HOW TO VIEW PORN AND OTHER TEMPTATIONS AS ATTACKS ON CHRIST IN YOU

How To View All Temptation As Attacks On Christ In You

This is the approach that has worked for me in resisting temptation. I can honestly say that I have never looked at porn on the internet because Jesus Christ has empowered me to view porn with the ugliness that it deserves.

1.     You are living your life in the midst of a spiritual battle for your soul. (Eph. 2:1-3; Rom. 6:11-23; 2 Cor. 10:3-5.)

2.     You are living under the domain and rule of Satan until you surrender to the authority of Jesus Christ over your life. (Eph. 2:1-10; Rom. 6:11-23.)

3.     When you trust Jesus Christ to make you righteous before God, Satan will attack you. (Eph. 4:27, 6:10-20; James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8-9.)

4.     Satan’s two weapons for attack are (1) deceit (Gen. 3:1-5; 1 Tim. 4:1; Col. 2:8; Acts 13:10; Dan. 8:25; Rev.12:9, 20:3, 8) and (2) accusations (Job 1:9-11, 2:4-5; Zech. 3:1; Rev. 12:10.) He wants to convince you that your identity is in something other than the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He wants to convince you that you can’t possibly live out your identity in Christ – that the Holy Spirit in you is incapable of making you holy or powerful against Satan’s schemes.

5.     As someone who professes to believe Jesus and His Word, you have two options: (1) you can give in to Satan’s lies and believe his accusations and live a severely compromised life; or (2) you can battle against the enemy of your soul with the weapons that God has entrusted to you. (2 Cor. 10:3-5; Eph. 6:10-20; 1 Pet. 5:8-9.)

6.     Satan’s lies and accusations are seen as flaming arrows that are attempting to create weak spots in the gate of your life. (Eph. 6:11, 16, 4:27.) Satan wants footholds / weaknesses in your life which give him leverage over you. The shield against his attacks is faith (Eph. 6:16). His goal is to destroy you and destroy Christ’s work in you, making Jesus Christ as ineffective as possible in you. (See The Screwtape Letters for C.S. Lewis’ masterful portrayal of this.)

7.     Thus, every temptation, no matter how beautiful and sensual, should be viewed as an attack by the enemy of your soul who wants to destroy your life. Will you give him that opportunity or will you fight back as a victorious overcomer to claim what is rightfully yours through Jesus Christ? (See Rom. 8:26, 31-39; see the promises in Rev. 2-3 to “the one who conquers” in every church.)

8.     If you are a soldier who has responded to God’s call by enlisting in His army and you have clothed yourself with His weapons of righteousness, how should you respond to attacks by someone who wants to destroy your life and your family and Christ’s work in you? I get angry against Satan and his attacks every time I think about this. I hate what Satan does to unsuspecting and unprepared “believers” who are struggling along, giving in to temptations as if they didn’t have a choice. 1 Cor. 10:13 is true – God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to resist. Take up God’s powerful weapons and resist – fight back as a triumphant child of the living God. Satan has no power to force you to give in. You must hate the enemy and respond by going on the offensive with the Word and faith, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

9.     Finally, I don’t want to grieve the Holy Spirit by giving in to things that Christ died to save me from and that He has empowered me to resist. (Eph. 4:30; Is. 63:7-10.) I don’t want to hold up the Son of God to “contempt” by the conduct of my life. (Heb. 6:6.) I don’t want to “profane the blood of the covenant” and “outrage the Spirit of Grace.” (Heb. 10:29.) I know that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:31.)

Thus, when you are tempted to look at porn, remember that is not a naked woman, but a tool of the enemy for destroying your life. You should hate that and resist that and claim the holiness and righteousness to which you were called as a soldier and child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Once you begin to view temptation as being full of the ugliness and evil of Satan, from the pit of hell, you will be far less likely to give in and far more likely to hate Satan and hate his lies and deceit that are destroying people whom Jesus loves.