Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:9-16
Addicted to Sin
Intro.
1. Addiction: “Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance”; “the condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something.”
a. “the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.” (dictionary.com)
b. Romans 6:16: Slaves (addicted?) to whom we serve (sin or right.).
2. Modern medicine, psychiatry, psychology, etc. has convinced many that people with addictions are somehow not morally accountable for their actions; that they are victims of their addiction.
a. “Compulsive” suggests it is beyond one’s ability to control; not so.
b. Every day people with OCDs are learning techniques to control and overcome their compulsive disorders.
c. We will speak of addiction to sin as habitualized sin, because that is how the Bible speaks of sin.
d. Careful: When sinful conduct is defined as an addiction it tends to remove accountability for guilt and shame of the compulsive sin. Addicts are not viewed at sinners, but as “victims.” (What about the compulsive serial murderer?)
e. At some point, one’s addictive behavior was chosen: Alcohol, drugs, lust, sex, pornography, gambling, lying, etc.
3. Sin becomes addicting (habit-forming) as one lives in sin, walking in its darkness, Col. 3:7; Eph. 2:3; 2 Pet. 2:19.
a. Addicted to sin (cannot cease, incessant), 2 Pet. 2:14: Loves the sin and practices it), Eph. 2:3. Sin becomes one’s habit.
b. Sin’s enticement and momentary pleasures can indeed consume a person in addictive behavior, Heb. 11:25; Jas. 1:14.
4. Sin repeated over and over:
a. Sears the conscience (1 Tim. 4:1-2);
b. Hardens the heart (Heb. 3:12-13); and
c. Can make repentance “impossible” (Heb. 6:4-6).
5. Fruit of the Spirit: Self-control, Gal. 5:23; Discipline, 1 Cor. 9:24-27.
I. ADDICTED TO SIN, Eph. 2:2-3; Rom. 1:29 (“filled with”).
-Must break the cycle of sinful compulsion (flee, abstain, escape).
A. Anger, Eph. 4:31-32. Impulsive, defensive responses. Anger can become habit-forming; a prideful reaction that masks one’s one faults and being accountable for one’s choices. Prov. 15:1, 18
B. Lying, Rom. 1:29 (deceit). Rom. 3:13 (practice deceit)
1. One can become more devoted to lying than to speaking the truth, Psa. 52:3-4.
2. Lying becomes one’s habit, so much so that one believes the lies and does not love the truth, 2 Thess. 2:10-12.
C. Gambling. [Heb. 13:5; 1 Tim. 6:9]
1. Covetous desire to be rich; Compulsion that drives one’s decisions.
2. Must kill the impulse to overcome the drive to sin.
D. Drinking Alcohol (recreational drugs). (alcohol is addictive)
1. Christians who are lured by alcohol begin to quibble over “what constitutes drunkenness” or “a drink or two is not being ‘drunk’.
a. These rationalizations miss the point: The mind of Christ rejects things that potentially/actually remove self-control, 1 Pet. 4:1-3.
b. The first drink begins to let a foreign substance control you.
2. Do not begin the process via social drinking, Prov. 23:29-35 (20:1).
E. Looking at Women (or Men) to Lust after Them, Matt. 5:28.
1. Lust objectifies women, Prov. 6:25.
2. Primes the heart for lustful conduct, Prov. 6:26-29. Fornication...
F. Pornography (porn is addictive; dopamine). [Job 31:1-4]
1. Works very much like heroin. Describing porn’s effect to a U.S. Senate committee, Dr. Jeffrey Satinover of Princeton University said, “It is as though we have devised a form of heroin…usable in the privacy of one’s own home and injected directly to the brain through the eyes.”[1]
2. “Desensitized to pleasure, sensitized to lust, and crippled in willpower—these are some of the things modern science is unearthing about the affects of porn on the brain.”[2]
Conclusion
1. Addiction to sin is overcome in Jesus Christ, 1 Jno. 4:4; Heb. 4:12.
2. Change your heart (repent)...change your behavior, Jas. 4:4, 7-10; 1 Jno. 2:15-17.
[2] Luke Gilkerson, “Your Brain on Porn” (Covenant Eyes), 8
By: Joe R. Price
Posted: March 26, 2017