Addicted

From the Epistle of St James, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” This sounds like the formula for addiction. St Paul’s struggle similarly in his letter to the Romans chapter 7:

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.

How can this be read in modern terms except in the light of what we know about addiction? If any Christian reads this passage and does not exclaim, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” they simply aren’t paying attention.

This is the real reason why the scriptures and all the saints are so adamant about keeping a spotless life. It is not merely to equate to a law (for we are no longer under the law of sin and death), but because every sin is a toxic seed that can destroy our life. It has within it the power to corrupt and in our members its corruption will be more powerful than our goodwill.

We tend to be concerned with whether or not we will be in heaven or hell, as if no other consideration mattered. All the while we squander the gifts of God, burying our head in our bowls of pottage, until we are too weak to remove them.

— David Dickens

from a comment on ‘Superman,’ at Nothing Hypothetical