I know some of you are already coming up with excuses and arguments about why you can’t quit. That’s your flesh lying to you, to keep you trapped in sin.
This video is part 2 in a series I’m making about overcoming sexual sin. If you haven’t seen part 1 yet, I encourage you to watch it first. It’s called the doctrine of Balaam, and there’s a link to that video in the description below.
Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the lies that keep you trapped in sin.
We all know that sin is deceitful. Satan lies to us to get us to sin, and that has been his strategy from the beginning.
Satan lied to Eve in the garden, and she believed his lie instead of believing the Word of God, and that’s why she ate the forbidden fruit. She ate the fruit because she believed the lie. That’s why we sin, because we believe the lies of the devil.
Satan is a liar, and he’s really good at it.
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
– John 8:44 NKJV
The devil lies to us to get us to sin, and we remain in sin because we lie to ourselves. That’s why the truth sets us free.
So, I want to look at some of the common lies we believe that keep us in bondage to this sin.
#1 LIE – It’s ok because it’s not hurting anyone
This is an obvious lie, because it does hurt people. If you’re married or even dating a woman, it hurts her because you’ve betrayed her. The Bible says lust is adultery, and the betrayal of lust is the same as the betrayal of adultery.
“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
– Matthew 5:28 NKJV
You know it’s betrayal, that’s why you do it in secret. If it’s not betrayal, then why do you keep it hidden from your wife or girlfriend?
The fact that it is done in secret proves that it hurts other people. Sin hides in the dark because it is ugly, hurtful, offensive, and shameful, and lust is no different.
However, the Bible also explains that sexual sin hurts us as well.
“Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”
– 1 Corinthians 6:18 NKJV
Looking at porn is a self-destructive habit. Not only are you hurting people you love, but you are also hurting yourself, and destroying your own soul.
“Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.”
– Proverbs 6:32 NKJV
Remember that lust is the same as adultery. So, that means looking at porn is adultery, and according to the Bible it destroys your soul.
Lust is an enemy that’s to kill you. We need to start treating it like an enemy, instead of welcoming it into our home like a friend.
Lust wants to destroy your marriage, destroy your family, destroy your walk with the Lord, and ultimately destroy your soul.
Stop believing the lie that lust is harmless, and accept the truth that lust is trying to destroy your life and hurt the people you love.
#2 LIE – Everyone does it, so it’s not that bad
I know it’s an overstatement to say that everyone does it. However, it does seem that the majority of people do participate in sexual sin. But is truth established by the majority, or by the Word of God? Does morality change based on majority vote? Can wrong become right if enough people do it?
Remember, the wide road leads to destruction and many take that road. So, if “everyone does it”, we should probably look for the other path that few are taking, because the narrow road leads to life.
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
– Matthew 7:13–14 NKJV
There was something I wanted to do when I was a child, and I remember telling my dad, “everyone is doing it”, and he responded by saying, “if everyone jumped off a cliff would you do it too?”
That’s how we need to think about all sin, but especially this one in particular, because it’s so dangerous and destructive.
Close your eyes and picture thousands of men lining up to jump off a cliff to their death. Now, when your flesh tries to lie to you, think of that picture. The wide road leads to destruction and many go in by it.
If you want to do what everyone else is doing, you will suffer their fate, but if you want to enter the kingdom of God, you have to take the narrow road that few find.
#3 LIE – I’m the victim, it’s someone else’s fault
Talk about living with a defeated mindset. We live in a world where everyone wants to play the victim. Everyone is looking for someone else to blame for their situation.
If you want to stop losing this battle, you have to stop being defeated, and stop playing the victim. You need to take responsibility for your own actions and stop trying to pass the blame onto someone else.
We see this lie in the beginning. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. Everyone wanted to pass the blame to someone else. No one wanted to take responsibility for their actions.
However, God placed the responsibility on each one by punishing them each individually for their involvement. By blaming Eve, Adam was not exempt from punishment, and by blaming the serpent, Eve was not exempt from punishment. They were each responsible for their own actions, and they were punished accordingly.
When we sin, we are the one who bears the responsibility for that choice. We can’t blame anyone else for our actions or desires.
In fact, the Bible explains that it’s your own evil desires that entice you to sin. So, you can’t blame anyone else.
“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”
– James 1:13–14 NKJV
We are all accountable for our own actions. You will not be held responsible for the sins of another man, and no one else will be held responsible for your sins. We will each give account for ourselves on the day of judgment.
“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”
– Ezekiel 18:20 NKJV
This means it’s all on you. Your righteousness or your wickedness, either way, you will be the one accountable for your choices. You can’t blame anyone else. You made the choice to sin, and you will face the consequences of that choice. The Bible says that we will all be judged for our actions, both good and bad.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:10 NKJV
So, stop blaming other people for your bad choices. When you choose to look at porn, you are the one making that choice, and when you stand before God on Judgment Day, you will have no one to blame but yourself.
Stop believing the lie that you are the victim, and take responsibility for your own actions and repent.
#4 LIE – The devil made me do it
While it’s true that the devil can tempt us, it’s a lie to say “he made me do it”. The devil can’t make you do anything, but you can choose to obey the devil.
So, when you say the devil made you do it, you are actually saying, “I choose to obey the Devil instead of God when it comes to this sin”.
Listen to what Yeshua said about those who do what the Devil wants them to do.
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
– John 8:44 NKJV
You are a son of the devil if you do the things the devil wants you to do. The Bible also says whoever sins is of the devil.
“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
– 1 John 3:8 NKJV
When someone says, “the devil made me do it”, I am reminded of Judas. The Bible says the devil prompted Judas to betray Yeshua.
“And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,”
– John 13:2 NKJV
You could make the argument that the devil made Judas betray Yeshua. The Bible even says the devil put it into his heart, but when the betrayal took place, Yeshua put the responsibility on Judas, not the devil.
“But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
– Luke 22:48 NKJV
And Yeshua also referred to Judas as the “son of perdition”, indicating that his fate was eternal condemnation.
“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”
– John 17:12 NKJV
Judas was one of Yeshua’s disciples, but when he listened to the devil and betrayed Yeshua, he became the son of perdition.
The devil is definitely an enemy we need to be on guard against, and the Bible tells us that he wants to devour us like a lion. So, do we really want to say, “the devil made me do it”?
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
– 1 Peter 5:8 NKJV
We need to be prepared and vigilant to do whatever it takes to resist the devil, because when he tempts us to sin, it’s because he wants to destroy us.
The Bible gives us two things we must do when we are tempted.
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
– James 4:7 NKJV
The first thing is to submit to God, and the second is resist the devil. To submit to God means that we humble ourselves before God and obey Him. The next step is to resist the devil, but we won’t have any success in resisting the devil if we don’t first submit to God.
Why does the devil flee? Because we’ve already submitted ourselves to God. It is only by submitting to God’s authority that we can actually resist the devil.
The truth is, the devil can tempt you, but he can’t force you to sin.
#5 LIE – There are no consequences for this sin
This is one of the most slippery slopes when dealing with sin, because it’s deception compounds and builds on itself. First, it makes you think you can get away with sin because you haven’t felt any consequences. Next it makes you think you are exempt from consequences altogether. Then it makes you believe your sin is not a big deal, and finally, it makes you believe you will never get caught.
So, what truth do we need to understand if we want to counter this lie? The Bible says you will be caught by your lust.
“The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the unfaithful will be caught by their lust.”
– Proverbs 11:6 NKJV
There are always consequences to your actions, even if you don’t realize them yet.
You might not have been caught, but there are still consequences.
Sexual sin distances us from God and from other people. Every time we sin sexually, we are damaging our relationships with God and our family.
Sexual sin warps your mind, numbs your conscience, and steals the joy from every aspect of your life. It causes you to become more and more perverse and corrupt in your thinking, and also leads to other sins, such as lying.
We lie because we don’t want to get caught. When we do this, we are protecting our sin. We are trying to avoid getting caught and the negative consequences we might face.
The fact that you lie to hide your sin is an acknowledgment that you understand there are negative consequences for your choices.
The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
– Romans 6:23 NKJV
You might not have received your wages yet, but keep on sinning and you will. No one will go unpunished.
“Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; But the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.”
– Proverbs 11:21 NKJV
The lie says there are no consequences for your sin, but the truth is you will face judgment for your sins.
#6 LIE – This sin is too difficult to overcome
This lie is an attack on God’s character, because you are saying God is not faithful to deliver you. You’re also saying that God is allowing you to be tempted beyond what you can endure, and on top of that, you are saying that God has not given you a way out. All of these lies are addressed in a single verse.
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
– 1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV
You need to stop believing this lie and let the truth of Scripture set you free.
Stop believing in a false god who is unable to save you, and start believing the truth of Scripture that God is able to save to the uttermost.
No sin is too big or too difficult for God to overcome, but we make it seem impossible when we lie to ourselves. You have to believe that God is greater than your sin if you want to find freedom.
“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
– 1 John 4:4 NKJV
God is greater than Satan, and God is greater than your sin.
When we are led by God, submit to God, follow God, and believe the Word of God we will find freedom from every sin, including sexual sin, because it’s by faith that we overcome the world.
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
– 1 John 5:4 NKJV
Stop believing the lie that you can’t be free from this sin, and believe the truth of God’s Word that you have freedom through Christ.
#7 LIE – I can do this by myself on my own strength
Some people are tempted to think they have the willpower or strength to conquer sin on their own strength. This is a lie because you think you can save yourself from sin.
But, the truth is, no one can save you from sin but God alone. You can’t save yourself. There is only one savior, and it’s not you.
“I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior.”
– Isaiah 43:11 NKJV
Sin is a prison, and only someone with a key can unlock the door… and you don’t have the key. Yeshua is the only one with the keys to set you free.
“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”
– Revelation 1:18 NKJV
Yeshua is the only one who can set you free from this prison of sin and death. You can’t defeat sin on your own strength. You have to let the LORD be your strength and your salvation.
“The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.”
– Psalm 118:14 NKJV
This requires us to admit that we are weak and unable to save ourselves. We need to humble ourselves and cry out to God for help.
“Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.”
– Psalm 6:2 NKJV
The Bible says that God shows grace to the humble, and that his grace and strength are shown to be perfect when we admit our weakness and need for Him.
“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
– 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NKJV
The truth is, you can’t defeat lust on your own strength. You have to submit to God and do what He says, let Him be your strength, and let His grace be sufficient for your weakness.
#8 LIE – Why hasn’t God set me free from this yet?
This question is actually based in a lie that God hasn’t given me what I need to be free. This lie implies that God is withholding something from you that you need in order to be set free from this sin.
However, the Truth is that God has given us everything we need to live a godly life.
“as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,”
– 2 Peter 1:3 NKJV
This means we have already been given everything we need to live a godly life. So, if you haven’t been set free from sexual sin, that means it’s your fault, not God’s.
Yeshua died for your sins. He took your lust and nailed it to the cross, but we continue to pick up that sin and carry it around.
You were set free from porn when Yeshua died on the cross, but for some reason you aren’t walking in that freedom.
Remember when Israel was set free from bondage in Egypt, and they began saying how they desired to return to Egypt because the food was so good?
We do the same thing with our sins.
God has set us free from that bondage, but we don’t see it as bondage, we see it as tasty food and we want to go back to it. So, the issue is that we keep returning to our old sinful ways after being set free from that bondage.
So, the real question is why? Why do we put ourselves back in bondage to sin? When we return to our old sinful ways, we are making ourselves slaves to sin once again.
“Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”
– John 8:34 NKJV
We have been set free from sin by the death and resurrection of Yeshua. So, why do we keep sinning? It’s because we believe the lies.
The lie says that you have not been set free from sin yet, but the truth is that Yeshua completed the work of salvation on the cross.
But we keep on believing the lies and we continue serving sin as a slave. The truth is, we are willingly choosing to submit ourselves to sin once again.
“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
– Romans 6:16 NKJV
We have a choice, either we obey sin, or we obey God. We can submit to sin, or we can submit to God.
When we submit to sin, we are making ourselves slaves to sin, but when we submit to God, we become free from sin and are slaves to righteousness.
“But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
– Romans 6:17–18 NKJV
You only find freedom from sin when you submit yourself to God.
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”
– Romans 6:12 NKJV
#9 LIE – I can be a man of God and remain in this sin
This is an extremely dangerous lie because it seeks to justify your hypocrisy.
Consider the fact that Yeshua rebuked the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. They were religious men and they claimed to be children of God, but Yeshua said they were sons of the devil.
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
– John 8:44 NKJV
The Bible defines two types of people, those who belong to God and those who belong to the devil. You are either a child of God, or you are a child of the devil.
Now, listen to how these two groups are defined.
“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.”
– 1 John 3:4–10 NKJV
Those who practice sin are children of the devil, but those who practice righteousness are children of God.
What does it mean to practice something? Practice is defined in a few different ways. First, it’s “the application of an idea, as opposed to simply a theory.”
Second, it’s “the customary, habitual, or expected procedure of doing something.” Third, it means “to perform something repeatedly or regularly to maintain ones proficiency.” And Fourth, it means “to carry out an activity regularly.”
So, with that definition in mind, are you someone who practices sin or righteousness? Are you repeating the same sin over and over? If so, you’re practicing that sin.
Remember that old saying, “practice makes perfect”? Have you ever considered that the reason you are so good at sin is because you practice it so much?
We need to stop practicing sin and start practicing righteousness if we want to live a righteous life.
The lie says you can be a man of God and continue practicing sin, but the truth is, if you’re practicing sin, you are not a man of God.
#10 LIE – I’m still saved even though I do this sin
This lie is extremely dangerous because it convinces you that you are saved when you’re not.
Think about the absurdity of this claim. You’re saying, “I have been saved from sin, but I can continue to sin.” Sin is the thing that makes us unsaved. Sin is the thing that leads to death. Sin is the thing Yeshua came to set us free from.
So, it’s a literal impossibility for you to say, “I’m no longer a slave to sin, but I’m still a slave to sin.” You can’t be free from sin and still be a slave to sin. That doesn’t even make sense.
The Bible says you can’t serve two masters.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
– Matthew 6:24 NKJV
We addressed similar things with a few of the other lies, so I don’t want to repeat myself here, but the Bible says if you sin, you are a slave to sin.
How can you be a slave to sin and claim to be free?
When you tell yourself this lie, you are fooling yourself into thinking you can still enter the Kingdom of God even if you continue practicing a life of sin.
However, the Bible says that Sodom and Gomorrah are given as an example of what happens to those who give themselves over to sexual immorality.
“as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
– Jude 7 NKJV
This verse should terrify anyone who commits sexual sin. If we’re giving ourselves over to sexual immorality, we should expect to face eternal fire.
But instead, we lie to ourselves and convince ourselves that we are somehow different, that we won’t face God’s judgment.
We seem to think we have a “sin and get away with it badge”.
The problem is, the Bible says we should expect judgment if we sin willfully after receiving the saving knowledge of Yeshua.
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”
– Hebrews 10:26–27 NKJV
Again, this verse should terrify us all.
We claim to be followers of Yeshua. We claim to be saved. And we’ve convinced ourselves that we will be in the Kingdom of God when Yeshua returns.
Yet we continue to walk in sexual sin.
This is a lie that will keep us out of the Kingdom.
The Bible says that no sexually immoral person has any place in the Kingdom of God.
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
– Galatians 5:19–21 NKJV
I want to emphasize those last words again.
“those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God”
Those who practice adultery will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Remember that lust is the same as adultery.
Those who practice fornication will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The word fornication is pornea and it’s where we get the word Pornography.
Those who practice lewdness will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Lewdness is sexual conduct that is indecent or offensive.
In other words, “those who practice any form of sexual immorality will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Do you still believe the lie that you can practice sexual sin and still be saved?
Believe the truth of God’s Word, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God, and repent so that you can be saved.
