The Battle Is Already Won

"Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." Colossians 2:23

A relative of mine suggested that I read the book, "Every Man's Battle: Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time." Now, I don't know why it was suggested to me. I didn't confide in them that I was "losing the battle" with sexual temptation nor were we even discussing the subject. The description of the book reads, "From movies and television, to print media and the Internet, men are constantly faced with the assault of sensual images. It is impossible to avoid such temptations... but, thankfully, not impossible to confront them and gain victory over them!"  That about sums it up when it comes to all the fronts where men are confronted with sexual temptation. The devastation that sexual sin has caused to individuals and relationships is endless. From fornication to adultery and from pornography to sexual deviancy, the temptation of sexual sin knows no boundaries. Christians and unbelievers are both familiar with the story in the Bible about Sodom and Gomorrah and the wrath of God which befell those cities due to their descent into sexual immorality. "Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land (Genesis 19:24-25)." It is because of stories like this and the struggle men have with sexual sin that books like the one suggested to me to read are written so frequently. For clarity, I did not read the book and do not have any intention to read it. Not that the book doesn't have any useful information, but that this subject is not new to me and I don't feel that the answer to gaining "victory" over sexual sin, or sin in general, is ultimately found in instituting different techniques to modify your behavior. No offense is meant towards the author of the book, the person who suggested I read it, or to those that may have benefited from reading it. It is that I believe the more you focus on a particular sin, the more that sin gets a foothold on you than it may already have presently. Do not get me wrong, I have committed sexual sin and am not proud of it. And, yes, like the book talks about, sexual temptation is impossible to avoid. However, there is something that I know about my faith in Jesus Christ that helps me in this area as well as other areas of sin that tempt me. The Bible says, "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56)." The power of sin is the law. In other words, the techniques you submit to that are designed to help you in "winning the war on sexual temptation" will only lead to the discovery of more sins to avoid. Then this "battle" becomes your life. The Apostle Paul, who wrote the verse from 1 Corinthians also said, "But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting (Romans 7:8)," when he talked about the law commanding him not to covet. It did not give him victory it only produced more enemies to fight!

I have seen it all when it comes to avoiding sexual temptation. Make a "covenant" with your eyes as a promise not to look at something tempting. Put your personal computer in an open space in your home so as to be accountable to other people in the home. Get all types of filtering software for your computer to help you avoid inappropriate internet websites. Become a member of an "accountability" group where the pressure of having to give an account of your activities to others will hopefully get you to not give in to temptation. While all of these things may have their merit and work to some degree, where is Jesus in all of this? Every "covenant" you make, computer software that you install, placement of the furniture in the home, or group you belong to, as the verse from Colossians 2 says, will not have any value in restraining sensual indulgence. The entire focus of your Christian life becomes you and your attempts to avoid sexual temptation and not Jesus Christ and how He overcame sin on your behalf. There is no question we should do our best to avoid sin, sexual or otherwise. However, I hope the motivation isn't solely because sin is wrong and should be avoided, but rather that you are resting in the love and acceptance of God through your faith in Jesus Christ and as a byproduct the appeal of sin is diminishing. Furthermore, when you do sin, and you will whether it is sexual or otherwise, the forgiveness of God prevents that sin from separating you from Him. Therefore, you can go to Him for comfort, love, and guidance with the hope that He will instruct you in ways to live above your circumstances. Remember, "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57)." The power of sin is the law, but the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ have given us the victory over sin. One area that you often see "every man's battle" play out is in the area of dating. If you have a committed relationship between a man and woman, the struggle can be "how do you get close to one another without getting 'too' close?" if you catch my meaning. Again, you can try to implement the many techniques written about in various books on how to date without giving in to sexual temptation. While those may work and have worked, there is a better way to live. What does God say? "But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion (1 Corinthians 7:9)." The advice God gives the unmarried is to simply get married. Rather than a couple trying not to give in to sexual temptation and frustrating themselves constantly, they are told to just get married. There are no techniques given, just eliminate the temptation to fall in to sin altogether. There is no need to try and win a battle when God has already given you the means to avoid the conflict in the first place. In Christ, you have won the battle!

A Way of Escape

"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

There is a saying among Christians that goes something like, "God will not give you more than you can handle." It comes from the verse in 1 Corinthians 10:13 where Paul is talking to the church in Corinth about temptation. Most often what is concluded from this verse is simply that a Christian should just flee temptation rather than stay and sin. There is nothing wrong with physically removing yourself from any chance to sin. However, is God giving you the temptation as a test to see if you can handle it or not? If so, with the amount of sin present in the lives of Christians, it would appear God is allowing them to be tempted beyond what they are able. Furthermore, is fleeing temptation only accomplished through an act of the will? In Genesis 39, there is the story of Joseph and the wife of his master, Potiphar. Joseph was successful in all that he did as a slave to his master. Yet, one day, Potiphar's wife tries to seduce Joseph. The Bible says, "Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me (Genesis 39:6-7).” Joseph refused her advances, but she persisted daily. Then on one occasion, "She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside (Genesis 39:12)." Again, Joseph did the right thing and fled the temptation to commit adultery. Now, we could argue that Joseph should have brought this matter to the attention of his master, but doing so could have come with its own set of uncomfortable circumstances. That being said, his master's wife, having a piece of his garment in her hand took the opportunity to frame Joseph. When her husband came home she said to him, "The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came into me to make sport of me; and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside (Genesis 39:17-18).” Potiphar, not knowing his wife was lying, threw Joseph in prison. It has been said that Joseph was imprisoned for ten years! Thankfully, the Bible says that "the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer (Genesis 39:21)." But, yet he spent an entire decade in prison and lost all he had accomplished up to that point, all because of a false accusation. Eventually, Joseph got out of prison and his story has a happy ending as he was reunited with his father, Jacob, and his brothers who had sold him into slavery. While the story ended well, can we say that God made the wife of Joseph's master tempt him with adultery in order to show that He doesn't give us more than we can handle? If so, then we have to say that God made the woman tempt Joseph with the prospect of an adulterous affair and then made her lie about it to her husband. If that is the case then we have just opened the door to all sorts of false interpretations about the Bible.

What does it mean when it says that God provides us with a "way of escape" when we are tempted? It is one thing to just run away when a temptation like that which Joseph endured comes along. However, most of our temptation to sin comes from our own desires within us. God has designed us in such a way that we all desire the need for unconditional love, total acceptance, meaning, and purpose to life. However, God is the only one who can fill these needs in Himself through His indwelling Holy Spirit. We often are misled into believing that if we indulge our flesh in sin, one or more of those desires will be met. Perhaps, Potiphar's wife was deceived into thinking that if she committed adultery with Joseph her desire for love and acceptance would be met. Although he never gave into temptation, perhaps the fact that Joseph put himself in harm's way "day after day (Genesis 39:10)," giving his master's wife the opportunity to try and seduce him, was meeting the desires of his heart in some way.  Through faith in Christ, God meets those desires of our heart as only He can. God loves us unconditionally. Romans 8:39 says that nothing, "will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." God accepts us. Romans 15:7 says, "Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God." God gives our lives meaning. Philippians 3:10 says, "I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death ..." God gives our lives purpose. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." Knowing these truths doesn't prevent us from sinning. What knowing these truths does for us is they give us an alternative to sin so that rather than just having the option to flee from the temptation to sin, we have something that no sin can provide. Therefore, we engage the world with what God has given to us to share with it, rather than looking for the world to provide something to us that can only be found through engaging in sin. When your heart is changed by God as the result of an encounter with His indwelling Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ, your focus turns to Him. When your focus is on Him it is off of you. When it is off of you it is off of your flesh. When it is off of your flesh you will be less inclined to try and indulge your flesh. Your flesh will not improve, but your focus on it will diminish. Jesus Christ has thus become your "way of escape." Rather than just fleeing from sin, you are embracing all God has given to you by faith.