“Addicts Victorious in Christ”
The first and possibly the most important
fact for curing an addiction is the attitude of the addict concerning their
addiction. Unless a Biblical understanding of their addiction is acknowledged
there will be no real victory over an addiction for the Bible clearly states:
“Let no man say when he is
tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither
tempts He any man:But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own
lust and enticed. Then when lust has conceived it brings forth sin, and sin
when it is finished, brings forth death.”(James 1:13-15)
The present-day thinking among many who
deal with addicts creates a victim mentality, telling the addict that he had no
choice in the matter because his environment, his childhood, his inability to
have access to adequate medical/psychological help is the root cause of his
problem.
In addition, the so-called victim is also
told that their addiction is in reality a disease and they have no actual
choice in the matter, therefore it must be treated as any other disease such as
cancer, diabetes etc. If the addict
adopts this modern-day mentality there can be no real success in applying God’s
power through the Lord Jesus Christ!
However, if they take responsibility for
their condition by recognizing the obvious principles found in
God’s Holy Bible and apply God’s cure found in Christ, the calamity
of any addiction can be eliminated and the addict can be victorious through the
power of God in Christ.
Although the passage above (James 1:13-15)
is normally applied to born-again Christians, the principles can be applied to
an addict whether they are in Christ or in Adam:
1. The first step is the
temptation occurs “when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed”
2. Then “when lust has
conceived it brings forth sin”
3. Then “sin when it is
finished it brings forth death”
The starting point is the person’s desire
to commit the single sinful act whether it be to drink, smoke, gamble, abuse
drugs, pornography, etc. all of which occur through the lust of the flesh. Then
by allowing lust to continue through repeatedly entertaining the enticement
they commit that first sinful act and this first act of sin eventually turns
into a habit.
Then the habit turns into an addiction controlling the addicts life
which is aptly described as “sin when it
is finished brings forth death” for the death spoken of here can be both
physical and spiritual. The addicts life is no longer controlled by the Holy Spirit [believer] neither is it
controlled by their own will [believer/unbeliever] but instead they are now controlled by another
spirit.
Every addiction must be viewed though the
filter of the spiritual realm [not the physical] as described in the Bible in
order to have complete victory in Christ. Therefore, the real enemy that is
being fought must be recognized as the devil/demons for:
“We wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand
[against the wiles of the devil] in the evil day and having done all to stand.”
(Ephesians 6:12,13)
And, in the case of the one who is still
in Adam, it must be acknowledged that they are without Christ and are“children of the wicked one” (Matthew 13:38) who can only be cured by:
“Being born again, not of
corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which lives and
abides forever.” (I Peter 1:23)
“Ye must be born again…that which is born of the flesh is flesh
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
(John 3:3, 6)
The second step for complete victory over
an addiction is the application of the Word of God in the life of the addict
for as one preacher has rightly said: “The Word of God does the Work
of God!”
No amount of physical effort, or self help
programs, or psychology/psychiatry etc. can bring complete victory to those who
are struggling with an addiction for the efforts of man will only bring
fruitless frustration, but the simple application of God’s Word can and will
bring complete and lasting victory every single time it is applied in faithful
obedience for we have God’s promise:
“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things [Satanic addictions] are passed away; behold, all things
[Christ-like addictions] are become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17)
1. Being born again places the
addict “in Christ”
2. Being born again causes the
addict “in Christ” to become a new
creature/creation
3. Being born again causes old
things [Satanic addictions] to pass away
4. Being born again causes all
things [Christ-like addictions] to become new
The old, dark, ugly controlling and
self-centered addictions must immediately be replaced by the new addictions of
Christ-likeness which are focused upon ministry to others as described in these
verses:
“I beseech you, brethren,
(ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that
they have addicted themselves to the
ministry of the saints,) That ye submit
yourselves unto such, and to every one that helps with us, and labors”
(I Corinthians 16:15,16)
This one single passage contains the
underlying truth for complete victory over addictions: Replace the self-centered addictions
immediately with saint-centered
addictions that begin with the simple, but most important act of
ministering to others through prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4)!
The key to ministry success is found in
the two words “in Christ” which
occurs by first of all being born again which supplies the believing addict “with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ” (Ephesians
1:3) This phrase “in Christ” is found (35) times in Ephesians which is
rightly described as: “The Book for the Battle”
This most essential book for the saint is
divided into three sections:
I.
The Believers Wealth (Ephesians 1-3) Key word: Faith: Gives victory
over the World
II.
The Believers Walk (Ephesians 4,5) Key word: Follow/Flee: Gives victory
over the Flesh
III.
The Believers Warfare (Ephesians 6) Key word: Fight: Gives victory over
the Devil
The (24) “spiritual blessings” or Wealth of the Believer is described in
Ephesians 1-3 which must be digested and understood in order to build a secure
foundation for the believer to perform their ministry to the saints. Then the
saint is prepared to Walk “in the Spirit”
performing their ministry to the saints “in love” [(5) times in Chapter 4, 5]
through participating in the ongoing Holy Spirit-led Warfare which takes place
in heaven.
The ministry of prayer and the Word of God
in the life of the addict/believer is accomplished by:
1. Daily Disciplined Reading
(See Bible Reading Schedule)
2. Memory of Key Verses (See
Bible Memory Plan)
3. Meditation in the Word (See
Meditation Plan)
4. Prayer (See “The Practicing
Priest unto God” booklet)
These
ongoing activities are vital for the addict/believer to continue abiding “in Christ” (John 15:1-16) maintaining
fellowship with Him as He “the Captain of
our salvation” (Hebrews 2:10) becomes the addicts/believers:
1. Life (Colossians 3:1)
2. Leader (Psalm 32:8)
3. Lord (I Timothy 6:14)
Reaching the Lost Addict in Your Community
Systematic door to door visiting in the
immediate area of the church is the best place to reach those without Christ.
Not only does this make common sense, but it reflects the Biblical example
given by the Lord Jesus Christ when He sent His disciples. (Message: “Specific
Principles of Preparation for the Soul-Winner” (Matthew 10:1-42)
The information written above is not just
a theory for I as a former addict have been ‘clean’ for almost thirty
years...since the day that that God delivered me ‘from the power of darkness and translated me into the kingdom of His
dear Son!’ (Colossians 1:13)
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