7-19-26 Sexual Brokenness and Addiction

Grace and truth frame the whole word here, because hard subjects need high truth and high grace together. Colossians 3 opens with the new reality of being raised with Christ, and Paul says to set hearts and minds on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Paul does not leave that in the clouds. Paul gets very specific and says to put to death sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

The old self names the corrupted soul without Christ. Reformed theology calls that total depravity, or original sin, not meaning every person is as bad as possible, but meaning sin has polluted the whole heart. Sin and rebellion have penetrated creation, and the soul becomes susceptible to lust, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, lying, greed, and all the nasty stuff Paul lists. Idolatry slides Christ off the center and puts something else there, whether pornography, success, relationships, children, reputation, or even theology.

Pornography becomes a misdirected attempt at finding intimacy. The desire for intimacy is God designed and good, but the idol bends that desire into something that reworks the body, the brain, relationships, mental health, and the soul. Augustine’s prayer, “Lord, grant me chastity and self-control, but not yet,” tells the truth about that tension. The human heart yearns for union with God, and when pleasure, success, or self-definition takes God’s place, freedom and peace never come.

The gospel does not stop with the penalty of sin. Romans 6 says the old self was crucified with Christ so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, and the person in Christ should no longer be a slave to sin. The new self is the true identity, renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Sin is not the true self. Christ living in a person is the true self.

The Spirit keeps forming Christ in God’s people with ever-increasing glory. Confession becomes a gift, not a shame machine, because God forgives and purifies without condemnation. Community becomes a place where grace and truth can hold the real story without minimizing sin or crushing the struggler. Setting the heart and mind above means placing affection on Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, receiving belovedness at the center, taking and reading Scripture, and asking every day to be filled with the Spirit.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Sin’s power must be named Paul does not treat sin only as guilt awaiting pardon. Paul names a power that has to be put to death, a power that can dominate thoughts, desires, and daily choices. Honest naming becomes mercy, because Christ came not only to remove the penalty of sin, but to break its power in actual life. [35:22]
• 2. Idols steal the center Idolatry is not limited to obviously dark things. Good things can become deadly when Christ is moved off the center and the heart gives ultimate weight to success, relationships, children, or reputation. Freedom begins when the soul sees that no created gift can carry the weight that belongs only to the Creator. [47:14]
• 3. True identity is in Christ The old self is real, but it is not the truest thing about a person in Christ. Paul says the new self is being renewed in the image of its Creator, which means sin’s pollution does not get the final word. Shame loses its authority where Christ has taken the grossness, the guilt, and the condemnation to the cross. [60:51]
• 4. Confession breaks isolation’s grip Confession is not spiritual self-hatred. Confession is the grace-filled practice of bringing darkness into the light where God forgives and purifies. Community becomes powerful when mature believers respond with both truth and tenderness, refusing to justify sin while refusing to abandon the struggler. [66:49]
• 5. Affection must be set above Paul’s command to set hearts and minds above reaches deeper than behavior management. Desire must be redirected toward Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because misplaced intimacy is healed by rightly ordered love. Belovedness becomes strength when temptation whispers that something lesser can comfort the soul better than Christ.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [29:19] - VBS Thanks and Series Context
• [30:26] - Sexual Brokenness Without Shame
• [32:24] - A College Struggle with Lust
• [35:39] - A Culture Saturated with Pornography
• [39:28] - Colossians 3 and the Old Self
• [44:27] - Total Depravity and Polluted Souls
• [52:03] - Pornography as Misdirected Intimacy
• [53:33] - Augustine and Restless Idols
• [58:38] - The New Self in Christ
• [65:00] - Doing the Work with the Spirit
• [66:14] - Confession and Community
• [74:02] - Setting Hearts and Minds Above
• [79:29] - Filled with the Spirit
• [83:57] - Communion and New Life

1. In Colossians 3:1-10, what commands does Paul give about the heart, the mind, and the kinds of behaviors that must be put to death or put away? [40:31]
2. What contrast does Paul make between the “old self” and the “new self,” and how does he describe the new self being changed? [01:00:02]
3. According to Romans 6:6-7, what has happened to the old self, and what does Paul say that means about slavery to sin? [58:56]
4. What two practices are named as important ways of facing sin honestly and walking in the light? [01:14:01]

1. Colossians 3 begins with being raised with Christ and then moves quickly into very concrete sins. What does that show about the connection between spiritual identity and everyday choices? [39:38]
2. Paul calls greed idolatry in Colossians 3:5. How can a good thing become an idol, and what does it look like when Christ is moved away from the center of a person’s life? [47:14]
3. Romans 6 says believers are no longer slaves to sin, yet many still experience deep ongoing struggle. How should that promise be understood without pretending the battle is easy or already finished? [01:02:41]
4. If confession brings forgiveness and purification, why does hidden sin so often keep growing in isolation? What makes grace-filled community such an important part of healing? [01:13:27]

1. Paul says to “put to death” what belongs to the earthly nature. What pattern, habit, or temptation most needs to be named honestly in this season of life instead of being managed quietly? [35:22]
2. Idolatry is not only about obviously sinful things; even relationships, success, children, reputation, or comfort can take the center. What has the strongest pull to replace Christ in the heart right now? [52:52]
3. Sin is real, but it is not the truest identity of a person in Christ. Where is shame still speaking more loudly than the gospel, and what would it look like to believe that Christ has already carried that shame? [01:00:51]
4. Confession is a gift, not a shame machine. What would a simple, regular practice of confession before God look like this week, and what usually gets in the way of that kind of honesty? [01:07:52]
5. Healing often requires community as well as private prayer. Is there one mature believer who feels safe enough to talk with honestly? If not, what makes that hard? [01:09:23]
6. Setting the heart on things above means directing affection toward the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What helps the heart actually enjoy God, not just think about God? [01:14:38]
7. Being filled with the Spirit is not a one-time idea but a daily need. What would it look like to begin each day by asking for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit in the middle of real temptations and real weakness? [01:19:57]