Sin Is An Addiction

Addicts are controlled by their habits. A meth-head has to have more. A smoker needs more nicotine. An alcoholic has to have a drink. I have seen people come into a grocery store, buy a bottle of aftershave, and as soon as they cleared the front door, guzzled the whole bottle.

Sin, any sin, can become your addiction. Which one has you addicted? Let us help you find which one.

INTRO

We will be reading several verses today, so pause the video and go get your Bible, so you can read along.

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You need to know that sin is something that takes over and dominates. It has a way of making you think that you are in complete control; That you can stop any sin at any time. But such thinking creates a false confidence. It is believing what you want to think, you are allowing self-deception, and you are not paying attention to what God has told us is reality.

What did God tell us in the book of Proverbs?

• Proverbs 5:22  The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
• Proverbs 13:6  … sin overthrows the wicked.

What did God tell us in Romans 6?

• Romans 6:6  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
• Romans 6:12  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.

So, which Sin does these evil things to me and you?

ANY AND ALL SIN.

Sins like you see in Romans 1. Romans 1:26-32  For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;  (27)  and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another,  men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.  (28)  And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.  (29)  They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,  (30)  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,  (31)  foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 

2 Timothy has sins that sound like America today. It says, (3.2-5) “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.  (2)  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  (3)  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,  (4)  treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  (5)  having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power….

And what is the end result of all addictions? This is where bad gets worse. The end result is death. Death in this life. And Death in eternity. Rom 6:23  “For the wages of sin is death, …

Think about it. Any sexual sin can contract a disease like AIDS, or an STD that will 1st maim, then kill you.

A lover of money or a lover of drugs may be enlisted by a gang or mafia. And you never leave the mafia alive. Even the thrill-seeker who loves the sensation of the adrenaline rush will die. Their parachute may not open, or the cliff jumper’s winged body suit will not prevent a sudden wind that causes them to hit the rocks and die. Even the angry person will die from 1. High blood pressure, 2. A heart attack, or someone shooting them.

So, what can you do to break the addiction(s)? How do you overcome this force of evil?

First, let me briefly tell you what does not work.

1. Power of positive thinking. Positive thinking is found in the Bible, but it will not work alone.
2. Doing many good deeds will not tip the scales away from sin. The overpowering nature of sin makes good activities meaningless. You can’t counteract the effects of sin.
3. Replacement therapy alone will not work. God does want us to replace evil with good actions, but replacement therapy alone is not much more than the power of positive thinking. And it is equally ineffective.

There is Nothing of human origin, human thinking, or human philosophy that can rid us of the destructive nature of sin.

The writer of the book of Psalms realized the need for God to do the sin-removal. He said, Psalms 51:2-3  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!  (3)  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Sin will not leave on its own. God will need to remove its guilt. God will need to take the weight off of us. God will need to clean us up. God will need to re-build us from the ground up. God will need to renew our minds. We need a total transformation, a complete metamorphosis.

But God can! Only God can forgive. Only God can and will give us hope. God wants to restart your life.

Romans 12:21 tell us we should aim at not being “…overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

And God alone is Good. Jesus said, Mark 10:18  “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

God’s plan to rebuild you, to transform you, to forgive you, for restarting life begins with an ever-growing trust in Jesus. We examine him from the scriptures. We find that he is truly God’s Son. Then we begin to tell other people about this refreshing idea of Jesus being God’s son with his complete authority. We stop trying to be our own boss – it is always failing. So we begin the process of change. The Bible word is repenting. We conclude the process by obeying someone who knows about people better than people do. Jesus himself tells us to submit to his command to be immersed. That may sound odd, but He is the one with the rebuilding plans, not you. The process will continue as we develop God’s perspective of Jesus being the boss or Lord, and we just do whatever he says.

Please watch the series of 6 short videos about how God brings us change. The links are down in the description.

You can also get a free E-booklet called Deliver Us From Evil by Mack Lyon. The original booklet is out of print and Mack has left this life. But the owners have given us permission to make the booklet available to you. There is 3 ways to get the information. 1) Go to the Timeless Talks link that is below. There, you can read it online, FREE. 2) At the same link, you can download it for FREE to your device and read it anytime; or 3rd) Call the phone number you see here or use the contact form link below and supply us with a complete mailing address. It is easy. And the booklet will help you.

We also have a series of online Bible studies you can work through at your own pace. We have people ready to assist you, so you are not alone. People who care. People who love you. To access these and other tools, call the phone number or use the contact form link below

See, at Timeless Talks, we care about you. We look forward to your coming back tomorrow for another visit. Until then, Goodbye for now.