Nov. 19, 2024

Help I Look at Porn!

Help I Look at Porn!

A discussion about the church and the struggle with pornography

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A discussion about the church and the struggle with pornography

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Tuesday, November the nineteenth, twenty twenty four. It

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is currently ten oh nine am Central Time, and I

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am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio

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located right here in Abilene, Texas. Just about an hour ago,

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I received an email with this as the subject line,

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pastor seeks help with the pornography issue. Pastor seeks help

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with the pornography issue. I want you to hear that

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one more time. A pastor is seeking help with the

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pornography issue. That is the email I received. Well, yeah,

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literally just one hour ago. I maan, at this very moment,

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it's been one hour since I received the email. Again,

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the subject line pastor seeks help with a pornography issue. Now,

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don't think, oh wait, someone is coming to you for

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help and you're going to put them on full blast

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on the internet. No, no, no, no, let me explain

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what's going on. The email I received is not from

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an individual pastor directly to me. The email comes from

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a ministry that I'm on their mailing list. So this

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ministry sent to everyone on their mailing list an email

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that they received from a pastor who is seeking help

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with a pornography issue. All right, and because the ministry

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is asking all pastors to see if they have any

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advice for this pastor seeking help with a pornography issue.

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But I want you to realize that you have a ministry.

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They seem to like, well, I don't know if we

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have a good answer. How about the rest of you pastors?

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Do you have an answer? And then you have a

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pastor struggling with a pornography issue. I think that says

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a lot. I think it probably says more than people

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want to admit. All right, and right now I have

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an airplane I thinks, getting ready to hit the house.

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Do you hear that? That's that's that's loud. Okay, I apologize.

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But an hour ago, an hour ago, I get this

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email again from a ministry sending this out to everyone

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on their mailing list, saying, hey, here's this pastor. He

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is seeking help with a pornography issue. Hey, hey guys,

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can anyone help this guy? Can anyone? Here's the actual email?

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Let me read it to you, because I think this

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just opens the door for a very important conversation. Are

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you ready. Here is the email, and this is it says,

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pastor seeks help with a pornography issue. Again. It was

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sent out literally an hour and two minutes ago, and

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here is how it reads. I received the following email

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recently and would like to see if any pastors out

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there can offer suggestions for this man. So this pastor

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emails this ministry. This ministry seems to be like, well,

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let's see if anybody else can help. Here's the email.

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You ready. I have not written to you much over

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the years, but you have greatly helped me come out

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of New Evangelicalism years ago, among many other helpful things.

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Among many other helpful things, I am now a pastor

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of an independent Baptist church. I was hoping you could

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provide some helpful thoughts now, please No, here's a man

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who les left New Evangelicalism. He's now part of an

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independent Baptist church. Typically, independent Baptist churches are very very

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very very very very conservative. Right. Some may claim legalistic,

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but that's a whole philological discussion. But very conservative, right.

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You don't listen to rock and roll, you don't watch,

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you know, basically any movies. You only listen to hymn's

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and you go to church and you know, you don't

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dress this way, you don't do this, and you don't

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do this, and you don't do this. It's all about

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being godly, it's all about being holy. Right, it's all

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about living right. I mean, that's very much emphasized within

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the independent Baptist world. And I would know that because

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I've been a part of that world for a good

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portion basically most of my Christian life, so I'm very

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familiar with it. Many of the schools I graduated from

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independent Baptist schools, so I'm very familiar with that world

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and how it approaches things. So typically it's going if

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you walk into an independent Baptist church, and at least

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from an outward perspective, externally, it's going to have all

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of the feeling of these people are godly and holy.

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Look at the way they dress, look at the way

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they talk, and they don't do this, and they don't

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do that, and they don't drink and they don't watch,

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you know, bad movies, and they don't listen to secular music,

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and on and on and on and on. All right,

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So he's a pastor of an independent Baptist church, now

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remember or he's seeking help with a pornography issue. Hmmm,

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let's see. Let's read the next paragraph. I have been

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approached by a man in our church looking for help

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overcoming porn. He has suggested a series called the Conquer Series.

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We have other men in our church who are struggling

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with this issue as well. However, although many claim that

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it has helped them, I'm reviewing the Conquer Series and

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let's just say, I'm not very impressed. Now, please don't.

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Here's a pastor and you've got these men coming to

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him who go to the church. They're members in the church,

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so they claim to be Christians, and they're coming to

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the pastor saying we are struggling with porn. Next paragraph,

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I see a need to do something here for the

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men of the church. On one hand, I believe that

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I'm doing something by preaching and teaching God's word, but

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I would like to do more to help. Do any

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of you know of any good biblical studies or materials

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that address this issue. Is there anything we you have

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done in your church in the past to pre or

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present to address this issue? Do you have any suggestions

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that might help As a pastor? This is definitely something

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I need to address and help the men of the church,

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whether it be for prevention or for discontinuation. I would

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greatly appreciate any thoughts or suggestions concerning any of the above.

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Thank you. So he realizes he's got men in the

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church who are struggling with porn Now he's been preaching

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the word of God. These men have made a profession

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of faith, yet they're still struggling with pornography. And if

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you'll just take any amount of time to talk to

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any pastor, if those pastors will be honest time and

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time again, they will tell you, yes, I have encountered men,

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lots of men, man after man, and men as a

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group individual you know, as individuals this man, this man,

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this man, or just a large number of men, however

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you would like to state that. And now, typically they

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may not hear as much from women, but it's typically

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from men who say, yes, I'm struggling with this issue. Yes,

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I'm struggling with this issue. Yes I'm struggling with this issue.

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And the pastors constantly are talking to men who are

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struggling with the issue, either an individual man or men

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in large numbers more than one. Constantly you hear this constantly.

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You hear this from my own time and ministry, just

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as broadcasting on the internet. I know this to be

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an absolute fact. There's a one time now. We have

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offered throughout the years, if you go through my entire

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what thirty years of broadcasting, I've offered giveaways for books,

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for commentaries, we made available for free for a long time,

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digital curricue. We've done all kinds of things. We've we've offered,

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you know, to try to get by people, Bible dictionaries,

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Bible handbooks. I mean, there was a time we were

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constantly doing this kind of thing, shipping stuff here, shipping

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stuff here, giving people away. And the response to a

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lot of those offers, I mean they were they were okay,

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but there were never anything great. And then one time

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I offered I think it was a pdf file a

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book written to help men with pornography. That was the

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most requested resource we have ever offered. Not a Bible dictionary,

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no no, no, no, no no no, not a Bible handbook,

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no no, no. A pdf file that gave supposedly, here's

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some ways to help men overcome their addiction to porn

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and that was the most requested resource. What does that

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tell you, ladies and gentlemen, what does that tell you? Now, one,

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it tells you they thought comfortable contacting you know, some

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guy on the podcast there. In a sense, they're anonymous.

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I don't know who they are. I don't know what

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church they go to, so they could seek help in

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an anonymous way. So they're not you know, nobody knows.

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They don't have to deal with any public shame or

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any Okay, I can understand that, but you know what,

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it demonstrates that they're Christian men. They're Christian men all

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over the place who struggle with this issue. The number

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of Christian men who struggle with it and Christian women

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who struggle with porn use and viewing porn, the numbers

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are probably much greater than anyone wants to admit because,

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on one hand, most many Christian men are never going

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to admit it. They're not going to admit it according

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to some to the studies that I can find, and

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there was just some recent articles about this, I think

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when within the last month there have been even new

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studies and the numbers just continue to be staggering. But

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here's some of the research that I was able to find.

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Research indicates that a significant number of Christians engage with pornography.

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Please hear that again, that a significant number of Christians

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engage with pornography, reflecting a complex relationship between faith and

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sexual behavior. When it comes to just general use of porn,

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sixty four percent of Christian men, sixty four percent of

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Christian men, and fifteen percent of Christian women admit to

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viewing pornography at least once a month. At least once

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a month. Sixty four percent. That's the ones who admit it,

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that's the ones who. Depending on how the study is done,

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how the survey is done, you'll at least get sixty

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four percent to say, well, at least once a month,

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and then you have fifteen percent of Christian women. I

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believe the new studies show that the amount of porn

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news amongst women is actually increasing. So you've got men,

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you've got women go to church, church members professing faith

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in Christ, yet they're looking at porn and larger and

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larger numbers. Sixty four percent, I'm telling you, I bet

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you the number is probably well over seventy percent. I

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may say it's probably even over eighty percent. If people

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are going to be brutally honest. But nobody wants to

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be brutally honest about this. And there's a lot of

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reasons why. Now there's an age difference here, all right,

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and this should not be surprising, and I will explain

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younger Christians tend to have higher rates of pornography consumption.

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The same study found that seventy six percent of Christian

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young adults eighteen to twenty four actively seek out porn

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compared to fifty seven percent of adults. So if you

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get to the younger group, seventy six percent are actively

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seeking it out. These are Christian young adults. Now you

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can understand possibly the reason. Many of them are single, right,

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so they have no place to satisfy unless they're gonna

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Maybe they can do so when they're dating relationship, but

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maybe they're not dating maybe whatever the case is. Maybe

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maybe they're dating another Christian and they both feel guilty.

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So nobody's trying to do anything. Well, nobody may be

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trying to do anything physically, but seventy six percent are

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actively seeking out porn So they may not be doing

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anything physically with another person, but they are seeking out pornography.

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And guess what, they're not married so they have no way.

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And this is what I always find interesting. Sometimes it's

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the married Christians right who sound It's usually young adults

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are now married, and then they're like, oh, I'm so godly,

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and what's wrong with all of the sin because now

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they can satisfy at least in this area because now

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they're young and married and they have an ability to

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satisfy it. But if something goes wrong in that relationship

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and it can't be satisfied, oh guess what, they tend

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to return back to the porn news, don't they Yes,

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they do. Seventy six percent. That's that's that's crazy, all right.

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Now this is also interesting. So you have large numbers

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of men. You have man after man after man who

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will admit pornography usage, looking at it, actively seeking it out.

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You have Christian women. So inside the church, I hate

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to say this, ladies and gentlemen, nobody wants to admit this.

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You go to church with a whole lot of people

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who are looking at pornography. You go to church with

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a lot of people who may be actively seeking it out.

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Now they may talk godly and they may condemn the

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sin and this sin, and they may condemn the worldliness

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and how ungodly this is and this group and this group.

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But in private, when nobody is around, pornography is much

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as being used, much more than anyone wants to admit.

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Now here's what's interesting. When you take you say, well,

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so shouldn't there be a difference between Christians and the world. Okay,

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well we'll get into that, but there is one difference

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when it comes to Christians. This is crazy. Analysis revealed

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that there is a clear correlation between religiosity and self

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perceived pornographic addiction. See it's much more common for religious

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people to say I'm addicted. See it's much more common, Oh,

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I have an addiction, or they may say I have

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demonic oppression. They will either try to blame Satan, blame

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a demon, or blame addiction. If you are religious, you're

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gonna blame it on an addiction. You're gonna blame it

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on a demon, or you're gonna blame it on Satan.

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You're gonna somehow connect it to spiritual warfare. That's what

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you're going to do. Individuals with strong religious beliefs are

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more likely to view their pornography use as an addiction,

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possibly due to the conflict between their actions and their

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religious teachings. Keep that in mind. They're gonna say it's

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an addiction because they see, oh no, there's a conflict here.

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I've got all of this religious teaching that says this

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about me. But I keep looking at porn. I know

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what it is. It's an addiction. It's an oppression, it's

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a demon. It's they've got to because what they have

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been taught leaves them with no explanation to why they

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keep struggling with porn. Now, if you look at denominations,

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they did a study and they found that Conservative Protestants.

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Conservative Protestants in the United States experience experiences significant cognitive

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dissonance regarding pornography. This group often reports feelings of guilt

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and shame associated with their consumption of pornographic material. Why

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there's cognitive dissonance because they are told one thing thoughologically, Hey,

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now that you are a Christian, this is true. This

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is true, this is true, this is true. This is true.

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But at the same time, they're like, yet I look

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at pornography, I seek it out, I have lost I

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have desires. Oh wait, there's something wrong. There's cognitive dissonance here.

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Something doesn't make sense. So then they're filled with guilt, shame,

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and then they run to it's an addiction. They run

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to it's it's it's satan because they've got to have

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a way to explain it. These statistics highlight the ongoing

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struggle many Christians face with pornography, underscoring the need for

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open discussion and supportive resources within faith communities. So what

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do we do? What do we tell this pastor, see,

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he's looking for I need a series, I need materials,

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right and that funny, Hey, we've got everyone in the

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church struggling with porn and what now. I know he

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didn't say everyone, but I'm telling you he's had at

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least a number of men. Maybe not just an individual man,

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not just one man after another man. I think he's

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had enough individuals to make him go, I got to

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do something who and I got to reach out for

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some help. So he contacts the ministry because he's looking

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for resources, right, Like, So what does that tell you? Well,

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just preaching the Bible is not working. Just the fact

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that they're saved isn't working. Preaching the Bible and then

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being is not working. I need some kind of materials.

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Now we'll talk about the materials most churches use. So

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here's what we're going to do. I'm going to talk

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about this, and I'm going to approach it from different

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kind of different questions, and then I'm going to kind

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of give a question, kind of give a thought, then

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kind of look at all the things about it, then

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kind of present another question. Now that means sometimes some

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of this is going to be a little bit repetitive,

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but that's okay because some of these things need to

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be repeated over and over and over and over because

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we've got to address this issue. So my mind as

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soon as I saw this, as soon as I as

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soon as I saw the statistics, I mean I already

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knew the statistics, but once I looked up the statistics

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to make sure I was still right, looked at that,

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looked at that email, started thinking about just all the

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different just in my own I don't know how many times,

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even as a broadcaster, I've had emails will say, hey,

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I struggle with porn. Can you help me? I struggle

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with porn. What can I do? Or you offer a resource,

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and all of a sudden, it's the most requested resource

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ever offered because it's about pornography and it's like there's

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a lot of men. There's individual not just a man,

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but individual just men plural who struggle with this issue.

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So I was thinking, you have Christian pastors, you have

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Bible teachers who constantly teach over and over and over

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and over and over again that Christians are new creations,

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all things are passed away, all things have become new.

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They teach that you can now say notice sin, and

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you can say yes to God. They will teach you

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that you can now keep the law of God, that

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you have been set free from the bondage of sin.

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They will tell you that you now have the power

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of God inside of you to help you live victoriously,

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and now you have the power of God to overcome sin.

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They teach all of this as being true practically. They

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don't speak of these things as being true positionally, but

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practically they teach this over and over and over. At

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the very same time they continue to teach this. Statistics, studies,

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articles and stories from pastors is that Christians and large

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numbers watch porn, look at porn, use porn, and struggle

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with porn. This is a complete contradiction to all of

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their claims. Doesn't all the claims actually hurt and hinder

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all those who struggle with porn. So I just want

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to look at this contradiction and how it actually hurts

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people because the Church constantly is like, no, you become

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a Christian. You're a new creation, old things that passed away,

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all things that become new. So you shouldn't be struggling

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with porn. You shouldn't be struggling with anything. Hey, you've

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got the power of God. Well, you shouldn't be struggling

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with anything, because God's power is greater than any sin.

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So you should be able to stop sinning. Hey, you've

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been set free from the bondage of sin. Well, if

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I've been set free from the bondage of sin, that

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means I can be sinless. The Christian's cought you can

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say no to sin, yes to God. You can keep

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the law. Well, if I can do all of these things,

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I have this power, I have this freedom, I have

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this transformation, I have this change, then ladies and gentlemen,

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you should be perfect. So while Christians teach that the

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reality is is well, that person is struggling with porn,

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and that person is struggling with porn, and he's struggling

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with porn and they are. So she's struggling with porn

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and porn and that's just pornography. We're not even looking

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to all the other sinful issues. We're just addressing pornography.

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There is a disconnect. Let me state this clearly. There

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is a massive disconnect between what is taught about the

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Christian life, victory over sin, freedom from sin, newness of life,

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and the lived reality of believers, particularly in the area

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of ongoing struggles with sin, such as pornography. There is

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a conflict. There is a contradiction between what is preached

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and the lived reality. And when you live in one

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reality but you're constantly being told that this is a reality,

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and you know the reality you're living is not the

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reality you're being told, there's a cognitive dissonance. There's a disconnect.

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So what do you do? What do you do now?

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I will argue that this tension, this contradiction is actually harmful,

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particularly for those struggling with sin, for several reasons. I

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want to look at how this is harmful. Right, you

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teach all of this, but here's the reality. I say

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it all the time. Christian Christianity at large teaches a

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reality that is just fraudulent. It's a sham. This is

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why we've been talking about false comfort, false hope. It's

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this is the problem. It tells you, oh, now that

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you're a Christian, done, done to done. You're basically a superhero.

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You have superpowers, you can do it. But at the

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same time you're like, well, there's a problem here. I

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keep doing the opposite. So how is this harm harmful? Well,

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why does this create so many problems? Well, number one,

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it creates unrealistic expectations. When Christians are taught that they

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are completely new creations and that they're practically free from sin,

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it sets an unrealistic expectation. Right, what is the expectation. Well,

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I can basically stop sinning now, I know. Pastors said, well, no,

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I mean, nobody's gonna do this perfect. You throw that

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in after you went forty five minutes saying you are

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a new creation. Old things are passed away, you've been

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set free from the bondage of God, has broken your chains,

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you have the power of God. After you've done forty

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five minutes yelling and screaming about that, and then all

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of a sudden, you throw in you know, read the

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fine print. Yeah, you're gonna continue to struggle with sin.

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It's like what it's like a some of the commercials

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about medications. Hey, you can take this medication. It's gonna

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make you feel great. It's gonna make you feel wonderful.

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Look at all the happy people in the commercial. And

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then and then at the very end they say this

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drug has also been known to cause internal bleeding, you know, seizures,

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you know, death, heart attacks, strokes. But hey, it'll make

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you feel better. That's what Christianity is. Hey, come to

388
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christ and you get this, this, this, this and this.

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But the fine priant is, well, you're still gonna sin,

390
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and you're gonna be You're gonna be filled with overwhelming

391
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guilt and shame and embarrassment. So doest all claims actually work?

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It's sets an unrealistic expectation. So then if you struggle

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with sin, you feel like a failure to live up

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to what what you're supposed to be. You feel like

395
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a complete failure. Well, what is wrong with me? I'm

396
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supposed to be a new creation. Why do I keep

397
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doing this? This leads to feelings of guilt, shame, and

398
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isolation because you begin to believe that your struggle is

399
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proof that you're not really saved, because that's inevitably where

400
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it will lead you. Well, if I'm supposed to be

401
00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:32.759
a new creation and everything's supposed to be different, and

402
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I have the power of God and all this, and

403
00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:37.160
well I continue to struggle with sin, you're gonna start

404
00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:41.559
questioning the validity of your salvation, or even worse, you'll

405
00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:47.480
start questioning the validity of Christianity itself. Or you're just

406
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gonna have to be a good pretender. So it creates

407
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unrealistic expectations that is absolutely devastating. Another thing it does

408
00:25:58.599 --> 00:26:03.559
is it leads to hypocrisy. Are hiding This contradiction between

409
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what you're told about the Christian life and the reality

410
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often pressures Christians to hide their struggles because if you

411
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admit the struggle with sin, it might be perceived as

412
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a failure, or it may be seen that you're not

413
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even saved. So guess what, many do they suffer in silence?

414
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Or you live a double life, You live a double life.

415
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You talk a big game. Oh, these people are sinners,

416
00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:35.640
and these people are sinners and this is disgusting and

417
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this is vile, and I don't know what's wrong with everybody.

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And then you close the door, you lock it, click,

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you turn off the lights, and you go look at

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a porn side. So you've got to pretend. You got

421
00:26:57.240 --> 00:27:01.359
to pretend to be something that you're not. You live

422
00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:10.960
a double life. That can't be the answer. So number one,

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it creates an unrealistic expectation. Number two it leads to

424
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hypocrisy and hidi, you gotta pretend and you gotta hide.

425
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Number three it completely neglects ignores the ongoing reality of sin.

426
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Scripture makes it absolutely clear that Christians are declared righteous.

427
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That's justification, all right, But at the same time, we

428
00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:52.599
are still sinners. Practically, Christianity teaches that our position. We

429
00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:55.640
are declared righteous, we are perfect, we are holy, we

430
00:27:55.720 --> 00:28:00.119
are a new creation. But practically we are still sin

431
00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:06.119
We're still sinners, we still sin. To teach any kind

432
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of basically a form of practical perfectionism denies the reality

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of sin. It denies the ongoing struggle with sin. That's

434
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one of the apostle Paul. The things I want to

435
00:28:20.839 --> 00:28:22.519
do I don't do, and the things I don't want

436
00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:25.119
to do those are the things I do. That is,

437
00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:27.480
we teach that. But yeah, but at the same time,

438
00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:29.759
we're like, but but you're a new creation. Old things

439
00:28:29.799 --> 00:28:31.519
have passed away, all things have become new. You've got

440
00:28:31.559 --> 00:28:33.720
the power of God, You've been set free. Well, then

441
00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:35.519
why do I not do the things I want to do?

442
00:28:35.559 --> 00:28:36.960
And why am I doing the things I don't want

443
00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:39.359
to do? Explain it now? Some will say, well, Paul

444
00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:41.839
was writing that, and that's the experience of an unbeliever,

445
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not the one of a believer. Christians will make every

446
00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:47.480
excuse in the world. A set is simply acknowledging. Hmm.

447
00:28:48.519 --> 00:28:53.640
Maybe we're changed positionally, and maybe all of these things

448
00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:57.839
we claim about the practical life, maybe they're not true.

449
00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:07.559
Allowed to say that? Are we this kind of teaching

450
00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:12.079
that all these things have changed? Yet people continue to sin? Well,

451
00:29:12.359 --> 00:29:18.359
it's not helpful because it creates unrealistic expectations. It fosters hypocrisy, hiding,

452
00:29:18.519 --> 00:29:24.480
and you're living a double life. It neglects the ongoing

453
00:29:24.519 --> 00:29:29.240
reality of sin. And next it places the burden on

454
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the individual. Now, remember I kept going back and forth

455
00:29:33.319 --> 00:29:37.319
between man, man, man, man, member. I kept doing that.

456
00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:39.519
You probably were like, what is wrong with you? I

457
00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:41.759
was trying to make I was trying to make a point.

458
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Way before I got to the point, right, because when

459
00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:47.039
we speak of a man, we're speaking of an individual.

460
00:29:47.160 --> 00:29:51.000
Men were speaking of a collective group, right, plural? Right? Well,

461
00:29:51.319 --> 00:29:54.119
this all, this kind of teaching places the burden on

462
00:29:54.240 --> 00:30:00.079
the individual man. Because it teaches that Christians have the

463
00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:03.960
power to say no to sin. It often implies, implies

464
00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:08.559
that failure is entirely their fault for not using that power.

465
00:30:08.599 --> 00:30:10.839
So it becomes very much as an end. You forget

466
00:30:10.839 --> 00:30:13.200
the men who look at porn. How about you as

467
00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:17.119
an individual, as a man. See, you've got power, You're

468
00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:19.799
not using that power. Why are you not using that power?

469
00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:22.079
You're a new creation? Why are you doing all the

470
00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:29.200
wrong things? Something's wrong with you as an individual. So

471
00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:32.519
this leads to frustration, and it leads to despair because

472
00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:36.279
it oversimplifies the complexity of sin's grip and ignores external

473
00:30:36.279 --> 00:30:40.599
factors like addiction, trauma, or cultural influences and influences. But

474
00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:44.920
it places the burden on the individual. Forget anybody else

475
00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:48.240
who cares what other people are doing, because it's you.

476
00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:51.119
You've got the power, You've been set free. You can

477
00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:54.759
do it, but you're not doing it. Say something's wrong

478
00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:57.440
with you, something's wrong with you, And guess what it

479
00:30:57.480 --> 00:31:01.400
becomes about you and your problem. And so then you

480
00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:04.279
start looking, oh I'm addicted, or or I'm I've got

481
00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:06.759
a demon or or or Satan is doing and you

482
00:31:06.880 --> 00:31:09.200
have to start it all becomes about you. You you,

483
00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:11.839
you you. It's one different it's difference when you see it.

484
00:31:11.880 --> 00:31:13.880
Wait a minute, this is not just a me thing.

485
00:31:14.279 --> 00:31:17.920
This is not just one man's problem. This is wait,

486
00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:20.759
this is a this is a bigger problem than even pornography.

487
00:31:21.720 --> 00:31:23.960
Because I know this is going to be shocking. But

488
00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:26.759
when you go to church, look around. Look at all

489
00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:31.559
those people. They're dressed so nice. Everyone's saying, Praise God.

490
00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:36.200
How are you doing, brother, How you doing sister? Oh,

491
00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:39.920
bless you, bless your family. They all talk a big game.

492
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.279
Everybody looks so religious. Everyone looks so spiritual. They're carrying

493
00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:48.000
their bibles. Oh, everyone looks so godly. Oh it looks

494
00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:50.640
so great. So you think the problem is me, But

495
00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:53.200
you know what the reality is. All of those super

496
00:31:53.240 --> 00:31:57.400
religious looking people, you know what they are. They are sinners.

497
00:31:58.279 --> 00:32:01.240
They may not be sinning with pornography, but their sinners

498
00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:03.720
because God says be holy as He is holy, and

499
00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:06.039
not one person in that church is doing that That

500
00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:08.319
means they are all in a perpetual state of sin.

501
00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:13.079
They are all sinners. They are all sinners and thought

502
00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:15.400
word indeed, by what they do and by what they

503
00:32:15.559 --> 00:32:20.680
leave undone. This is why I think a congregational confession

504
00:32:20.920 --> 00:32:23.400
at the beginning of worship is so important. That's how

505
00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:25.480
the Church has did it. That's how the Church did

506
00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:29.559
it forever throughout history. Everyone stands and says, Lord, we

507
00:32:29.720 --> 00:32:33.400
have sinned against you, and thought word indeed, by what

508
00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:36.319
we have done and what we have left undone, I

509
00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:40.480
have sinned against you. I my sin. I am a sinner.

510
00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:45.720
And we come here seeking mercy and grace, and that

511
00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:48.799
we trust, our trust and our hope is in your

512
00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:53.440
imputed righteousness. If the whole congregation stands, and the whole

513
00:32:53.480 --> 00:32:57.519
congregation confesses this, oh, it could become meaningless words, and

514
00:32:57.559 --> 00:33:01.200
it could become repetitive. I understand that. But at least

515
00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:04.400
the symbolism is that we're all in it together. It's

516
00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:07.039
not you as the individual center. Everyone around you is

517
00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:10.480
a center. The woman three people down from you, she's

518
00:33:10.519 --> 00:33:13.440
a sinner. The man two pews behind you, he's a center.

519
00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:16.079
The pastor is a sinner. The deacon is a sinner,

520
00:33:16.279 --> 00:33:18.799
the song leader is a singer, the youth director is

521
00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:21.279
a center. Everyone's a center. Now you can all have

522
00:33:21.559 --> 00:33:24.319
you can go outside and grab your bag of rocks

523
00:33:24.519 --> 00:33:27.240
so you can stone the center two pews in front

524
00:33:27.240 --> 00:33:29.359
of you. But guess what, if you're going to stone him,

525
00:33:29.559 --> 00:33:32.680
then you deserve to be stoned because we're all sinners.

526
00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:39.119
But what happens when you basically try to tell every

527
00:33:39.319 --> 00:33:42.759
now everyone is new, everyone has the power, well, then

528
00:33:42.759 --> 00:33:45.799
everyone has to pretend. So then the individual who's willing

529
00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:48.119
to be honest with themselves is like, what is wrong

530
00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:52.400
with me? There's nothing wrong with you. There's something wrong

531
00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:57.119
with the entire congregation. It's called sin, and salvation doesn't

532
00:33:57.160 --> 00:34:04.240
make that sin nature go away. So we need a

533
00:34:04.279 --> 00:34:08.119
more honest approach. So if we take it from a

534
00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:14.920
more philological and honest approach, we could do something like this.

535
00:34:16.039 --> 00:34:20.360
While everyone would acknowledge the ongoing struggle with sin, pastors

536
00:34:20.360 --> 00:34:24.440
and teachers should emphasize that Christians live in and the

537
00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:27.800
reality of sin. Now some would call it Christians need

538
00:34:27.880 --> 00:34:30.320
to live in the already but not yet tension of salvation.

539
00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:33.480
Ai constantly says that if you look up Ai, I'm

540
00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:36.199
not a big fan necessarily of that phraseology. What I

541
00:34:36.239 --> 00:34:39.760
would say pastors and teachers should emphasize that Christians are sinners.

542
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:43.360
We still live with a sinful nature. We are sinners.

543
00:34:43.400 --> 00:34:46.599
Therefore we are going to sin and thought word. Indeed,

544
00:34:46.719 --> 00:34:48.760
by what we do and what we leave undone, we

545
00:34:48.840 --> 00:34:52.400
are going to sin. That's got to be emphasized. Now.

546
00:34:52.719 --> 00:34:55.440
The fact is you emphasize that. People think you're excusing it.

547
00:34:55.679 --> 00:34:58.079
No one's excusing it. But you can't live in a

548
00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:07.440
fake reality. We have to understand that sins penalty is removed,

549
00:35:07.800 --> 00:35:11.039
but its presence and power remains a daily battle. I

550
00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:14.559
want you to hear that again. Sins penalty is removed,

551
00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:17.599
but as far as being a believer, the presence of

552
00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:21.599
sin and the power of sin remains. It is not

553
00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:24.480
taken away. I know every church you go to says, oh,

554
00:35:24.559 --> 00:35:27.000
you've been set free from the penalty of sin. You've

555
00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:29.639
been set free from the power of sin. You've been

556
00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:33.920
set free. No, that's trash. You haven't. You've been set

557
00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:36.679
free from the penalty. The presence and the power of

558
00:35:36.760 --> 00:35:39.840
sin is still present in your life. That's why you

559
00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:42.559
keep sinning. And if the presence and the power of

560
00:35:42.599 --> 00:35:45.199
sin was truly broken, then you could be perfect. But

561
00:35:45.239 --> 00:35:47.639
if you can't be perfect, that means there's something keeping

562
00:35:47.639 --> 00:35:50.239
you from being perfect. That means it has power and

563
00:35:50.280 --> 00:35:56.519
it is present, and that's called sin. It's not that complicated.

564
00:35:58.880 --> 00:36:01.199
So we got to acknowledge the ongoing struggle with sin.

565
00:36:01.360 --> 00:36:03.559
Number two, we got to recognize the depth of sin.

566
00:36:03.719 --> 00:36:06.039
Sin is not merely an act of the will. It

567
00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:10.760
is a condition of the heart, deeply rooted in your nature. Now,

568
00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:14.159
you may be called to resist sin, but you will

569
00:36:14.199 --> 00:36:18.719
not reach sinlessness in this life. You are going to

570
00:36:18.920 --> 00:36:21.840
struggle and you're gonna have You need to recognize how

571
00:36:21.880 --> 00:36:26.320
deep sin is inside of you. It is deep, deep, deep,

572
00:36:26.360 --> 00:36:29.599
deep deep inside of you. It's in the basement. It's

573
00:36:29.639 --> 00:36:32.400
on the first floor, the second floor, the third floor.

574
00:36:32.480 --> 00:36:34.639
It's in all the closets. It's in the guest room,

575
00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:36.679
it's in the main bedroom. It's in the bathroom, it's

576
00:36:36.679 --> 00:36:39.079
in the kitchen, it's in the dining room. It's everywhere.

577
00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:47.559
Your house is filled with sin. It lives there. I

578
00:36:47.559 --> 00:36:49.159
think another thing we have to do is we've got

579
00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:55.280
to emphasize grace, not performance. Instead of emphasizing the believer's

580
00:36:55.400 --> 00:36:59.119
power to overcome sin teaching should center on God's grace

581
00:36:59.159 --> 00:37:01.719
in Christ. The gods Well isn't just for initial salvation,

582
00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:05.559
it's the daily source of forgiveness and strength. It needs

583
00:37:05.559 --> 00:37:08.400
to be a gospel we go law law with the

584
00:37:08.440 --> 00:37:10.719
answer is law, do this, don't do this, do this,

585
00:37:10.760 --> 00:37:12.639
don't do this, do this, don't do this, don't look here,

586
00:37:12.679 --> 00:37:16.039
don't do this, don't watch this, block this, get rid

587
00:37:16.039 --> 00:37:22.199
of this, have filtering software, have an account abilt law law, law, law, law, law, law, law, law,

588
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:24.280
and guess what the law. All it's going to do

589
00:37:24.360 --> 00:37:26.159
is just give you more things to feel guilty about

590
00:37:26.199 --> 00:37:27.800
because you're going to fail more and more and more

591
00:37:27.800 --> 00:37:31.199
and more. It needs to be a more. It needs

592
00:37:31.199 --> 00:37:36.000
to be a gospel based, not a performance based. Gospel

593
00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:38.679
based is Yes, you're a sinner, don't deny the sin,

594
00:37:39.119 --> 00:37:42.400
don't hide from the sin, don't pretend that the sin

595
00:37:42.480 --> 00:37:46.000
is right. Run to Christ for forgiveness and trust and

596
00:37:46.039 --> 00:37:49.440
imputed righteousness, and still understand you're a sinner, and be

597
00:37:49.480 --> 00:37:52.400
grateful for that imputed righteousness and hopefully add a gratitude

598
00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:54.639
for what God has done for you. It will help

599
00:37:54.719 --> 00:37:57.039
continue to motivate you to struggle against it. But at

600
00:37:57.039 --> 00:37:59.440
the same time, you've got to be realistic. Even if

601
00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:04.639
you overcome this sin, you're still a sinner, and nobody

602
00:38:04.679 --> 00:38:07.280
wants to admit that you can overcome thirty sins. You're

603
00:38:07.320 --> 00:38:10.039
still a sinner. You still sin, and you're going to

604
00:38:10.079 --> 00:38:16.159
be sinning until the day you die. And then we

605
00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:20.559
have to provide practical help without condemnation. Now, I know

606
00:38:20.639 --> 00:38:23.320
that's going to sound contradictory, but let me explain. We

607
00:38:23.400 --> 00:38:26.360
have to address issues like pornography with honesty and compassion.

608
00:38:27.679 --> 00:38:31.719
We have to offer you help, we have to offer support.

609
00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:36.079
Now we said, but what about and I'm not And

610
00:38:36.360 --> 00:38:42.239
when I say without condemnation, what I mean is you

611
00:38:42.280 --> 00:38:44.480
can just condemn it. You can grab your rocks, you

612
00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:47.079
can humiliate, you can go for church discipline, you can

613
00:38:47.159 --> 00:38:50.000
just do all of that. And or you can say, look,

614
00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:52.400
I'm not excusing your sin. Your sin is wrong, but

615
00:38:53.000 --> 00:38:55.599
you're a sinner. They're a sinner, he's a sinner. Everyone

616
00:38:55.639 --> 00:38:58.360
in this church is a sinner, So let's try to

617
00:38:58.400 --> 00:39:01.400
work on this. That's not I'm not saying we don't

618
00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:04.000
condemn it in the sense that is just you're a sinner.

619
00:39:04.280 --> 00:39:07.519
Stop it. It's like, well you, yes, you're a sinner. Yes,

620
00:39:07.559 --> 00:39:09.880
this is sin. Now what can we do. Let's be

621
00:39:10.159 --> 00:39:21.039
compassionate and generous and gracious, not just condemning, so that

622
00:39:21.400 --> 00:39:27.039
right there is already challenging this whole cognitive dissonance that

623
00:39:27.199 --> 00:39:32.920
is within Christianity. But this is funny. You have Christians

624
00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:35.719
running around teaching that, hey, everyone's a new creature, all

625
00:39:35.800 --> 00:39:37.960
things have passed away, You've got the power of God.

626
00:39:38.199 --> 00:39:40.159
All of these claims that are just made in sermon

627
00:39:40.159 --> 00:39:43.400
after sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon, and that

628
00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:46.719
already causes all these problems and it doesn't help anyone

629
00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:50.480
because it creates this disconnect. We just looked at all

630
00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:52.519
of that and we gave kind of a more practical approach.

631
00:39:52.559 --> 00:39:56.960
But here's what's funny. When Christian ministries do try to

632
00:39:57.000 --> 00:40:02.920
help with porn, and it typically looks like the help

633
00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:10.599
anyone would offer overcoming an addiction. They may throw in

634
00:40:10.639 --> 00:40:14.400
some spiritual language, but in the end, it's the same

635
00:40:14.480 --> 00:40:18.639
practical steps a non Christian psychologists or counselor may offer

636
00:40:18.840 --> 00:40:21.960
when it comes. It's funny because on one ann churches

637
00:40:21.960 --> 00:40:24.039
are like, you're a new creation, Old things have passed away,

638
00:40:24.039 --> 00:40:25.639
all things that have become new. You've been set free

639
00:40:25.639 --> 00:40:28.199
for the power and bondage of sin. You can now

640
00:40:28.239 --> 00:40:31.519
say yes to God. Noticein you can now keep the law.

641
00:40:31.639 --> 00:40:34.119
You've got the power of God to overcome sin. Even

642
00:40:34.159 --> 00:40:36.079
after they teach all of that, when it comes down

643
00:40:36.159 --> 00:40:37.840
to it, they'm like, hey, man, I got a problem.

644
00:40:37.960 --> 00:40:40.480
I got all these men, and I got this individual

645
00:40:40.519 --> 00:40:42.639
man and this individual woman. I got the women, I

646
00:40:42.719 --> 00:40:45.639
got the men, I got all of these people struggling

647
00:40:45.639 --> 00:40:49.960
with pornography. What do I do? Give me some materials

648
00:40:50.119 --> 00:40:53.480
And then you look at the materials and almost inevitably, oh,

649
00:40:53.519 --> 00:40:56.760
it'll be wrapped in a nice Christian package. They'll quote

650
00:40:56.800 --> 00:40:59.599
some scripture, and they'll talk about prayer, and they'll talk

651
00:40:59.639 --> 00:41:02.760
about the Holy Spirit. They will throw in all of

652
00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:05.679
the Christian cliches. But when you get down to the

653
00:41:05.679 --> 00:41:10.599
practical steps, it looks just like any other self help

654
00:41:10.639 --> 00:41:14.400
program that you would offer anyone. We just use the

655
00:41:14.519 --> 00:41:21.599
exact same steps that any secular program would. Much of

656
00:41:21.679 --> 00:41:25.159
the help Christian ministries offer to those struggling with pornanography

657
00:41:25.920 --> 00:41:32.519
mirrors secular approaches to addiction recovery. There may be a

658
00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:39.119
layer of spiritual language added, but the core strategy are

659
00:41:39.199 --> 00:41:45.679
typically practical and behavioral. Its behavioral modification is all it is.

660
00:41:46.880 --> 00:41:51.000
So this would raise an important question about the distinctiveness

661
00:41:52.079 --> 00:41:57.639
of a Christian approach addressing sin an addiction. Is there

662
00:41:57.639 --> 00:42:03.719
a distinctive Christian approach? Because when you have pastors asking hey, hey,

663
00:42:03.840 --> 00:42:08.159
give me some help, it's the same basic steps like you.

664
00:42:08.480 --> 00:42:11.559
It's just like you could go to any any basic

665
00:42:11.719 --> 00:42:14.719
secular counselor they're going to tell you the same basic things.

666
00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:19.639
What are the common practical steps used by Christian ministries? Well,

667
00:42:19.760 --> 00:42:24.000
typically accountability partnering with a trusted person or group to

668
00:42:24.039 --> 00:42:28.079
confess struggles and stay on track. You need an accountability partner, right,

669
00:42:28.280 --> 00:42:31.360
you need someone who who In many cases they'll say

670
00:42:31.480 --> 00:42:34.320
you need an accountability partner. So let's put some software

671
00:42:34.360 --> 00:42:36.960
on your phone or your computer so that you know,

672
00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:39.039
Bob over there can watch what you're looking at and

673
00:42:39.119 --> 00:42:40.960
keep up with what you're looking at. Then Bob can

674
00:42:40.960 --> 00:42:43.440
call you, going, hey, man, thing's going okay. And you

675
00:42:43.480 --> 00:42:45.320
know when he Bob calls you that he says, are

676
00:42:45.360 --> 00:42:49.239
things going okay? That he's seen on the monitoring software

677
00:42:49.360 --> 00:42:52.519
that you're not doing so good? Now that's accountability. Now,

678
00:42:53.119 --> 00:42:56.320
listen that there's nothing Christian about that at all. That's

679
00:42:56.400 --> 00:42:59.079
just a typical way of Hey, how am I going

680
00:42:59.159 --> 00:43:02.039
to stop using Well, I'm going to have someone watch

681
00:43:02.119 --> 00:43:05.760
me so closely that if they get caught, they're going

682
00:43:05.840 --> 00:43:07.079
to see what I'm going to do. So I know

683
00:43:07.119 --> 00:43:09.960
I'm being monitored, so I'm going to stop doing it. Well,

684
00:43:09.960 --> 00:43:13.039
that's nothing Christian about that. There's nothing the Holy Spirit,

685
00:43:13.239 --> 00:43:16.480
the power of God. That's just I don't want to

686
00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:19.199
get busted doing this and Bob is watching what I'm doing.

687
00:43:23.039 --> 00:43:25.880
Some will say you need to install filtering software to

688
00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:29.760
block access to pornography. The way is and in it funny.

689
00:43:29.880 --> 00:43:34.119
There are Christian ministry filtering systems right with covened eyes.

690
00:43:34.199 --> 00:43:37.440
I can't remember the others, and it blocks what you're

691
00:43:37.440 --> 00:43:40.599
trying to look at. It blocks it now, And it's funny.

692
00:43:40.760 --> 00:43:43.679
Christians who supposedly have the power of God, who are

693
00:43:43.719 --> 00:43:47.280
new creations in Christ? Who who all of these things?

694
00:43:47.519 --> 00:43:49.599
Yet when it comes down to it, Hey, you need

695
00:43:49.599 --> 00:43:53.400
an accountability partner because you know God himself can't help you.

696
00:43:53.840 --> 00:43:57.360
Oh and you need a filtering software because you know God.

697
00:43:57.480 --> 00:43:59.519
Wait wait, I thought God was the one who gives

698
00:43:59.519 --> 00:44:01.440
me power. I thought, well, God is the one who

699
00:44:01.440 --> 00:44:03.480
gives me strength. Why is it? Now? It comes down

700
00:44:03.760 --> 00:44:06.719
God ain't showing up. Now. It comes down to, well,

701
00:44:06.840 --> 00:44:09.480
forget God. You need Bob to watch you, and you

702
00:44:09.519 --> 00:44:12.119
need a software that will keep you from looking at it.

703
00:44:12.159 --> 00:44:15.239
Whoa I thought. I thought I was freed now and

704
00:44:15.320 --> 00:44:17.519
it amazing when you get down to the practical steps,

705
00:44:18.280 --> 00:44:21.719
it contradicts everything they taught you about the reality of

706
00:44:21.920 --> 00:44:27.079
what you were supposed to be. So you have accountability,

707
00:44:27.239 --> 00:44:31.440
you have filtering software, and then you have behavioral triggers.

708
00:44:31.760 --> 00:44:33.679
This is where a counselor will say you need to

709
00:44:33.719 --> 00:44:37.960
identify and avoid situations or emotions and environments that lead

710
00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:40.880
to your temptation. So the next time you are tempted

711
00:44:40.920 --> 00:44:43.400
to look at porn, try to look at the things

712
00:44:43.400 --> 00:44:48.000
that have happened previously that may trigger this behavior. Now,

713
00:44:48.039 --> 00:44:50.280
this is right there. This is such a secular approach

714
00:44:50.960 --> 00:44:54.159
because you know what triggered the behavior. Let me see here.

715
00:44:54.719 --> 00:45:00.719
Oh yeah, you're a sinner. Okay, but okay, but you

716
00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:02.639
can go Oh I got it. Oh I gotta get

717
00:45:02.760 --> 00:45:05.159
and you typically will keep a journal. All right, I'm

718
00:45:05.159 --> 00:45:08.320
feeling tempted to look at porn, all right, Oh well,

719
00:45:08.360 --> 00:45:11.400
this happened, and this happened, and this These are my triggers,

720
00:45:11.400 --> 00:45:13.360
and you identify your triggers, and then you've got to

721
00:45:13.400 --> 00:45:15.920
be able to This is just this is just basic

722
00:45:16.039 --> 00:45:22.199
secular counseling. One oh one. Habit replacement. We were listening

723
00:45:22.199 --> 00:45:26.519
to a sermon yesterday on Strongholds where he literally mentioned this, right,

724
00:45:26.920 --> 00:45:29.639
you have to you have to adopt a new, healthier

725
00:45:29.639 --> 00:45:33.320
habit to replace harmful behaviors. You keep doing this, you

726
00:45:33.360 --> 00:45:35.840
got to replace it with something good. You're you're addicted

727
00:45:35.880 --> 00:45:38.320
to this, replace it with something better, and then you

728
00:45:38.360 --> 00:45:40.559
can be you can pour all yourself into that and

729
00:45:40.679 --> 00:45:42.960
keep it from that. Now this right there, How well

730
00:45:43.039 --> 00:45:48.119
this works with pornography. There's deeper issues here, but okay,

731
00:45:48.159 --> 00:45:49.639
I guess you can go with that. But there's nothing

732
00:45:49.719 --> 00:45:54.119
Christian about that. Oh and then you can you can

733
00:45:54.159 --> 00:45:58.480
go to counseling or therapy because you know you need

734
00:45:58.519 --> 00:46:00.360
some help. So then you go sit down down with

735
00:46:00.679 --> 00:46:03.400
a pastor or if you do biblical counseling, and then

736
00:46:03.440 --> 00:46:05.840
you you tell your struggles and then the pastor will

737
00:46:05.840 --> 00:46:08.360
read some scripture telling you it's a sin you need

738
00:46:08.400 --> 00:46:11.519
to repent and or you can go seek secular counselors

739
00:46:11.559 --> 00:46:13.400
who then will try to look at the reasons why,

740
00:46:13.480 --> 00:46:16.239
and then it just becomes But when it gets down

741
00:46:16.280 --> 00:46:19.519
to it, there's nothing overtly Christian about any of it,

742
00:46:20.599 --> 00:46:23.079
and not all of that. All of it contradicts. Why

743
00:46:23.159 --> 00:46:25.519
do you need all of these steps? If supposedly you're

744
00:46:25.559 --> 00:46:27.800
a new creation, old things have passed away, you've been

745
00:46:27.840 --> 00:46:30.320
set free from the power of sin. You are you

746
00:46:30.360 --> 00:46:32.159
can now, you've got the power of God. Well, if

747
00:46:32.159 --> 00:46:33.679
all of that is true, I don't need any of

748
00:46:33.719 --> 00:46:38.360
these steps because done Dunn, I've been set free. I

749
00:46:38.440 --> 00:46:41.199
have power. I got the power of God. There's no

750
00:46:41.280 --> 00:46:44.960
sin I can't overcome. You see the contradiction, because when

751
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:48.719
you get down to it, there steps to help you

752
00:46:49.000 --> 00:46:54.760
are nothing more than typical secular counseling. And all of

753
00:46:54.800 --> 00:46:57.599
those steps that I just gave you are used in

754
00:46:57.719 --> 00:47:02.880
both Christian and secular context because they are grounded and

755
00:47:03.079 --> 00:47:11.400
common sense behavioral modification principles. I've said it before. Christianity,

756
00:47:11.639 --> 00:47:14.880
when you get down to its practical level, is nothing

757
00:47:15.239 --> 00:47:28.440
more than behavioral modification. Now, guess why you go to

758
00:47:28.519 --> 00:47:32.480
these behavioral modification programs Because it allows the Christians to

759
00:47:32.519 --> 00:47:36.280
still deny the reality. This still is a denial of

760
00:47:36.840 --> 00:47:39.480
you are a sinner with a sinful nature, and you're

761
00:47:39.519 --> 00:47:42.599
never going to stop sinning because nobody wants to admit that,

762
00:47:42.719 --> 00:47:44.840
because at the same time, you're still telling these people

763
00:47:44.960 --> 00:47:47.440
you've been you're a new creation. Everything has passed away,

764
00:47:47.559 --> 00:47:49.599
everything is new, you can do it. You've got the

765
00:47:49.599 --> 00:47:51.800
power of God, You've been set free. So they got

766
00:47:51.800 --> 00:47:55.599
to still maintain that teaching, but they so you can

767
00:47:55.719 --> 00:47:58.800
really get into the fact, Hey, look, man, you're going

768
00:47:58.840 --> 00:48:00.559
to continue to even if we help you with this,

769
00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:02.960
you're still gonna sin. Nobody wants that because that sounds

770
00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:06.960
like a weak, you know, defeated Christianity. But that's the reality.

771
00:48:07.119 --> 00:48:09.360
So you just go to these practical steps where you

772
00:48:09.360 --> 00:48:19.800
can really ignore all of this, and the approach is

773
00:48:19.920 --> 00:48:22.920
essentially the same as secular addiction therapy with a veneer

774
00:48:22.920 --> 00:48:30.719
of spirituality. There's really not there's really not anything. There's

775
00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:33.159
really not anything distinctive about it. Now, if we were

776
00:48:33.199 --> 00:48:34.800
to try to have a more if we were to

777
00:48:34.840 --> 00:48:39.880
try to have a much more gospel minded approach, well

778
00:48:39.880 --> 00:48:43.679
then we start with the reality of sin. Right, Hey man,

779
00:48:43.719 --> 00:48:46.159
you are a sinner you're never going to escape that.

780
00:48:46.920 --> 00:48:51.400
We point people to the Gospel. Flee to Christ, find forgiveness,

781
00:48:51.400 --> 00:48:55.119
find grace. Remember, your salvation is dependent upon imputed righteousness,

782
00:48:55.159 --> 00:48:57.559
not an infused righteousness. You kind of go with that.

783
00:49:11.960 --> 00:49:15.599
And when you consider that the church basically uses the

784
00:49:15.599 --> 00:49:22.599
same secular methods that everyone else uses, guess what. It

785
00:49:23.039 --> 00:49:26.559
highlights the significant inconsistency with the claims often made about

786
00:49:26.639 --> 00:49:32.000
Christians being practically free from sin. It basically it's a contradiction.

787
00:49:32.719 --> 00:49:36.519
It contradicts the claim of practical freedom. It reduces spiritual

788
00:49:36.559 --> 00:49:43.400
transformation to simply nothing more than behavioral management. In some ways,

789
00:49:43.440 --> 00:49:48.960
it acknowledges the ongoing presence of sin without ever admitting it.

790
00:49:48.960 --> 00:49:54.079
It creates confusion and discouragement for believers struggling with sin.

791
00:49:54.159 --> 00:49:58.679
This inconsistency is disorienting. They hear that they are new

792
00:49:58.760 --> 00:50:02.360
creations and can say no, yet their lived experience as

793
00:50:02.400 --> 00:50:05.480
one of ongoing struggle. They told that God's power enables

794
00:50:05.519 --> 00:50:07.719
them to overcome sin, but they end up relying on

795
00:50:07.800 --> 00:50:11.519
the same practical strategies that non believers rely on. This

796
00:50:11.559 --> 00:50:14.119
creates a sense of guilt and frustration that may feel

797
00:50:14.119 --> 00:50:17.360
that their struggle reflects a personal spiritual failure, or it

798
00:50:17.440 --> 00:50:28.440
demonstrates a failure of Christianity itself. The fact that Christians

799
00:50:28.480 --> 00:50:32.119
turn to secular methods. It shows that freedom and crisis positional,

800
00:50:32.480 --> 00:50:36.840
not practical. It shows that we are a new creation

801
00:50:37.079 --> 00:50:42.679
positionally not practically. And it shows that Christian teaching constantly

802
00:50:42.840 --> 00:50:46.880
over promises things that are not to be promised, which

803
00:50:46.960 --> 00:50:55.239
lead people feeling like the whole thing is a fraud.

804
00:50:57.639 --> 00:51:00.639
So what are some things that we should affirm Christians?

805
00:51:00.679 --> 00:51:02.119
Here's what we have to affirm. I know this is

806
00:51:02.159 --> 00:51:10.039
going to be shocking to people. We have to acknowledge.

807
00:51:10.320 --> 00:51:16.400
We have to affirm that the desire for sex is

808
00:51:16.519 --> 00:51:23.199
as natural as the desire for food. Right, it's inside

809
00:51:23.400 --> 00:51:27.800
of us, It's there, it's placed there by God. It's

810
00:51:27.800 --> 00:51:31.400
a part of who we are. So we have this

811
00:51:31.599 --> 00:51:35.719
natural desire for sex. And I and listen, I'm just

812
00:51:35.719 --> 00:51:37.559
gonna try to get as blonde as I can get here.

813
00:51:37.599 --> 00:51:43.280
All right, have you eaten breakfast today? Have you had

814
00:51:43.599 --> 00:51:48.599
breakfast today? Okay most of you are going to say yes.

815
00:51:48.679 --> 00:51:52.039
If not, you're probably already hungry. But guess what you

816
00:51:52.079 --> 00:51:55.159
had breakfast? But I'm assuming that somewhere around lunchtime, you're

817
00:51:55.159 --> 00:51:57.679
gonna be hungry again. And then you're gonna eat lunch

818
00:51:57.719 --> 00:52:00.400
and guess what's going to happen. Oh, yes, you're gonna

819
00:52:00.400 --> 00:52:03.480
be hungry again come dinner time or supper time, depending

820
00:52:03.519 --> 00:52:06.039
on where you live. And then you may even throw

821
00:52:06.079 --> 00:52:10.159
in some snacks. Why do you eat to satisfy this desire,

822
00:52:10.280 --> 00:52:13.280
this hunger? Yet you have to eat again because the

823
00:52:13.400 --> 00:52:18.239
hunger is never truly quenched. The hunger is never truly satisfied. Well,

824
00:52:18.960 --> 00:52:21.880
the sexual desire, now, there's always exceptions to the rule

825
00:52:21.920 --> 00:52:25.119
because different people and things going on in their bodies,

826
00:52:25.199 --> 00:52:28.159
but there is a for It is very common for

827
00:52:28.400 --> 00:52:32.159
majority of people that the sexual desire is not like, well,

828
00:52:32.199 --> 00:52:34.760
I got satisfied once, I'm good now for the next

829
00:52:34.800 --> 00:52:42.239
six months. It's an ongoing desire. So it's a normal, everyday,

830
00:52:42.639 --> 00:52:48.000
normal desire that is never truly satisfied. It is never

831
00:52:48.559 --> 00:52:53.159
truly quenched. I know that's gonna be shocking to We

832
00:52:53.239 --> 00:52:55.840
don't talk about this as good Christians. We don't do

833
00:52:56.000 --> 00:52:59.320
this stuff. This is horrible. We don't do this, okay,

834
00:52:59.679 --> 00:53:01.719
But if it's true, and you can read your Bible,

835
00:53:01.719 --> 00:53:03.599
and the Bible seems to acknowledge that sex is a

836
00:53:03.639 --> 00:53:05.920
major issue, right, because I don't know every kind of

837
00:53:05.960 --> 00:53:08.480
sexual sin you can even imagine is in the Bible, right,

838
00:53:08.760 --> 00:53:12.880
it's all there, okay. So hmm. So it's a desire

839
00:53:13.119 --> 00:53:16.239
and it's never truly satisfied, meaning if you satisfy it

840
00:53:16.280 --> 00:53:20.000
on Monday, depending on the individual, you may be hungry

841
00:53:20.039 --> 00:53:22.559
again on Tuesday, and maybe you'll make it till Friday.

842
00:53:22.599 --> 00:53:24.840
But it's coming back, all right. So there. So it's

843
00:53:24.840 --> 00:53:30.280
an ongoing desire. Oh wait, and we have a sinful nature,

844
00:53:30.679 --> 00:53:35.840
sinful nature with a normal desire that is never truly satisfied.

845
00:53:36.119 --> 00:53:39.679
I wonder what could happen? Well, the sinful nature is

846
00:53:39.719 --> 00:53:43.400
going to tell you to satisfy that desire and that

847
00:53:43.559 --> 00:53:48.960
hunger by any means possible. And even if you get

848
00:53:48.960 --> 00:53:53.119
it satisfied in the confines of marriage, it may tell

849
00:53:53.159 --> 00:53:58.320
you to satisfy it again looking at pornography the next day,

850
00:53:58.760 --> 00:54:02.599
the same day, two days later, a week later, a

851
00:54:02.679 --> 00:54:05.880
month later, because you've got the desire and your sinful

852
00:54:05.960 --> 00:54:08.880
nature is like, why are you not satisfying the desire?

853
00:54:09.559 --> 00:54:14.239
The sinful nature with the desire creates an ongoing hunger

854
00:54:14.400 --> 00:54:17.880
and appetite that's never truly satisfied. That's going to lead

855
00:54:17.920 --> 00:54:22.880
you to pursue satisfaction and unbiblical means that's if you

856
00:54:22.920 --> 00:54:26.679
don't acknowledge that reality, then your entire understanding of it

857
00:54:26.719 --> 00:54:39.880
is ridiculous. The sinful nature the flesh affects every part

858
00:54:39.920 --> 00:54:45.320
of human life, including sexuality. Even good desires can become disordered,

859
00:54:45.400 --> 00:54:51.599
leading to lust, objectification, and selfish gratification. Salvation changes a

860
00:54:51.639 --> 00:54:56.079
believer standing before God, but the sinful nature remains. This

861
00:54:56.239 --> 00:55:00.400
means that struggles, especially in areas as deeply in grained

862
00:55:00.440 --> 00:55:09.760
as sexual desire, will persist. It's never going away now.

863
00:55:09.960 --> 00:55:14.599
As you get older, the desire may diminish, not because

864
00:55:14.639 --> 00:55:18.159
you became more spiritual, not because you became more godly.

865
00:55:18.519 --> 00:55:21.840
It's because, most likely what happened is one, you now

866
00:55:21.840 --> 00:55:23.920
are married, so you have a way to satisfy it.

867
00:55:24.239 --> 00:55:27.480
If everything is going right in the relationship and everything

868
00:55:27.519 --> 00:55:30.360
is good, and you have two people who want to engage,

869
00:55:30.559 --> 00:55:33.320
so you may have a way to satisfy it two.

870
00:55:33.599 --> 00:55:36.320
As you get older, depending on the individual, not true

871
00:55:36.320 --> 00:55:40.599
of all individuals. Sometimes the desire diminishes, or you know

872
00:55:40.639 --> 00:55:44.079
you're you don't need as much. The only way. I'm

873
00:55:44.079 --> 00:55:46.480
trying to be as blunt as I can be about it.

874
00:55:46.599 --> 00:55:48.760
That doesn't happen in everyone. And sometimes this leads to

875
00:55:48.800 --> 00:55:51.679
problem in marriage because one person the desire stays the same,

876
00:55:51.719 --> 00:55:55.480
the other one the desire lessons dramatically. Now you have

877
00:55:55.760 --> 00:55:58.880
a disconnect here. And so the sinful nature is like, well,

878
00:55:58.960 --> 00:56:01.480
your partner doesn't want You've got to get satisfaction. And

879
00:56:01.519 --> 00:56:09.360
there's which leads to pornography. But it starts with a

880
00:56:09.480 --> 00:56:14.840
natural desire, just like hunger. But you have a sinful nature.

881
00:56:15.199 --> 00:56:18.039
Just see how that works. Both of them are inside

882
00:56:18.039 --> 00:56:20.880
of you. The desire for it is inside of you.

883
00:56:20.960 --> 00:56:23.840
It's good, it's right, there's nothing wrong about it. Your

884
00:56:23.880 --> 00:56:26.639
sinful nature is like, well, you've got this good, right desire,

885
00:56:27.079 --> 00:56:33.000
why are you not satisfying it? And yes, in your

886
00:56:33.039 --> 00:56:35.440
mind as a Christian, you're like, oh, I've become a Christian.

887
00:56:35.639 --> 00:56:38.480
Thank God, I'm gonna be set free from this. I'm

888
00:56:38.480 --> 00:56:40.880
gonna be set free. And then you're like, what is wrong?

889
00:56:41.679 --> 00:56:44.760
Because you're not set free from it? Who told you that?

890
00:56:44.800 --> 00:56:48.920
They lied to you? I know Christians love to present that, oh,

891
00:56:49.159 --> 00:56:52.480
oh you're struggling with homosexuality. Become a Christian dun dun

892
00:56:52.559 --> 00:56:55.960
du dut a it goes away? What kind of lunacy

893
00:56:56.119 --> 00:57:00.920
is that? No, it doesn't. These issues don't just magic disappear.

894
00:57:01.199 --> 00:57:07.000
For some things change, but the sinful nature remains the same.

895
00:57:08.000 --> 00:57:10.400
And even if it changes in one area, your sinful

896
00:57:10.480 --> 00:57:12.679
nature is still going to be manifesting itself in a

897
00:57:12.800 --> 00:57:24.440
thousand other ways. The desire for sex is ongoing, and

898
00:57:24.519 --> 00:57:33.800
it cannot be fully satisfied. Even in marriage. It's never

899
00:57:34.400 --> 00:57:42.480
fully satisfied. This is a reflection. Some would say theologically

900
00:57:42.920 --> 00:57:46.360
that this is a reflection of humanity's deeper need for

901
00:57:46.360 --> 00:57:49.519
fulfillment that only God can ultimately satisfy. Now, some will

902
00:57:49.559 --> 00:57:52.840
say only God can ultimately that this hunger shows our

903
00:57:52.880 --> 00:57:54.559
desire for God and God is the only one that

904
00:57:54.599 --> 00:57:56.960
can truly satisfy it. Well, the only problem is God

905
00:57:57.000 --> 00:57:59.559
doesn't obviously satisfy it in this life. Because if God

906
00:57:59.599 --> 00:58:02.239
fully said satisfied in this life the second you become

907
00:58:02.239 --> 00:58:04.559
a Christian and entered into our relationship with God, then

908
00:58:04.599 --> 00:58:07.119
you would be fully satisfied and you wouldn't need anything else.

909
00:58:07.280 --> 00:58:11.000
We preach that right, Oh, we can find complete satisfaction

910
00:58:11.079 --> 00:58:13.199
in God. Well, if God is the one who satisfies

911
00:58:13.280 --> 00:58:15.679
us completely, well, then we shouldn't have any problem. I

912
00:58:15.679 --> 00:58:18.920
think God ultimately satisfies it. But as long as we're

913
00:58:18.960 --> 00:58:24.480
in this life, we're left. Just think of of how

914
00:58:24.719 --> 00:58:28.239
of all the needs and desires we have. Just think

915
00:58:28.280 --> 00:58:32.159
of all the needs and desires you have every single day,

916
00:58:32.400 --> 00:58:40.199
emotional desires, physical desires, biological. Just go through all of

917
00:58:40.239 --> 00:58:43.480
the desires and needs and wants that you are just

918
00:58:44.159 --> 00:58:54.519
filled with all day. Hunger, companionship, friendship, intimacy, comfort, entertainment.

919
00:58:55.400 --> 00:58:59.400
We are just a bundle of desires and needs and wants.

920
00:59:06.119 --> 00:59:11.320
Doesn't disappear. And sexual temptation, I know is going to

921
00:59:11.320 --> 00:59:17.280
be a shock, does not vanish. In fact, in some

922
00:59:17.400 --> 00:59:20.280
cases it does not vanish or even diminish with age.

923
00:59:21.559 --> 00:59:25.519
It doesn't diminish or go away with marriage. It doesn't

924
00:59:25.559 --> 00:59:29.239
go away with spiritual maturity. Christians need to hear that

925
00:59:29.280 --> 00:59:33.679
their struggles are not unique or a sign of spiritual failure.

926
00:59:35.480 --> 00:59:43.360
We've got to see that. And I think this can

927
00:59:43.400 --> 00:59:47.400
be shocking. I think sometimes if a woman has raised

928
00:59:47.440 --> 00:59:51.719
in Christianity, she's basically raised that hey, when people become

929
00:59:51.719 --> 00:59:54.280
a Christian, then boom, all of this is transformed. All

930
00:59:54.280 --> 00:59:56.400
of this has changed. So think in many cases, then

931
00:59:56.440 --> 00:59:58.599
they get married and think, well, now I'm marrying a

932
00:59:58.639 --> 01:00:00.880
Christian man. He's never going to struggle within these these

933
01:00:00.960 --> 01:00:04.000
these issues. He's he's because he's he's got the spirit

934
01:00:04.079 --> 01:00:06.559
of God, he's got the power of God. I'm never

935
01:00:06.599 --> 01:00:10.360
going to have to worry. Yeah. See, it's funny because

936
01:00:10.400 --> 01:00:12.280
you expect that he's never going to have a problem

937
01:00:12.320 --> 01:00:14.679
in that area, even though you seem to excuse the

938
01:00:14.679 --> 01:00:16.599
fact that you have a problem in all of these

939
01:00:16.599 --> 01:00:20.480
other areas. Yes, okay. The issue is this is a

940
01:00:20.559 --> 01:00:24.239
desire everyone, well not everyone's going to have their own

941
01:00:24.320 --> 01:00:27.119
struggle that sin is going to bring in their life.

942
01:00:27.159 --> 01:00:29.960
It may not be in this area, but the desire

943
01:00:30.039 --> 01:00:33.559
for sex is built into people and the use that

944
01:00:33.679 --> 01:00:37.840
the use. Then the numbers demonstrate a large number of

945
01:00:37.880 --> 01:00:41.239
people struggle with pornography, including women, even though that's never

946
01:00:41.280 --> 01:00:51.760
spoken of in the church. Many Christians feel isolated in

947
01:00:51.800 --> 01:00:54.599
their struggles because the Church often fails to openly discuss

948
01:00:54.679 --> 01:00:57.800
human sexuality in a nuanced, grace filled way. You can't

949
01:00:57.840 --> 01:01:01.360
really speak about human sexuality and a nuance. It's very

950
01:01:01.400 --> 01:01:07.000
black and white. Just stop doing it. Behavioral modification, well,

951
01:01:07.199 --> 01:01:09.400
I can try to, and you just think from a

952
01:01:09.440 --> 01:01:14.320
philological point, behavioral modification is only focusing on trying to

953
01:01:14.320 --> 01:01:17.559
control external behavior. You know what, You may not be

954
01:01:17.639 --> 01:01:20.440
looking at porn, you still may be filled with lust.

955
01:01:21.400 --> 01:01:24.719
You do realize that, right, even if you don't look

956
01:01:24.760 --> 01:01:26.960
at porn, if you look at a woman with lust,

957
01:01:27.719 --> 01:01:31.920
you've committed adultery. Whether you ever do anything physically, you're

958
01:01:32.000 --> 01:01:35.519
just as guilty philologically. Nobody ever wants to admit that.

959
01:01:48.440 --> 01:01:51.079
If we read Matthew five twenty seven through twenty eight,

960
01:01:51.599 --> 01:01:53.199
you have heard that it was said you should not

961
01:01:53.239 --> 01:01:55.519
commit adultery. But I see unto you that anyone who

962
01:01:55.559 --> 01:01:59.719
looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed

963
01:01:59.760 --> 01:02:05.800
a with her in his heart. If we truly take

964
01:02:05.840 --> 01:02:15.559
that standard seriously, many Christians who consume pornography or even

965
01:02:15.719 --> 01:02:18.719
entertain lustful thoughts would indeed be guilty of adultery in

966
01:02:18.760 --> 01:02:22.760
a theological sense. This raises the question about the church's

967
01:02:22.800 --> 01:02:26.280
collective holiness and the way sin is understood and addressed.

968
01:02:26.400 --> 01:02:29.480
Ladies and gentlemen, this means your church is filled with adulterers.

969
01:02:29.639 --> 01:02:36.320
You go to church with adulterer after adulterer after adulter, adulterate, adulteress, adulterer. Everyone,

970
01:02:37.079 --> 01:02:42.000
I'm the whole church is just guilty of adultery. But

971
01:02:42.000 --> 01:02:44.320
but we try to pretend that that's not the case. Oh,

972
01:02:44.360 --> 01:02:49.239
the world out there, that group the world is so sinful.

973
01:02:50.159 --> 01:02:53.440
The whole church is filled with a bunch of adulterers.

974
01:02:55.760 --> 01:02:59.639
See in Matthew five, Jesus is broadening the scope of sin,

975
01:02:59.760 --> 01:03:02.280
show that it's not merely about an outward action, but

976
01:03:02.360 --> 01:03:05.719
it's the condition of the heart. Adultery isn't limited to

977
01:03:05.760 --> 01:03:09.800
physical infidelity, but includes luss, making it a near universal

978
01:03:09.840 --> 01:03:12.559
sin within the church. It is a universal sin within

979
01:03:12.599 --> 01:03:14.760
the church because it has nothing to do with what

980
01:03:14.800 --> 01:03:17.000
you do physically. Oh, we focus on the physical. If

981
01:03:17.000 --> 01:03:20.239
someone does it physically, we like, we've got the nails,

982
01:03:20.280 --> 01:03:23.960
the hammers, the torches, the stone, the rocks, and we're

983
01:03:24.000 --> 01:03:27.639
ready to end their lives. That's the end. But the

984
01:03:27.880 --> 01:03:29.840
fact is all the people with the torches and with

985
01:03:29.880 --> 01:03:31.880
the nails, and with the hammers and with the stones,

986
01:03:32.280 --> 01:03:35.719
they're adulterers too. Well, you're condemning that man of being

987
01:03:35.719 --> 01:03:39.079
an adulterer, you are an adulterer. If I'm condemning someone

988
01:03:39.119 --> 01:03:44.079
of being an adulterer, I'm an adulterer. We are all adulterers. Now,

989
01:03:44.079 --> 01:03:48.000
am I excusing any adultery? No, I'm not excusing it.

990
01:03:48.440 --> 01:03:52.199
I'm seeing the reality is everyone. It's a universal sin.

991
01:03:56.639 --> 01:03:58.360
So what is Jesus trying to actually do in a

992
01:03:58.400 --> 01:04:01.840
sermon on the Mount. Jesus is intensifying the demands of

993
01:04:01.880 --> 01:04:04.440
the law. The goal of the Sermon on the Mount

994
01:04:04.519 --> 01:04:07.320
is not behavioral modification. The goal of the Sermon on

995
01:04:07.360 --> 01:04:12.760
the Mount is to expose our inability to achieve righteousness.

996
01:04:12.519 --> 01:04:16.400
It's to demonstrate we can't do it. See when you

997
01:04:16.400 --> 01:04:18.239
look at the Sermon on the Mount, you're like, these

998
01:04:18.280 --> 01:04:21.280
standards are in crazy. No one can pull this off.

999
01:04:21.280 --> 01:04:24.679
And that's the whole point. By the time you get

1000
01:04:24.679 --> 01:04:26.199
to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, what

1001
01:04:26.239 --> 01:04:30.440
you should be doing is ripping your clothes, sitting in

1002
01:04:30.480 --> 01:04:34.400
a a pile of ashes. You should put on some sackcloth.

1003
01:04:34.559 --> 01:04:37.639
You're rending your garments, you're throwing ash upon your head.

1004
01:04:37.719 --> 01:04:40.719
You're putting on sackcloth, and you're like, I can't do this,

1005
01:04:40.840 --> 01:04:43.880
and like, great, Now run to Christ who did. The

1006
01:04:43.880 --> 01:04:45.639
only one who can obey the Sermon on the Mount

1007
01:04:45.719 --> 01:04:47.480
is the one who preached it. The Sermon on the

1008
01:04:47.480 --> 01:04:50.880
Mount is to expose that we are incapable. We can

1009
01:04:50.960 --> 01:04:53.199
never keep it. You can try all you can preach

1010
01:04:53.239 --> 01:04:55.920
the Sermon on the Mount threaten people, give them practical

1011
01:04:55.960 --> 01:04:59.559
steps for behavioral modification. Nobody is fulfilling it. Even in

1012
01:04:59.599 --> 01:05:01.639
the sermon them out. Jesus says, be perfect as your

1013
01:05:01.639 --> 01:05:06.360
heavenly Father is perfect. You cannot do it. It's supposed

1014
01:05:06.360 --> 01:05:09.360
to drive you to Christ and to the Gospel that

1015
01:05:09.599 --> 01:05:16.639
says you are sayd by an imputed righteousness. If Jesus

1016
01:05:16.679 --> 01:05:20.119
definition of what adultery is that if anyone looks at

1017
01:05:20.119 --> 01:05:23.199
a woman's lust is applied to the church, then the

1018
01:05:23.280 --> 01:05:26.639
church is filled with adulterers. You could say the church

1019
01:05:26.800 --> 01:05:30.960
is a community of adulterers. The church is a community

1020
01:05:31.320 --> 01:05:35.159
of murderers. The church is a community of liars, the

1021
01:05:35.239 --> 01:05:58.440
church is a community of sinners. So what's the ultimate answer.

1022
01:05:58.480 --> 01:06:05.760
The ultimate answer is honesty, transparency. The answer is found

1023
01:06:05.760 --> 01:06:09.280
in imputed righteousness, not an infused righteousness, because if we

1024
01:06:09.360 --> 01:06:13.960
received infused righteousness, the answer is stopped saying telling people

1025
01:06:14.000 --> 01:06:16.880
all of these lies about you've been this, and you're this,

1026
01:06:17.119 --> 01:06:20.119
and you're this and you're when everyone knows the reality

1027
01:06:20.239 --> 01:06:23.519
is nobody's a new creation. Practically not all the old

1028
01:06:23.599 --> 01:06:25.639
things have passed away, not all the things become new.

1029
01:06:25.800 --> 01:06:27.880
You've not been set free from the power of sin.

1030
01:06:28.079 --> 01:06:31.719
You've not been set free from the bondage of sin. Practically, positionally,

1031
01:06:31.800 --> 01:06:33.400
all of that is true, but none of it is

1032
01:06:33.440 --> 01:06:37.039
true practically. The power of God is not filling your

1033
01:06:37.159 --> 01:06:40.440
body so you can overcome sin. Because if that's the case,

1034
01:06:40.440 --> 01:06:42.199
you could be perfect. Since no one is perfect, then

1035
01:06:42.199 --> 01:06:44.440
that means either the power of God it can't get

1036
01:06:44.480 --> 01:06:47.000
you to perfection, which would call into question his power,

1037
01:06:47.239 --> 01:06:49.119
or he doesn't want you to be perfect, which they

1038
01:06:49.119 --> 01:06:51.880
would call it coll We get into all kinds of problems.

1039
01:06:52.280 --> 01:07:04.480
Stop with all of that nonsense. I don't know how

1040
01:07:04.480 --> 01:07:06.840
many people will hear this, but I know whoever hears

1041
01:07:06.880 --> 01:07:11.679
this high probability fifty to seventy percent of the people

1042
01:07:11.679 --> 01:07:14.320
who will hear this, depending on age groups a right,

1043
01:07:14.320 --> 01:07:18.280
the older people less likely, but anyone between eighteen and

1044
01:07:18.679 --> 01:07:23.400
probably thirty, maybe eighteen to forty, probably over fifty percent

1045
01:07:23.480 --> 01:07:26.639
of these people listening, if they're even honest. We'll have

1046
01:07:26.679 --> 01:07:30.360
to acknowledge porn news, seeking out porn or at least

1047
01:07:30.440 --> 01:07:42.280
lustful thoughts. That's just the reality of it, and I

1048
01:07:42.280 --> 01:07:44.599
know you're looking for some secret what can I do?

1049
01:07:44.800 --> 01:07:47.360
What can I do? We'll just start admitting the fact

1050
01:07:47.400 --> 01:07:50.920
that it's coming from your sinful nature, and that sinful

1051
01:07:51.000 --> 01:07:53.079
nature is never going away. So all you can do

1052
01:07:53.159 --> 01:07:54.760
is try to fight it and try to combat it.

1053
01:07:54.800 --> 01:07:56.719
But you've got to constantly be running to Christ and

1054
01:07:56.760 --> 01:08:00.159
be relying on the imputed righteousness and find security and that,

1055
01:08:00.639 --> 01:08:04.159
and then hopefully that you'll be so overwhelmed with maybe

1056
01:08:04.199 --> 01:08:06.280
hopefully gratitude for what God has done for you it

1057
01:08:06.320 --> 01:08:09.000
will cause you to try to struggle and fight against it.

1058
01:08:09.039 --> 01:08:13.239
But just and I hate to say this, even if

1059
01:08:13.280 --> 01:08:16.039
you overcome that one, you're still a sinner. So don't

1060
01:08:16.239 --> 01:08:18.239
even if you do overcome it, don't become arrogant and

1061
01:08:18.279 --> 01:08:27.720
prideful and then run around condemn everyone else. There's one

1062
01:08:28.199 --> 01:08:36.880
absolute guarantee in your Christian life. You're going to sin.

1063
01:08:38.399 --> 01:08:41.640
You're going to sin today, You're going to sin tonight.

1064
01:08:42.680 --> 01:08:45.760
You're can a sin tomorrow, You're going to sin tomorrow night.

1065
01:08:46.560 --> 01:08:49.239
You're in a perpetual state of sin. I don't care

1066
01:08:49.279 --> 01:08:52.000
what preachers tell you they are, because unless you can

1067
01:08:52.000 --> 01:08:54.960
be holy as God is holy, then you're never ever

1068
01:08:55.119 --> 01:08:57.680
obeying that one law. That means you're in a perpetual

1069
01:08:57.720 --> 01:09:00.359
state of sin because you're not fulfilling the law. Unless

1070
01:09:00.359 --> 01:09:02.119
you can be perfect, because your heavenly Father is perfect.

1071
01:09:02.600 --> 01:09:04.319
I can just go on unless you do all things

1072
01:09:04.319 --> 01:09:08.159
without grumbling and complaining, unless you love your enemy, unless

1073
01:09:08.199 --> 01:09:10.039
you turn the other cheek, unless you love God with

1074
01:09:10.039 --> 01:09:11.399
all your heart, mind, body, and I can just go

1075
01:09:11.479 --> 01:09:12.960
on and on and on and out. You add up

1076
01:09:13.000 --> 01:09:15.159
all the laws and the Bible, you know you're in

1077
01:09:15.159 --> 01:09:18.800
a perpetual state of sin. Stop pretending otherwise. Now you've

1078
01:09:18.800 --> 01:09:21.920
got to then somehow reconcile the reality of your Christianity

1079
01:09:22.119 --> 01:09:25.600
with the reality of your sin. And if you're not

1080
01:09:25.720 --> 01:09:27.960
honest with it, then you can just be a hypocrite

1081
01:09:27.960 --> 01:09:29.640
and you can live a double life, or you can

1082
01:09:29.680 --> 01:09:32.479
just be honest. I'm a sinner. I say it all

1083
01:09:32.479 --> 01:09:34.880
the time. I'm a sinner with a microphone. That's all

1084
01:09:34.920 --> 01:09:37.520
I am. And if you think I'm anything else, then

1085
01:09:37.560 --> 01:09:40.039
you are deceiving yourself. And you did not get that

1086
01:09:40.079 --> 01:09:42.039
to set. You did not get that idea from me,

1087
01:09:42.239 --> 01:09:44.560
because I'm telling you I'm a sinner with a microphone.

1088
01:09:44.640 --> 01:09:46.840
I'm a sinner with a microphone. I'm a sinner with

1089
01:09:46.880 --> 01:09:49.760
a microphone trying to figure this out. At the same time,

1090
01:09:49.800 --> 01:09:52.199
I know that there is hope and what Jesus Christ did,

1091
01:09:52.319 --> 01:09:55.119
and that by faith I am declared perfect, righteous and

1092
01:09:55.159 --> 01:09:58.880
holy in my position because of an imputed righteousness. And

1093
01:09:59.000 --> 01:10:01.760
somehow I take the salvation that's been given to me

1094
01:10:01.840 --> 01:10:04.960
by an imputed righteousness, and I filled with gratitude with that,

1095
01:10:05.199 --> 01:10:07.119
and I take the Bible, and I understand what God

1096
01:10:07.159 --> 01:10:09.399
calls me to do. Whenever I see law, I know

1097
01:10:09.439 --> 01:10:11.560
it's supposed to drive me back to the imputed righteousness.

1098
01:10:11.600 --> 01:10:14.159
I show my inability, but then I know that also

1099
01:10:14.319 --> 01:10:16.920
provides what God is calling me to try to do.

1100
01:10:17.880 --> 01:10:20.520
And all I can do is pursue it as imperfectly

1101
01:10:20.600 --> 01:10:23.079
as that may be. And it's going to be imperfect

1102
01:10:23.159 --> 01:10:27.119
until glorification. And anyone who tells you different they are lying.

1103
01:10:27.479 --> 01:10:30.920
And the Church has pretended for two thousand years, and

1104
01:10:31.039 --> 01:10:36.359
all we've demonstrated is we can't do it. Thanks for listening,

1105
01:10:37.399 --> 01:10:38.000
God bless