Note from Pastor: “Addiction” New Ways of Seeing and Walking Free, Part 10
“The unfolding of Your words gives life; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130) In this series we have highlighted some biblical metaphors for addiction (idolatry, adultery, foolishness, disease/illness, being attacked by wild beasts) to help us understand God’s perspective on the issue. The Bible makes the case that the worldly disease model to describe addiction is inadequate and does not offer true hope (For more on this please request previous installments of this series). Recently we have been emphasizing the need to “declare war” on one’s desires when they start to grow into ungodly proportions (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Ephesians 6:11; 1 Peter 1:13). All temptation is a kind of lure (think fishing), dangling in front of us, waiting to ensnare us. We are exhorted in Scripture to do battle with them all. Yet not all temptations are the same. Some come from within us, and some come from outside us. When doing battle, we need to know the source of the temptation. Otherwise, it is easy to overlook our own contribution which we bring to the cycle of temptation and sin. The desire for anything that Scripture prohibits is an evil desire that comes from our own hearts (James 1:13-15). James says, “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.” We can quickly identify the temptations that come from within our hearts: by asking ourselves which desires prefer to stay in the dark. Which desires do we want to hide from certain people? Illegal drugs? Excessive alcohol? Overeating or undereating? Pornography? Sexual immorality? We can’t blame these temptations on anyone or anything outside of ourselves, and so the biblical command to “flee temptation” is certainly not the only answer in these situations. We are attracted to the temptation outside us because of the sinful desires we harbor within. We may be able to actually flee something that we deeply desire, getting out of its presence, but we still have to “take our soul to task” because even when out of its physical presence, our soul still wants it. The real issue is the desire of the heart. The desires must be changed. Please read carefully: the process of doing battle with internal temptations of the heart, of taking our souls to task, is called progressive sanctification. In God’s sovereign plan, He has determined that conversion to Christ will not bring about instant moral perfection. Instead, our sinlessness will wait for the return of Christ. Meanwhile, God’s plan is that we fight indwelling sin (though Satan, the penalty of sin, and the power of sin have already been completely defeated at the cross of Christ) which remains in us because we are human. But be encouraged! There is great hope. Since it is God Himself who makes the declaration of war against indwelling sin, there is something praiseworthy about the fight. The fight itself brings glory to Him and good to us. Paul said, “I have fought the good fight” (2 Timothy 4:7), and he encourages us to do the same (1 Timothy 6:11-12). More next time on how to fight the fight.
