Overcoming Subtle Temptations: Principles for Purity

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I love the renewed sense of vigilance over the soul. It is such a good sign of spiritual reality when little things matter as well as big things in the pursuit of holiness. All impurity matters to God, seemingly harmless magazines as well as adultery and rape. God lays claim on every impulse in the human heart. [00:01:29]

The male eye is like a magnet in its attraction to excessive female skin, or tantalizing gaps in clothing, or featured bodily shapes through tight clothing. And God cares about these magnet impulses of the male eye and what we do with them. And I am glad that our friends and this man in particular cares as well. [00:01:57]

Faithful and little Luke 16:10: one who is faithful and very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest in much. No, that applies in context to money, but it is the same with regard to all temptations. I believe God cares about small things. [00:03:48]

Urgency in warfare: Jesus said, you have heard that it was said you will not commit adultery, but I say to you, everyone who looks on a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. [00:04:24]

Fighting like a dead man: now this is the heart of the uniquely Christian way of pursuing purity and fighting sin. Lots of people think it doesn't really matter how you kill sin, just do it, you know, just do it. What? No, there's a Christian way to do it. [00:05:18]

Colossians 3:2-6: set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. Why? For you have died. Wow. So every Christian has to come to terms. Have I? Have I? What is that? What is it in my experience? You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [00:05:43]

You have died means that by faith alone, you really have, through identification with Jesus, died and risen and passed from death to life. Your life is hid with Christ in God, sins forgiven, eternity secured. Now fight, kill sin, and the first four sins he mentions relate to sexual desire. [00:07:02]

Making specific covenants is absolutely essential, I think. Here's what I mean: Job 31:1 says, Job says, I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze at a virgin? A covenant with the eyes. I think there's a difference between saying on the one hand, and I'm basing this on significant personal experience. [00:07:52]

There's a big difference between saying on the one hand, I'll do my best by the power of the Spirit to walk in holiness and purity for the rest of my life, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years, and saying on the other hand, in the next four weeks, I will not crack open a single woman's magazine that comes in the mail. [00:08:18]

If you leave your hormones wiggle room, which is what lifelong general commitments do, if you leave your hormones wiggle room without very specific commitments or covenants with your eyes, your hormones will almost inevitably convince your mind that this little exception is okay. [00:08:47]

Pleading for sovereign sway: Psalm 119:37, this is pleading prayer, turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and give me life in your ways. So the psalmist knows that his eyes are like magnets drawn to quote worthless things. Depersonalized female skin is a worthless thing. [00:09:42]

Women as persons are of infinite worth in relation to God, but lust depersonalizes skin and turns it into a worthless thing. It's demeaning to women, it's deadly for men. So the psalmist pleads for sovereign sway: turn my heart, turn my will, turn my eyes, get sway, sovereign sway over my desires. [00:10:11]

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