Killing Forbidden Sexual Desires — Tim Conway

The Spirit’s Power to Put Sin to Death

We have to, by the Spirit, put to death these things. I guarantee you this, the Spirit of God has power to kill every single sexual, illicit sexual desire you have, undoubtedly. By the power of the Spirit, you will overcome when that power is unleashed.

Tapping Into the Spirit’s Power

The question of the ages is how do you get it? How do you tap it? I mean, you know, if I have to move a heavy desk and I'm asking one of you guys to help, hey, come help me move this desk. I know where you are, I can ask you, hey, come over and lend me a hand here.

You apply yourself and this thing moves pretty easy. Maybe something I couldn't have moved on my own, you help me move it. I mean, the reality here is I don't have any power on my own. I am only resting on the Spirit for any ability to have success in conquering here.

But how do I tap it? You see, that's the great question. We all understand it takes desire-killing power and desire-giving power. I need the wrong desires killed and I need the right desires made alive.

Loving What Is Right and Hating What Is Evil

If I would only come to love what I need to love and hate what I need to hate, it would be easy, right? I mean, you know, if some attractive person of the opposite sex walks by, and I just, you know what?

It's like sparks on wet kindling. It's not going anywhere. Why? Because my desires for my wife, my love for my wife, but more than that, my love for Christ is that much stronger that, well, yeah, I'm not blind, I can see she's attractive.

It's not like you look at that and say, like Charles Leiter said before, you don't look at it and say, yuck. But I'm not going there because there's too many other desires in my life in another direction than to go in that direction.

Does it have any pull? Well, yeah. And obviously, if I entertained it, the pull could become stronger. But right at that moment, I'm not looking that way. Like Job, my eyes aren't going over there because there are enough desires leading me this way.

Resisting Sexual Immorality and Homosexual Desires

But how do I tap the Spirit's power so that the desires are there? So that I don't fall back to sexual immoral practices or homosexual desires. How do I not fall? How do I get it? How do I get it so that when the temptations come, they just don't have the pull like they used to when I'd fall into it all the time?

How? That's the question of the ages, tapping the power of the Spirit. Listen, the Spirit is a person. He's real, He abides with and is in the Christian. All of His power is there. It's just, how do I get Him to give it to me?

I mean, you all understand the Spirit of God has sufficient power to make us perfect on the spot. But there's a way that God is pleased to be glorified to have us tap that power. And of course, if you can just think right off, I mean, the Spirit of God came into this world to glorify Christ.

The Supply of the Spirit Comes Through Faith

And that might be really helpful to how we tap this. Look, the truth is, I think it's what about Galatians 3 verse 5? It says plainly, where the supply of the Spirit comes. And what is that terminology?

The supply of the Spirit. What does that mean? The supply of the Spirit. Well, the supply of the power of the Spirit. And it comes how? What's that? By the hearing of faith. That's exactly what it says.

Now think about this. The Spirit of God came to glorify Christ. The way we get the supply of the Spirit is by faith in Christ. Now look, not just do you get the Spirit in the first place, that was said earlier.

I mean, you can read Galatians 3, 1 through 5. It's not just how you receive the Spirit, but how you get the supply of the Spirit is exactly the same way. You see, this is why Scripture, this is why Paul is so careful to point out, living the Christian life is done the same way you first come to Christ the first time.

It's by faith. But look, don't get lost in that word, faith. What is faith? Faith is seeing Christ and trusting what He is. The way He lived, the way He walked, they're living and walking. It's far more evident now.

Why Rules and Fences Cannot Defeat Sin

They're getting mastery over sexual temptation. Why? And I'll guarantee this, it didn't happen by just osmosis. It didn't just happen because they grit their teeth or by a list of rules. See, that's one of the mistakes too.

Yes, there's a place for fences, but you get to the place where you think the fences are going to do it, you're in trouble. You set up fences without spending quality time with Christ, it's not going to work.

You'll trample those fences down because your desires will take you over the top of them. You've got to go, look, this is how it is. The Spirit and by Him you put to death these deeds of the body. You have to walk in the Spirit, in His power.

Beholding Christ by Faith

His power, He, His supply, it is supplied by faith in Christ. It's trusting Him, looking to Him, beholding Him. And what happens is the Spirit just gets excited when Christ gets glorified, and honored, and worshipped, and trusted.

And the Spirit says, I like that, I'm pouring out my power here. And that's how it happens. It's going to happen in connection with Christ all the time. And if you try any other way, that's what faith is.

You don't want to miss that. Faith is not this ambiguous thing that you can't put any definition to. It constantly has to be in our minds this idea of looking away from my own efforts, and my own help, and my own self, and seeing and beholding a beauty in Christ.

And beholding a help in Christ. And beholding the cross of Christ. Beholding that in that cross was unleashed power to save me from the power of my sin. Not just the guilt of it, but the power, it's in the cross.

And it's not just that it happened, and it automatically comes to me. It comes to me as I behold it. As I gaze. That's what faith is all about. Faith is looking somewhere. Not at yourself, it's looking at Christ.

And if you try any other way to fight this battle, you'll miserably fail.

For further study on this topic, please listen to the audiobook, Delivered by Desire, The Encouraging Truth about Christians and Sexual Purity, written by Daryl Wingard. This excerpt was taken from a 2013 study entitled, How to Fight Against Lust and Sexual Sin, by Tim Conway.