Fighting Lust with Lust (part 2)

Posted by Erik in Affections, Irish Calvinist, Lust, Sanctification, Theology on May 9th, 2007 | 2 responses

Yesterday I briefly looked at what lust is and simply defined it as a desire for something that we believe to be ‘good’ outside of what God has called good. It is to put our own will and pleasure above God’s.

So why do we lust?

Everyone yells in unison “Sin!” or “Pride!” or “Greed!” or some other answer that we know to be true but to often do not understand how it works.

My contention here is that if you do not know why and how your heart works you will not effectively wage war against its fleshly passions.

Why do we sit and meditate about how successful we will be? Or how people will like us? Why do we strain our necks to covet and long for what we do not have? Why do women envy other women’s beauty, style, wardrobe, sense of humor, mothering skills, or professional skills? Why does a man find himself sinfully staring at a woman who is not his wife? Why do we find ourselves daydreaming and fantasizing about how we would orchestrate our lives if we were sovereign?

There is an appraisal that takes place. Each one of us, whether a Christian or not, are governed by our hearts [it is this same heart that is described in the Scriptures as the most deceitful thing in the world (Jer.17.9) I do not want to draw a false line so as to somehow conclude that the heart and the person are separate, for your heart is you…it is bad because we are bad].

Our hearts then confront us with stuff and the natural fallen tendency is to appraise stuff through the lenses of self-exaltation rather than divine exaltation. We naturally fasten our lust upon that which exalts self through the demotion and insult of God. Is this not your experience? It is also the testimony of Scripture (1 Jn. 2.16-17).

When we are confronted by our hearts we are forced to make a choice between that which God calls beautiful and what the sinful heart calls beautiful.

For an example, and I am going to pick on men, specifically in the area of sexual lust (fill in the blank: from pornographic images to that which men execute upon modestly clothed women).

Here is the scenario, men, you are looking at your computer and you desire to look at porn. So you open up a web browser and go to a filthy site in attempt to satisfy your lust. You have just declared that these images are chiefly beautiful and worthy of your desire. You have elevated your selfish lust to a position of supremacy above what God has called beautiful. You have exchanged the beauty of God for the beauty of a fleeting image. Your sinful heart has just robbed the glory of God of what is due to him by ascribed glory and beauty to this woman. God has not willed that you have expend your sexual passions on this image but rather to sanctify your passions and employ within the context of a marriage.

The heart is so tricky. You will tell yourself that it is harmless because you are just looking. However, Jesus says that one who lusts is as guilty as the one who has actually engaged in the action (Matt. 5.27-28).

Men always like to blame everyone else, but the truth of the matter is that it is our own fault. Everyone who succumbs to lust does so on their own accord:

James 1:14-15 ⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Notice here that we are tempted when we are carried away and enticed by our own lust. We are drawn and lured after our own lusts. We are enticed by our unbiblical appraisals of stuff.

How serious is this? What does a full grown seed of lust look like?

Notice that the result of this lust is death. Our unbiblical appraisal of and pursuit of stuff has a declared end and it is death. Men, how would you change your viewing habits if as soon as you thought an impure thought you knew that you were going to simultaneously explode? I wonder how often ladies would sit and talk about how they wish they looked like so and so if they at once were to be struck dead?

The ultimate picture of this is the Lord Jesus Christ. The passage everyone needs to meditate upon when dissecting their lustful habits is Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 53:2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

Here comes the Lord Jesus, all of the beauty of God in bodily form, dwelling among human flesh and he is, from a human perspective, devoid of beauty and unworthy of attraction.

This is a blessed and providential pull upon our leash. How does the incarnate Son of God compare with the beauty of this world? In heaven we will engage in unhindered worship of this same Jesus and as sure as truth is in Jesus there will be no longings for this present world, for all of our desires and longings will be terminating on their chief end before the very source and expression of goodness, Jesus himself, at who’s right hand there are pleasures forevermore (Ps. 16.10).

So what happened? He was not very attractive to men. So what happened?

Isaiah 53:3, 5 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him…But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

As a result of this lack of esteem, desire and attraction, there was a barbaric crucifixion. It is no different today. When you and I fasten our lust upon something that God has not sanctioned we weigh the Savior upon the scales against our desires and he is found wanting. We measure the object of our lusts as beautiful and the infinitely beautiful Son of God to be…unattractive.

You need to think in these terms as you quietly employ the lusts of your flesh. Your ‘innocent’ desires that are the offspring of your glory starved heart have a target in mind and it is the slaying of Jesus.

No matter what setting you find yourself in you must battle your heart. You may say “I don’t struggle with porn.” Praise God! But friend, you do struggle with lust. Everyone of us struggles with the continual waywardness of our own hearts and our insatiable desire for supremacy, worship and glory. I believe it was John Calvin who said that the human heart is an idol factory.

This is why Peter barks out the divine command:

1 Peter 1:14-16 ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, ¹⁵ but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; ¹⁶ because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

If we do not know what our former lusts were perhaps they are not former. The Christian life is a battle that is characterized by a tenacious, fanatical, and relentless pursuit of holiness. If we are not walking against the worldly and fleshly current in pursuit of holiness than perhaps we are lifelessly floating downstream.

Lord willing, tomorrow I will aim to provide the biblical answer to lust :: the beauty of Jesus.

clinging to grace,

erik

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2 Responses to “Fighting Lust with Lust (part 2)”

rob says:

May 10, 2007 at 9:35 am

erik,
It is a tough thing to examine our hearts, much less lay it bear before our Holy Creator–not that we are really hiding anything from Him anyway, right?

I was edified by part one and two . . . and looking forward to three.

“Our unbiblical appraisal of and pursuit of stuff has a declared end and it is death. Men, how would you change your viewing habits if as soon as you thought an impure thought you knew that you were going to simultaneously explode?”

This quote made me burst out laughing at the thought of exploding–and of course, we would materialize back together again right . . . like on the movies? No. The cold fact of me being destroyed would send my mind into overdrive to protect against that very thing that was targeting my very life. Shouldn’t this be our response to vile images or even those that are cunningly close to the edge.

I heard a pastor once say that when he sees something that is lustful to him in any way or entices him that he verbally and loudly makes a commotion and during that time taking action to do something about that which violates his conscience. I think that’s a good word to us all to be sick at our stomach when we have lustful desires and thoughts.

May the Lord keep you faithful and working hard,
Rob
Laurel Wreath says:

May 22, 2007 at 8:46 am

You know I have only commented here a few times, I have been saving this to series to read though. Now this has series has become more personal..our pastor was just asked to step down due to an extramarital affair he had going on for awhile (we are not a small baptist church, but a medium size).

He is human, I know that and reading this series makes me realize that more and more. I am on the road to forgiveness, but have only begun.

“Everyone of us struggles with the continual waywardness of our own hearts and our insatiable desire for supremacy, worship and glory.” And that everyone we (I) have to realize this means pastors, mentors, people we look up to, only Jesus is the true model.

Thank you for writing this series.