Sexual lust remains a strong enemy among men, but in Christ there's victory. Every man who is in Christ has access to the ways by which we can combat -- and win over -- sexual lust.
According to Webster's 1828 dictionary, lust is "carnal appetite" or "unlawful desire of carnal pleasure." Sinful man lives a fleshly life subject to fleshly appetites.
But thanks be to God, in Christ we are now a redeemed people, subject not to the flesh but to the Spirit of God.
Are you a man looking for ways to combat and have victory over sexual lust? If you are, I'd like to invite you to take the journey towards sexual purity. Here are some Biblical ways by which we can fight back.
1) The truth
The truth is the best way to fight against sexual lust. Why is that?
"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."" (John 8:31-32)
According to the Bible, if we are in Christ we're no longer the same person that we used to be. We are a totally new creation (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).
We have been given a new set of desires and longings because we've been given a new Spirit and a new heart:
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Moreover, now that we are in Christ, we have been given a new mind to think, plan, and meditate with:
"For "who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:16)
This is the truth, friends. In Christ, God has made us into new creation, a people who will think of God's will and desire to accomplish it. We are a people who, in the Spirit, desire nothing but what pleases the Lord.
That's who we really are. That's the truth, even if the flesh will try to fight it. We must fight back with truth.
2) Control over our thoughts
Now that we understand that we are a totally new creation, we also need to know this truth: that we have been given the power to control our thoughts.
Before we came to Christ, we were totally under the power of the evil one. We were slaves to sin, subject to its urges and cravings (see Romans 8:5-8). Because of this, men find it hard to stop lusting after women.
Thankfully, Christ freed us from such a pitiful grip:
"He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." (Colossians 1:13)
Because we are no longer under the power of darkness, it no longer has a right to demand anything from us.
Thus, sexual lust and other related thoughts can no longer demand that we think of them. If a lustful thought pops up in our minds, we can stop it right then and there, thanks to the freedom that Christ has purchased for us with His blood.
We are no longer obliged to sin (see Romans 8:12).
3) The power to say "no" by God's grace
Lastly, we can simply refuse to lust. This is because of God's grace, of what Christ has done for us.
Perhaps we might be tempted to think that we can't stop lusting. That's a lie. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)." This includes living a holy live with a holy brain/mind.
Because we can do all things through Christ, we can say "no" to sexual lust and say "yes" to a life pleasing to God.
"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." (Titus 2:11-14)
