The Sin of Lust
1 John 2:16 Lust is a very tempting sin. God made us with a fleshly, bodily nature, and with physical needs that feel wonderful when they are satisfied.
Background art: Lust (Luxuria) from The Seven Deadly Sins, print, Pieter van der Heyden, after Pieter Bruegel the Elder. From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art via Wikimedia Commons.
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”
1 John 2:16 NASB1995
Next on our list of the Seven Deadly Sins is lust. The word lust (or lechery) comes from the Latin “luxuria”, meaning carnal. In modern dictionaries, it is defined as an intense, uncontrolled, or illicit sexual desire or appetite.
In itself, the desire is not usually dangerous, but it can lead to fornication (voluntary sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons or two persons not married to each other), adultery (voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse), rape, bestiality, addiction to pornography, and other sinful and sexual acts.
Lust is also described as an intense desire or appetite for money or power. In today’s verse from 1 John 2, there are three types of lust described — lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. All three want to draw our flesh away from all that is godly and good, and into what is sinful and worldly. The last of these three — the boastful pride of life — means to live for superiority over others through outward appearances, even if those appearances are deceptive.
From the Enduring Word commentary on 1 John 2:16, we see one way that the modern world tries to turn us away from God - advertising:
To get an idea of how the world works, think of the advertising commercials you most commonly remember. They probably make a powerful appeal to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or to the pride of life. Many successful ads appeal to all three.
Even though we’re talking about modern advertising here, the effect of lust on humans is nothing new. Way back in Genesis 3:6 we see that these three varieties of lust are at work on Eve. Once again from Enduring Word:
i. Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took of the forbidden fruit when she saw that the tree was good for food. She thought about how good the fruit would taste, how it would satisfy her flesh. She went after the lust of the flesh.
ii. Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took of the forbidden fruit when she saw that the fruit was pleasant to the eyes. She saw how pretty and desirable it was, and it pleased her artistic sense. She went after the lust of the eyes.
iii. Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took off the forbidden fruit when she believed that it was desirable to make one wise. How smart the fruit would make her! How her husband would admire her! She went after the pride of life.
Lust is a very tempting sin. God made us with a fleshly, bodily nature, and with physical needs that feel wonderful when they are satisfied. But God is not trying to influence us through the lust of the flesh or the eyes. God created man with needs to be wanted and to accomplish things, but He isn’t trying to influence us through the pride of life.
It’s the world that is enticing us, and we cannot always turn away from sin as hard as we may try. With God’s grace available to us, if we stumble in the sin of lust, we must confess and repent of that sin, and pray for the forgiveness that Jesus bought for us with His precious blood.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Lord, bless me with the fruits of the spirit and with self-control, keeping my mind, eyes, body, and thoughts from the various forms of lust. Make any lustful thoughts as displeasing to me as they are to You. From today on, may the power of lust and fleshly desires be put to death, and may Your will and Your Word live in me and shine from me. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.