“13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
These verses show several things we should do to ultimately “be holy.”
#1. Gird up the loins of your mind
#2. Be sober
#3. Rest your hope fully of the grace of Jesus
#4. Do this as obedient children
#5. Not conforming to the former lusts
#6. NOW be holy as He is holy
Let us now look at this one by one. As we do this lets look at the scriptures that came to my mind while reading.
#1. Gird up the loins of you mind.
We know that the enemy comes to attack us. We know that he comes to attack our minds. We see this in:
2 Cor 10:3-6 “3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
There is no doubt that there is a war going on. It is for this reason that we must have “battle plans.” As I am sure you already know and have read these scriptures it is good to review them and remind ourselves of the greatness of God and the weapons He gives us. As we must fight. Again we see this in Eph 6:10-18. We are told to put on the whole armor of God. As we will be fighting against the devil and all his warriors. If you have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ you are going to be attacked. It is now a matter of how well you are equipped, and how sharp your sword is. For me and others that were/are in bondage to porn we know that the one of the battle fields is our mind. It is why 1 Peter 1:13 is so important to us. Again take heed and apply “gird up the loins of your mind!”
#2. Be sober
There were times while in bondage to porn I found myself almost drunk with temptation. I also found that when I did drink alcohol there was no way I was able to fight the temptation. I also found that when I would be tempted it was strongest at night. The same when it came to drinking, it was always at night. 1 Thess 5:4-8 “4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation” 1 Peter 5:8 “8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” In these two verse we are strongly told to be Sober and vigilant. There is a reason for this. That is also stated in the last part of 1 Peter 5:8. As believers we are being hunted down and destroyed by the devil. For quite a few (those like me) were being hunted down and destroyed through pornography. It is time to take a stand against the devil and fight back. “be sober and be vigilant.”
#3. Rest your hope fully on the grace of Jesus
I could spend quite a bit of time writing about the grace of Jesus Christ. But for today I will only spend a few minutes. It is only through the grace of Jesus that I was able to find lasting freedom from porn. It was through faith that I was saved. Let us look at James 4:6-7 “6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Just as the grace of Jesus save me in the beginning, it also saves me for the lasting. I must remain in Him and His grace in order to continually walk in lasting freedom from the bondage of porn. Jesus give more and more grace, but it come at a condition. That is we must be humble. There is no room for the proud with God. For me when I was in porn I was a proud person. I refused to confess my sins, walk in accountability, and be obedient to His word. It was for these reasons that God was “resisting” me. I felt so far from God. Well that is a no brainer James 4:4 “4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” God wants us to be humble and confess our sins, then we must “rest our hope fully on the grace of Jesus” to be saved. We must turn to Jesus to find lasting freedom from our bondages. We must trust that on the day of Judgment He will be our payment for our sins.
#4. Do this as obedient children
It is easy to read the bible and walk away and not think about it. It is possible to read and even memorize scriptures and still be in bondage to sin. Why you might ask. Well that is because we (even I) do not apply the scriptures to our lives. We do not literally walk them out. James 1:22 “22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” We must be DOERS of the word! When we read and study the word and it tells us to radically cut off sin (Matthew 5:29-30) then we MUST do it. If we don’t we very well could find ourselves being friends with the world and enemies of God. Therefore be doers and not hearers only.
#5. Not conforming to the former lusts
Could this be anymore clearer? No it is just what it says. I am still to this day tempted to return to the former bondage that I was in (2 Peter 2:22, Prov 26:11)(Gal 5). This is the attack against many people. The enticing way to “return to the former lusts.” When I was in bondage to porn I found that I would always go back to my sin, even when I hated it. I was conforming to the lust of my flesh. Again I was not obedient to the word of God in Romans 13:14 “14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” I did not take all “provisions” away from my flesh. Therefore I always seemed to fall into sin. When I walked in bondage I found myself not spending time in the word. I didn’t read I didn’t study, I didn’t do anything. (probably because I was His enemy). So it was again it was hard for me to be obedient to His word in Romans 12:2 “2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Again we see that the battle field is in our minds. If you do not want to conform the former lusts then we must renew our mind to be the mind of Christ. This is done my ready/studying the word of God.
#6. NOW be holy as He is holy.
This is our call to be like Jesus. This is not the first time we are called to be like Him. This is a running theme throughout the bible. If we want to be holy like He is holy we must become slaves of righteousness instead of sin Rom 6: 17-18 “17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Let us now apply the word of God to our lives and let us live and be holy as He is holy.
Be Blessed and my you walk in freedom in Jesus name
Scriptures used:
1 Peter 1:13-16
2 Cor 10:3-6
Eph 6:10-18
1 Thess 5:4-8
1 Peter 5:8
James 4:6-7
James 4:4
James 1:22
Matthew 5:29-30
2 Peter 2:22
Prov 26:11
Gal 5
Romans 13:14
Romans 12:2
Rom 6: 17-18
No comments:
Post a Comment