Your Body, Part 2
Regarding my previous post Your Body, Brady comments:
This has been the crux of the issue for me. My wife for years longed that God would “deliver” me. He did not. On a physical level, He left that too me. I had to choose not to type up that web site, look at that magazine, or masturbate. It wasn’t until I came to the place of disconnecting my desire (earthly) from my physical actions that I had any real success. While I am still on the journey of righteousness, now when Satan tempts me with look here or do that I rebuttal with, “Though that would feel good, it is not what I do.” That is, I do not do those physical acts any longer.
Brady makes good points. Passivity is not an option. Grace falls on us like rain, it’s true, but then we must live as those who have been “graced.”
The proper response to the mercy of God is worship; offering our bodies.
It is very much an identity issue for us as men. Our understanding of who we are needs to be grounded in what it means to be Imagebearers of God, together with the truth that — for those of us who identify with Jesus — we are alive to God and dead to sin.
That is not to say it is impossible for us to sin. Rather, it is to say that sin is incongruous with who we are. This is why Paul asks in Romans 6 how can we live in sin any longer now that we are united with Christ?
Having said that, i will also mention that “deliverance” as Brady describes it, does actually happen. And it happens in a variety of ways. i want to be careful to note that i was not claiming otherwise.
Part of bearing God’s image means that we are designed to be active participants in life, and especially in our health: be that physical, spiritual or emotional.
The transformation i underwent from being a pornography addict to not being one did not depend on my strength, talent, expertise or anything else generated by me. It was the power of God at work. But i was an active participant.
The pattern of scripture from beginning to end is one of Call and Response. God moves toward his people (the Call) and then looks for a response. So if there is no response from us, we are not changed.
The question i posed in the last post: What are you willing to do about your problem of pornography, is not to suggest it’s all on you to be free. That’s performance, not grace, and it’s fleshly too — which means it’s destined for failure.
i labored under that for many years; no wonder i only got worse.
Rather, there is a unique, mysterious and holy blend of God’s mercy and might with our response that achieves something profound: a new creation; a return to true identity in Him.
Intentional Warriors 
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