“Lord, give me chastity and continence, ” prayed one day young Augustine, “but not yet. “In fact, the one who would become bishop of Hippo and one of the greatest theologians in church history described his childhood as imprisoned for the mortal pleasures of the flesh. In his Confessions, Augustine recounts how the Holy Spirit powerfully applied the Word of God into his heart, converting it through a passage from Romans 13. 13,14:
Let us walk with dignity, as in the midst of the day, not in and drunkenness, nor in shame and dissolution, nor in conflict and jealousy; Before, you dress the Lord Jesus Christ and make nothing available to the flesh regarding his desires?
- Humbly confident in God’s enabling grace.
- Augustine would learn a new prayer: “Lord.
- Grant what you command and command what you want.
In describing his experience in terms of slavery and liberation, Augustine evaluated his life through the prism and worldview of the scriptures, his thoughts expressed in a deeply biblical way, providing us with a useful introduction to the subject of study. It seems an appropriate term to describe any kind of compulsive and habitual participation, whatever its negative effects, does the term not appear in the Bible, which speaks more about the dominant principle of sin?The underlying slavery and the root cause of many of our depraved tendencies. The starting point of our biblical examination of addictions is therefore the much deeper problem of the fall of humanity and slavery to the resulting sin.
The Almighty created human beings in his image and likeness to enjoy the Lord’s day fellowship with him and to rule as lords over creation in his name. This freedom and dignity, however, was despised and ruined in the rebellion. Although the serpent promised equality with God by eating the forbidden fruit, the bitter result of Adam’s transgression was rebellious dependence on his nature: the human lord of creation was morally corrupted when he fell under dominion. of sin. Furthermore, this condition of sin and misery was not limited to the first human couple. The biblical doctrine of original sin, formalized as orthodox through the efforts of Augustine himself, teaches that all humanity descending from Adam through the ordinary generation is born with a corrupt nature, stained with the principle of sin. A similar doctrine, nicknamed? Total depravity? by Reformed theologians, explains that all parts of human beings? our minds, our desires, our emotions, even our flesh? it is imbued with the power of sin. It is not that people are practically as bad as they could be, but that every part of our nature is tainted and tainted with sin. As this bondage is forged by the shackles of our own ingrained wills and desires, we are powerless to free ourselves. Once we are inclined to sin, we naturally follow degraded passions, sinking deeper and deeper into the mire of shame and depravity (Rom. 1: 21-32). Worse still, the Bible explains that humanity’s bondage to sin is just proof that we are under the rule of the evil one, Satan, living according to his purpose and destined for eternal judgment (Ephesians 1-2). Only in the context of this naked reality? That humanity is spiritually dead, enslaved to sin, under the dominion of the evil one and heading towards the most terrible judgment? is that there can be a meaningful discussion about a person’s addictions. Obviously, our first need is not to have a plan to maintain certain propensities face to face; instead, we must be freed from slavery and recreated in a new humanity.
To what extent would this situation be desperately bleak if the Word of God had not also revealed the infinite, eternal and immutable love of the Father, who, being rich in mercy, fulfilled our deliverance for his Son (Jn 3:16; Ep 2 , 4, 6; 1Jn 3. 8). Jesus took captivity to free His people; the Holy Spirit applies Christ’s work to our hearts and recreates us, giving us heavenly birth and freedom. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, does Paul list many types of sinners?fornicators, adulterers and homosexuals to thieves and drunks?(6. 11). How have these titanic ties been broken? The same verse explains that those who were once so attached to the sins that were defined by them have now been washed away, separated, and made righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God.
However, being free from the bondage of sin is not the end of the story. Conversion begins our spiritual warfare against sinful desires, and the Bible learns much about our need to participate in this war every day, as well as the nature of our weapons of war. To begin with, Christians are urgently warned of the real possibility of re-submission to captivity. While there is real and wonderful comfort in Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 6:11, is his overall goal in this context to warn the Saints not to submit to government again even in legal practices? “I will not be dominated by any of them,” he writes (6. 12). Likewise, Paul warns the Church of Rome of the slavery that awaits those who, assuming that grace somehow makes corrupt desires less dangerous, submit in obedience to sin (Rom. 6:16). Lest we be mistaken, these warnings are backed up in Scripture by a frank statement of what? Whatever the profession of faith? those who are in fact fornicators, sodomites, drunkards, liars, etc. , will not inherit the kingdom of God in any way (1 Cor 6: 9-10, Gal 5, 19-21, Eph 5, 5-7, Revelation 21 8, 27). Christians, therefore, are obligated to stand firm in the freedom of Christ, lest we find ourselves entangled under the yoke of slavery (Galatians 5: 1). How does the generation of the West forget that Christians constitute it? Militant Church? in the middle of a hostile war and who our enemies? the world, the flesh and the devil? If they are furious to destroy us, our spiritual fatalities cannot come as a surprise.
From this sober perspective, the Word of God calls us to escape from our natural lusts, which would enslave us again, and to do everything in our power to progress in sanctification. The Bible generally uses what many consider baptismal imagery to describe our role in sanctification: we are charged with shedding the works of the flesh, as rags of our old Adamic nature, and clothed in Jesus Christ, his righteousness and obedience. (Galatians 3,27; Ephesians 4,22-24). The “Undressing” aspect refers to a deliberate and disciplined mortification of sin, requiring both vigorous effort and sacrifice; Paulo, for example, recounts how he struck his own body into submission (1Co 9. 27). Do we have to be ruthless to kill the acts of the body, without caring for the flesh, and this has to be done? in fact, can it only be done? by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:13). The Spirit applies the death of Christ to sin, allowing us to die more and more deeply with him and in him, to live more and more deeply with him and in him for God. As disciplined soldiers who don the full armor of God, we must remain in the fight (Ephesians 6: 10-18), remembering Jesus’ warning that practical measures (quite severe in Matthew 5. 27-30, even with object lessons ), must be applied to mortify sinful habits.
The “covering” aspect refers to the practice of godliness, the intentional replacement of corrupt habits with behavior that honors God. Is the positive walk in good works often subverted by an obsessive focus on our sinful compulsions? Although it is an attempt to deny carnality. habits, in addition to cultivating Christian virtues because their replacement is doomed to failure; However, God’s desire for the fruit of our evangelical blessings is urgent and serious (Lr 13, 6-9; Jn 15, 5-8). Practical measures should not be ignored: getting up early and working hard for our call to Christ’s kingdom is a sure antidote to a multitude of pernicious sins, while inactivity breeds evil (1 Timothy 5: 9-14).
Finally, the Bible teaches that the weapons of our war are the same means that God commanded for our spiritual growth, which come and go from communion with God in collective worship. Overcoming the sinner’s vices involves learning primarily to revel in the Lord on the day of his Shabbat: enjoying his presence while delighting in his proclaimed Word, fed by his sacraments, comforted by his renewed forgiveness of our confessed sins, pouring our hearts before Him in prayer, committed to the pious brotherhood, and joyfully receiving his blessing. , power and protection improving? If we understand our absolute dependence on the power of the Spirit, which will resurrect our bodies as new creatures, and as he bestows grace only through these channels, will we not quickly dismiss the pastoral question because it is too spiritual?Wrong about that with fasting?Instead, we will humbly begin to learn the tactics of our war.
Returning to the point of communion with God, we must be careful not to separate Christ from his blessings. Our real need is always to look at Christ himself, our mediator all sufficient, in the glory of his triple function: our prophet who reveals divinity to us; our High Priest who lives to intercede for us; and our conquering king who subdues our enemies inside and out. The abundant supply of God in him?all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1. 3)?is more than our weaknesses. By looking at Christ in faith, we can learn from Augustine that God really gives what He commands.