Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: The tendency toward addictive behavior is a result of being sinful in a sinful world. We are no longer in the garden, we’re no longer in perfect fellowship with God and with one another. Sin has distorted our view of God, it’s distorted our view of other people, it’s distorted our view of ourselves. And so everybody struggles with something.

So let's look at what God's word says in terms of some truth considerations and some steps to freedom. Where do you turn when you're struggling with addiction?

Greg: Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor in biblical studies at Biola University. Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Where Do You Turn? Let's listen as JP gives us part one of "When You Are Addicted."

JP Jones: We continue in our study of "Where Do You Turn?" and this morning I want us to look at this whole issue of where do we turn when we struggle with addictions. I mentioned that I was at a men's retreat this past weekend and over the course of being there Friday and Saturday, a guy from the group came up to me and said, "I attended one of your men's retreats in the past and I just want to thank you for the ministry that you have." I said, "Thank you very much, I appreciate that. What's going on in your life?" He said, "I'm struggling because the church that I'm a part of right now, there's just an unstated message that if you have certain kinds of struggles, it's just not appropriate to talk about."

"And one of the things I so appreciated when I came to your men's retreat was there was such a freedom to say we're all in the same boat, our issues may be different, but we all need God's help, God's power, and God's forgiveness." We're talking about a tough issue this morning, the whole issue of addictions. You may come from a background to feel like that's very inappropriate in a church context to talk about. You may come from a background to feel like if I'm a follower of Christ, I certainly shouldn't struggle with these issues, and if I do, church isn't a safe place to talk about it.

One of the things that becomes so crystal clear when you look at the Bible is that every person is in the same spiritual boat. We are sinners who live in a sinful world. We are people who are desperately trying to fill the vacuum in our hearts that can only be filled by Jesus Christ. We are people who, because of genetics, because of family of origin issues, because of personal moral decisions, because of developmental factors, deal with stuff. And the good news of Jesus Christ is that he knows all of that, loves us anyway, and offers the hope of forgiveness and transformation.

I don't know necessarily what's going on in every person's life, but if I was just to superimpose the national statistics upon this congregation, then I would realize that I'm speaking to an audience of people who are struggling with depression, marital breakdown, financial crisis, errant and wayward children, and addiction issues. So let's not act like that's not true. Let's give each other permission to own the stuff we're all dealing with. Let's encourage one another to put our eyes on the one who formed us, loved us, and can change us. Let's step out of darkness into light and experience the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

There's a lot of research and study that have been done in this area of addiction issues and, surprisingly enough, nobody feels like they have it figured out. They know there's a problem, but they don't really know why. Some people say it's genetics and that's what predisposes people to move towards addictive behavior. Some people say it's environment, family of origin issues, and that's what causes people to be vulnerable to addictions. Some people say it's developmental stuff that certain traumatic things happen in key developmental phases of life and then that causes them to have a bent towards some type of addiction.

I think maybe any and all of those things are true, but I come back to the bottom line premise that we're sinners in a sinful world. And you know what sinners do? Sin. The tendency toward addictive behavior is a result of being sinful in a sinful world. We are no longer in the garden, we’re no longer in perfect fellowship with God and with one another. Sin has distorted our view of God, it’s distorted our view of other people, and it’s distorted our view of ourselves. Everybody struggles with something. Everybody.

So let’s look at what God’s word says in terms of some truth considerations and some steps to freedom. Where do you turn when you’re struggling with addiction? I come back to a pretty simple response: we need to turn to Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by him. He’s the one who loves us perfectly, unconditionally, who died on the cross for us, who offers us rest for our souls, who offers us forgiveness and transformation, and who offers us hope not only in this life, but in the life to come.

So what are some truth considerations? Here’s the first one: we sin because we’re sinners. It says this in Romans chapter five: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men because all sinned. For before the law was given, sin was in the world, but sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come."

"But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of this one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflow to the many. Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin. The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."

"Consequently, just as the result of one man’s trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." Now, that’s a mouthful to swallow. It’s a highly theological passage. In fact, when you study theology at any level, introductory level or advanced level, this is one of the passages you spend a lot of time in because it answers the question of where sin came from and why people sin.

It’s introducing the concept that sin was introduced to the human race through our first parents, and they were representatives of all of mankind, and when they sinned, sin became a part of the internal structure of every human being. There's been all kinds of theories to try to explain that. Augustine, who was a great theologian, said it was a genetic issue, that within the genetic code of Adam was the future of every person who would ever live, and since Adam lived, that sin was passed on genetically to every person.

Other theologians have come up with a theory called the representation or the federal theory, which basically says it didn't take place on a genetic level but as a representative level. Adam represented the human race, and then his sin plunged the entire human race into sin. Maybe you'd think about the story of David and Goliath; Goliath represented the Philistines and David represented the Israelites and they fought, and because David won, all of the Israelites won. I don't know if we can figure it out to that level of detail, but what we can gain from this passage is this: we sin because we're sinners.

Everybody comes into this world as a sinner. You don't have to convince any parent of a two-year-old that their toddlers are sinners. Precious Johnny is loving and is kind and is fun and all the great pictures and video, but he's a little sinner. This summer we went on our family vacation and one of the things that we found ourselves doing after all the activities of the day, we came back into the hotel, turned the TV on, it seemed like just about every night when we would come back and wind down, it was reruns of CSI: Miami.

You might be a great CSI fan. It's a fine show, but I never really got into it. But for some reason, we watched it every night together as a family on our family vacation. The whole deal of the CSI unit is that they're using forensic science to discover who the guilty guy is. The main character in CSI: Miami, what's his name? Horatio. You guys know this. He used to be on NYPD Blue when that show was on. Do you ever notice he always has his sunglasses and he takes them off and he always has his head cocked like this when he's talking to somebody? He's cocked, he's got his sunglasses on, and then he takes them off and he's always dealing with this personal angst.

CSI: Miami, they're using forensic science to figure stuff out and a lot of times it's DNA. We got the DNA evidence. Here's the deal: our DNA is sinful. It's just in us. And I asked and answered earlier the Sunday school question: what do sinners do? Sin. You sin, your spouse sins, your children sin. And for some of us, our sin becomes addictive, habitual. It traps us and we get stuck. It's just a biblical truth: sinners sin.

What's another truth consideration as part of the step to freedom? Well, a second thing is this: Christ died to forgive our sins and deliver us from sin's power. Both are important: to forgive our sins and deliver us from sin's power. Hebrews 10:10-18 says this: "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day, every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins."

"But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 'This is the covenant I will make with them after that time,' says the Lord. 'I will put my laws in their hearts, I will write them on their minds.' Then he adds: 'Their sins and their lawless acts I will remember no more.' And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin."

Did you know that Jesus Christ died for your sins? Not just some of them, all of them. All the sins you've ever committed in the past, all the sins you might be struggling with now, and all the sins you'll ever commit in the future. By one sacrifice, a righteous, holy God has made atonement for all sin through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has died for us. He is our advocate before the Father. There is forgiveness of sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But the Bible says not only did Jesus die to forgive us our sins, he died to deliver us from sin's power. He died to set us free from sin. He died to empower us to live above sin. It says this in Romans 5 verse 20: "For the law was added so that the trespass might increase, but where sin increased, grace increased all the more." To put it in crass terms, you can't out-sin the grace of God. There's always more grace. "So that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

"What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace might increase?" Hey, should we do God a favor? Since he's so gracious and every time we sin he extends grace to cover our sin, should we do God a favor and just sin to the hilt so that God can show how gracious he is? "Man, I'm cooperating with you, God. I'm really helping you out here. I want everybody to know how gracious you are, so I'm going to be the biggest sinner so that you can keep on extending more and more grace." Paul says, "By no means. We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer?"

"Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." It's about transformation. But it's about transformation not because we just will it to be so. It's about transformation because Christ in his death not only has forgiven us our sin, but has set us free from sin's power.

Verse five: "If we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." This is an amazing passage. It's a deep passage, but understanding its application is revolutionary. I had a student in one of my classes at Biola this past week come up to me after class and he said, "JP, I want to thank you so much for this class."

I said, "I appreciate that, thank you." And he goes, "I've been raised a Christian my whole life, I've gone to Christian schools my whole life, I've taken theology courses here, and no one's ever shown me how it applies to my life. You're really helping me understand how this applies to living." Truth always applies to living because Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." What's the truth in this passage? It's this: when we embrace Christ and we believe in Christ and we become a follower of Jesus Christ, not only did we receive the forgiveness of our sins, but we received the benefit of what Christ did to set us free from sin's power.

So we exchanged masters. Sin used to be our master and now Christ is our master. I've used this illustration here before when I've tried to teach this truth. It's foundational to living in freedom and living out of bondage and not being a victim to our addictions. If someone, their whole life had a 10-pound steel ball chained to their ankle from birth, they grew up as a toddler, youngster, teenager, as an adult, that steel ball is chained. And so everywhere they go, they drag it. And then they get to a place that they can be strong enough and they start picking it up. But they just live life knowing they're chained to that 10-pound ball.

One time, in the middle of the night, someone comes and cuts the chain. You know what they're going to do when they wake up in the morning? They're going to grab that ball and pick it up and keep walking with it, even though they're not chained to it anymore. That's the way we are with sin. We come into this world as sinners vulnerable to certain temptations, accusations, and deceptions. We develop certain styles of sinning. We come to know Jesus Christ, we receive the unbelievable message we're forgiven of our sin, and we still pick up our 10-pound ball and walk with it.

We need to also receive the message that the chain has been cut. We're not in bondage to that anymore. It doesn't control us anymore. That doesn't mean it's not a real temptation, a real pull, and it certainly doesn't mean because of just developmental behavior and how we learn to develop habits, certain habits won't die real hard. But it does mean we are not under any definitive obligation to have to do it, you see? So there's a truth consideration for us all to realize: we've not only been forgiven of our sin, we have been set free from sin's power.

Greg: What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just $5. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653, or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That's 949-916-0250. For your gift of $25 or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book, "Facing Goliath."

Please join us every Sunday at 9 or 11 a.m. at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653. Or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com. We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. Jesus said in John chapter eight, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." That's just a solid biblical principle: truth sets us free. And yet it's one of the hardest things for us to truly embrace and to live out in the body of Christ. Because there's a certain embarrassment about the truth. The truth exposes who we really are. It exposes our weakness, it exposes our failure, and it exposes our sin. Jesus said in John chapter three that men love darkness rather than the light and therefore they hide from the light. When the fear of our sin being exposed is dominant in our lives, it causes us to keep secrets and to hide from the truth.

See, the truth is every person is a sinner. The truth is every person struggles. The truth is every person has secrets. And when we can bring those things into the light, well the light of God's forgiveness cleanses us and the light of God's truth sets us free, not only in our relationship with God, but in our relationship with one another. See, that's the very nature of being set free. We are no longer controlled by our secrets. Addiction is when our secrets control us. Addiction is when sin controls us. Addiction is when we are powerless to overcome the problems in our life.

I had a conversation the other day with a guy at the gym where we were talking about the reality of Jesus Christ and he was telling me some of the struggles that he's had in his life and how he felt uncomfortable in church because he felt like he wouldn't be accepted. And so I was sharing with him some dynamics of the recovery ministry that we have in our church, and I said, "You know, everybody's recovering from something and we're all recovering from sin." And he looked at me with kind of a look of shock on his face. I said, "That's right, because the Bible says we're all sinners." Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." I even as I say these words to you freely admit: I am a sinner saved entirely by the grace of God.

I don't want to be a person who comes under the control and under the secret power of my sins, and the only remedy to that is to confess them before God and to confess them before men and to live in the light so that God's grace, God's power, and God's forgiveness can set me free. Well, where do you turn when you're addicted? First of all, you've got to be honest about your addiction. Second of all, you've got to confess your struggle with sin. And for some of us, that's the biggest barrier. Jesus says that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Would you turn to Jesus Christ in honest confession? If so, I invite you to pray with me right now. "Lord Jesus, I confess I'm a sinner. I confess I sin. Thank you, Jesus, that you died for my sins, and you cleanse me by your precious blood. Make me a man, make me a woman who walks in the light, the light of your forgiveness and the light of your grace. And I pray for that in Jesus' name. Amen."

Greg: We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653, or call us at 949-916-0250. On the internet you will find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.