Considering Addiction, Part 1

While preparing for the Maundy Thursday service, I went digging for a quote from Sinclair Ferguson in his book By Grace Alone.  I found quite a bit more appropriate for an addictions group I meet with.

I thought of 3 different things: Unrealistic Expectations, The Agenda of the Enemy and the Agenda of the Father.  I’ll cover these in 3 different posts.  So let’s start with the first of these.

Unrealistic Expectations

“When a person is delivered from an addiction, the effects remain and the ‘pull’ of the old life lingers on.  Constant vigilance is essential.  It is exactly the same with ‘addiction’ to sin (and we are all by nature addicts to sin in one form or another).  The addiction is broken so that its energy no longer dominates our lives.  We no longer want the old way, it is not part of the family life we now enjoy.  But while we no longer want the old way, we are not finally delivered from its ongoing influence.  Increasingly sanctified we may be, but we are not yet glorified.  We are free from sin’s cruel dominion, but we are not yet free from its seductive presence.  So we battle against its influence for the rest of our lives.”

We often suffer from unrealistic expectations with regard to our sin, especially when we are repenting of an addiction.  Jesus has delivered us from the penalty of sin and the power of sin.  But not from the practice of sin, yet.

The first has to do with justification.  We are no longer guilty and condemned.  Our sin does not condemn us anymore.  Addictions are strengthened by a refusal to accept this reality by faith in Christ.  Growing in our experience of justification is essential to making significant progress against any addiction.  Addictions use guilt and shame to perpetuate the cycle.  Jesus breaks that cycle by removing our guilt and shame.  We have to believe this, embrace this.

By being delivered from the power of sin, I mean that we do not HAVE to sin.  The law of sin has no ‘legal right’ over me- I don’t have to obey it.  This is about sanctification which always rests upon justification.  Paul discusses this in Romans 6.  I have no debt or obligation to sin (the only remaining debt we have, says Paul later, is to love).

But I will not be free from the practice of sin until glorification.  This is ultimately where the unrealistic expectation lies.  We (pridefully?) think we won’t commit the sin again.  We foolishly think we won’t feel temptation again.  But there is still a seductive pull.  It may not be as constant as it once was, but it will rear its ugly head particularly in times of stress or loneliness.

Experiencing temptation, the pull, does not mean you are still in bondage.  I means you are a fallen human being that is still being renewed in the image of Christ.  You sometimes try to find rest, comfort and peace outside or apart from Jesus.  You are imperfectly sanctified and you will be until either you die or Jesus returns.

Experiencing the pull does not mean you have to satisfy the pull.  When we “relapse” we are indulging the sinful nature.  That is just like your belly.  The more you eat, the more you want to eat.  If I’m regularly indulging my appetites at the local buffet, I will not be satisfied with a modest meal.  I will have a larger appetite.

That is the way it is with satisfying temptation.  You generally expand your appetite for that sin.  You can soon be binging on that sin (rage, lust, greed, gluttony, alcohol etc.).  What the Puritans called mortification of sin is putting the desires of the flesh to death in the power of the Spirit.  Or, as Titus 2 puts it, the grace of God teaches us to say ‘no’ to the pull.  We starve it as we refuse to indulge it.  We experience the pull less frequently over time, if we don’t indulge it.  But when we indulge it we fall back.  Sort of like chutes and ladders.  We lose ground that must be regained in sanctification.  Our justification remains as rock solid as ever because it rests completely on the work of Christ for us.  But the work of Christ in us is affected by our faith displayed in obedience and our unbelief manifested in disobedience.

We will never be so sanctified in this life that we won’t feel temptation.  Face up to it.  Remember that.  But experiencing temptation does not mean you have to satisfy it.