Comments on: Is It Sexual Addiction or Is It Sexual Sin?

By: RickL

RickL — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:52:41 +0000

Christians who work the 12 steps to overcome drugs and alcohol are able to grasp the idea that their problems are both sins AND addictions. I’m not sure why sexual sin, when that sin is compulsive, repetitive and overwhelming, can’t also be seen as sexual addiction. There is a fear that Christians who respect or use the 12 step method are soft on sin, and for many of us, that is a misrepresentation of what we believe.

We despise our sin, we are humbling ourselves and asking God for his forgiveness, mercy, deliverance and power over this problem. I don’t see any violations of Scripture for a believer who follows that path, and it illustrates how the 12-step method can, in the life of the committed believer, reinforce (not contradict) what he has learned in Scripture. It is no different than my Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, which is a pledge of loyalty to my country but which in no case undermines my greater loyalty to God.

I have spent long hours talking with Christians who work with inner city drug addicts, and they swear by the power of 12-step methods that are bathed in biblical principles. They call it the Christian 12-step method and have seen no other approach that works as well.

A final thought: there may be some in the addiction community who will not tolerate the concept of “sin,” and instead talk of the problem as a “disease” to be treated. But the Christian does not have that luxury. He must call it a sin — but can he not also call it a sinful addiction? I say yes.

By: Isabelle I.

Isabelle I. — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:56:38 +0000

What then is the solution for a wife who loves her husband and family, yet who’s husband does not believe he has a problem/addiction/sin issue? Yet he lives a secret life of porn, women, etc. Does she kick him out of the home until he gets help on his own? How does a wife urge her husband to want to “renew his mind”? Is a separation the only hope? Please help.

By: David Morgret

David Morgret — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:52:48 +0000

The key to my freedom from sexual sin came when I took the words of Romans 12:1-2 to heart–”Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Yes, 12-Step programs helped; counseling helped; and my connection to Battleplan Ministries helped.

In the end, it was when I chose with God’s power to quit putting garbage into my mind through my eyes and heart of lust, that I found victory through the “Renewing of my mind.” Thanks be to God who gives us the victory.

Rev. David Morgret

By: DAVID LAMONT

DAVID LAMONT — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:18:00 +0000

Re-reading the article, something struck me, and it may be that I am just “slow.” and it is implicit within “False Intimacy.” The Gen. 6:5 verse is quite emphatic: every, only, continuously leaves no room for doubt as to all human motivation, apart from grace.

Every choice of an addict, his/her only source of satisfaction, is continuously for self and sin, lust, and everything other than God’s commands. It can be no other way.

So, as Abraham Kuyper pointed out over 100 years ago, the heart of man is either directed toward God or away from God. This is the core of most reformed thinking.

So, one could make a case that addicts exist: sin addicts, and for this there is only one cure: changing of the heart by gracious intervention, redemption, and regeneration. Behaviors, outside influences, parents, abuse, etc. just are not the issue.

It seems so simple, why has the church missed it? Deception, distraction, apostasy, BUT THE GATES OF HELL WILL NOT PREVAIL, even if they do in individual hearts of sinners, but not in the face of electing grace, which is love.