116: A Sermon on Addictions

Recently I heard a message on addictions that in my opinion depicts very well the mixture of law and grace that we often hear today. The speaker was cruising right along through Romans 7, systematically laying out the reality of the fleshly struggle of sin: “I do the thing I don’t want to do…” And he made it almost to the end of Romans 7 to the next to the last verse:

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24, NASB)¹

I was sitting there listening and getting excited because I know the next three verses. I expected to hear the speaker say:

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 7:25-8:2, NASB)

I was on the edge of my seat waiting for those words, and I just about fell off the chair when I heard this INSTEAD:

How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don’t know this, so they are ALL PUT TO SHAME! Who but a fool would make his own god— an idol that cannot help him one bit? All who worship idols will be DISGRACED. (Isaiah 44:9-11, NLT, emphasis mine)²

I sat there… shocked and stunned. He made it all the way to “what a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?!” and instead of continuing and giving us the New Covenant reality of freedom from condemnation through Jesus, he leaped back to the Old Covenant reality of shame and disgrace. He went on to say that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength in order to overcome those addictions. Instead of telling the people that God loves them so much that He sent His Son so that there would be no condemnation for them, and that His Son condemned sin in the flesh by becoming that sin of addiction for them, he poured condemnation on them because they could not love God enough to give up their addiction.

I was literally shaking from this blatant example of the mixture of law and grace. He just put a noose around the neck of his congregation! Yes, they will do better for a while, but when they fall, it will be worse than before. They may be good for six months or even longer, but then they’ll binge. I have seen this tragic story in ministry over and over and over!

What is the result of taking our frustration with the cycle of sin and making a determination to do better by trying harder? A cycle of defeat. It’s the law in action! There is no place for the law in the life of a New Covenant believer. We have the Holy Spirit inside today, and He is enough to lead us in holy living. We don’t need the external demands of the law because we have the supply straight from God.

(from pages 191-193 of Unveiling Jesus)

Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!

Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.

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¹Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
²Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.”