I read with interest the quotes you had gathered about repentance, addiction, and other subjects to help you grow. They are really good quotes.
I see one glaring problem with your quotes. First, read Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation [deliverance, rescue, or setting free] for everyone who believes…” The glaring omission from your quotes is Jesus Christ. He should be the star on every page of your quotes. V. 16 says so.
The good news of Christ sets you free from your addiction. Your quotes make it all about you and your efforts to be holy. They are philosophical thoughts that may not bring you to the daily saving faith in Jesus that makes us free and keeps us free. The book of Romans opens up that good news. You can’t by reason and logic and will-power get to this truth. Only through faith in Christ is it possible to get the freedom you crave.
Paul learned this truth by revelation from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 1:12). Never, ever seek deliverance from an addiction apart from Jesus Christ. He is the long-sought Deliverer the Jews have desired, and He came to destroy the power of sin (“that the body of sin might be done away with”–Romans 6:6).
I recommend you study the book of Romans once a year as well as continuing through the Bible as usual. When the truth breaks through, you will know it. “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of death? I thank God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25). See how it broke through to Paul? Deliverance was not through the Jewish laws. Not through religion. Not through self-will and self-discipline. Through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Romans methodically takes us on a journey away from self-effort to faith in Christ alone. It shows us what Paul the legalist discovered through the light the Holy Spirit revealed to him. With Romans, Paul wrote down how he walked out of his prison cell of sin and shame. He expects the Holy Spirit to impress its truths on the believer. Read it carefully. It is a thousand times better than any book you can read or quote from if you want to be free from sinful addictions.
No doubt about it–the quotes you noted all contain important truths. But they are missing the Truth Himself. There’s no deliverance apart from the good news of Christ. Square those truths with Romans, if you can.
Paul sought righteousness through the law and was shocked to discover that the righteous shall live by faith, not the law (Romans 1:17). Not by trying harder. Paul certainly applied self-discipline (1 Cor. 9:27). But it wasn’t a desperate attempt to control his bodily urges by self-effort. He knew the good news of Christ that set him free, so he applied a surrendered faith in Christ regarding his situation, and that cut down his urges. Self-discipline apart from Christ is worthless. Read Colossians 2:23 in different versions. Self-discipline is of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. That is, self-discipline can’t break the underlying power of sin at the core.
The body is not the problem. It’s the sin embedded in every faculty of the body. The flesh will dominate your mind and drive you, or the Spirit will lead you by faith (Galatians 5:16-18). If you are led by the Spirit, you already have victory over the flesh monster. If you are walking by faith daily, hourly, you have already turned away from considering your flesh, for faith looks to Christ alone for life. It ceases from dependence on the flesh to let the Lord lead. This simple faith is the “power of God for salvation by faith.” The Scriptures can awaken faith and victory morning by morning.
Keep doing what you are doing, but let Romans be your main textbook. Keep yourself in the text of truth, and give opportunity for the Spirit to impress the good news on your heart and mind. Paul prayed this with his readers. See Colossians 1:9-11. He prayed this because we need the illumination of the Spirit to get the understanding.
First Cor. 2:6-16 is the definitive text that tells us God must reveal Himself to us if we are to know Him and be delivered. In all your seeking, seek how to believe Jesus in the way that brings salvation. Seek Christ in all the Scriptures.
I hope these clues help you find the deliverance you seek. Don’t be so disheartened as to think that Jesus found something in you that He cannot heal. Far from it! Faith in Him moment by moment is the path of deliverance you seek.
You said that you made a vow to God that you won’t do it again. Your vow can’t save you. Your sincere belief that you won’t offend can’t and won’t save you. In both cases, your faith is pointed at your self-confidence and what you think, and not set on Christ. Your vow will only work when you find Jesus actually saving you from your sins like I did. But at that point, no vow needs to be made. Your focus is on Christ, and you rest on Him, expecting all from your Shepherd. No vows needed. Just rest, which is ceasing from your works of the flesh to rest on His finished work (Hebrews 4:9-10).
You said that you have faith in your salvation through Jesus Christ. No—you have salvation through faith in Christ day by day. That’s the focus of Romans 1:16. Not in what you think you received long ago, but in Who you know. Not in what you think you received at 13 years old, but what you have because of who Christ is to you now. Not in what you have done for Him, but what He did for you.
You are thinking in philosophical concepts instead of relationship dynamics—of who Jesus is to you. Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ Himself as He reveals Himself to you through the Word (1 Cor. 2:9-16).
Others in your predicament will advise you to incorporate tricks and techniques, but remember Paul’s exultant cry, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ!” Will those techniques and tricks bring this cry to your lips? Or will they make you dependent on your self-efforts? If the latter, your cry then would be, “I can do this!” In that case, who gets the credit for deliverance? Who gets the glory?
See 2 Cor. 3:18. There in the Word, as He reveals Himself to us, we’ll see who we are in Christ and we will be more like Him. We are transformed into His image of liberty by pursuing Him, not by trying various practices to get rid of sin. As we see the glory of Christ in the Scriptures, we’ll find more and more reasons to protect that treasure and we’ll stand against anything in us that would tarnish it.
That’s how we’ll exclaim with Paul, “I thank God–through Jesus Christ!” His glory will be way more favorable than any sin will be and it will help us stand against sin. That’s why Paul disciplined his body. He didn’t want to break the love relationship with the Lord. He wasn’t only fighting against sin but standing strong to preserve something. The Lord desires a relationship, not a religion. He wants to develop a heart of compassion and service, not a person preoccupied with religious practices.
I don’t say these things to rebuke you, but to “supply what is lacking in your faith” (1 Thess. 3:10). Please read and re-read, then write back with any questions you may have.
