As a supplement to my daily Scripture reading, I've been working my way through Kevin DeYoung's book, The Hole in Our Holiness. This morning I was in chapter six, which is entitled "Spirit-Powered, Gospel-Driven, Faith-Fueled Effort." In this part of the book, DeYoung reminds us, "God is constantly making promises in the Bible, and these promises are meant to fuel our engine of obedience."
This statement immediately caught my eye, because so often in our struggle against sin, we focus on the warnings and prohibitions. You know, the negative stuff. And those do serve a purpose in that they help to deter us from sin. But God's promises also provide the positive motivation we need to pursue holiness.
To illustrate his point, DeYoung points to the Beatitudes at the outset of Matthew 5, saying, "They all promise blessing of one kind or another." (Read them for yourself, and you'll see it's true.) Kevin then goes on to share one example in particular that should encourage all of us in our struggle against sexual sin:
In my experience, Matthew 5:8--"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"--has been the most helpful verse in the Bible in battling the temptation to lust. The key is that Jesus fights pleasure with pleasure. Sexual impurity can be pleasing (in the moment), but Jesus promises a greater blessing for the pure of heart: they will see God. Years ago, there was a house in our neighborhood I often went past on my way to work. I don't know who lived there and never met anyone from the house. But frequently in the summer a young lady in an immodest bathing suit would wash the car in the driveway. Matthew 5:8 was the sword I used to slay my temptation to turn my head and take a look. I thought to myself, "I want to see God. I want to know God. I don't want to feel distant from him the rest of the day. I know fellowship with God is better than a three-second glance." I was pursuing holiness by faith in the promises of God.
To be sure, Jesus also shares promises of judgment in addition to promises of reward. Both kinds of promises work together to motivate us to kill sin and to pursue holiness. Still, sometimes we get fixated on the negative without getting fueled by the positive. Trust God for future grace and his promise to give good things to those who ask him (Matt. 7:11).
Be encouraged as you battle lust! Remember: "The holy life is always a life of faith, believing with all our hearts that God will do what he has promised." Amen, Kevin. Preach it!