorian, puritanical ethic that
oppresses their freedom and right to express themselves.
2. Christians are called to live by God’s standards regardless of the culture’s
view.
a. We feel guilty because we are guilty.
b. All of the attempts to psychoanalyze and rationalize guilt away has not
been effective.
c. The pain of guilt feeling is a marvelous curative thing.
3. Conscience is very susceptible to changing values.
a. The desensitizing of conscience refers to justifying sin through
rationalization.
b. Absence of guilt feelings becomes a license to continue to sin with the
assumption that we can do so with impunity.
c. For every sinful action there is under heaven, somebody has brought forth
a carefully crafted rational defense for it or attempted to justify it.
4. We must be careful to avoid having a twisted, distorted or seared conscience.
a. Our conscience can excuse us even though God accuses us.
b. David was brought face to face with the reality of his guilt and was devas‑
tated, convicted, remorseful, forgiven, and eventually restored.

D. The Word of God must be our guide for what is right and wrong, not our feelings.
1. Guilt is real regardless of what we want or feel.
2. Guilt is not merely defined by what is legal according to the state, but rather
it is defined by the law of God.
3—How to Deal with Guilt  13

STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Which of the following differentiates guilt from feeling guilty?
a. Guilt is an illusion
b. Guilt is objective
c. Guilt is paralyzing
d. Guilt is subjective

2. The majority of which of the following problems are all bound up with guilt and
its paralyzing and unresolved consequences?
a. Ethical
b. Philosophical
c. Psychiatric
d. Theological

3. Why do we feel guilty?

a. Because Victorian and puritanical notions oppress our freedom
b. Because psychoanalysis is not totally effective
c. Because rationalization is not a long-term defense mechanism
d. Because we are guilty

4. Guilt does not have the power to hold the human psyche captive.
a. True
b. False

5. Which of the following is true of our conscience?

a. It always excuses but never accuses.
b. It can never be desensitized.
c. It can never be seared.
d. It is susceptible to changing cultural values.

6. The cultural slogan that gives everybody the right to do their own thing is based
upon which of the following?
a. Legalism
b. Objectivism
c. Relativism
d. Socialism
14  Dealing with Difficult Problems

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How would you respond to someone who claims that everyone has the right to
do their own thing?

2. What are some ways that unresolved guilt might be manifested if it is not bibli‑
cally acknowledged?

3. What are some reasons we might continue to feel guilty even after we have
repented and been forgiven by God?

4. Read Psalm 51. How did David deal with his guilt after he had sinned with
Bathsheba?
 4

Forgiveness

INTRODUCTION
Forgiveness is a universal need of all mankind. Not only is it something we need, but
it is also something we must give. How many times must you forgive someone? What
if that person never asks for forgiveness? Must we forgive others who do not want it?
Considering these thoughts and questions in this lesson, Dr. Sproul discusses some of
the difficulties that surround forgiveness.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the difference between real forgiveness and feelings of
forgiveness
2. To give practical guidelines for our obligation to forgive each other
3. To recognize the relationship between repentance and forgiveness

SCRIPTURE READING
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
—Luke 23:34

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.
—1 John 1:9

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
—Isaiah 1:18

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16  Dealing with Difficult Problems

LECTURE OUTLINE
A. Confusion exists between objective forgiveness and feelings of forgiveness.
1. Objective forgiveness is actual in reality and has taken place according to
God’s Word.
2. Feelings of forgiveness can be subjective in that one is not forgiven even
though they feel forgiven.
3. Arrogance and doubt prevents us from taking God at His word pertaining to
forgiveness in that one could actually be forgiven and still not feel forgiven.
a. Repeatedly asking God’s forgiveness for the same sin challenges His
integrity and character.
b. It is difficult for us to accept forgiveness as a free gift.
c. We want to make up for sin through our own merit.

B. Biblical forgiveness can be summarized with five ‘R’ words.

1. Repentance (metanoia) is godly sorrow for having broken the law of God,
violating our relationship with Him or with others.
a. Repentance is a “changing of the mind” that is necessary and conditional
requirement for true forgiveness.
b. God does not unilaterally and unconditionally forgive.
c. There are occasions where we can withhold our beneficence towards
people who have sinned against us and have not repented.
d. It is our absolute duty to forgive those who repent of their sins against us.
e. We live by forgiveness, and we should be manifesting a spirit of forgive‑
ness in response to the grace and tenderness of God.
2. Remission (missio) means to “send away” in that the soul is cleansed from the
stain of sin and washed clean by God’s pardon.
a. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though
they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Is. 1:18).
b. Purge me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be as snow
(Ps. 51:7).
c. It is not that God forgets about the reality of our sin but that He chooses
to remember our sins no more.
d. When we forgive others, we cannot harbor or have a spirit of bitterness
but instead begin again with a renewed relationship.
3. Restitution is a willingness and desire to make up whatever can be made up.
a. Anytime we are genuinely penitent, we must do whatever we can to make
up for what has been done.
b. As debtors who cannot atone or pay for our own sin, we can make restitu‑
tion where possible.
4. Reconciliation occurs when there is reliance upon Christ as the Mediator for
those estranged and hostile towards God.
a. There is vertical reconciliation with God as well as horizontal reconcilia‑
tion with others.
4—Forgiveness  17

b. Estrangement is the necessary requirement of reconciliation.

c. Many do not believe that they are estranged from or at enmity with God
and do not view themselves as His enemy.
5. Restoration is being made new and brought back into fellowship and rela‑
tionship with God.
a. Restoration to God is a subject of which the angels dance.
b. The gospel is about the cosmic restoration of the new heaven and new
earth through the One who came to reconcile all things to Himself.
c. Forgiveness is at the very heart of the Christian faith.

STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Having godly sorrow for having broken the law of God is known as which of the
following?
a. Reconciliation
b. Remission
c. Repentance
d. Restoration

2. Which of the following is a necessary requirement of reconciliation?

a. Debt
b. Estrangement
c. Feelings of forgiveness
d. Objective forgiveness

3. Missio means which of the following?

a. A change of mind
b. Desire to make up
c. Sincere penitence
d. To remit or send away

4. It is not that God forgets about the reality of our sin but that He chooses to
remember our sins no more.
a. True
b. False

5. It is our absolute duty to do which of the following?

a. Forgive those who do not repent of their sins against us
b. Forgive those who repent of their sins against us
c. Forgive unconditionally
d. Forgive unilaterally
18  Dealing with Difficult Problems

6. At the heart of the Christian faith is which of the following?

a. Fellowship
b. Forgiveness
c. Guilt
d. Reliance

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Consider the implications of the words faithful and righteous mentioned in
1 John 1:9. How do these terms assure our forgiveness?

2. Explain why it is wrong to want to “pay your own way” or earn forgiveness.

3. In what other areas of our walk with God do we sometimes trust our feelings
instead of God’s Word?

4. Dr. Sproul mentions that married Christians are required to forgive an adulter‑
ous mate who asks for forgiveness, however, forgiving them does not mean that
divorce is out of the question. How would you defend this notion biblically?
 5

How to Deal with Anxiety

INTRODUCTION
What is it that causes you the most anxiety and unrest? Many people have phobias
that can be diagnosed and dealt with. Others simply do not know what specifically
causes them anxiety, only that they have anxieties in nearly all aspects of their lives.
But how can we rid ourselves of this oftentimes crippling weakness? In this lesson,
Dr. Sproul gives us insight to the different types and causes of anxiety, and how to
deal with it.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the causes of anxiety
2. To distinguish between various kinds of anxiety
3. To learn practical ways for overcoming anxiety

SCRIPTURE READING
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you
will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and
the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor
gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value
than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
—Matthew 6:25–27

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house
are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place
for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to
myself, that where I am you may be also.
—John 14:1–3
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20  Dealing with Difficult Problems

LECTURE OUTLINE
A. Jesus often said, “Fear not” and “Be anxious for nothing.”
1. Anxiety refers to a spirit of fearfulness, worry or apprehension about some‑
thing that lies in the future.
2. Anxieties can become intense and paralyzing fears rising to the status of a
phobia.
3. Jesus clearly knew that people fear things and suffer from anxiety.
a. In Matthew 6, he addressed those who worry about tomorrow which
often provokes a spirit of anxiety.
b. He gave examples from nature how everything is ultimately in the hands
of God.
c. It is important to distinguish that in saying these things, Jesus does not
prohibit careful planning and making prudent provisions.

B. Anxiety can be caused by a number of factors.

1. Worry often comes from a limited faith that lacks trust in the promises of
God.
a. God promises His grace to sustain us in difficult circumstances.
b. Immersion in God’s Word cures and dispels fear by reinforcing His
presence.
2. Excessive change produces anxiety through a lack of permanence.

C. Three types of anxiety are described.

1. Objective specific anxiety is produced by something that is perceived as a
painful threat resulting in a phobia.
2. Angst anxiety is usually a nameless fear that is repressed and nonspecific
because the sufferer does not know why they are afraid.
3. Restlessness is rooted in estrangement from God.
a. We were created to be in fellowship with God and without this, we can‑
not experience a sound mental outlook that is free from fear.
b. Augustine correctly posited that our hearts are restless until finding rest
in God.

D. There are practical ways to overcome anxiety.

1. Cultivate peace and a calmness of spirit that comes with being in fellowship
with God, trusting Him for tomorrow as the one who conquers fear.
2. Encourage one another to have courage to do what is feared.
3. Put focus on God by giving burdens to Him because only through His power
can we triumph over anxiety.
5—How to Deal with Anxiety  21

STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Anxiety is a spirit of fearfulness, worry, or apprehension about which of the
following?
a. Current things
b. Difficult things
c. Future things
d. Past things

2. Objective specific anxiety is produced by something that is perceived as a painful

threat resulting in which of the following?
a. Estrangement
b. Geworfenheit
c. Phobia
d. Sine qua non

3. Angst anxiety is usually which of the following?

a. A cowardly fear
b. A nameless fear
c. A prudent fear
d. A psychiatric fear

4. Worries often come from a limited faith that lacks trust in the promises of
God.
a. True
b. False

5. The idea that our hearts are restless until finding rest in God was penned in a
prayer by which of the following?
a. Augustine
b. Jerome
c. Martin Heidegger
d. Origen

6. Which of the following was mentioned as one of the practical ways to help
­others overcome anxiety?
a. Die to self
b. Encouragement
c. Fellowship
d. Serving
22  Dealing with Difficult Problems

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. We all tend to have fears and phobias of various degrees. What are some things
that have troubled you or someone you know?

2. Scripture tells us not to fear, not to be anxious and not to worry. At what point
does anxiety become sinful?

3. Differentiate between worrying about the future and careful planning concern‑
ing basic necessities of human life. How do you balance such extremes?

4. Describe how you have been encouraged during a time of worry and anxious‑
ness. What specifically helped you to overcome?
 6

How to Deal with Anger

INTRODUCTION
The Bible tells us to, “Be angry and do not sin.” So how is this possible since anger
impacts each and every one of us on a regular basis? Is it sinful for a Christian to be
angry in any degree? Is there something intrinsically evil about anger? In this lesson,
Dr. Sproul considers these questions as he teaches us the different types of anger and
how to control them.

LESSON OBJECTIVES
1. To examine the biblical concept of anger
2. To understand the causes of anger
3. To recognize the different types of anger
4. To provide ways to biblically deal with the destructive elements of anger

SCRIPTURE READING
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever
murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with
his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the
council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offer-
ing your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against
you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and
then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are
going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to
the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you
have paid the last penny.
—Matthew 5:21–26

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24  Dealing with Difficult Problems

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neigh-
bor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go
down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil.
—Ephesians 4:25–27

LECTURE OUTLINE
A. Anger impacts each and every one of us.
1. We all have been angry and have had people angry at us.
2. Anger is one of the most destructive forces that can be unleashed among
human beings.

B. The Bible says “Be angry and do not sin” (Eph. 4:26).
1. Anger in and of itself is not evil.
2. Anger can produce responses such as bitterness, resentment, grudges, venge‑
fulness and violence, all of which are sinful.
3. The power of anger can bring down nations, create wars, ruin families, and
destroy marriages.
4. We are to swiftly resolve anger towards others and not harbor it.

C. There are three common causes of anger.

1. Disappointment occurs when expectations are not met.
2. Frustration occurs when hopes are not realized repeatedly.
3. Pain or hurt occurs when one is physically or emotionally injured.
a. We should not get defensive when being told that we have hurt someone.
b. Our basic human response to someone’s pain should be to bring healing.

D. Two common types of anger are “situational anger” and “misdirected anger.”
1. Situational anger is expressed toward an innocent person over circumstances
beyond your control.
2. Misdirected anger is expressed toward someone or something else when we
are really angry at ourselves.

E. There are several ways the Bible says that we should deal with anger.
1. We should not be short-tempered.
2. We should not suppress anger altogether.
3. We should try to understand the reason behind the anger.
4. We are not to provoke one another to anger.
5. We are not to let the sun go down on our wrath.

F. The Bible says, “Be angry, but . . .”

1. Be angry at what angers God.
2. Never victimize others over your lack of self-control.
6—How to Deal with Anger  25

STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Disappointment occurs when which of the following takes place?
a. When expectations are not met
b. When hopes are not realized repeatedly
c. When one is emotionally injured
d. When one is physically injured

2. Situational anger is expressed toward which of the following?

a. An innocent person over circumstances beyond your control
b. An innocent person over circumstances within your control
c. Someone or something else when we are really angry at God
d. Someone or something else when we are really angry at ourselves

3. To be people who deal with the problem of anger, we need which of the
following?
a. Coping techniques
b. Indignation
c. The wisdom of God
d. To forgive ourselves

4. Anger in and of itself is evil.

a. True
b. False

5. It is important for Christians to do which of the following?

a. Fully express anger with others
b. Fully express anger with themselves
c. Suppress anger and never release it
d. Understand the nature of anger and how to deal with it

6. We are right to be angry when which of the following occurs?

a. Defending others
b. Frustrated
c. In pain
d. Something angers God
26  Dealing with Difficult Problems

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How would you respond to someone who says that true Christians are to never
get angry?

2. Make a list of those people toward whom you feel angry and why. What would
God expect of you in dealing with those situations?

3. Think of your most recent episode of anger. What caused your anger?
Why did you react the way you did? Could you have reacted in a more godly way?
How?

4. Can a person have righteous indignation and not simultaneously be judgmental,

prideful or arrogant?
 STUDY QUESTIONS ANSWER KEY

Lesson 1 Lesson 3 Lesson 5

1. b 1. b 1. c
2. d 2. c 2. c
3. a 3. d 3. b
4. b 4. b 4. a
5. a 5. d 5. a
6. c 6. c 6. b

Lesson 2 Lesson 4 Lesson 6

1. d 1. c 1. a
2. a 2. b 2. a
3. a 3. d 3. c
4. b 4. a 4. b
5. c 5. b 5. d
6. c 6. b 6. d

27
 STUDY QUESTION EXPLANATIONS

LESSON 1:
1. Many Christians want to live in accordance to the will of God. As Christians,
we are to live by principles found in God’s revealed will, namely His Word.
We cannot know the secret will of God, but we make decisions based upon
Biblical principles. God’s will for your life is to obey His law. The rest is up to
the providence of God.

2. The Bible speaks about the will of God in more than one way. In fact, it
speaks about the will of God in several different ways. In the New Testament,
two different Greek words are used in reference to the will of God. Typically,
the “will of God” refers to the counsel, plan, or desire of God.

3. The Deus absconditus refers to the hidden will of God. That which God
has revealed in Scripture belongs to man, but the secret things God has not
revealed belong to God alone.

4. The fact that God allows sin to happen does not mean that God has sanc‑
tioned sin or given His blessing. God’s permissive will means He does not
intervene to stop people from acting contrary to His law. God is passive in his
permissive will, but not uninvolved. Nothing happens apart from the will of
God.

5. The decretive will of God points to God’s sovereign decrees. This is the will
of God by which He brings to pass sovereignly whatsoever He wills. Nothing
can stop the decretive will of God.

6. The preceptive will of God refers to the precepts of God. When God
expresses His law to us, His law is an expression of His will to His people.
His commands bind our consciences and imposes absolute obligations upon
us.

LESSON 2:
1. Christian suffering is not without purpose. Though God is not the author of
evil, He uses suffering for redemptive purposes among His people. The way
of the cross promises suffering in this life and in Christ we participate in His
suffering. We aren’t to look for suffering, but we can find joy in the presence
of God in the midst of our pain.

29
30  Dealing with Difficult Problems

2. The Docetist view of suffering is the view that pain and suffering are not real.
That suffering is just an allusion of the mind. We see this philosophy today
in the denial of evil and suffering in Christian Science. Denying the reality of
pain and suffering offers little comfort to the person on a hospital bed who
first hand is experiencing the reality of sickness and sorrow in this world.

3. The Stoic seeks to control his feeling level so that nothing will ever upset
him. He seeks the ability of what the Stoics call imperturbability so that noth‑
ing shakes him; he develops a stiff-upper-lip philosophy. There is no room
then for grief or the cry of anguish of those who are suffering.

4. We should not jump to the conclusion that there is a one-to-one relationship

between suffering and sin. Since we live in fallen world, our pain and suffer‑
ing may have nothing to do with our sin at a particular time. Though suffering
can be corrective, there may be some other reason that God has allowed it,
and we have to trust Him that it is for our good and His greater glory.

5. The Hedonist believes that life is to be lived by trying to search for the maxi‑
mum amount of pleasure and the minimum amount of pain. He tries to
handle suffering by drowning it by escaping into various forms of intoxication
and by sublimating the pain by intensifying and increasing the pleasure. If he
can’t get rid of the pain by maximizing pleasure, then he will try to squelch it
simply by drowning his sorrows in wine, women, and song.

6. In Scripture, grief is not considered a sin. Jesus Himself wept tears of sor‑
row at the death of His friend Lazarus, even though He knew He would not
remain in the grave. Self-pity and bitterness are distortions of human sadness
and sorrow. It is not wrong for Christians to mourn, but we grieve as those
who have hope. The sufferings of this present world are nothing compared to
the glory that awaits us.

LESSON 3:
1. Guilt has to do objectively with doing something wrong while feeling guilty
might vary on mood, culture, or sensitivity. The law of God is established and
the principles of conduct are set before us. If we violate those principles, it is
objectively a matter or real states of affairs, and we are guilty.

2. The majority of psychiatric problems are all bound up with guilt and its
paralyzing and unresolved consequences. All of the attempts to psychoana‑
lyze and rationalize guilt away have not been effective. We are fortunate to
have the capacity to feel the pain of guilt because it is a curative thing in that
it alerts us to the presence of something that is wrong and needs to be dealt
with.
Study Question Explanations  31

3. We feel guilty because we are guilty. All of the attempts to psychoanalyze and
rationalize guilt away has not been effective in removing our guilt. We must
realize that the pain of guilt feeling is a marvelous thing that notifies us that
something is wrong in order to seek a cure for it.

4. Guilt has a powerful hold on the human psyche that has the ability to para‑
lyze us and to keep us from the kind of growth and freedom that God has
created us for. The biggest single problem psychiatrists encounter in their
practice is the problem of unresolved guilt. There is a sense in which the‑
ology majors in this problem; it is very important for us as Christians to
understand what guilt is all about and how to deal with it.

5. Our conscience is susceptible to being desensitized by changing cultural

values. Scripture speaks about conscience as that inner voice within us, that
voice that either accuses us or excuses us for the behavioral things that we
do. While our conscience should be our guides in some things if it is duly
informed by the Word of God, we must also be reminded that it can be seared,
twisted, and distorted as it can actually excuse us for the very thing that God
accuses us of doing.

6. Everyone has the right to do their own thing salutes a philosophy of moral
relativism and pure subjectivism. Because people felt like victims of an out‑
moded, Victorian, puritanical ethic that oppresses their freedom and right to
express themselves, this view purports having the moral right to do what one
wants to do without it being anyone else’s business because it is a personal
and private preference.

LESSON 4:
1. Repentance (metanoia) is godly sorrow for having broken the law of God,
­violating our relationship with Him or with others. It is a “changing of the
mind” that is necessary and conditional requirement for true forgiveness.
Repentance is a true sorrow, and a sorrow that carries with it a desire and a
resolve to turn away from that sin.

2. Estrangement is the necessary requirement of reconciliation and occurs

when there is reliance upon Christ as the Mediator for those estranged and
hostile towards God. And the chief person to whom we are reconciled is God
Himself. And that vertical model of reconciliation is to mirror and reflect
the way we are supposed to seek reconciliation on the horizontal level with
human relationships.
32  Dealing with Difficult Problems

3. Missio means to remit or send away in that the soul is cleansed from the stain
of sin and washed clean by God’s pardon. In the place of that burden of guilt
comes the cleansing of God of the soul. Isaiah spoke of the remission of his
sins as being washed away and David wrote about being purged and cleansed.

4. When God remits sins, He sends our sins away from us. Though these sins are
sent away, it does not mean that God forgets about the reality of sin but that
He chooses to remember them no more.

5. It is our absolute duty to forgive those who repent of their sins against us.
But if we refuse to forgive those who sin against us when they repent, we
cannot expect God to forgive us. God Himself does not unilaterally and
unconditionally forgive. Therefore, there are occasions where we can with‑
hold our beneficence towards people who have sinned against us and have
not repented. But we need to live by forgiveness and should be manifesting a
spirit of forgiveness in response to the grace and tenderness of God.

6. Forgiveness is at the very heart of the Christian faith. In fact, what the whole
gospel is all about, ultimately, is cosmic restoration. The new heaven and a
new earth brought about through the work of One who came to reconcile
all things to Himself. God stands ready to forgive and reconcile with you, no
matter what you have done in your life.

LESSON 5:
1. Anxiety refers to a spirit of fearfulness, worry or apprehension about some‑
thing that lies in the future. And it really is our fear of the future more than
anything else that drives anxieties, and fears, and worries. We do not have to
worry about what happened yesterday, because yesterday is over. The focal
point of anxiety is always the future because it is always about what has not
yet taken place.

2. Objective specific anxiety is produced by something that is perceived as a

painful threat resulting in a phobia. Anxieties can become so intense and
paralyzing, that the fear level in our personalities can rise to the status of a
phobia. And a phobia tends to be a kind of fear that paralyzes us in one way or
another.

3. Angst anxiety is usually a nameless fear that is repressed and nonspecific

because the sufferer does not know why they are afraid. It is a condition that
we all experience at times to one degree or another. Philosophers speak about
this kind of fright as terrifying, paralyzing, and unspecific because it involves
so many hidden factors.
Study Question Explanations  33

4. Worries often come from a limited faith that lacks trust in the promises of
God. We all have faith, but our faith is limited, and sometimes our faith does
not get us past the anxiety of what will happen, because we are afraid that
God will not do what He promises He will do. Jesus says that a person does
not have very much faith if they are gripped in anxiety and the remedy is to
trust Him for tomorrow and for your entire life.

5. Augustine’s prayer in Confessions, was “Oh, Lord, Thou hast made us for
Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” Anxiety
and restlessness is rooted in our basic estrangement and alienation from God,
because our lives are out of whack if we are estranged from God. And being
outside fellowship with God is an intense and powerful provocation to fear.

6. We are called to encourage one another as Christians. A practical way to help

others overcome anxiety is to help them find courage. To have courage is to
do the very thing that one is afraid to do. Therefore, we need to encourage
one another to help overcome their anxieties, fears and apprehensions that
keep them from living for God.

LESSON 6:
1. Disappointment occurs when expectations are not met. Anger then results
because we are not able to completely fulfill all of the expectations that
people have from us, and we let them down. Or we ourselves can be angered
because we had hoped for and expected one thing but instead got something
else in its place.

2. Situational anger is expressed toward an innocent person over circumstances

beyond your control. Often the situation is frustrating to everybody involved
and people who have no contribution to the cause start getting mad at each
other due to frustration or disappointing. When situation anger happens, we
need to ensure that our anger is directed in the right place and that it is con‑
trolled with the right moderation.

3. If we are to be people who deal with this difficult problem of anger, we need
the wisdom of God. And we need the wisdom and the patience to look for the
pain, because it is a whole lot easier to lovingly respond to pain than it is to
sinfully react to anger. All anger is rooted in some sort of pain and it goes a
long way if we can discipline ourselves to wisely and patiently look past the
anger to the pain.

4. Anger in and of itself is not evil or sinful. If anger was a sin inherently, then
that would mean that God is evil and that Christ was a sinner, because we
know that it is part of the character of God for Him to express His wrath. And
34  Dealing with Difficult Problems

we see occasions in the New Testament, particularly in the episode of Christ’s

cleansing the temple.

5. It is very important for the Christian to understand the nature of anger and
how to deal with anger. And one of the principle things is not to allow the
sun to go down on your anger. Because anger can produce responses such as
bitterness, resentment, grudges, vengefulness and violence, harboring anger
for extended periods of time is wrong and needs to be addressed so the devil
cannot use it for evil.

6. We should be angry at what angers God. This particular anger is described as

“righteous indignation.” Anytime God is angry, it is a righteous kind of anger,
and anytime Christ manifested anger, it was a manifestation of righteous
indignation or righteous anger, but our episodes of anger are not always quite
so righteous.