In a world like this, saturated in a constant stream of filth coming from every angle, it’s tempting to blame the sin of lust on the outside world and diminish our role because it seems almost impossible to resist the barrage! This sin is arguably the toughest to battle and is especially able to entangle us, interestingly right at the point where original sin is transferred through humanity.
Certainly there can be no doubt that the world is increasingly filled with the perversions of God’s natural design for sexuality, and that Satan is the author of it and revels in it. The exhortation in 1 Peter 5:8 to be watchful is followed by a description of Satan as a roaring lion prowling around seeking someone to devour. That mental picture seems almost a perfect metaphor for the way Satan has designed this sin to entangle us.
Having said that, we must always remember that sin is ours to own. G.K. Chesterton was asked the question: “What’s wrong with the world?” His answer is beautiful in its simplistic relevance for us: “Dear Sirs” he said, “I am!” Not only is it ours to own, but we must recognize the outrage that it is before the thrice holy God we worship. We are very good at sympathising with other sinners in their sin, and not so naturally inclined to side with God in His righteous indignation over sin. The world neatly defines the worst evil as that which produces the most human misery, but there is more evil in the least of our sins than in a natural event which produces the most human suffering.
A story of a minister who preached very strongly one day on the subject of sin serves to illustrate the danger in minimising sin. After the service one of the church officers asked him not to talk so openly about man's corruption, because the children hearing the message may more easily become sinners. The minister took down a small bottle from the cabinet and showed it to the visitor and said “Do you see that label?” The man replied, “Yes”. The label read “Strychnine” and underneath that in bold red letters was the word “Poison”. “Do you know man, what you are asking me to do?” said the minister. “You're suggesting that I change the label. Suppose I do and paste over it the words, "Essence of Peppermint”. Do you see what might happen? Someone would use it not knowing the danger involved and would die, and so it is too with the matter of sin. The milder you make the label the more dangerous you make the poison.
Our Lord’s teaching in Matthew 5:27-30 helps us to understand lust from His perspective.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” [ESV]
In this passage we see:
· The Depth of this Sin
It is not only an act, but rather it is an attitude, being much deeper than just committing adultery.
· The Deceit of this Sin
It is never as simple as it looks. You can be highly respectable on the outside and be rotten with lust on the inside.
· The Destructiveness of this Sin
It is so severe that its ultimate end is to cast people into an eternal hell. So serious is it that we would be better to take the most drastic action that would cause us great physical pain if that would prevent it.
The error of minimising this sin seems especially prevalent today, as if the state of impurity in the world around us is somehow proportional to our tendency to minimise our inability to resist it. A passage from John Owen’s treatises on Indwelling Sin in Believers and The Mortification of Sin serves as a staggering reminder of the attitude we should have towards this sin…
“Bring your lust to the gospel, — not for relief, but for farther conviction of its guilt; look on Him whom you have pierced, and be in bitterness. Say to your soul, “What have I done? What love, what mercy, what blood, what grace have I despised and trampled on! Is this the return I give to the Father for his love, to the Son for his blood, to the Holy Ghost for his grace? Is this how I repay the Lord? Have I defiled the heart that Christ died to wash, that the blessed Spirit has chosen to dwell in? And can I keep myself out of the dust? What can I say to the dear Lord Jesus? How shall I hold up my head with any boldness before him? Do I account communion with him of so little value, that for this vile lust’s sake I have hardly any room in my heart? How shall I escape if I neglect so great salvation? In the meantime, what shall I say to the Lord? Love, mercy, grace, goodness, peace, joy, consolation, — I have despised them all, and esteemed them as a thing of nothing, that I might harbour a lust in my heart. Have I obtained a view of God’s fatherly countenance, that I might behold his face and provoke him to his face? Was my soul washed, that room might be made for new defilements? Shall I endeavour to disappoint the end of the death of Christ? Shall I daily grieve that Spirit whereby I am sealed to the day of redemption? Consider the infinite patience and forbearance of God towards you in particular. Consider what advantages he might have taken against you, to have made you a shame and a reproach in this world, and an object of wrath for ever; how you have dealt treacherously and falsely with him from time to time, flattered him with your lips, but broken all promises and engagements, and that by the means of that sin you are now in pursuit of; and yet he has spared you from time to time, although you seem boldly to have put it to the trial how long he could hold out. And will you yet sin against him? Will you yet weary him, and make him to serve with your corruptions? Have you not often been ready to conclude to yourself, that it was utterly impossible that he should bear any longer with you; that he would cast you off, and be gracious no more; that all his forbearance was exhausted, and hell and wrath was even ready prepared for you? And yet, above all thy expectation, he has returned with visitations of love. And will you still abide in the provocation of the eyes of his glory?”
Knowing the seriousness of this sin, we must act! We must work out this salvation we have been given by our own effort knowing that it is God who is at work in us (Phil 2:12-13). First and foremost, that means a rigid commitment to taking shelter in the Word for protection and for sanctification, and to remaining steadfast in prayer.
In addition, a number of practical resources are available to support the sanctifying work of the Sprit through the Word…
A Strategy for fighting:
A Resource for Understanding:
A Tool for Accountability:
A System of Prevention:
A Path to Recovery:
