Originally published in 2011

If you are a man between the ages of 18 and 24, chances are, you struggle with porn. Some seventy percent of men within this age group visit pornographic sites on a regular basis. Women, this is for you too. Not only are thirty percent of you visiting these sites as well, but it is very likely that a guy you know, whether friend, fiancée or spouse, is clickin’ at night. It is not my intention, ladies, to promote undue suspicion. Your man may not struggle. But you can count on this – if he doesn’t, he is fighting not to. If you are not aware of the pornographic tidal wave in our world, you may soon find yourself underwater.

The purpose of this article is to help us all – both Christians who struggle and those who don’t – put porn to death. It is my hope, over the next three weeks to address some common strategies many of us use that serve to strengthen this dragon rather than slaughter it. Once we have emptied our hands of these bad practices, we can then put on the whole armor of God. Make no mistake Christian, we are at war. In Christ, we are the church militant. The dragon must die.

The first bad strategy is what I call the moralistic approach to porn. Simply put, porn will never die if we just tell ourselves and others to “Stop that!” This is probably the first thing we do when either tempted to look or, after we have already fallen. We tell ourselves a thousand times, “Stop!” or “I will never look again!” We get internet filters. We set passwords and parental controls. We even get little bracelets that help us remember “what Jesus would do.” Now don’t get me wrong. These are decent strategies. But, if they are all we have, we, and those we love, will bleed.

Many of us fail to understand that porn is a behavior. It is a symptom of something greater; something more dangerous; something more vile. If we just tell ourselves and others to stop looking at porn, we become like a doctor who tells a person with the flu to stop sneezing. But people with the flu can’t help but sneeze; and people with unforgiven sin can’t help but look at porn.

This is the truth that moralism denies. Our sin is stronger than we are. Our moralistic disciplines break under the weighty pleasure of porn. We need more than a strategy, Christian. We need a Savior. Jesus Christ came with more than good advice. He came preaching good news.

As humans, created in the image of God, there is no greater pleasure than being fully accepted and fulfilled by God Himself. It is what were made for. Through the eyes of the gospel, therefore, we can gain insight into the true nature of pornography. Indulging in porn is but a sinful attempt to be accepted and satisfied by another in a mutually intimate relationship. This is precisely why sex is so good. But the gospel reminds us that sex (as well as all other good things) is a merely a shadow (Colossians 2:17). It is meant to point us to the substance – that is, God.

The gospel exposes our chief problem – sin. Sin makes us unacceptable to God. And when we are unacceptable, we cannot be satisfied. Try giving your wife a hug after you have ticked her off. It won’t work. She has to forgive you first…then you can get some love. This is our plight. We are sinners; and in our sin we are unacceptable and unfulfilled. Therefore we turn to other things, like sex. And when sex doesn’t ultimately fulfill us, we distort it. Porn is distorted sex.

The gospel calls us to repentance. We have to repent, not just of our pornographic habits, but of our sin. In our rebellion, we have forsaken the One we were made for. We have rejected our Creator. We have looked at images and said, “You are my god. You satisfy me.” But there is more. We must also repent of our efforts to remedy our own sin. We have trusted in ourselves. We have said, “I am my savior.”

As we turn from our sin, we turn to Christ. We place our faith in Him alone for our salvation. While we once focused on what Jesus would do, now we begin to focus on what Jesus actually did. We once lived saying, “If I just do this, or stop doing that, I will finally be acceptable. I will finally be satisfied.” Now, because of Christ and the gospel, we can say, “In Christ, I have been accepted! In Christ, I have been filled!” Take a second to read Colossians 2:8-15. Notice the tenses of the verbs, “you have been filled in Him” (v.10) and “you have been forgiven” (v.13). Do you see the difference? Look again. This is critical. This is how you kill sin.

Some of you are may be hearing this for the first time. The truth is, whether this is the first time you have heard it or the hundredth, we all need to “set our minds on these things” (3:2). Again, we need to focus, all the time, on what Jesus did. So, what did he actually do?

First, He took our punishment. This means that Christ took upon Himself the punishment that was due every one of our transgressions. That which once made us unacceptable to God, was graciously taken from us and placed on Christ. This is why He died. He died in our place. In Christ, we are acceptable to God!

Second, after taking our sins, He gave us His righteousness. This means that God the Father looks at those who are in Christ with full acceptance and pleasure. In Christ, Christian, you are pleasing to God. He is happy with you. You are perfect in His eyes – not because of what you did, but because of what Jesus did (perhaps we need a new bracelet, WDJD!). Christ bought, with His own blood, the smile of God upon your life. Let that sink in.

Now that you have been accepted by God, you can be completely satisfied by Him. God dwells in us, by His Spirit! We know therefore that we have been given everything we need for life and godliness. We now drink from the living waters of Christ that never run dry.

Now, when porn promises you satisfaction, you can say, “Because of Christ, I am satisfied in God.” And when you are tempted to run to porn for acceptance and intimacy, you can say, “Because of what my Lord did, I am righteous before God. God is pleased with me. And I am pleased with Him” This is our Creed. This is the proclamation of the church! Let it ring in your soul. And with every ring, let the fatal blows fall upon the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15).

Read Part 2

Written by Scott More