A Case of Mistaken Enemy

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Last week, I talked with at least a couple men up against a familiar enemy in their pursuit of sexual integrity. They’re not unique. Many, many Christians—both men and women—seeking sexual purity fight this same enemy.

The problem is, this enemy they’re fighting isn’t an enemy, but a friend.

Are you or someone you love pursuing sexual integrity? If so, I want to share a 9-minute audio message I recorded recently just for you.

I can’t stress enough how important this message is. If we’re treating one of our greatest God-given allies as an enemy, we’re hamstringing ourselves and can’t possibly attain the kind of sexual purity Christ means for us.

Listen to this brief message to discover who this ally is so you can make greater progress in your own pursuit of sexual integrity.

 

 

After you listen, please leave your comments, questions, and ideas by clicking here.

Fighting with and for you,
Josh

Thanks For Reading.

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11 comments

  • Well said brother. When we see sin as ourselves, we tend toward hatred of ourselves. And if we hate ourselves, we cannot walk in faith, because faith involves believing, or accepting, that we are loved and accepted by God. God loves us, He hates sin, which is why Jesus came, willingly, to conquer sin and swallow up death in victory, and to be the reconciler of all things to himself. He who has been forgiven much, forgives – forgive yourself today my friends, and let us awaken to the reality that we are divinely conceived, beloved of God, dead to sin in Christ and reborn. Keep bringing it Josh.

  • This is really, really deep. And as a counselor I can see this carrying over into other areas in our lives where self-control is a struggle (i.e. Eating, gambling, overspending, internet addiction). We may go so far as to hate our physical bodies and treat it as the enemy, when we should be nourishing, caring for, and loving it, being a good steward of the body God gave us.

  • Really made me think. Identifying this presence of sin within us that is responsible for us doing things we regret is very calming. While I think its important not to give up responsibility for our actions, this gives a path forward. The sin is within us, but we are not the sin.

    When I was a young athlete someone told me during training “people don’t HAVE discipline; people DO discipline”. In the same way, yes we have sin within us, but if we remember Jesus came to save us from that sin we know sin is not who we are, it is what we do (and we have a choice whether we do it or not)

    • I agree, Brian: Paul’s “If I do what I don’t want to do, it is no longer I who do it but sin dwelling in me,” does not absolve us of our responsibility. In fact, in my experience, gratefully receiving our beloved-ness and our new identity in Christ, frees us to more courageously and honestly own up to the sins we’ve done.

    • I think a lot of us have, Brian. Our bodies are not God’s enemy. It is precisely because our bodies are so beloved by God that He became flesh–not to condemn our flesh but to condemn sin in the flesh (Rom. 8:3). In other words, to rescue our bodies from corruption and death that is ours because of sin. As we see Christ’s death and resurrection as an expression of His love of (and salvation for) our bodies, our battle against sexual sin takes on a new and more hopeful light.

  • What a blessing to reflect on the purpose of our bodies, including God’s design for sexuality being experienced in the body. Romans 6 also teaches us that it is a mistake to act as though our sinful nature — called the ‘flesh’ in some translations is our real person. We don’t do battle with the sinful nature as much as we believe the declaration that our sinful nature is already dead and buried when we were buried with Christ. In my experience living this out requires the work of the Holy Spirit, not just my mind or my will.

By Josh Glaser

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