On Temptation and Christian Adjectives
Thus far in our series we have established that there is no such thing as various innate sexual orientations. The Creator of every man and woman has already made us to be oriented one way and one way only. The very design of the male and the female is built for this end.
Such is the Doctrine of Man in a nutshell.
We have also discerned the subsequent errors that spring from a belief in various sexual orientations, such as the idea that the fullness of holiness for someone who is same-sex attracted will be seen in their singleness and celibacy, rather than addressing the perverted attraction itself as lust in need of mortification. In a word, it is legalism. Sin always springs from a depraved heart, rather than from fallen genes as some have espoused.
Such is the Doctrine of Sin in a nutshell.
Today, I think it would be helpful to highlight that inevitable trial we have all faced and will continue to face on this side of Heaven, namely temptation. This, for two reasons.
First, it is important that we recognize the existence of it in the lives of true believers, for at the very moment we let our guard down it will suddenly manifest itself with an upper hand. To suggest that true Christians do not have temptations is to ignore the reality that we still contend with our flesh daily.
John Owen, the 17th century Puritan, has weightily exhorted the Christian in his little book The Mortification of Sin: “Cease not a day from this work [of mortification]; be killing sin or it will be killing you. Your being dead with Christ virtually, your being quickened with him, will not excuse you from this work.”
Secondly, there are misconceptions about the aspects of temptation insofar as our understanding of when we are culpable for their actual presence and existence. We must have a proper understanding of the distinction between the temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 4 and the temptation of sinners in James 1. This second point will be taken up in a separate post.
To the first point, however, let’s begin with the words of our Lord:
“Temptations to sin are sure to come.” –Jesus Christ | Luke 17:1
The Greek word for “temptation” in use here is skandalon—from where we get our English word ‘scandal’—and it literally means stumbling block. It is any impediment placed in the way of and causing one to stumble.
What our Lord is clearly saying is that stumbling blocks—whether internal or external to you—do exist and will come before you. They will be something to contend with and circumnavigate. In the same breath, however, He continues, “but woe to the one through whom they come!” To be a stumbling block is, in itself, a sin worthy of the pronouncement of ‘woe’.
A good example is when Peter rebuked Jesus for testifying that He would suffer, die, and be raised on the third day, responding, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” What was Jesus’ response to Peter’s defense of His physical wellbeing? “Get behind me, Satan! You are a skandalon [stumbling block] to me” (Matt 16:21–23). Jesus’ holiness would have none of it.
The problem with our current condition is that we are still dealing with the flesh, though not of the flesh. Though the true Christian has been regenerated—given new life—and is now in the continual process of sanctification, it is just that—a process. Meaning, the very process of being “transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18) assumes the present reality of the very thing we are being sanctified from.
The Apostle Paul draws this out in Romans 7: “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (v. 18). Paul, here, a model Christian, is simply looking at himself in the light of God’s holiness when he makes such a sweeping statement. Indeed, for he also says: “I discipline my body and keep it under control” (1 Cor 9:27).
When we properly recognize our human nature in light of the righteous standard of God’s law, we will likewise have nothing good to say about ourselves, especially knowing that sin still remains. It is for this reason that Paul identifies himself as the “foremost” sinner in 1 Timothy 1:15. All of us should have this same feeling when contemplating the holiness and righteousness of God.
In response to the question, “Will I ever get better at fighting sin? Will I sin less?” John MacArthur has counseled up and coming pastors at The Master's Seminary: “Yes, you will sin less, but you will feel worse. You will feel worse about the sin that remains.” This is what sanctification and the pursuit of holiness looks like and feels like.
The spiritual battle that goes on in this world is one that impacts both believers and unbelievers. As Christians, though, we now have not only the freedom from its bondage, but the indwelling Holy Spirit to effectively battle it. This is key.
The Apostle Peter wrote: “I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Pet 2:11) (emphasis mine). Hence the same urgency from the pen of the Apostle Paul:
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day” (Eph 6:11–13) (emphasis mine).
With sin, John Owen warned, “there is no safety against it but in a constant warfare.”
Only by the power of the Holy Spirit, through His Word, do we have any hope of overcoming various lusts and the fiery darts of the devil. Owen writes: “Not to be daily mortifying sin, is to sin against the goodness, kindness, wisdom, grace, and love of God, who hath furnished us with a principle of doing it.”
The Lord told His disciples, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mt 26:41; Mk 14:38).
Owen emphasizes this with conviction: “This is the first thing that the Spirit doth in order to the mortification of any lust whatever—it convinces the soul of all the evil of it, cuts off all its pleas, discovers all its deceits, stops all its evasions, answers its pretenses, makes the soul own its abomination, and lie down under the sense of it. Unless this be done all that follows is in vain.”
Temptations are sure to come for the Christian, but we have a new nature, new mind, and sufficient weapons with which to battle it out. As it pertains to the specific topic of same-sex attraction—homosexual lust—or any other perverted attraction, we must consider a couple of things.
In regeneration, there is an instant change. In sanctification, there is continuing change.
True repentance recognizes the filth, heinousness, and guilt of our sin, personally, before our holy God. Thus, of necessity, the truly repentant soul who sees his sin as a personal offence against God and understands the urgent need of rescue from God’s wrath and eternal hell, calls upon the Lord in faith and is saved—this by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The one who once stole, steals no longer. The one who once cursed God, does so no longer. The one who once killed, does so no longer. The one who once lived in sexual immorality, does so no longer. The one who once desired impurity, does so no longer. There is an instant change that happens. It can and does become immediate based on a new desire to make obedient choices immediately.
Paul glories in the testimony of the redeemed in Corinth: “Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:9–11) (emphasis mine).
Wayne Grudem rightly affirms in his Systematic Theology that “this initial break with sin, then, involves a reorientation of our desires so that we no longer have a dominant love for sin in our lives.” He then quotes the Apostle Paul: “You who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Rom 6:17–18).
“This change of one’s primary love and primary desires,” Grudem continues, “occurs at the beginning of sanctification.”
Let’s assume for a moment that a man truly repents of his sin, turns to Christ in faith and is truly regenerated by the Holy Spirit and reconciled to the Father, having come from a background of homosexuality. The testimony of Scripture is that he will be changed in his desires immediately because he has come to see his sin as God sees it and thus hates it as God hates it. He sees all of his sin this way, but his former way of life that was consumed primarily with homosexuality is an obvious one to mortify immediately. There is no question. It was the lowest hanging fruit to be pruned. He no longer associates with those deeds of darkness. He no longer glosses over sexual immorality and lust as a biological product, or even disorder. He no longer identifies as “same-sex attracted” because he knows that God has created him, as a male, for a female and thus rejects such false claims. He has always known this deep down inside, but now with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of him, he has freedom from the sin he once was in bondage to. He now knows and is convicted by the truth. He is a man of God now.
These testimonies are out there, yet sadly unbeknownst to many.
Too often we preach, evangelize, disciple, and model a Holy Spiritless Christianity and oh what a travesty! There is power in the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit that is of a kind the world could never harness. This power comes in to abolish the wickedness from evil hearts, replacing it with the solid rock of Jesus Christ. It is a miraculous event.
Did Christ hang on a Roman cross to give us titles like same-sex attracted Christians? Shall we call others pornography-attracted Christians? Minor-attracted Christians (e.g. pedophile) like they are doing in Maryland? Shall we feign humility and holiness and praise celibacy while attaching these adjectives and labels to ourselves as though the Holy Spirit never did a work in us to help us loathe the thoughts and spurn the associations at the root? No, “let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” (Heb 12:1).
The Apostle Paul says plainly to those who would use such adjectives:
“Sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints” (Eph 5:3).
It is one thing for a true believer to come across legitimate stumbling blocks in these areas and to deal with them accordingly; it is quite another to adamantly assert that some are categorically doomed to perverted attractions as a result of biological corruption.
We can all testify that the sins which once dominated us are the very ones the devil would use to bring us back down. It is at this point that the Christian must take up his shield of faith for his defense without forgetting the sword of the Spirit—the Word of God—for his offense. These passions—whatever they may be—will indeed wage war against your soul, but “you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 Jn 4:4). Only with this reality, dear Christian, is there hope and victory.
The Psalmist stated these truths perfectly: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word . . . I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (119:9, 11).
Finally, Paul says something remarkable about the grace of God and its effect, namely that it is “training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions [which start in the mind], and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:12). Likewise, all Scripture is breathed out by God, he tells Timothy, and is profitable for “training in righteousness” (1 Tim 4:8) (emphasis mine).
What hope is there in the gospel if the Holy Spirit were not a change agent in our lives? What hope would there be if we were doomed to ascetic principles, like celibacy, because we thought we were stuck with sinful biology? Paul counters this explicitly: “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Col 2:23).
As a Christian, by definition, we rid ourselves of adjectives that identify with evil and instead think about what is pure, noble, and true, being sanctified more and more to the "measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4:13).
We close with Paul's exhortation to the true Christian who has "learned Christ . . . to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (vv. 22–24) (emphasis mine).
I encourage you to read that last paragraph again—slowly.
Dear struggling Christian, your hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
In Christ Alone,
Ben
