Confronting Porn Addiction with the Sword of the Spirit

“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:14-24).

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:13-15).

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

“So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9); “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him …” (Colossians 1:10).

“Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:22-23).

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:16-17).

“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22).

“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil” (Isaiah 1:16).

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16).

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).

“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

“Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:13).

*All scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version.

--Kevin L. Moore

Related Posts: Are You Listening to the Holy Spirit?

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Porn Addiction Resources: Focus Press

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You Are the Temple of God

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, NKJV).

     Before we consider the implications of this passage, we should realize that the original message has the potential of being lost in translation. The problem is not due to any ambiguity in the text but to the limitations of the English language. These words were first penned in Greek, where the difficulty does not occur. But when the passage is rendered in English, the meaning can be obscured.

     The second person pronoun “you” in English can either be singular or plural, depending on whether an individual or multiple persons are being addressed. If I want to speak to an entire group (“you, class”) or to just one person (“you, Tom”), there is only one pronoun from which to choose. However, those of us from the southern United States have rectified the problem by regarding “you” as the singular form and “you all” or “y’all” as the plural. [Note: in the King James Version “ye” = the plural “you all”]

     In 1 Corinthians 3:16 Paul used the second person plural form of address, and if we read it in the language of the southern United States, the point is much clearer: “Do y’all not know that y’all are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in [or ‘among’] y’all?” Paul is not speaking here about the individual Christian but rather the collectivity of Christians, the body of Christ, the church. It is God’s church (the community of the saved) that serves as his spiritual temple and the dwelling place of his Spirit.

     Next the apostle writes: “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him” (v. 17a). Again, the description here is not that of the individual person (as in 6:18-20). Neither should we consider the church building (a physical structure of brick and mortar) as some kind of hallowed sanctuary, despite what we may have inferred as children from the song, “Tip toe, tip toe in God’s house.”

     When as faithful Christians we assemble together, work together, and collectively represent God’s presence in our community, we are God’s spiritual temple. Accordingly, may none of us ever be guilty of defiling this temple by such things as ungodly behavior (5:1, 2; 6:1-11), spiritual apathy (11:30, 31), false teaching (15:12, 34), corrupt worship (11:17-22; 14:2, 4), or unnecessary division (1:10, 11; 3:3). Our primary aim should be that of building up the temple of God.

     From the third chapter of 1 Corinthians, we are reminded of how very important the church is, the great privilege of being part of it, and the solemn responsibility we all have to devote ourselves to godly living, active involvement, and faithful service. “For the temple of God is holy, which temple y’all are” (v. 17b).

–Kevin L. Moore

First appearing in The Voice of Truth International 70:47-48.

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Are You Listening to the Holy Spirit?

      Psalm 95, written about ten centuries before Christ by the prophet David, is an appeal to worship Jehovah with joy and thanksgiving and to humbly submit to His revealed will. In view of the disobedient Israelites of the past, readers are admonished: “Today, if you will hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion …. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways,’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest’” (vv. 7-11, NKJV).

     Why were these ancient Israelites ignorant of the ways of Jehovah? It was not because the divine will had been withheld from them or was insufficiently communicated. It was not because the heavenly message was too complicated to understand. Rather, they did not know God’s ways because they refused to listen with open, receptive hearts, and therefore they carelessly disregarded the sacred word of the Lord.

     God is still speaking to those who are willing to listen. Hebrews 3:7-8 declares, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says [present tense]: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion ...’” Note that Psalm 95 is being quoted here, but instead of the words being attributed to David (as in Hebrews 4:7), the Holy Spirit is credited. This passage affirms not only the divine inspiration of scripture, but also the current and continual relevance of scripture. The Holy Spirit is saying, “Today …”

     The expression “today” in this passage obviously has reference to the day on which David, through inspiration, penned these words, but it is also applicable to the day the writer of Hebrews quoted this psalm, and the day his readers first heard these words, and this very day that you and I are presently experiencing. In other words, each day that we live on this earth is not yesterday or tomorrow – it is always today.

     The Lord genuinely desires what is best for you and me. He wants to save us and to bless us and for us to enjoy the heavenly rest that has been prepared for all who come to Him on His terms. But He cannot do anything for those who, through stubbornness or neglect, are unwilling to listen and obey. “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end” (Hebrews 3:12-14). Are we listening?

–Kevin L. Moore

Originally published in The Voice of Truth International (vol. 66): 18-19; (vol. 67): 14-15.

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