The Four Letter Word

If you could sum up in one word what it is that is stopping most of this world from coming to Christ, what would that word be? Perhaps you would say “unbelief,” or “rebellion” or “sin.” True, but I believe that it is “lust” that is at the forefront of sin. The Bible says that the corruption we see in the world has its roots in lust (see 2 Peter 1:14). It is the burning and shining light for Hollywood, Soap Operas, the Internet, magazine covers, TV programs, car advertising, the sale of clothes and popular music and contemporary culture. In 2 Peter 3:3 we are told that the reason men mock God is because they love their lust. So, what would make any sane man turn from lust’s powerful pleasure? Two things: One is that we can never separate lust from death. If we embrace lust, we embrace death. A realization of that eternal truth should cause common sense to kick in, in the human brain. No sane man wants to embrace death and on top of that, eternal damnation. The second reason a man walks away from the pleasures of lust is the knowledge of what it cost the Savior for our forgiveness. If my father sold everything he had to raise money to pay a fine for me to get out of prison, what sort of wretch would I be to go straight back into crime, because I enjoyed it? The Prodigal son made a sensible choice. The Bible says that he “came to himself.” When is comes down to it, that’s the point to which we are trying to bring the lost. We want them to exercise common sense (now there’s an oxymoron). All we are saying, is, “Come to your senses and call on the Name of the Lord. He will not only change your unclean desires, but He will also save you from death and Hell.” When the power of the Gospel changes a sinful and lust-loving heart, no amount of atheistic whining or evolutionary silliness comes close to making a Christian even slightly doubt the reality of God.