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Alcohol: The Gateway Sin

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Alright, alright, I don’t want to get into a huge debate about whether or not a single drink of alcohol is a sin. We can talk about that later. I’ve just talked to several people over the past few weeks who keep having trouble with various sins and it these stories keep starting with one problem–alcohol. So, I thought I’d share Ephesians 5:18 with you.

“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (ESV).

The Greek Word for Drunk

I’m not a Greek scholar, but what I’ve read says the word translated “drunk” here is “methusko.” According to Vine’s, this is special form of the word “methuo” which means to be filled and in the context of intoxicating drink means to be drunk. The special form is called the inceptive form. Vine’s goes on to say that this special form marks the process of the verb. That is, it is not talking about the end result but the process. (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p 343.). Webster’s Dictionary defines “inceptive” as “expressing the beginning of the action indicated by the underlying verb, …” Abbot-Smith’s Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testamentclaims “methusko” is “causal of [methuo]” (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, Scotland. 1973, p 282.). Bullinger’s A Critical Lexicon and Concordance To the English and Greek New Testament says “methusko” means “to grow drunk (marking the beginning of No. 1 [methuo])” (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids. 1978. P 238.).

I think this should give us a bit of a pause before we bottoms up. God addresses not just the end result, but the process from beginning to end.

 

Don’t Be Drunk, Be Filled with the Spirit

God didn’t just say don’t be drunk with wine. He offered an alternative. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Sadly, many charismatic teachers have taken this all wrong and believed Paul was saying being in the Spirit meant you would act like you were drunk.

 

That totally misses the point. He says don’t be drunk with wine because there is debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Why? Because you’ll act completely differently when you are filled with the Spirit than if you are filled with wine. Being filled with the Spirit does not mean you will act like a drunken fool. Being filled with the Spirit means you will act with the wisdom of the Spirit (cf. Ephesians 5:15-17).

However, notice Paul’s point in context. Instead of starting the process of be filled with wine, Paul says we should be filled with the Spirit. The contrasting point is to the degree we pursue the process of being filled with wine, we will not be filled with the Spirit. This is important because the Scripture repeatedly points out we must be filled with, led by and follow the Spirit (e.g. Romans 8:5-9; Galatians 5:16-25). 

Scientifically, we know the very first things intoxicants attack are our judgment, willpower, discernment and inhibitions. Things we would never do under normal circumstances, we will do once alcohol gets into our system. Rage, fornication, theft, violence and so one easily follow once we start drinking the lubricant for sin.

This hearkens back to Proverbs 31:4-5, in which Lemuel’s mother told him not to drink lest he drink and forget the law. That is exactly what happens when we drink alcohol. 

 

Alcohol: The Gateway Sin

In reality, even if you want to say that a glass of wine over the holidays is okay, can you at least see what Paul explains here? Alcohol in any amount is dangerous. To the degree you let it into your system, you hinder the work of the Spirit to guide you to life. Sadly, I’ve seen way too many people fall prey to all kinds of sins because they started saying they could handle a bit of alcohol. 

I’m sure dozens of people can say, “I’ve had a drink and I haven’t done those things.” Fine. I can’t answer for everyone. My point is simply this, Paul says it is a gateway to abandoning the Spirit. If you want life through the Spirit, put the booze down. Don’t defend it. Don’t take it up. Set it down. Walk away. Fill yourself with the Spirit instead. That’s where life is.

Praying like the Psalmists

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For centuries, Christians have looked to the psalms as a guide for prayer. No wonder, the raw emotion of the Psalms provides something for everyone no matter their situation or setting in life. Whether you are blessed beyond compare with health, wealth and salvation or you feel cursed and forsaken, the Psalms have prayers to echo what is in your heart. 

Even Jesus relied on the Psalms in His prayers, quoting the laments of Psalm 22:1 and Psalm 31:5 while on the cross. In my recent studies of the psalms, I have learned so much about prayer and praise. However, the number one point I’ve learned is tattooed across the pages of these writings. If we will ever pray like the Psalmists, we must see God as they did.

God is My Rock…

Whether the psalmists were ascending to heaven or making their bed in Sheol (cf. Psalm 139:8) they could pray because they were utterly dependent on God. Psalm 18:1-2 describes it extensively.

“I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

The amazing thing about Psalm 18 is this psalmist had been near death and in distress. Yet, he called upon the Lord? Why? So many in this place feel God has abandoned them and decide to abandon God. Why did this psalmist keep praying? Because no matter how he felt, he knew deliverance could only come from God. No matter what he was facing, he relied on God and surrendered to God. Instead of assuming God had to do everything his way on his time, he simply trusted God to take care of him on God’s time table. So, he kept crying out to God.

 

The Example of a Distressed Psalmist

Consider Psalm 10:1, 4. The psalmist begins saying:

“Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide ourself in times of trouble?”

Listen to this psalmist. I remember after Bette Middler made the Julie Gold song “From a Distance” famous the many well meaning Christians who seemed to rebuke everyone by saying, “If God is watching from a distance, who moved?” That seems meaningful and spiritual to us, but this Psalmist would have said, “God did and I’m begging Him to come back.” This violates our sensitivities. We know Hebrews 13:5-6, which says God never forsakes us. Therefore, we fear taking up this psalmist’s cry in our prayers. We see this as despair and doubt which lead to sin. However, that is not how they are pictured in Psalm 10.

This psalmist actually contrasts the wicked and the righteous. The contrast is not that they feel God is not watching. The psalmist starts his lament with that feeling. Then he describes the wicked in Psalm 10:4-11. In vs. 11 the wicked justifies his sin by saying, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” Just like the psalmist, he believes God hidden Himself. The difference is seen in Psalm 10:4. “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.'” 

Did you see the difference? In this psalm both the righteous and the wicked believe God has hidden his face. The wicked takes that feeling and decides God is not watching. He decides God must not exist. He uses this as justification to sin. The psalmist, on the other hand, feeling that God is hiding starts to seek for Him. By the end of the psalm, he lets his faith overrun his doubts and feelings. Even though he feels like God is hiding, he knows by faith God does see and will act. Psalm 10:14-15 says:

“But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
you have been the helper of the fatherless.
Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none.”

Why can this psalmist whose feelings are covered over with so much despair that he will accuse God of hiding pray this prayer? Because he truly believes God is king forever (Psalm 10:16). Because, despite his feelings in the moment, he truly believe God hears him and will act based on his prayer (Psalm 10:17). Though he doesn’t use the terms found in some other psalms, like Psalm 18:1-2 noted above. The sentiment is the same. Even in his despair he can pray because God is his rock, his refuge, his redeemer.

 

The Springboard for Our Spiritual Lives

These are not sentimental terms to fill our praise songs. They are whole-hearted beliefs that anchored the psalmists no matter what was happening to them and no matter how their situation made them feel. Since God was their rock and refuge, whether times were good or bad, they could rest in Him. They could cry out to Him. They knew He was there. They knew He would listen. They knew He would act. Perhaps not on their time table. But He would deliver.

When we have that faith, we will pray like they did.

A 10 Step Plan to Fall Back into Sin

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Giving in to sin may not be as easy as you might think. Therefore, to help you learn how to fall back into that bed of comfortability easily, I have prepared the following 10 step plan to fall back into sin. If you take these steps, I guarantee you that sinning will once again become the norm for you. 

 

 

1. Think you can run your life better than God.

Of course, I know you would never ever actually admit this verbally and out loud. However, if you really want to fall back into sin, this is the mindset you need to have. It will govern the other 9 steps you must take to fall back into sin. The greatest thing is, you don’t actually have to say it out loud. In fact, you can do this while you are still attending church and even looking good in Bible class by answering all the right questions with all the right answers. All you have to do is decide not to do what God says in His word. You can do it for any number of reasons. Maybe what God asks of you is too hard. Maybe you can’t see how it will make you happy. Maybe you are just convinced it is too old-fashioned. No matter the reason, if you just convince yourself what you want to do will produce better long term results for you than what God asks you to do, you are well on your way to falling back into sin.

2. Live in denial.

Who wants to honestly face their defects and flaws? We all know it was wrong of you to yell at your spouse last night, but why be honest about that? Just come up with some reason why in that scenario it wasn’t really all that wrong. It was probably your spouse’s fault anyway. Here is the great thing, you can do this and still keep up the saying of your prayers. Just don’t ever get specific in your confessions. Just ask God to “forgive me my many sins.” No one can prove you have to be specific. Besides being specific would mean you would actually have to look those sins in the face, own them and repudiate them. That is way too much work (remember step #1?). Another way to do this is to constantly look for everyone else’s sins and flaws. Trust me, you’ll find plenty and you can salve your conscience by realizing that at least you aren’t as bad as they are. 

3. Quit assembling with the saints.

Surely religion is just about your personal relationship with God. Who needs a congregational family? Who needs a time to get together with other people to edify and be edified? Who needs to spend time with other people praising and worshiping God? Not you. You already know you can run your life better and you’re a good person and don’t need that repeated reminder. Besides, you’re smarter than most of those people and don’t get that much out of the preaching and classes anyway.

4. Isolate yourself from your godly friends.

Those people only want to judge you anyway. Why would you want to spend any time with them? They have just as many problems as you. They’re no better than you are. If you spend too much time with them, they might get you to thinking about some of those sins you have committed. They might call you on the carpet. Not to mention, it is just uncomfortable being around people who actually want to overcome their sins. They’re always talking about God and their Bible reading. If you hang out with them too much, they may figure out what is going on inside you and you just can’t trust those Christians to still love you when they find out what is going on inside.

5. Refuse to be accountable to anyone.

Only cults expect you to be accountable to someone, letting them know what you are dealing with and accepting their advice for how to overcome. You need to avoid partnering with someone for purposes of accountability at all costs. Granted, it may lead you back to sin, but at least it won’t let anyone else have undue influence in your life. That just gives too much power to another person in your life. Besides, no one has the right to know what struggles you face; that’s just between you and God. You’d think if He wanted you to talk to someone else about those things, He would have told you to confess your sins to other people somewhere in the Bible.

6. Keep all your stuff on the inside.

Nobody else wants to be burdened with your emotional and spiritual stuff. Besides, if you told them, someone somewhere would just end up judging you. So, don’t ever tell anyone, no matter how much you think you might be able to trust them, about what is going on inside your head. Never share with them the sins you have committed, the things that trigger your temptations or even just the emotions you feel. Don’t ever let anyone know what makes you sad, guilty, ashamed, lonely, angry or happy. Never let them know you are feeling any of those things right now. Instead, just keep it on the inside. If possible, figure out some way to escape those emotions like playing a video game, watching a movie, smoking a joint, drinking some liquor, raging, getting vengeance on someone, eating some ice cream, looking at pornography. See, if you play you cards right at this step, you’ll be jumping back into your sin and not even having to finish all 10 steps.

7. Revel in your entitlements.

Your life stinks right now because no one else is giving you what you expect from them and what you rightfully deserve from them. At all costs, you must avoid anything that looks like selflessness or personal sacrifice. Instead of serving others, simply complain about how no one is serving you. Instead of giving to others or taking the actions of love toward others, focus on all the ways others should be giving to you and aren’t. Focusing on these issues is the perfect way to start building up the justifications and excuses for why you went ahead and sinned even when you “knew better.” If you focus on this stuff enough, you will even be able to convince yourself that God not only understands why you went back into your sins, but He doesn’t mind and would probably have done the same Himself if He had ever lived in the world.

8. Quit reading God’s book.

You definitely don’t want to spend too much time reading your Bible. If you keep doing that, you might find things that help you keep from sinning. You might find the encouragement, comfort, strength, hope and faith to keep relying on God in the troubled times you face. You might learn about people who have faced exactly what you are facing and overcame by the grace and power of God working in their lives. This will, no doubt, be extremely detrimental to your plan to fall back into sin. So, whatever you do, don’t read that book. Just set it on your coffee table. Carry it with you to church (if you decide to go). But don’t read it.

9. Quit talking to God.

This is an absolute must. If you spend too much time praying, you might remember that the only way you can stay out of sin is to surrender your life to Him and let Him run it. That would be a real mistake on your path to fall back into sin. Additionally, if you keep praying you might realize you can get from Him all the things you are trying to get out of your sins–the peace, comfort, emotional support, help through pain, etc. Of course, if you feel the need to keep up with your Christian homework by saying your daily prayers, that can be okay. Just make sure you don’t actually share with God what you are feeling. Keep that tucked away on the inside. Just offer some trite phrases. Don’t think about what you’re saying, just come up with some forms and phrases you can repeat as necessary. “Dear God, thank You for Your many blessings. Forgive me of my sins. Be with the sick the world over. Bless the church. In Jesus name, Amen.” Something like that will accomplish both things. You can say your daily prayers without actually praying. This will work great to salve your conscience but let you go right back into your sinning.

10. Never talk to anyone about your faith.

If you spend too much time talking to folks about your faith in God, you might actually increase that faith. If you increase that faith, you might actually begin to think your sins won’t help you out as much as you initially hoped. If you recognize that, you may hop on the completely wrong path and just keep surrendering yourself to God. Above all, you don’t want to share what God has done for you in the past with other people because you might remember God’s way really does work when all the other ways have always failed you in the end.

As you can see, falling back into your sins really does take some work. I hope my list helps you as you strive to stay on the right path.

What I Have Learned about Preparing for Temptation: Part 3

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Whether we like it or not, temptation is coming. Maybe the past few days have seemed kind of lax for you and you are starting to feel comfortable, like you have this overcoming temptation thing down. Trust me, as soon as you get settled in that, Satan will pound you. He is just looking for a more opportune time (cf. Luke 4:13).

We have already learned several activities that prepare for temptation:

1. Repentance

2. Confession

3. Bible Study

4. Prayer

However, none of this will get us fully ready to face temptation if we do not have poverty of spirit.

Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (ESV). The word translated “poor” in this text (ptochos) is extreme. It doesn’t mean, “Hey, buddy, can you spare a dime? I need a boost.” It means, “If I don’t get help, I’ll starve.” Thus, being poor in spirit is the spiritual equivalent of Lazarus in Luke 16:19-21.

Poverty of spirit recognizes I have nothing to offer God. I can’t pay for my forgiveness. I can’t even work my forgiveness off by being good enough for the rest of my life. I have no bartering power. The reason I have no bartering power is because I have no power at all.

So long as we think we are somehow powerful enough to face temptation with only a little help now and then, we will inevitably fall. That is the heart of I Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (ESV). If we think we are standing on our own legs we won’t make it. Only when we recognize we walk on legs God has given us can we overcome the temptation. Because only then will we let God fight the battle and rely on the strength He gives.

Paul demonstrated this in II Corinthians 12:7-10. When he thought he was strong, he was weak. But when he realized how weak he was, then he relied on God and then he was strong because of God. As Ephesians 3:20 says, God is able to do far more abundantly than we ask or think by the power working within us. Philippians 2:12-13 explains we can work out our salvation with fear and trembling because God is at work within us.

Rest assured, Satan will tempt you greater than you can handle by yourself. But he cannot tempt you greater than your strength when you are relying on God. Why not just pick up your poverty of spirit and rely on God? Do it now. Don’t wait until your are faced with temptation. That will be too late. Recognize your poverty now and rely on God now.

What I’ve Learned about Preparing for Temptation: Part 1

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“I can overcome anything except temptation.” An overly used one-liner and yet overly used because it is overly true. It certainly has been overly true in my life. With that in mind, I want to share with you what helps me face the daily battle, what helps me prepare for Satan’s attacks. This is the first part in what looks like will be a four part series on how to prepare for temptation. Of course, who knows what I might learn over the next several days that gets added in. I hope it helps.

 

 

Preparing for Temptation: Part 1

Regrettably, the “Just Say No” tactic that sounds so good in the safety of our assemblies doesn’t always hold water when we are face to face with Satan’s weapons on the battlefield. We need some real help to overcome temptation. What should we do? Like any battle, without preparation, we will fall. There are several things we must do to prepare; in this article, I want to share two—Repentance and Confession.

The first thing we have to do is Repent. II Corinthians 7:10 says, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret…” (ESV). We have already sinned (Romans 3:23). This isn’t about getting perfect people to stay perfect, but helping sinful people avoid future sin. Without repentance, the battle is already lost.

Repentance is a change of mind leading to a change of action. If we still think some sin is alright, not that bad, not a big deal, a social faux pas, a mistake or any other mitigated concept, change of action will not take place. Only when we mourn our actions and change our minds will we overcome temptation. As long as I believe there’s not really anything wrong with having bitterness, wrath or clamor toward my wife and kids, I will not stop. Oh, I may white-knuckle it for a while to please other people, but it will always creep back in. I must rethink my sins and see how bad they really are.

At the same time, I also need to Confess. I John 1:9 says if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. Forgiveness is a prerequisite to salvation, but that is not why I bring it up. Confession literally means to say the same thing as. In spiritual things, it means to say the same thing as God about something. Thus, confessing my sins to God is not merely admitting I sinned. Confessing means verbalizing exactly what God thinks about the sin.

If I want to overcome sin in the future, I have to get God’s view of something entrenched in my head. I have to see it the way God sees it. I have to speak about it the way God speaks about it. When I confess my sins to God, I’m agreeing with Him. I am communing with His mind. I am connecting with His thoughts and ways. The point is not that we have to hit a checklist of confession for each sin to be saved. The point is working through the exercise of seeing what God sees and thinking like God thinks is necessary if I want to live God’s way.

If I don’t repent of and confess my sins, I won’t make it when the temptation hits again. So let’s start here. Be honest. What are your sins? What does God say about them? What are you going to say about them? Feel free to write out the list and work through them one by one. God will help. God will forgive. You will grow.

May God richly bless you as you draw closer to Him.
More importantly, may you richly bless God.