“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men – as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” 1 Peter 2:11-17.
There are many Christians today, even some who have grown up in Christian homes, who take advantage of the liberty which they have in Christ. Who do not abstain from the, “fleshly lusts which war against the soul.”
In their evil conduct they forget that they represent Christ on earth.
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10.
I confess that all of us have these fleshly lusts, you and I, and most of us will wrestle with them for the rest of our lives.
This is not an excuse to give in, God has called us to live a holy life, and what He has called us to do He will enable us to do.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” Philippians 2:12-16.
“…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” does not mean that the Christian has to work to maintain their salvation.
The thought here is that, since you are saved, go on to grow, work out your Christian life and witness in Christ.
Notice that this is not a passive action; it is something that requires you to do something. Diligence in reading God’s word, Bible studies, church attendance, and prayer, will draw you closer to Jesus.
Always share these things within your own families, both mothers and fathers need to teach their children and pray with them.
You do not have to act like a fruitcake to do this, go on picnics, vacations, go swimming, for walks, or go to the fair. You will appreciate God all the more when you recognize His hand in all of nature.
You will also see the many unsaved men and women around you, and this, perhaps will drive you to your knees in prayer for them.
The world does not need more missionaries so much as it needs men and women who will stand in the gap right where they are.
The world needs individuals who:
“…become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life…” Philippians 2:15-16a quoted earlier.
“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Romans 6:11-13.
The phrase above, “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin…” gives a very explicit picture of one way to escape fleshly lusts.
An instrument such as a hammer can be used to drive nails to build something beautiful, or it can be used to crush someone’s skull.
In the same manner we can present ourselves to be used in a sinful manner, or we can decide not to present ourselves to do a sinful thing.
If you are like me, you will have a tendency to think of lusts as being fornication, adultery, or one of many sexual perversions, and it is, but it does not stop there, and this is a snare we tend to fall into.
In every case, with the exception of the book of James, the word lust has the meaning of, desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden; lust.
The manner in which it is used in a sentence gives the sense in which it is being used among the above choices.
Lust is something that originates out of our flesh, not our spirit which is inclined to godliness, not evil. This is the part of the Christian that is the new creature in Christ Jesus, and it is the flesh that wars against the spirit to satisfy its various lusts.
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” Romans 7:18-23.
This is not an excuse to sin; it is a warning that we must be ever vigilant with the understanding that sin deceives and is continually at our doorstep.
“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:12-13.
Part of that deception is that lust is thought of as primarily a sexual thing, with the result that if we do not commit a sexual sin, we think we are free of lust.
This is not so because lust takes many different forms as we saw earlier. It can be a desire to get rich quick, wherein we lie, cheat, steal, backstab to gain our desire.
In our self-importance we may have a longing for attention, so we deceive others in an effort make ourselves out to be something we are not.
Or we lie and rob others of the attention or credit that they actually deserve. Often fathers or mothers will lie or manipulate their children in an effort to make the other parent less important in the child’s eyes.
We may crave sex, alcohol, drugs, or have an overwhelming greed for money or some expensive object, all things for which we will use the most underhanded methods to gain.
There was a woman in a church who had a prescription for Percocet, a strong pain medicine. She was approached by another woman who had become aware that the woman had the prescription.
She then told the first woman that she had a splitting headache and would she have something that might help? Her reply was that she only had the Percocet.
The woman who claimed the headache said that the Percocet would do just fine, whereupon the woman, in pity, gave her one. It was not long before she was again approached by this woman, who was addicted to prescription medications, claiming to have another headache.
This is the sort of deceitful lying that drug addicts engage in; it is also the same sort of sinful thing that Christians who are addicts do to other Christians.
They become both liars and thieves who take away things from one who needs them for their own consumption. It is lusts like these that are condemned.
Then there is the desire for things that are forbidden. “You shall not commit adultery,” physically or in your heart.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” you shall not lie about them on the witness stand, you shall not lie about them at work, you shall not gossip or lie about them at church or to your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant…nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” Exodus 20:17.
Proverbs 23:7a which speaks of an evil man says this, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” I like how Francis Schaeffer rephrases this verse in this manner, “If a man thinks it, he will do it.”
And this is what coveting is all about. If a person covets someone’s wife, house, or car, they will either find a way to rob him of them, or spend all their time trying to find a way to have the same things, the latter being equivalent to idolatry.
We desire things, crave things, long for things, desire what is forbidden, we lust and do not call it lust. These things Christians overlook when they examine their lives for hidden sin.
Consider this carefully, there is nothing wrong with finishing school, going to college, studying hard, getting a job, working hard, buying a house, a car, and finding a spouse.
God gave us brains, or muscle, or both, for a reason. Adam and Eve were to tend the Garden of Eden, the children of Israel were to go into the land of Israel and work the land, reproduce and follow Him. Christians are told to work, not remain idle.
“For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12.
“Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” Ephesians 4:28.
“Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.” Ecclesiastes 2:24.
“Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain [empty] life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” Ecclesiastes 9:9-10.
It is not God’s will that anyone whether Christian or unbeliever should abstain from legitimate labor. In fact man was designed to work and when he chooses slothfulness he either falls into sin or he loses all respect for himself, as will his wife and children.
When folks go on welfare or cease to work they consign themselves to permanent poverty which creates lack and lack creates a lust to have.
“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James 4:1-3.
Honest labor, no matter how menial, creates the potential for a family to have many of the things that they might otherwise lust after and cheat and steal to have.
Or one will begin to pray for things, asking God amiss for stuff to spend on their own lusts. God does not answer those prayers because they are frivolous.
This is what is wrong with socialism or communism, not only do they imprison and ruin an entire nation through incompetence. These systems also take the heart out of people who no longer have to work or cannot find work for a living.
“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:6-11.
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:31-33.
Christian Morality, Part 1, Lust taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 6-19-16, updated on 9-30-23.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.