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Now, here's today's message from Pastor Skiff Heitzig. Tommy Lasorda was the former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he. was candid about fighting his own addictions. He said, I took a pack of cigarettes from my pocket. I stared at it.
And I said, who's stronger? You or me. The answer was me. I stopped smoking. Then I took a vodka martini and said to it, who's stronger, you or me?
Again, the answer was Me. I quit drinking martinis. Then I decided to go on a diet. I looked at a big plate of linguini with clam sauce. And I said.
Who's stronger? You or me. And a little clam looked up at me. And answered. I am.
He then said, I just cannot beat Linguine with clam sauce. I have a hunch there are things that you might say, I just can't beat. That You understand? That we have a civil war going on inside of us as believers in Christ. The flesh wars against the spirit.
In Galatians 5, 17, in the New Living Translation, Paul wrote, our sinful nature loves to do evil. Which is just the opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires These two forces are constantly fighting each other. The name of this message is: I am saved, but I feel addicted. I'm saved.
but I feel addicted.
So the question is, is there any hope? For those who are caught in these similar cycles.
Now The top addictions in the United States of America. Our number one, alcoholism. Number two, tobacco. Number three, marijuana. Number four, opioids.
I'm not going to go through the whole list. But there are other categories that are offered as Addictions. Coffee. is considered an addiction. Gambling.
Some of you are addicted by two coffee, and we help you out over here at Solomon's Porch. Gambling is one. Sexual addiction, internet addiction. And there's even something that experts are calling Nomophobia. Nomophobia is a thing It is short for no mobile phone.
phobia. It is, this is the expert language, a psychological attachment. to our device. 59, almost 60% of Americans admit. to having this Feelings of desperation and anxiety when separated from their.
mobile device By the way, the average American will check his or her phone 144 times every day. The word addiction is not found in the Bible, at least, not in my translation of the scripture, the New King James. I don't think it's found in the New King James. International version. I don't think it's found in the New Living Translation nor in the NASB.
However, interestingly, the word addiction or addicted. is found In the Old King James Version. And it's in 1 Corinthians 16, verse 15, when Paul writes about the household of Stephanus. They have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.
So I guess if there was a healthy addiction. That would be it. Webster will define addiction as surrendering oneself to something obsessively. and habitually. Though the word addiction or addict or addicted is not found in the Bible, at least in modern translations.
There are other words that Capture the meaning. When is the word captive? Captive. Jesus said, I've come to proclaim liberty. to those who are bound or the captives.
being captivated by some Practice or thought. Also, Paul writes about All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. or I won't be mastered by anything. carries with it the thought also of addiction. Addiction is always the present danger posed by our own nature.
And the nature I'm talking about is the old nature, the fallen nature, what the Bible calls, the scripture calls the flesh. It's a word we're about to read.
Now just a word about this sermon this message I am not a psychiatrist. I am not a psychologist. I am not approaching this from a medical perspective. I am approaching this from a biblical perspective. I understand that some addictions require concentrated forms of treatment.
I understand that addictions can hardwire, rewire the brain. But I do have a text. I do have an outline. I do have principles. That will help us conquer.
The flash. But I just want to warn you, that doesn't mean it's easy. This is not a formula. It's not like, okay, give me the principles so it can be like, okay, one, two, three, I'm cured. It doesn't work that way, but I want to give you a straightforward approach.
Now in Romans chapter 7 And more specifically, in verse seven through twenty-five. you might label this section The struggle of a saved soul. It is Paul's own personal struggle. with the old nature, with the flesh. It is autobiographical.
It is filled with personal pronouns. The words I Me? My Appear forty seven times. In these verses alone. Paul has an overdose of vitamin I.
He is just concentrating on his own personal struggle. And I'm thankful that Romans 7 is in the Bible. I'm thankful that. He was honest about it. I am thankful that the Bible itself is honest about all of its heroes.
Abraham's lack of faith, Isaac's lack of faith, David's adultery, Peter's impulsiveness, Thomas's doubt, and. The Apostle Paul's personal struggle. As we go through chapter 7, and I want to go through some of these things quickly because the real meat. Is in chapter six because what Paul does is in chapter six gives us the solution. And then in chapter seven, he goes through his own personal struggle.
And then chapter eight, the victory. But he actually gives us the answer back in chapter 6.
So, what I'd like to do. is show you three dynamics that deal with addictive behavior. Three dynamics that deal with addictive behavior. Here's the first. A standard.
We have a standard. And the standard we have is the law of God. Verse 10 of Romans 7. begins and the commandment which was to bring life i found to bring death For sin taken occasion by the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me. Therefore, the law is holy, the commandment holy, just.
And good. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not. But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me. Through what is good.
So that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. For we know That the law is spiritual. Let's stop there. I want to simplify this. Paul has been speaking of the Old Testament law, the Old Testament law of Moses in particular, and its relationship to us.
The law is the standard. It is God's standard. The law is a set of rules, commandments. Says, do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that. etcetera.
Paul says the law is good. Why is it good? Because it comes from God. The law is good because the law comes from a good God. It reveals his standard of righteousness.
A couple weeks ago, we read in Psalm 19: the law of the Lord is perfect. Converting the soul.
So The law is good because the law comes from God, and the law is scripture. The Bible says all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is. profitable. That includes God's law. But Knowing The standard.
and knowing what the standard is. Does not fix the problem that I have. In fact, in some cases, it actually makes it worse. Because you're looking way up there at that standard and you see how far you have to climb, and you can't climb that far.
So Out on the street there are Speed limit signs. The law is good. Keeps everybody and the flow of traffic. at a safe speed. But If there's a kid out there with a Dodge Challenger Hellcat, SRT with eight hundred and seven horsepower.
There's going to be problems. And the problem is not with the law. But with that kid and that foot. on the accelerator. This is Connect with Skip Heitzig.
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Now, here's more from Pastor Skip. The law is a good way to live. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not lie.
Murder, et cetera. Even covet. even desire.
So the standard, the law, that's the ideal. And Leviticus 18. Says, you shall observe my judgments and keep my ordinances, which, if a man does, he shall live. By them. But Paul said, well, the commandment that I thought was going to bring me life actually brought me death.
Why? Because the problem isn't with the standard, the problem is with me. with the person. the sinful nature, the flesh. If you're in a zoo and you see, you go up to the lion.
Enclosure, the lion cage. There may be a law written right on the fence, a sign. That says stay back of the railing.
Now if you obey that law, the commandment will bring you life. But if you reach your hand through the bars to pet the lion, or you jump over the bars to hug the lion. The command will bring you death. Paul said, the commandment that I thought was going to bring me life, the standard. actually killed me.
I've told you before that the law is similar to a mirror. You look in a mirror not to fix you, but to give you information. It tells you the truth about who you are. Nobody takes a mirror off the wall and puts soap on it and starts scrubbing themselves with the mirror because. That's futile.
It's not designed to cure what ails you.
So what is the purpose then of the standard that God gave, the law? Obviously not to fix us. What Paul said in Galatians 3 is it points us. It is a schoolmaster, Galatians 3, a tutor that points us to Christ.
So we come to him for mercy and salvation.
So we have a standard. That's the first dynamic. Second dynamic. We face a struggle. And Paul talks about his struggle.
And here's what you're going to see. The struggle is twofold. I struggle because of who I am, and I struggle because of what I do. And what I do is based on who I am.
So God gives me a standard, but. Because of who I am and what I do, I have a struggle. Let's look at it because of who we are. Verse 14, back to that verse. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am, what's the word?
Carnal. I am carnal, sold under sin. Then let me just move you ahead to chapter 8 for a moment. Look at verse 3. Where Paul says, for what the law could not do in that it was Weak.
True. The flesh.
Now you see the problem. Weak through the flesh.
So the law Reveals God's standard. But it also reveals my substandardness. David said, The law of the Lord is perfect. But Skip is not perfect. In fact, I am perfectly imperfect.
Or in his words, I am carnal. What does that mean I am carnal? The Greek word is sarcikos, fleshly. made of the flesh. It means that our default position Our default position.
is to be governed by fleshly impulses. That's our old nature. That's our default position.
So, yes, the law is good. The law is awesome. The law is holy. The law is spiritual. But he says, but I am unspiritual, carnal.
So Think of the law as a straight ruler. The straight edge of the law shows how crooked I am. Romans 3:20, By the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
So God gave me a standard, but I have a struggle because of who I am. Also because of what I do. Verse 15, see if any of you can relate to this. For what I am doing I do not understand. For what I will to do, that is what I want to do, what I wish to do.
That I do not practice. Or what I hate that I do. If then I do what I will not to do, I agree. with the law that it is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwells in me.
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 want to do, will to do, wish to do. I do not do, but the evil that I will not to do, that I practice.
Anybody ever experience any of this? We all experience this. This is who we are. Paul says this is who he was. This is his struggle.
C.S. Lewis. Once noted, no man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good. He says in verse 15, I don't even know what I'm doing. I don't understand it.
What I want to do, I don't practice. What I hate, that I do. It's like when I was a little kid and my mom said, Skip, why did you do that? I go, I don't know. This is Paul going, I don't know.
Verse 17 Bears another look. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwells in me. Literally, the dwelling in me, sin. It's no longer me, it's the dwelling in me sin.
Now, this is not a cop-out. He's not saying the devil made me do it. I'm a victim. I'm helpless. He's not shirking personal responsibility.
He is simply. Speaking of the struggle. Between what he desires to do, which is right. and what he actually ends up doing. I think you could sum Paul's life up into three sections.
Section number one is his early life when he was a Pharisee, his growing up. He tried to keep God's law. He failed at it. Second episode of his life, the Damascus Road Experience. He meets Jesus Christ.
He's converted. He goes to Arabia for three years. There he dissects. His struggle. unravels that struggle.
And then the third section of his life. Is Victory, the indwelling Holy Spirit enlivens him to serve God. And that's Romans chapter 8. But here he's telling you what he struggles with. And in verse 18, I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells.
That's a very important verse. It means that the evil, corrupt nature inherited from Adam. is something we all have. That's our flash. is the problem, and you cannot reform it.
You can't like give it self-help courses and fix the problem. It must be subdued. Or the Bible calls it crucified. subdued by a different nature. A new nature.
So look at verse 24. Let's go all the way down, then we'll kind of finish this part up. This is Paul the Apostle, the great apostle, writing, Oh, wretched man that I am, exclamation point. Who will deliver me from this? Body of death.
Now, when I read that, it carries a note of exhaustion. He struggled so long, he's saying, help. The New Living Translation renders it this way. Oh, what a miserable person I am. Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?
This is Paul's SOS signal. He's at the end of his rope. He cries out. And he pictures himself as having to carry a dead corpse with him, who will deliver me from this body of death. One translation says, who will deliver me from this dead corpse?
Now I'm going to tell you a story that I think is probably what is in Paul's mind when he writes this.
Okay, so where was Paul from? Anybody know? Tarsus. Paul was born in Tarsus. There's a tribe in the area of Tarsus.
That sentence Mother. Murderers murder criminals. to a very gruesome death. They would take the person that was the victim, the murdered victim, the dead corpse. and tie it to the murderer.
closely to his body. And let them go. What would happen is the corpse would decay, decompose. Insect him. and slowly kill him.
He carried around a body of death. And perhaps when Paul said, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? He had that practice from Tarsus in his mind. As he thinks about his old flesh.
Okay. Here's the problem. Many Christians stop right here in verse 24. That's their end game. They just come to the end of themselves, oh wretched man that I am.
And that's where they stop. The Bible has promised them new life. They keep returning to play in the cemetery. Playing with that dead corpse, digging it back up. Like a washing machine caught in a spin cycle, they never get out of it.
Only they're caught in a sin cycle. Just keep going back and back and back. Did that practice? That's verse 24. But in verse 25, notice this: he goes, I Thank you.
God. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now there's a change, a burst of thanksgiving. It's as if he can see the beginning of victory. And where is the victory? Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Then he launches into chapter eight, and it's all about his victory. In the midst of his struggle, he sees the solution.
Now, the solution he's already given to us back in chapter 6. That's just how he wrote it. He gives us Steps to victory in chapter 6, his own personal struggle in chapter 7, and then the victory chapter in chapter 8. We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, here's a reminder.
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