Is Addiction a Disease?
There is a common model that says that addiction is a disease. It is a genetic malfunction. Well, I am no neuroscientists but I do believe that we have all been affected by the fall.[1] I do not mean the season fall, of course. I mean the fall that took place in the Garden of Eden. Man disobeyed God and we have been living with the ramifications ever since. We all have a sin nature.
So, for instance, one way my sinful nature shows itself is anger. When I get mad I like to punch people in the face; and I have done that in the past on a few occasions. But just because my natural disposition is anger and a tendency to violence does not make it right.[2] And it also does not make it a disease. I do not have a virus. I did not catch this sickness from someone else. It is my nature. That being said I do realize that many addictions have very difficult physical “side-affects.” However, those side-affects came as a result of choosing to do the addictive thing in the first place. I do believe it is clear that different people have tendencies. So, there are different factors involved; nature[3] and nurture. But when it all comes down to it, we, ourselves, are culpable. We choose to do whatever it is we choose to do.
That being said, it does have a lot of similarities to disease which is why that model has been so accepted. Scripture even uses sickness as an analogy:
“Oh, what a sinful nation they are—
loaded down with a burden of guilt.
They are evil people,
corrupt children who have rejected the LORD.
They have despised the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
5Why do you continue to invite punishment?
Must you rebel forever?
Your head is injured,
and your heart is sick.
6You are battered from head to foot—
covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds—
without any soothing ointments or bandages” (Is. 1:4-6).
But it uses it as an analogy. And says that the heart is sick. By “heart” is meant the “inner man,” “mind,” or “will.” It is similar to saying you have a fallen nature. All of you is affected and truly infected. It plays itself out like a rancid disease. Our sin is a parasitic cancer that eats away at our life and soul.
So, no, addiction is not a disease. Not biblically. And I would say not medically; though some make it sound like it is.[4]
Then what is it? Addiction is sin. Yet, it is a complex sin. It is idolatry. It is a complex habit.[5] It is a complex habit because through use the addicted has tricked their brain and body to say that they desperately need the substance (which is why professional help should be sought when detoxing). Truly, as Aristotle said, “habit is hard to change because it is like nature.”
Have you ever been off road mudding? When you go mudding it creates groves in the road, sometime huge groves, that are difficult not to drive in. Once you slip into one of those groves it takes you down that path until you can get out of it. But it is hard to get out of because it has been driven down so much. That is kinda what addiction is like. It is like a path that has been driven down a lot. It has created ruts. There are no barriers, no trees or even weeds, in the way. The neural pathways have been blazed. It is an easy path to go down now.
That is why I plan to blog about “action steps.” It is necessary to recalibrate your mind. You need to fill in those old destructive ditches and make new paths that lead to life. This reminds me of Romans 6:20-23. This passage tells us that in our natural state we are a “slave of sin.” That is, we do what our sin tells us to do and apparently it uses neural pathways to tell us what to do. However, these pathways, as Scripture tells us, leads to death. Instead, we need to be sanctified, progressively made into the image of Jesus, and this takes place, at least in part, by creating new healthy and God-honoring neural pathways (we see passages like Deut. 17:18, Rom. 12:2, Eph. 4:22-24, Col. 3:10, 1 Tim. 4:7-8, and Heb. 5:14 are important here) So we see neuroscience does not contradict Scripture. Actually, I think Scripture and neuroscience complement each other (I would like to explore this more in a future post).
[1] “Addiction looks like a disease, but it is a sin nature problem in the heart rather than a disease coming from the outside to the inside” (Mark Shaw, The Heart of Addiction, 20). One writer has said, “It’s a disease in the sense that it attacks a person and is degenerative. However, it’s not a disease in the sense that it takes over a person without that person making choices that allow it to happen” (Substance Abuse, 92). One of the problems is that “he ‘disease’ concept can be used to allow a person to escape moral responsibility” (Ibid.).
[2] “High levels of testosterone are related to higher levels of aggression…; yet malevolent violence is an expression of sin and is blameworthy.” People with “a biological predisposition toward aggressive behavior…” are “still ethically and spiritually responsible to deal with their aggressive predispositions in socially and divinely sanctioned ways” (Eric L. Johnson, Foundations of Soul Care, 477). However, he goes on to point out, “a comprehensive human understanding of such problems–one that corresponds in some measure to God’s understanding–cannot be gained by ignoring the lower-level influences and focusing only on their ethicospiritual blameworthiness. The lower-level dynamics constitute extenuating circumstances–without their being exculpating influences” (Ibid., 478-79).
[3] Note what Edward T. Welch who earned his Ph.D. in counseling (neuropsychology) from the University of Utah says, “There is a categorical difference between being influenced by genetics and being determined by it” (Addictions: A banquet in the grave, 27). He also says that “the scientific data… cannot support the disease approach. For example, it doesn’t account for identical twins (with the same genetic makeup) when one twin is a heavy drinker and the other is not” (Ibid.). Also see his book Blame It on the Brain: Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience; especially 183-202.
[4] So, for instance, Kent Dunnington has pointed out that “neither neural adaptions brought on by substance abuse nor a genetic presdispostion for addiction provides sufficient evidence that addiction is a disease… The disease concept of addiction maintains, first, that addiction is a chronic physiological disorder, and second, that it therefore can be most adequately treated through medical intervention. As it turns out, however, neither of these claims is supported by the evidence. In fact, contrary to the prevailing view of addiction, most substance abusers do stop practicing their additions and go on to lead lives free of addiction, without relapse. Furthermore, the great majority of these addicted persons recover in a nonmedicalized context” (Addiction and Virtue, 24). Also see endnote 2.
[5] Mark Shaw defines addiction as the persistent habitual use of a substance known by the user to be harmful (The Heart of Addiction, 28). “Addiction is a ‘sin nature’ problem and the body responds to the substances in natural ways. Then, in time, the actions associated with addiction become habitual and extremely difficult to overcome” (Ibid., 15 see also Edward Welch,Addictions: A banquet in the grave, 38-39). He also says that this definition “brings more hope to the suffering Christian addict. Because ungodly, destructive habits can be replaced by godly, productive habits” (Ibid., 29). The most profound book on addiction I have ever read is Addiction and Virtue and it is very helpful here; see esp. 138-40.
The Fight of Faith: How we are Transformed
The fight of faith. The battle of belief. This is the war we wage.
Our sanctification, our survival, is tethered to the anchor of our hope. If we are not anchored deep we will be tossed to and fro. We will make shipwreck of our faith.
How do we cast anchor? How do we preserve in life’s storms? How do we wage our warfare?
We do it, the Bible continually shows us, through faith. Yet, how do we have faith? Or how do we increase our faith? We will get to that most practical question. But, first, let’s see (1) where it is that the Bible teaches this and (2) let us understand how faith does do this.
First, the Bible teaches that faith not only saves, but also sanctifies. Our belief that brings us into the fold also keeps us there. This is seen in various places in Scripture, both OT and NT. We’ll take our example from 1 Peter.
God has caused us to be born again through faith (1 Pet. 1:3 cf. Jn. 1:13; 3:3-8; Eph. 2:4-5; Col. 2:13; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23; 1 Jn. 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18); that is, salvation. Yet, faith also continues to work; it sanctifies us, makes us holy in practice. By God’s power we are guarded through faith for salvation (1 Pet. 1:5 cf. Rom. 11:20). We see this worked out in 1 Peter 1. So, taking, for now, just one quick example, Peter says, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth.” We purify our souls because we believe the truth, because we have faith. Faith acts! It did for Peter,[1] it did for Paul (cf. e.g. “the obedience of faith” Rom. 1:5; 16:26), it did for James (James 2:14-26), and it should for us.
Second, how it is that faith sanctifies and preserves us. Again, we will take our example from 1 Peter.
I hate to be repetitive, but here it is. When we believe that we have a reason for hope (1 Pet. 3:15), we know that we are not following cleverly devised myths (2 Pet. 1: 15, 16), then we live accordingly. We, for example, “put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy” (1 Pet. 2:1).[2] It’s simply the natural outcome of belief; or, that is, it should be.
So, for example, suppose I am exhausted from a long day’s work. I come home, see that chair in the corner of the kitchen that’s always beckoning me. It’s made from solid hardwood. I got it when I worked at furniture store. I know it’s solid. So, I sit down on it. I rest. I take my boots off.
However, suppose that chair was not made of hardwood. Suppose I did not get it from the furniture store at which I worked. Suppose I got it from a trash heap. I would then have much to question about its sturdiness. If I don’t believe that it will hold my weight then I will not sit in it.
Why? Why do I sit in one chair and not the other? Because I have faith in the one and not the other. Faith, quite literally, moves us. That is why Peter talks about the “tested genuineness of your faith” (1 Pet. 1:7). Faith is testable. Is action wedded with our faith? Do we, so to speak, sit in the chair?
Active faith is seen in various places in Scripture. Thus, it says, “when mindful of God,” i.e. when one has faith, one is willing to endure sorrows (1 Pet. 2:19). We are even told to rejoice when we share in Christ’s sufferings—Christ suffered an agonizing death on a cross—because then we will be blessed (1 Pet. 4:13-14; 5:4, 10). We can only rejoice at such things if we truly have faith.
Third, and practically, how can we be firm in the faith? How can we preserve? How can we increase in faith? This is very important because as Isaiah says, “If you are not firm in the faith, you will not be firm at all” (Is. 1:6 cf. 1 Cor. 16:13).
As we fight to be firm in the faith, it’s imperative that we have a holistic approach. The process of change, that is sanctification, is not a simplistic process. Here is one way of looking at the process: stimuli → thinking → emotions → actions → character.[3] I think we see this same type of schema in 2 Peter 1:5-11.[4]
We preserve in the faith as we think on God’s truth (1 Cor. 15:1; 2 Thess. 2:15). God’s truth is one of the positive forms of stimuli. It transforms (cf. Jn. 17:17). [5] We have faith not through some nebulous and opaque placement of faith. God uses means. He uses knowledge of various things. He uses experiences. He uses conversations with friends. He uses Scripture. He uses the gathered worship of the church. Thus faith is a fight. And continuing in the faith is a fight. This is because there are things we must do. God uses means to accomplish His ends.
So, what are some of these means that God uses to accomplish the end of us preserving us in the faith? How can we be firm in the faith?
First, God uses our mind (cognition) (cf. Prov. 4:23; 23:7; 2 Cor. 10:5; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:22-24; Phil. 4:8).[6] We prepare our minds for action (1 Pet. 1:13) and set our hope fully on the grace that was brought to us at the revelation of the Messiah. We are supposed to be able to give a defensive for the reason we have hope (1 Pet. 3:15). We must use our minds and remind ourselves of truth so we will be firmly established (2 Pet. 1:12). We must recall that we do not follow “cleverly devised myths” (2 Pet. 1: 15, 16).
We must use our minds! In fact, God “has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him” (2 Pet. 1:3). In this category, God often uses the means of apologetics, meditation, study of devotional texts, and so forth to transform. Our cognitive belief has practical impact (when it is true belief). So 1 Peter 1:13: “you believe in Him and [thus] rejoice with joy that is inexpressible” (In this case, we see an emotional impact).
Second, God uses our emotions (emotive). For example, when we have prepared minds, minds set on hope (1 Pet. 1:13), we are sober-minded. We have emotions but they are grounded in truth. So, we have due fear for the LORD because we believe, with our mind, that He is our Father and will judge us according to our deeds (1 Pet. 1:17 cf. Rom. 11:20). Thus, we, because of cognitive and emotive reasons, reform our actions. In this category, God often uses community, worship,[7] meditation, etc. to transform.
Third, God uses our actions (volition). Once we have right thinking and thus right emotions we have, or should have, right actions. We should no longer be “conformed to the passions of [our] former ignorance” (1 Pet. 1:14). We should no longer practice our “futile ways” (1 Pet. 1:18). Notice, “ignorance” and “futile” are both cognitive type terms but work out in the volitional realm. So, Peter says, “As He who called you is holy (both cognitive and emotive), be holy in all your conduct (volitional)” (1 Pet. 1:15). God uses worship, community, refraining from certain unholy practices, acts of charity, and so forth to transform us.
In this whole schema that I have sought to lay out, there is a back and forth. We should not fix lines where none is fixed. They intersect at many points and continue, like wires, woven together. Knowledge presses emotion and action forward and builds character. Yet, action (e.g. forcing one’s self out of bed early to read Scripture) affects our cognitive and emotive side.
“What we do flows out of who we are, but who we are is indeed shaped by what we do… We are changed by doing and we are changed by a self-conscious and iterative process that scrutinizes thoughts, affections, and actions for their faithfulness to a kingdom ethic, and then chooses certain actions and practices in response.”[8]
So, saving faith is a continuing faith and an active faith.[8] It makes use of means. That’s why we resist the devil by being “firm in the faith” (1 Pet. 5:9). Thus, we must remember, faith is not static. Neither does it stagnate. For God uses means.
“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:10-11).
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[1] “You are her [Sarah’s] children, [i.e. the regenerate children of God] if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening” (1 Pet. 3:6). However, then, the converse would also be true. If you don’t do good then you are not children of God. Thus, faith is active. God’s children do not fear anything that is frightening. Why not? Because they trust God. They do good. Why? Because they are transformed through faith.
[2] Paul’s logical connections are very often more explicit. I think that is often why he seems to be more liked in evangelicalism (as well as his corpus being larger). Ephesians 4:1 is clear enough, and in Romans 12 Paul even tells us that his application is logical (12:1, the ESV has “spiritual”). Thomas R. Schreiner says, “Paul used the term with the meaning ‘rational’ or ‘reasonable,’ as was common in the Greek language. His purpose in doing so was to emphasize that yielding one’s whole self to God is eminently reasonable. Since God has been so merciful, failure to dedicate one’s life to him is the height of folly and irrationality” (Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans [Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998], 645 [italics mine].). In addition, Schreiner points out that “the word ‘bodies’ here refers to the whole person and stresses that consecration to God involves the whole person… Genuine commitment to God embraces every area of life” (Ibid., 644. Italics mine).
[3] http://bradbigney.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/diagrams_counselor.pdf, pages 3-4. “While God is always free to work miraculously and instantaneously, soul-change is typically a slow process that involves the replacement of old beliefs, affective responses, attitudes, and motives and patterns of relating to others with new ones, one at a time. Given what we know now of the neurological conditions of such change, it is not surprising why this process is gradual. Old neural networks must be shut down, and new ones must be constructed. None of this happens in genuine sanctification apart from the work of the Holy Spirt, but in this age most of the time God tends to work through the created order, and not take shortcuts. Though an incremental approach is sometimes hard for counselees to accept, such a stance, when grounded in justification, helps them to accept their present limitations and to be more realistic about the speed of their recovery, without undermining the ongoing call to grow in conformity to the image of Christ” (Eric L. Johnson, “Formation Counseling: A Middle Way,” 26-27).
[4] The whole of Scripture shows us this. Jesus for instance said, Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mk. 12:30). Paul says “be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom. 12:2) (cognitive), the Psalms say worship (e.g. Ps. 29:2) (emotive), other places say do righteousness (Jer. 22:3) (volitional). We see that this is the very process that leads to revival in the book of Nehemiah. Cognitive understanding (see esp. Neh. 8:7-8) lead to emotional experience (Neh. 8:9-12) which in turn lead to action (confession, 9:1-37; and covenantal resolve, 9:38).
[5] Thomas Goodwin said, “Thoughts and affections are sibi mutuo causae—the mutual causes of each other: ‘Whilst I mused, the fire burned’ (Psalm 39:3); so that thoughts are the bellows that kindle and inflame affections; and then if they are inflamed, they cause thought to boil” (“The Vanity of Thoughts”).
[6] “Such is the nature of man, that nothing can come at the heart but through the door of the understanding: and there can be no spiritual knowledge of that of which there is not first a rational knowledge” (Jonathan Edwards, “The Importance and Advantage of a Thorough Knowledge of Divine Truth”). However, Michael Emlet is also wise to point out that “The issue usually isn’t an information gap, but a desire/practice gap… Mere insight never changes anyone. People don’t change, not because they lack information but because they lack imagination that leads to action” (Michael R. Emlet, “Practice Makes Perfect?” 45-46).
[7] “Worship is one of the most transforming activities for us to engage in as Christians… When we become duly impressed with God our lives change because the things that matter to us change. We no longer want some of the things we previously desired. An overridding and overwelming passion for God himself, God’s people, and God’s kingdom purposes in this world replace those desires. True worship happens when we get a glimpse of God–who he is and what is is about–and just stand there in awe of him, being impressed and transformed down to the very depths of our being by the magnificent vision of the glory of our heavenly Father” (Richard E. Averbeck, “Spirit, Community, and Mission: A Biblical Theology for Spiritual Formation,” 38 in the Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care). I think Eph. 5:17-21 is noteworthy here. See also “Singing, in the Body and in the Spirit” by Steven R. Guthrie in JETS and “Being the Fullness of God in Christ by the Spirit” by Timothy G. Gombis in Tyndale Bulletin.
[8] Michael R. Emlet, “Practice Makes Perfect?” 44. “Certain habits stir up corresponding affections and appetites; certain core affections and desires are expressed in corresponding habits. You can’t separate desire from practice” (Michael R. Emlet, “Practice Makes Perfect?” 42).
[9] The key thing is that we must persevere. It is not, fundamentally, about whether the person was or was not ever regenerate. I happen to believe that if one does not persevere then they were never regenerate. However, that discussion is not the main point of Scripture. Rather, Scripture is saying persevere, believe, obey! That, it must be seen, is the main thing.
Temptation
Your lust, your addiction, your lying, your sin will kill you.
Proverbs 7 was likely composed between 971 and 931 B.C. That is around 3,000 years ago. So how does this passage apply to us?
First, we must look at what the passage is addressing. Look at Proverbs 7:10-12
. Who is the woman in this passage? She is a seductress, a temptress.
So why should you care? Because this passage is talking about your sin. No, you may not be running after a seductress but you crave something. Solomon here is not merely addressing the temptation of adultery but temptation to sin in general. He uses adultery as a case study. We will just have to plug in our own situation. This passage applies to us all. Listen. Because this, as we will see, is a matter of life and death.
Keep God’s Word, keep away from sin! Tattoo God’s Word on your heart (Prov. 7:1-5). Verse 2a says “keep my commandments and live” but in order to keep them we must know them. That is why we must treasure up God’s Word and keep it as the apple of our eye. We must keep God’s word always before us. We must even etch it onto our heart. It is one thing to write something down, another to use a Sharpie, but another thing altogether to engrave something. We must hide God’s Word so thoroughly in our hearts that it will be permanently upon us, like a tattoo. When God’s word is bond on our hearts and wisdom is our close friendthen it will keep us from the forbidden woman. When we know God’s Word we will see the lies of lust and the lies of addictive substances (cf. Ps. 119:11; Jn. 17:17). We need the sword of God’s Word to fight against temptation.
Run and hide from sin (Prov. 7:6-12). Why is the young man lacking sense in Proverbs 7, why is he stupid, and unwise? Because he is passing her corner. I am in the army and I have gone through tons of training of how to cross a road, go under bridges, and around corners when driving a Humvee. Why? Because they are danger spots. In fact, if these spots can be avoided we are to avoid them. It is not wise to go into these situations if you can avoid it because it is in these situations that the enemy is near and waiting in ambush. If mounted Humvees seek to avoid the “danger spots” we must avoid them all together.
We must flee from sin (1 Cor. 6:18; 2 Tim. 2:22; Prov. 5:8; 6:27). Too often we try to reason ourselves out of this. We say, “If I don’t hang out with them how will they get saved?” Yet the real question is, “If I keep falling into temptation before them, how will they get saved?” It true that Jesus ministered to prostitutes but that ministry is not for everyone. It true that drug dealers and drug users need Christ but if you’re tempted to sell or do drugs that is probably not the ministry that God has for you, at least at this point in your life.
Have you ever been on a diet? So you’re not trying to eat sweets to lose a few pounds. Let me ask you though, before you go on this diet, do you fill your freezer with ice cream and your cupboards with chocolate? If you do you are foolish. Or your just not serious about your diet. Yet how often do we do this very thing with our addiction? With pornography? With drugs? You might tell yourself, “I don’t want to use tonight. I’m just going to hang out for a little bit.”
We may say we don’t want to keep taking that pill, smoking that joint, but is that true if we keep going to that person’s house? We don’t want to do so many things, supposedly. If solders had that in Afghanistan today, they could literally be dead; the enemy would kill them. Yet we leave ourselves open to enemy ambush all the time. We think nothing of it. We walk right around her corner. We must be on guard and avoid “the corner.” You know your corner. You know where temptation gets you. If you can avoid that corner, you’ll be on the way to when the battle.
I, basically, never watch movies or TV. This is my personal conviction for me. This is me avoiding the corner (see Prov. 7:7-8 cf.5:8).
I use to work doing security and when I get to the guard shack, I was very intentional about turning off the TV right away. I don’t want to react but pre-act. If we are near the corner, we are foolish (Prov. 6:27). We must be proactive and avoid the corner. We must practice radical amputation. We must be willing to not drive on certain roads, look the other way when passing Hooters (I do this!), take a baseball bat to the laptop. We must do what it takes.
“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mk. 14:38).
Don’t listen to the lies (Prov. 7:13-27) “She seizes him and kisses him” and promises him sexual delight. She says “Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love.” She says there won’t be consequences, no one will find out, my husband is not home. She says, “Come with me we’ll have fun and no one will know. Is this not the lie of lust? The lie that we can drink in lust and it doesn’t matter; there are no consequences and it hurts no one and in fact is normal.
At first, she, the temptation, may look good. She may drip honey, but in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to hell (Prov. 5:3-5). The river of temptation has a strong current and it will carry you along until your terrible fall unless you fight it and escape its grasp.
Temptation says, “Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love” (v. 18). Is this not what our temptation sounds like? And notice, it promises no consciences, “My husband is not at home” (v. 19); no one will ever know, so it doesn’t matter. Let’s apply this concept to dieting. No one may ever know that you ate that ice cream that night when you were all alone but your life will show it or at least your waistline will. Plus, once you have that one bit of ice cream the next one doesn’t seem so bad, in fact, it seems really good. Temptation promises pleasure and delivers it, for a time. Yet it is only for a time (see v. 21-23).
Lust is the way of death even if she promises delight. However, it is not just lust that brings death and depravity, it is sin. All sin. Your sin. Don’t let yourself off the hook here. You may not feel tempted to to go to a strip-club but what about that lie you told yesterday? What about those bottles you’re going to drink tonight? We all have lies we hear. We must answer them with God’s truth.
We must remember that if we follow her (our sin) it will be as an ox to the slaughter (Prov. 7:22). As surly as the ox going to the slaughter brings death so will our sin bring death. If we follow our temptation, we will be like a mouse going to the cheese in the mousetrap. We may get the cheese but it will kill us. If the mouse knew that, the mousetrap would kill it surly it would stay clear. Brothers and sisters we know sin will kill us and yet so often we fail to stay clear. May we be wiser than mice. We have seen here, through God’s Word, that sin is a trap that brings death, so avoid it. If we don’t it will cost us our family, our ministry, and our life.
Listen to wisdom, obey God’s Word because “many victims she has laid low.” Lust is pictured here as a dreadful mighty warrior and we are told not to fight with her but to avoid her because she has destroyed many. Bible students, pastors, and professors are included in this “many.” In fact, she can, and will take us all down if we don’t avoid her.
Brothers and sisters, sin, grave sin, is not beyond me and is not beyond you. Alcoholism, drug addiction, or whatever it may be is not beyond you.
“ And now, O sons, listen to me,
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are a mighty throng.
Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death”
(Prov. 7:24-27
Don’t listen to sins lies! Hide God’s Word in your heart and run from temptation!
Will this woman, will this sin, be the death of you? Or will you do everything in your power to flee from her?
All have sinned, everyone, and fallen short of the glory of God. None is righteous, not even you. We have all followed our temptation, whatever it may be. We are all as like ox going to the slaughter. We are all on the path to Sheol. Is not this true? Is not the wages of sin death?
Yes it is, but praise God, Jesus has died in our place! The wages of sin is death. But! But the gift of God is eternal life! Brother and sisters you, I, deserve death, slaughter. But, in while we were yet sinners Christ died for us! For us! God promises those who have faith in Him eternal life instead of the death we deserve. He not only gives eternal life but also an abundant and free life here.
Many of you are already in the shackles of sin. You’ve been entangled in the seductress’ lies, whatever those lies may be, you’re like a mouse in the trap. You may have the cheese but your caught, going nowhere, and dying. Can you be free? Free from the shackles of your addictive sin? God says you can! He is able to help those who are tempted. Trust in Jesus for salvation and look to Jesus in your sanctification.
Roman 6:20-23: “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set freefrom sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
We are free, no longer slaves of sin! We no longer inherit death but eternal life. Yet, now, we serve as slaves to our good Master, God Himself. We now serve a good Master, with good rewards, but we must serve Him.
“Hello, my name is _____ and I am transformed”
The Bible does not deny that we were various things—addicts, homosexuals, angry, prideful, pornographic masturbators—but that is what we were (past tense). The emphasis in Scripture is on what we are and what we are called to be. The Christian does not say, “Hello, my name is _____ and I am a X Y or Z.” The Christian says I was dead but now I am alive. The Christian says I am a struggling sinner yet I am a saint. The Christians says I am a new creation; I am transformed. We must remember however that we are “simultaneously saint and sinner.” This is the biblical balance. We are holy in Christ and yet we are progressively becoming holy (see 1 Cor. 1:2; Heb. 10:14).
Paul wrote a letter to a church back in the day. The people had their own struggles. Many of them use to worship various false gods and perhaps were even involved in cult prostitution. But you know what Paul called them when he wrote to them? He called them “God’s beautiful creation” (Eph. 2:10). He didn’t say, “Now church, make sure that you are constantly reminding yourselves that you were part of the occult. In fact, when you meet together say, ‘Hello, my name is _____ and I am an occultist.’”
In a different post we are going to explore whether or not addiction is a disease. Suffice it to say that addiction is “a complex habit;”[1] I would say a complex sinful habit. However, one of the problems in claiming the identity of “addict,” “alcoholic,” or “overeater” is that we deny that addiction is a habit that can be finally overcome. I am not saying it won’t be a struggle. I am not even saying that it will even finally be overcome in this life. Yet, the Bible teaches the freeing and empowering truth that in Christ we are currently a new creation. It says we are adopted children of God. We are even God’s beloved; His treasure.
Labeling may not seem like a big deal but it is. In hospitals it is important for people to be labeled correctly. If someone has a gunshot wound on their leg they should not be taken to a cardiologist; and someone that has the flu should not be lifeflighted. Labels are important for treatment.
The Bible talks about sin. Actually, quite a lot about sin. It talks about the deceitfulness of sin, the sin that sticks so closely, our sin natures, and various specific sins among other things. But it does not talk about us now being identified as sinner; addict, overeater, alcoholic, or otherwise. Instead, our identity is in Christ and Him alone.
Truly,
The scope of recovery is… radically extended within a Christian view of addiction. Indeed ‘recovery’ does not sufficiently name the Christian hope in the face of addiction. Instead the Christian hopes for ‘discovery’ and ‘new creation’—not a return to some maintainable equilibrium between who we are and what we want but rather a transformation of the self that brings who we are and what we want… into perfect coordination and harmony.[2]
The Bible doesn’t primarily keep us from sin by reminding us what we were when we were dead. And for that I am glad. That seems depressing. The Bible instead says things like this:
“Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-23)
“Be imitators of God” (Eph. 5:1)“
“At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8)
The Bible says that we are progressively being transformed into the image of God. The Bible says that eternal serenity is available to us in Christ.
The Bible has taught me to say, “Hello, my name is Paul and I am transformed.” I was a lot of things. But now I am a new creation in Christ.
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[1] Kent Dunnington, Addiction and Virtue: Beyond the Models of Disease and Choice, 88.
[2] Ibid., 183.
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