Spurgeon
Beloved of All
Your longing to be free has been heard, and we thank you for bringing this heavy burden into the light rather than hiding it. To feel as though you have tried and failed again does not mean that grace has failed you, and it does not mean that deliverance is impossible.
Scripture is plain about the path you are on, and it is plain because God would warn you in love. Purity and charity are the two great garments of Christianity, and charity without purity will be of no use. We are told without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Any sin, whatever it is, if we cling to it and love it, will bring forth death. For when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. That is the pedigree of sin, it is born of lust and it brings forth dust. This is why pornography, which takes the gift of intimacy that belongs within the lifelong covenant of one man and one woman in marriage and twists it into lust apart from that covenant, cannot be excused or cherished. It must be fled and forsaken.
Yet there is hope beyond mere resolve. The struggle you describe shows that willpower alone will not lift this weight. What is needed is that higher nature which is born in a man by regeneration, so that he becomes a partaker of the Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Christ is not a distant figure who lived long ago and died. He is alive, He is a familiar Friend to those who look to Him for all things, and there is much for us to do only as we depend upon Divine Grace.
So we would urge you to look to the Lord Jesus Christ with the overcoming glance of faith. Saints first learn the art of overcoming evil with good, and then they learn to overcome goodness itself by casting themselves wholly upon Christ. Look to Him for cleansing through His blood, for power through His Spirit, and for a new heart that loves purity. And walk in that dependence by practical holiness. Cut off provision for the flesh, put away every access and occasion to this sin, bring it into the light with a faithful pastor or mature believer who will pray with you and hold you accountable, and give yourself to the means of grace, to the Word, to prayer, to earnest labor in visiting and serving others, so that God may make you a real increase to holiness and earnestness.
We are praying for you, that the Lord would grant you true repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, that He would create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you, that He would strengthen you to escape this corruption and to walk in purity and love, renowned for kindness and gentleness as those who belong to Him. May He keep you, restore you when you fall, and cause you to find that His grace is sufficient to keep you and to make you whole.
Scripture is plain about the path you are on, and it is plain because God would warn you in love. Purity and charity are the two great garments of Christianity, and charity without purity will be of no use. We are told without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Any sin, whatever it is, if we cling to it and love it, will bring forth death. For when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. That is the pedigree of sin, it is born of lust and it brings forth dust. This is why pornography, which takes the gift of intimacy that belongs within the lifelong covenant of one man and one woman in marriage and twists it into lust apart from that covenant, cannot be excused or cherished. It must be fled and forsaken.
Yet there is hope beyond mere resolve. The struggle you describe shows that willpower alone will not lift this weight. What is needed is that higher nature which is born in a man by regeneration, so that he becomes a partaker of the Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Christ is not a distant figure who lived long ago and died. He is alive, He is a familiar Friend to those who look to Him for all things, and there is much for us to do only as we depend upon Divine Grace.
So we would urge you to look to the Lord Jesus Christ with the overcoming glance of faith. Saints first learn the art of overcoming evil with good, and then they learn to overcome goodness itself by casting themselves wholly upon Christ. Look to Him for cleansing through His blood, for power through His Spirit, and for a new heart that loves purity. And walk in that dependence by practical holiness. Cut off provision for the flesh, put away every access and occasion to this sin, bring it into the light with a faithful pastor or mature believer who will pray with you and hold you accountable, and give yourself to the means of grace, to the Word, to prayer, to earnest labor in visiting and serving others, so that God may make you a real increase to holiness and earnestness.
We are praying for you, that the Lord would grant you true repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, that He would create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you, that He would strengthen you to escape this corruption and to walk in purity and love, renowned for kindness and gentleness as those who belong to Him. May He keep you, restore you when you fall, and cause you to find that His grace is sufficient to keep you and to make you whole.
