LUSTS OF THE FLESH
by
Becky Rene & Steven Bauer
INTRODUCTION
AVOIDING EXTREMES AND BEING CONSISTENT
Extremes
Consistency
Hypocrisy
True motives
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN WILLFUL SIN AND A PHYSICAL ADDICTION
Determining how to deal with a sinner
Sin in general
Defining a physical addiction
Difficulties in determining wilful sin and sin because of addiction
IS IT A SIN?
Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit
You must glorify God in your body
Jesus is your only master
TAKING ACTION
Dealing with a person who wilfully sins
Dealing with a person who is physically dependant upon an addictive substance
BREAKING FREE OF SIN
SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION
1. There are many topics on which I could make a lesson but I like to do lessons on subjects that people ask me about. After talking to friends (including pen-friends) and family… there were several subjects being suggested again and again that fell into the category of lusts of the flesh.
2. Rather than deal with specific things like drinking, smoking, gluttony, fornication etc., I am just going to set forth some general, scriptural principles that can be applied to all the lusts of the flesh. But I will be referring to specific things as examples.
I. AVOIDING EXTREMES AND BEING CONSISTENT
A. Extremes.
1. Now there is a very good reason why I am not dealing with individual lusts, like gluttony, alcohol, and drugs, in separate lessons, which I will try to explain:
a. I think that people sometimes become obsessed with a particular sin; it becomes their hobbyhorse and other sins are ignored. So, for example, they might become obsessed with alcohol and spend all their time campaigning to have it banned, and take an almost perverse pleasure in disfellowshiping Christians who even mention it.
b. But it is not good to be obsessed with one particular sin and ignore others, is it? And it is not good to disfellowship a Christian for drunkenness while continuing in fellowship with a brother or sister who is a glutton, is it?
2. Ignoring sin altogether is one extreme and being obsessed with a particular sin is another extreme, and both should be avoided. Paul says that we are to exercise self-control in all things – 1 Corinthians 9.25.
B. Consistency.
1. Another problem we sometimes have is in being consistent. I know of a church that had ignored the sin of gluttony amongst its members but were swift to act when one member was caught smoking. There are probably many reasons why behave this way but that is no excuse!
2. So, by all means, take action against the drunkards and drug abusers but do not ignore the gluttons – be consistent! James speaks about showing discrimination between the rich and the poor - James 2.2-3 – but you can see that it is also being inconsistent.
C. Hypocrisy.
1. Now we really have to be careful of being hypocritical, don’t we? Jesus spoke about taking the speck out of your brother’s eye and not noticing the log in your own eye – Matthew 7.3. Jesus also told a parable about a man who thought he was so good and thanked God that he was not like the horrible tax collector – Luke 18.9-14, and Paul warns about those who teach others not to steal but they steal themselves – Romans 2.21. Look at those passages again and notice that:
a. The fault-finder did not notice the log in his own eye – Matthew 7.3. So you might not even notice you have a log in your own eye!
b. The Pharisee trusted in himself that he was righteous – Luke 18.9. You judge your brother as unrighteous but are you righteous?
c. The Jewish leaders liked to teach others right and wrong but not practice it – Romans 2.21. Are you free of sin?
2. So you can see that you have to be extremely careful about rebuking others. Yes.
D. True motives.
1. So it is essential that we examine ourselves to make sure that:
a. We are not just rebuking someone of a sin because we have a particular hatred for that sin.
b. That we are not picking on the easy target and ignoring others who we are afraid to confront.
c. That we are not rebuking someone when we have sin in our own lives. We also need to make sure that our motive is love.
2. If you think, “I am going to rebuke you because you are a wicked person and I will be so glad to see get thrown out of the church. Yes,” then your motive is all wrong. Paul tells us that our motive should be to save their soul - 1 Corinthians 5.5. Is your motive out of a sincere love of that person’s soul?
II. DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN WILFUL SIN AND PHYSICAL ADDICTION
A. Determining how to deal with a sinner.
1. If someone has a problem with a lust of the flesh, like drugs (cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, caffeine, etc), alcohol, or gluttony, then, obviously, something has to be done about it.
2. But how we deal with it is going to be determined by its distinction – is it a wilful sin or is it a physically addictive sin? Is it a matter of breaking a physical addiction or of exercising self-control? This would make a difference in how you dealt with the person, wouldn’t it?
B. Sin in general.
1. In general, sin is when you “miss the mark” or “fall short” (Vine’s Dictionary).
2. We can sin in three ways: (i) By violating a command, (ii) by failing to do good and, (iii) by going against our conscience. So, a person who eats to excess, gets drunk, and takes drugs is sinning; it is going against a command (Ephesians 5.3; Colossians 3.5). In such cases, that person should be disfellowshipped if they refuse to repent of their sin.
C. Defining a physical addiction.
1. A physical addiction is when your body becomes dependent upon a substance and there are side effects when the body is denied it. So you can become addicted to things like nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol (How these substances are ingested is unimportant).
2. Now it would be unfair to say to an addict, “Oh, you had better stop taking that right now or you will be disfellowshipped,” because it takes time to break free from a physical addiction, and it can be dangerous to just suddenly go “cold turkey.”
D. Difficulties in determining wilful sin and sin because of addiction.
1. But it is not always easy to determine if someone is willfully sinning or sinning because they are physically addicted to something. For example, is a man who gets drunk every weekend willfully sinning or does his body have a dependency upon alcohol? Also, what about a person who drinks a glass of wine with his evening meal, is he wilfully sinning?
2. Well, the answers may not be as straight forward as you think! The Bible does say that drunkenness is a sin (Galatians 5.19-21; 1 Peter 4.3; Proverbs 31.6), but does the Bible forbid alcohol altogether?
a. The drinking debate has gone on for years and years and it will probably go on until the end of time. I have looked at the arguments for against total abstinence but I remain undecided. In the meantime, I am certain that drunkenness is a sin, and I will say so, but I am not prepared to condemn drinking altogether for fear of speaking where the Bible is silent.
b. And that is my point: we have to be really careful about calling something a sin when the there is no passage that clearly teaches it (Read Isaiah 5.20; Proverbs 17.15).
III. IS IT A SIN?
A. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
1. If you smoke, get drunk, or overeat, then you are damaging your health. The damaging effects may manifest themselves within a short time or in later life. There has been plenty of publicity about the damaging effects of these things on health, but if you are unaware of the health risks, then consult your doctor.
a. Now, in view of the damage you do to your body through smoking, drinking, and overeating, listen to what the Bible says:
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
b. Some people who are damaging their health say, “Oh, it’s my body and I can do what I like with my body.” But these verses remind us that our bodies are not own to abuse as we please; they have been bought with a price and belong to the master.
"Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19)
2. Each person’s body is a temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. You would have to be familiar with the Old Testament to understand what Paul is saying here: he is reminding us that God’s temple is a holy place in which His Spirit dwells and nothing should be brought into it to defile or destroy that temple. If you are smoking, drinking, taking drugs, or overeating, then you are destroying the temple of God.
"Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are" (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)
B. You must glorify God in your body.
1. A Christian desires to glorify God with his mouth and his body. Paul said…
"Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31)
2. Does making a pig of yourself at the dinner table, becoming so drunk you can hardly walk, or getting so stoned that you do not even know what is going on bring glory to God? You know it doesn’t.
"… For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:20)
C. Jesus is your only master.
1. Jesus is our only master (Jude 1.4).
"For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ" (Jude 1:4)
2. Jesus said that we cannot serve two masters.
"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth" (Luke 16:13)
3. So we must not let sin or anything have the mastery over us…
"For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14)
"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything" (1 Corinthians 6:12)
"Promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved" (2 Peter 2:19)
4. So, yes, we are falling short or sinning if we let nicotine, alcohol, or food have the mastery over us.
IV. TAKING ACTION
A. Dealing with a person who willfully sins.
1. If someone is committing a willful sin, then that person should be rebuked and called upon to repent. If they fail to repent, then they must be handed over to Satan (Read 1 Corinthians 5:1-13). Such sins would include greediness or gluttony, drunkenness (excluding physical dependency), and taking drugs (excluding physical dependency).
2. But remember, the motive of rebuking a brother or sister and handing them over to Satan is for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 5:5).
B. Dealing with a person who is physically dependant upon an addictive substance.
1. If someone is an addict, then, yes, they need to be told that their behavior is sinful, but they need help in breaking their addiction. I suppose the first step would be to encourage them to go and see their doctor or contact the relevant organization.
2. But it is very important that we, as their brethren, do all that we can to assist them. We will need a lot of love and understanding.
V. BREAKING FREE OF SIN
A. As Christians, we are to pursue holiness. God says we must be holy because He is Holy (1 Peter 1.16) and that means cleansing ourselves from all defilements of the flesh and spirit (2 Corinthians 7.1).
"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:12-14)
B. We can break free of any sin but it takes effort and trust:
1. The effort we make is in not making provision for the flesh (Romans 13.14), exercising self-control (1 Corinthians 9.25), and resisting temptations (1 Peter 5.8-9).
2. The trust we have is in God’s provisions and promises: He has provided armour for us to wear (Ephesians 6.10-18), a way of escape when we are tempted (1 Corinthians 10.13), and promised that Satan will flee from us when we resist him (James 4.7; 1 Peter 5.8-9).
SUMMARY
1. It is good to hate sin (Romans 7.14-15) but we must be careful of going to extremes (Philippians 4.5).
2. We must not tolerate sin within the church (1 Corinthians 5.11-13) but we must make sure we are being consistent; it is a bad thing to rebuke some people for their sin and ignore other people who are walking in sin. “Consistency, thou art a jewel” (Author unknown).
3. When dealing with brethren who are overtaken in a sin, we must determine whether they are willfully sinning or whether their bodies have become dependent upon some addictive substance. For example, a brother could be getting drunk because he lacks self-control or he may be physically addicted to alcohol. In the case of the former, he should be called upon to repent and handed over to Satan if he does not repent. In the case of the latter, he should be referred to a doctor for help with his addiction.
4. Is gluttony, drunkenness, and drug abuse a sin? This can easily be determined by asking the following questions: in view of the fact that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, is what you are ingesting defiling that Holy temple? Can it be said that what you are doing is glorifying God? Has food, drugs, or alcohol enslaved you and become your master in the place of Christ? An affirmative answer to any of these questions means you are sinning.
5. A person who is sinning willfully through a lack of self-control over his passions should be called upon to repent and, if he refuses, be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit might be saved. A person who has a physical addiction should certainly be told they are sinning and called upon to repent, but we must offer any assistance we can to help them overcome their addiction.
6. As Christians, sin no longer has dominion over us and we each have the power to break free of any habitual or addictive sin. If we put on the whole armor of God and make the effort to exercise self-control and resist the Devil, then we can be assured that God, who cannot lie, will not let us be tempted beyond what we are able to bear, and when we resist the Devil, he will flee from us. If you want to know more about resisting temptation, then look at my lesson called “How To Resist Temptations” www.beckysplace.info/howtoresisttemptations.htm
7. If you are an elder, a deacon, a preacher, or a teacher of an adult or children’s class, then you must ask yourself these questions, “Is it right for someone who is overtaken in a sin of the flesh to be in a leadership position? Am I setting a good example to those I am leading?” The answer to both question is NO.