Overcoming Bad Habits and Addictions — Part 20
In his Victory Seminar, Jamie Lash shared a dialog that he had with God. In his prayer, Jamie said, “OK, Father, I understand that truth sets free, but I don’t *want *to be free. I *enjoy *this sin.”
God responded to Jamie by saying, “What good would it have done for me to have made you a new creature, and to leave you with the same desires that you had before?” Jamie finally realized that when God made him a new creature in Christ, *all *things were made new. Jamie realized that he had new desires now. His old desires, cravings, and lusts were gone with his old self.
Once Jamie realized this truth and received it by faith, he was completely free from two destructive habits that had enslaved him for years. He was not only freed from the behaviors, but he no longer had any desire to do those things anymore. He was free … completely!
“And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.”—John 8:32 (AMPC)
The Bible is very clear that Jesus has not only freed us from the power of all bad habits and addictions, but He has also completely freed us from any desire to continue those habits and addictions.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, **all **things have become new.”—2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
“And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) **with its passions and appetites and desires.”—**Galatians 5:24 (AMPC)
That condition of desiring things that bad habits and addictions brought us, and finding pleasure in them, was part of the old life. It is over now. That life is gone. It has been crucified with Jesus and put to death. Even if you went looking for it, it is nowhere to be found. It was crucified with Jesus and buried in the waters of baptism. It is gone forever.
Crucifying your sinful nature, with its ungodly passions, lusts, and appetites, is not something that you need to do. It has already been done. Read Galatians 5:24 closely. It happened already. Jesus has already fully accomplished it on the cross. There is nothing left for you to do but believe and live in the freedom that Jesus bought for you with His own life.
“Through these he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, seeing that you have escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires.”—2 Peter 1:4 (ISV)
As Jesus said, “Let these words sink down into your ears.” (Luke 9:44 NKJV)
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed their sinful desires to his cross. They don’t want these things anymore.”—Galatians 5:24 (NIRV)
If you think that you still want to do the same things that you did in your old life, that very thought is a lie. If your feelings are telling you that you still want to indulge in those bad habits and addictions, those feelings are lying to you. You have been conditioned over years or perhaps even decades to believe that you derive pleasure in this sin, this habit, or addiction. That may have been true at one time, but you are a completely new creature now. And now that you are new creature, the old creature has passed away, and all of the unrighteous cravings and desires have gone with it.
“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices”—Colossians 3:9 (ESV)
As God said to Jamie Lash, what good would it do for Jesus to make you a new person, if He did not free you from the desire to sin? Jesus doesn’t do things halfway. He doesn’t leave tasks unfinished. He is the Author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He has done it ALL for you. He has already given you everything you need to walk free from sin.
What the Apostle James wrote in James 1:14 is true:
**“**But each person is tempted by their own evil desires. These desires lead them on and drag them away.” (NIRV)
But those desires, cravings, and lusts are no longer a part of us. Christ dealt a death-blow to our sins and lusts on the cross. They were put to death with Him. We are no longer subject to lusts and sin because we have been made new creatures in Christ. We fully enter into this experience by renewing our minds to the truth—filling our thoughts with this truth and believing it fully. In this way we mortify our old man with its sins and lusts, and give life to the new man, walking in the Spirit. When we walk in the spirit, we will not be subject to lust and sin (Galatians 5:16). We rise to live above those things of the old life. They have no pull or hold on us. We are just as Jesus was when He said, “the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me. [He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me]” (John 14:30 AMPC).
Jesus made a clear distinction between those who are slaves to lust and sin and those who are free from such things. They have different fathers. Those who are slaves of lust and sin have the devil as their father.
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.”—John 8:44 (KJV)
We who are born again of God’s incorruptible seed have God as our father, and we do not live lives of lust and sin. Lust and sin have no hold or pull on us. Their power over us has been completely broken.
The Bible is very clear that lusts, cravings, and appetites for the wrong things are not a part of the new, everlasting life of the believer. These desires do not come with us into the new life of a child of God.
“For all that is in the world—the lust and sensual craving of the flesh and the lust and longing of the eyes and the boastful pride of life [pretentious confidence in one’s resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father, but are from the world. The world is passing away, and with it its lusts [the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes lives forever.”—1 John 2:16-17 (AMP)
When the New Testament writers mentioned sinful lusts, cravings, and appetites in their messages, they spoke of these lusts in the past tense, as part of the old lives of the believers *before *they were saved and baptized.
“And you [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins In which **at one time you walked **[habitually]. You **were **following the course and fashion of this world [**were **under the sway of the tendency of this present age], following the prince of the power of the air. [You **were **obedient to and under the control of] the [demon] spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience [the careless, the rebellious, and the unbelieving, who go against the purposes of God].
“Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by our corrupt and sensual nature], obeying the impulses of the flesh and the thoughts of the mind [our cravings dictated by our senses and our dark imaginings]. We were then by nature children of [God’s] wrath and heirs of [His] indignation, like the rest of mankind.
“But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,
“Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).”—Ephesians 2:1-5 (AMPC)
“For we too once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various sinful desires and pleasures, spending and wasting our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the goodness and kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared [in human form as the Man, Jesus Christ], He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we have done, but because of His own compassion and mercy, by the cleansing of the new birth (spiritual transformation, regeneration) and renewing by the Holy Spirit”—Titus 3:3-5 (AMP)
“… as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”—1 Peter 1:14-16 (NKJV)
“You have wasted enough time doing what unbelievers desire—living in their unrestrained immorality and lust, their drunkenness and excessive feasting and wild parties, and their forbidden worship of idols.”—1 Peter 4:3 (CEB)
We must always be alert and vigilant. When lies come into our thoughts and feelings, trying to tell us that we still have those old cravings, we must consistently confront those lies with the sword of God’s truth, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17), taking those thoughts and feelings captive, and not allowing them to find any place in our thoughts or in our lives.
