Love Restored - A 7-Day Plan from Dr. John KoesslerSýnishorn

What Henry Fairlie says of sexual lust is true of all the lesser lusts that captivate us. “Our obsession with our sexuality has led us to develop a wholly false, rather silly, and in the end, objectionable view of our natures,” he notes. “Our sexual life is taken to be the measure of our entire life.” It is not. Neither are the myriad of other desires for which we long. We can live without them. We can live without many of the things we desire most. Indeed, in many cases, we must go without them if we are to live.

The ultimate answer to the false virtue of lust is not better intentions or even willpower. The ultimate remedy is the cross of Jesus Christ. It is only by the cross that we can say no to our sinful desires. This ability is a gift of grace as much as forgiveness. It is the grace of God that “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus 2:12). The denial is ours, but the power is God’s. This capacity to say no to ungodliness is natural only in the sense that it comes from our new nature in Christ: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24). The Christian does not lose the capacity to lust. Instead, believers gain the ability to deny their sinful desires. These two dimensions exist together and are often a source of great struggle. The old nature (or flesh) “desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want” (Galatians 5:17).

What does this mean for our struggle with desire? First, it means that we should not be surprised to find that it is a struggle. The stirring of sinful desire does not mean that the gospel has failed. Neither does it mean that we have no choice but to entertain such desires and act upon them. John Stott notes that the remedy of the cross indicates that we must be pitiless in our denial of the old nature. The cross was reserved for the worst criminals: “If, therefore, we are to crucify’ our flesh, it is plain that the flesh is not something respectable to be treated with courtesy and deference, but something so evil that it deserves no better fate than to be crucified.” In our desire to emphasize God’s gracious acceptance of sinners, we may sometimes give the impression that He also tolerates sin. Our desire not to single out any particular type of sin has rehabilitated many that were once regarded as shameful and are now either ignored by the church or treated as acceptable. Second, the general tone of the New Testament when it speaks of sinful desire is one of hope rather than despair. Although the struggle against lust is lifelong, the Bible not only promises ultimate victory in the life to come but the possibility of overcoming in the present. The stirring of sinful desires is not necessarily the evidence of a spiritual defeat but may be just the opposite. We should treat these stirrings as the death throes of the old nature as it rails against the Spirit. Those who put to death the desires of the sinful nature are simply acting on the assumption that what the Bible says of them is actually true. They recognize that their obligation lies with the Holy Spirit who empowers them to say “no” to the flesh (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5).

Finally, we should not be so afraid to see our desires go unfulfilled. Countless hours of exposure to marketing has trained us to think that we should have everything we desire. Contemporary teaching about sex implies that we cannot be humans without fulfilling our sexual desires. The truth lies in the opposite direction. Our worst fate may not be that our desires will go unfulfilled but that they will be met. “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea,” C. S. Lewis explains. “We are far too easily pleased.” This is the problem with human desire. Not that we desire too much, but that we desire too little.

We hope you've enjoyed this 7-Day devotional from Dr. John Koessler.  This series  is excerpted from Dangerous Virtues: How to Follow Jesus When Evil Masquerades as Good.  To pick up a copy, visit moodypublishers.com.