Fighting Lust

The Problem

Strong's Concordance says that lust is a strong desire or craving, especially for that which is forbidden.

James, in James 4:2, goes on to say,

"You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask."

These strong desires lead to terrifying results. They cause a severe lack of thankfulness, which leads to anger, fighting, arguing, and even murder. The problem is laid out simply: We want something we cannot have, so we hurt each other to get it.

In our day, we have come to the point that what we crave is never far from our reach. If we cannot have something physically, we can at least have it visually. If we cannot afford it, we can borrow money, and in a culture of smartphones and credit cards, what we crave is always crying out for us to meet its need. Indeed, our culture is bent on making everyone happy by giving them what they want.

In 2 Peter 1:4 we come across something very interesting. It says,

Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust.

Notice what it calls the source of the corruption. It says, "on account of lust." The word for corruption is the word for destruction and ruin. The world, through its cravings or lusts is on a trajectory towards destruction.

The idea that everything in life will get better if everybody gets what they want is a lie. When everybody has the ability to meet their cravings, the only thing they are inviting is destruction.

The answer to why this brings destruction is found in James 1:15,

Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.

The reason these cravings bring destruction is that they are the mother of every sin, and sin leads to death (though the believer may not die spiritually, sin can still lead him to die physically). This is the same tactic the Serpent used against Eve. He fed her a desire and she ate, which brought into the world sin and death. Ephesians 5:3-6 concludes this matter when it says,

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness [things that come from lust] must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

This is the ultimate consequence: Our lust leads to every kind of sin, those sins lead to death, and ultimately to the wrath of God. This is the great problem of lust. This is the starting point of the fight against lust. We must see that accumulating everything we want is not the answer; indeed, it's very dangerous.

The Difference Between Want and Lust

When we speak of lust, we usually think of sexual things. We think of things like adultery, pornography, and perversion. This is only one category of lust. Another kind of lust is the craving to gain something even if the thing is not sexual in nature. Covetousness is this strong desire. This can include physical objects, social status, appearance, food, etc.

A question we need to ask is what makes a normal want different from lust or covetousness. Indeed, we want things every day and the desire of wanting is in many ways healthy. Our stomachs urge us to want food, our sadness urges us to want comfort, our dry tongue urges us to want a drink of water, and the list goes on. These things are good and right, so where do these things go wrong?

Back in Ephesians 5 we find a hint at the answer. In verses 6-10 it says,

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these [the lust mentioned before] things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true) and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

Notice that last phrase, "try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord." When it comes to lust, cravings, or covetousness, the sole focus of these things is to satisfy themselves. This satisfaction never considers God's word, nor does it acknowledge or weigh whether it is pleasing to Him. These things want to gratify their desires no matter who or what stands in their way, even God. These are not our normal wants like hunger and thirst. These cravings are different because they only want to please themselves.

A good picture of this is found in Deuteronomy 8 when the people are encouraged and warned to remember their God. In verses 11-13 he says,

Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery...

Notice the sequence. It says that they become full; they become satisfied and their desires are met. From here it would seem reasonable that their satisfaction would spill over into thanksgiving and praise, but it doesn't. He warns, instead, of their hearts being "lifted up" and of their forgetting their God. In other words, once the people had their natural needs met and lived in abundance, their lust would be stirred, and this would cause them to be proud and forget God. Pleasing God would fall away. Indeed, love for each other would too.

The main way that our natural wants become lust is when they seek satisfaction apart from God.

The Fight Against Lust Is the Fight for Satisfaction

Every broken marriage, every fight, every addiction, every purchase on Amazon, every bite of food, every look at pornography is offering satisfaction through different facets. Some of them are not inherently evil and some of them are, but they all come from the same root.

Many men and women are divorced today. The pornography industry is rich with business. Many people are doing drugs. Many people are overweight and in debt. Many people are seeking satisfaction through the thing that kills rather than through the one who gives all good things.

Let us look at James 4 again and see the full picture.

He starts with this question,

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?

In other words, why is corruption happening between married people, friends, coworkers, or in our churches? Why are we arguing over who changes the diaper or who washes the dishes? He goes on,

Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.

The answer, again, is that men and women crave and grow dissatisfied with what they don't have, so they fight. The fight against lust then, is the fight for satisfaction. But how do you get satisfaction and what sort of thing provides a satisfaction that holds firm from day to day? The answer is given at the end of 1:2 and into verse 3,

You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

The satisfaction is found in the reliance on God to meet all our needs. In order to fight lust, we must ask and trust that God will take care of us. We must be okay with waiting, and we must not use God to feed our lust. Our prayers and requests must be based on what pleases the Lord. Many times, young men look at porn because they want pleasure outside of God's design for marriage. They ask for a wife in order to meet their passionate desires. They get a wife and then have more desires apart from their wife, and then they go back to porn. This cycle happens because their cravings promise better satisfaction than God, and they believe it.

Lust will never satisfy, and it will only lead to corruption. The only way to fight lust is by trusting that God will provide. The only way for that to happen is through faith. Romans 10:17 says,

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

This means that the way we become more satisfied in God, in order to fight lust, is through his word about Christ. This is the Gospel. We must fill our minds with God's promises to us through his Son. More than that, we must believe Him and find rest in all that he says.

What You Have

What does He promise? The list is long, and honestly, even the things we have come through his provision, even though we use them wrongly. But let's consider some of the glorious promises we have in Christ.

1. We have a great God: Our imagination and our most clever artwork will never fully portray the wonder of our glorious God. He is unimaginable, perfect, righteous, perfectly holy, and absolutely just. He made all things through his word, and nothing is impossible for him. Everything good and enjoyable flows from his ever generous, gracious, and merciful hand. Our very existence flowed from his own mouth and will. We are fully dependent on his provision and continual sustaining power to keep us alive. He is an extremely great and good God.

2. He is a saving God who shows love to his enemies: In all his goodness and continual love, he is continually met by man with anger, hostility, and rebellion. Men and women continually ignore his existence and avoid giving him thanks. They constantly exalt themselves and grow puffed up in pride. They seek their own ways and their own wisdom, all while ignoring God's just rule and command. In every way, we as God's creation, deserve his punishment and wrath because of how we have belittled his name. We are slaves to sin and deserving of death, fire, and hell.

   Yet God, in his love, sent his own son into this world to die on a wooden cross for my sin. He was willing to give up his son for his enemy's sake. Jesus was willing to die for sinful man. This is the greatest love that one has ever seen. After he died on the cross, God raised him from the dead. This sent out the clear message that God was well pleased with this completely sufficient work of his son to atone for all the sin committed by those whom he loved. To the uttermost. More than that, Christ now sits at his father's right hand. He reigns from Heaven and is giving forgiveness and salvation to everyone who asks him by faith.

3. We have complete forgiveness: Through all that the father has done through his son we now have been fully forgiven of all our sins, past, present, and future (Colossians 2:13)

4. We are adopted by God: Ephesians 1:5 says we have been adopted through Christ. John says we have been given the right to become children of God.

5. We have his Holy Spirit: At the point of salvation, Ephesians 3:16 says we have been granted his Spirit. Ephesians 1 says we were also sealed with the Spirit.

6. We are free from slavery to sin and its mastery over us: Read Romans 6.

7. We are justified and have peace with God: Romans 5:1 and Romans 5:18.

8. We are fully loved: Romans 8:28 and Romans 5.

This is only the beginning...

We can also talk about eternity and our inheritance. We can talk about God's sovereignty and his redeeming of all the pain we face. When we compare all these things to our day-to-day lust and cravings, we can see rather quickly that those things are dull in comparison. This is why the Bible says to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:2), because this is where true satisfaction lives. This is where corruption dies and where relationships are healed. This is where hope rises in a man's heart and where drugs and pornography lose their ability to convince men and women that they need them.

This is how we fight lust and have victory over these things: we cling to Christ.