“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”  (1 Corinthians 6)

 

We will preface this article by saying, very clearly, the Christ-ian;s hope is to live a personally holy life. The Christ-ian should strive, with the Spirit’s strength, to live a less and less sinful life.  It has been said that the Christ-ian will not be sinless in this stage of our eternal life, but the Christ-ian will sin less. One of the purposes of salvation is to bring the child of God into a Christ-likeness through the process of progressive holiness. There is a three (3) fold holiness or sanctification.

The Christ-ian is sanctified or made holy in Position, in Principle, and in Practice. When one is saved one is positionally sanctified as in being set apart and made holy unto God. One adopts principle of holiness as their worldview will be changing, their principles have been sanctified, they look upon life from a point of desiring holiness. The Christ-ian is also seeking to live a life of holiness in their everyday practices. The Christ-ian has been predestinated to become Christ-like and that begins at the point of salvation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In fact, that is the Holy Spirit’s main focus, leading us into a greater holiness.

Having made the above points, let us answer the snide question that many of us have been asked, “So you’re telling me that I can be saved and then go out and kill somebody.” The normal answer is, “Well, if you’re truly saved you won’t want to kill anybody.” While that is a true statement, it does not answer the question.  So If I am saved, can I kill someone and still be saved? The answer is Yes, Yes, Yes. That is one of the promises of Salvation. However, know that God will certainly chasten the Christ-ian person that kills. Know this also, There is a sin unto death, so said John. We know not what that sin is but it stands to reason God is saying if you go to far, He will step in and take you home.

Having said all of that, I want to say, Drug addiction, addiction to pain medicines will not cause one to lose one’s salvation, nor does it speak to or against one’s character or one’s faith or one’s love for God. Paul said it best, all things are lawful to us, all things, all sins, all vices, (lawful, in terms of not being under the penalty of law, Reader, either He paid it all or He didn’t) however, he also says that these things are not expedient unto us and one should not be brought under the control of anything. In other words, being controlled by an outside agent is not expedient to our growth in holiness, sanctification, or Christ-likeness.

I know how easy it is to fall into an addiction to pain killers. I have had life changing health issues and pain medicine was part of dealing with the chronic and acute nature of the health issue. Pain medicine, if needed is a real help, however that help can become a horrible hinderance real quick, this I know and we are not afraid to say so. It is a physiological issue and not a spiritual or character issue. Addiction does not speak to one’s faith, character, or one’s love for God and it certainly does not change His love for the addicted.

For one to judge God’s servant if s/he falls into an addiction while trying to manage pain or after a medical procedure is a great hurt to the person suffering. This judgmental and ignorant point of view speaks to the one judging and it does not speak well. When looking at addiction, one must know that it takes two (2) forms. The two (2) forms of addiction is physiological and the other if mental or emotional.

The physical addiction is involuntary. The body becomes use to the drug and when the drug is taken away the body goes into a temper tantrum and it is called withdrawal. This has nothing to do with character or the goodness of the one that is suffering the withdrawal. The other type of addiction which is a real problem is the mental addiction. The mind says, “I want,”  “I want,”  “I want,”  “I need,”  “I need,”  “I need,”  “NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! “I’m not going to let you think of anything else except, “I want,”  “I need.”

Every thought of the addict has a parasitic drag embedded with it, as Paul said, it is a stronghold in the imagination, one cannot have a thought without the “I need” and the “I want” being present, this principle can be found in Romans chapter seven (7).  The addict might think about lunch but the thought of I need and I want is present. The Christ-ian addict…Yes!, the Christ-ian addict sits in church and tries to focus on the message and the whole time I want and I need is present and nagging, shouting and screaming.  This is mental addiction and this can be fought. The physiological withdrawals are all involuntary and has a life of it’s own.

To give one an understanding of addiction one could use an analogy.  Addiction to pain medicine is just short of demonic possession.  The name of this demon is, IwantIneed. This demon/addiction effects the mind, the body, the will, the emotions, it is like human depravity, addiction effects a person on all levels of one’s person. One becomes a servant to this demon addiction. Everything and I mean everything is about the demon.

My health issues and my addictive personality type was a perfect storm. My body became addicted to the drugs in the physiological, one cannot help that, save not ingesting the demon. The demon addiction will happen in the physiological senses of the body, it’s involuntary. The real threat is the mental addiction to the demon, IwantIneed. This happened to me. I was in a fog for seven (7) years. I thought it was under control but that’s the fiery dart, one is in a fog but one does not know one is in a fog as the fog seems natural or ordinary. The addiction is a subjective demon.

One knows not how deep one is in a fog until one comes through and out of the fog. When one comes out of the fog, one realizes they have been a different person…a person possessed by the demon addiction IwantIneed. There are varied and different ways to get out of this possession. Rehab is a means, if one can go through with it. The other is to simply stop. To simply stop is not simple, however. Some doctors say that a person cannot help themself out of the addiction. I can see why they would say that. To stop is one of the most difficult things one will ever do.

One could quote our Lord on this subject, “With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” The context of His Words was to the salvation of man, as no man can save himself, it is impossible, but with God salvation is possible. Appropriating His Words to our topic would be like: to stop using pain medicine all by one’s self is impossible (if it is), but with God, gaining a control (a control that comes from Him) is possible.

I laid in my bed, under the merciful Hand of God for a week, persevering through the withdrawal,  it was horrible, I was shaking, my skin was crawling, my body was fighting my decision to stop being controlled by the mental addiction/demon, IwantIneed. The body reacts with vomitting and screaming through the shaking and skin crawling. I laid in sweat, vomitting and shaking, crying and praying and the demon, IwantIneed, was talking to me, tempting me to give in and stop hurting, But the Lord stood with me and He led me through the withdrawal, through my body attacking me, through my mind wanting to give in, and the “exorcising” of the addiction/demon IwantIneed.

The corrupting manner of cancer is analogous to sin as sin is corrupting and defiling to the whole of the person, addiction is analogous to demon possession, the head spin and vomitting, in a very literal and spiritual sense as one is completely under the control of IwantIneed.

The Only Power and Control we would want to be under is the Merciful Hand of God. God saved me from a great fall into a lost life.

If you, Reader, have an addiction to something, there is hope, there is always hope.