This is the tenth lesson in a series examining the possibility that sin can be viewed as an addiction. If this is a biblically sound idea, it can be useful in gaining freedom from addictive behavior.

At this point, we are looking at the following resources: Lawrence J. Crabb, Inside out, Rev. & updated, 10th anniversary ed. (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1998); Gerald G. May, M.D., Addiction and Grace (New York: HarperCollins, 1988); and Patrick T. McCormick, Sin as Addiction (New York: Paulist Press, 1989). Although Crabb does not embrace the addiction model of sin, his perspectives are similar to those who do.

In this brief lesson, we will discuss the requirement of abandoning pretense. Real change cannot occur apart from this.

… deep change comes about less because of what we try to do and how hard we try to do it, and more because of our willingness to face the realities of our own internal life. Personal integrity, a commitment to never pretend about anything, is prerequisite for change from the inside out (Crabb,187–188).

In the final analysis, what is necessary for change cannot be reduced to a formula:

Change from the inside out will always be … a work of God, and must therefore remain a mystery (Crabb, 190).

It is a process, not an event. And it is a process never completed on this earth.

In order to experience the change possible during this lifetime, we must abandon the vain insistence that “the real change heaven will bring (an end to all pain) be ours today” (Crabb, 205). It is a false gospel that declares that we can ever reach a place in this life where pain and suffering are banished. The genuineness of hope is rooted in the promise of a better world and a better life to come. Paul wrote, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable” (I Corinthians 15:19, NKJV).

The common core in every effort to change must be “a shift in direction away from dependence on one’s own resources for life to dependence on God” (Crabb, 211).

In our next lesson, we will consider Keith Miller’s proposed adaptation of the Twelve Step program developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Is it possible this could be helpful as we seek to cooperate with the grace of God?

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As we consider the similarities between Larry Crabb’s approach and the addiction model of sin, we examine the following resources: Larry Crabb, Inside Out (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1988); Gerald G. May, M.D., Addiction and Grace (New York: HarperCollins, 1988); and Patrick T. McCormick, Sin as Addiction (New York: Paulist Press, 1989). Although Crabb does not embrace the addiction model of sin, his perspectives are similar to those who do.

In this lesson, we will further develop the significance of the addiction model for recovery from sinful behaviors. As May puts it, “For the power of addiction to be overcome, human will must act in concert with divine will.”

When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is  indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (Luke 11:2-4, NKJV).

It is beyond our ability to force divine empowerment. But this does not mean our role is passive: “… we can pray for it, seek it actively, open our hands for it, and try our best to live it.”

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” . . . Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matthew 26:39, 42, NKJV).

We can confront our addictions as honestly as possible; we can claim responsibility for the choices we make, and we can turn to God.” (See Psalm 51.)

In the final analysis, the “only effective way of ending an addictive behavior is to stop it.”

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (I John 2:1, NKJV).

The Greek word hamartano, translated “you may … sin” is in the subjunctive mood. The subjunctive mood “normally presents the verbal action as being probable or intentional” (Michael S. Heiser and Vincent M. Setterholm, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology (Lexham Press, 2013).

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God (I John 3:8-9, NKJV).

The KJV translates these verses as follows:

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

This translation troubles some readers who think it means that those who commit a sin are of the devil and are thus not saved. In this view, it is impossible for a person who is born again to sin.

To interpret these verses in this way is to miss the subtleties of Greek grammar. The verb translated “committeth” by the KJV is a present active participle. The point is not that a person who commits an act of sin is devilish. It is that it is devilish to continually commit sin as the devil has from the beginning. Any other view would have John contradicting his previous words. (See I John 1:7-10; 2:1-2.)

Similarly, the translation “doth not commit sin” by the KJV does not easily reflect the present tense, active voice, and indicative mood of the Greek text. The idea here has to do with an ongoing, consistent life of sin. Such a life does not characterize those who are born again. A person who is born of God cannot practice sin as normative.

Even though the “only effective way of ending an addictive behavior is to stop it,” we cannot stop it short of divine intervention:

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25, NKJV).

Paul’s question was not “what,” but “Who.” Techniques or willpower cannot break the addiction of sin; it can be broken only by God’s grace. (See Romans 8:1-14.)

A specific kind of repentance is required for change: “To change from the inside out requires that we repent of our self-protective commitment.” Self-protection is counterproductive. Jesus said, “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Luke 17:33, NKJV). Although many of our relational strategies are intentionally designed to “maintain personal safety,” there is reason to believe that God is at work in our lives to bring us to the place of losing our life for His sake.

In Lesson 10, we will discuss the requirement of abandoning pretense. Real change cannot occur apart from this.

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In this lesson, we will examine the idolatrous nature of sin, the connection between addiction and deceit, and the significance of the addiction model for recovery from sinful behaviors.

We will do this in view of the parallels between Larry Crabb’s insights and those of Gerald G. May and Patrick McCormick. (See Larry Crabb, Inside Out [Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1988]; Gerald G. May, M.D., Addiction and Grace [New York: HarperCollins, 1988]; and Patrick T. McCormick, Sin as Addiction [New York: Paulist Press, 1989].) Although Crabb does not advance the addiction model of sin, his perspectives are similar to those who do embrace the addiction model.

The idolatrous nature of sin is seen by Crabb. “We can recognize our demanding dependence on people, our sinful insistence that others do for us what they cannot do (a form of idolatry). Idolatry is at the heart of addiction.

Crabb points out that the “deceitful character of our heart helps us believe that things are quite a bit better than they really are.” Deceit is one of the problems associated with addiction that is recognized by May and McCormick.

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit. “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings (Jeremiah 17:5-10, NKJV).

Though the addiction model is missing, the perspective brought by Crabb is quite similar to that of May and McCormick, and Crabb’s insights on “real change from the inside out” may be helpful in breaking the sin cycle.

The Significance of the Addiction Model for Recovery from Sinful Behaviors

In a word, the remedy for addiction is the grace of God. There must be more than “an intellectual attempt to align the will with grace.” This is not renewed willpower, but the “alignment of our will with God’s … at a heart level, through authentic choices of faith that are empowered by God.”

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13, NKJV).

In Lesson 9, we will look at the additional significance of the addiction model for recovery from sinful behaviors, the only effective way of ending an addictive behavior, and the specific kind of repentance required for change.

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