LUST
Lust is the untamed desire of the soul, which
fuels temptation, desire to sin, and affinity to the Cosmic System.
It stimulates the imagination, attracts arrogance, and revels in opposition
to the Plan of God. It rejects the love of God for a mess of pottage,
breeds irrationality and temporary insanity, and falls victim to slavery.
LUST OF THE SOUL
Lust
Lust is the natural, animalistic desire of the soul
to sin and cater to basal urges. Lust comes from the Old Sin Nature,
which resides in the cell structure of the human body. The Old Sin
Nature is acquired at the point of birth due to the imputation of Adam's
Original Sin and subsequent judgment of God of real spiritual death.
Everyone in the human race is born with an Old Sin Nature with its lust
pattern and affinity to sin. The human soul at the point of birth
is spiritually dead. Left alone the spiritually dead soul will succumb
to the basal urges of the Old Sin Nature. The soul is helpless to
resist the influence of the Old Sin Nature. Granted the soul has
a volition, but the only choices are between the lesser of two evils.
The soul does not naturally know right from wrong. It must learn
this.
The soul at birth is in a state of spiritual death.
It lacks a human spirit. Without the spirit, it is impossible to
have fellowship with God, Who is a Spirit. It is, therefore, the
soul that needs to be saved. At the point of salvation, God the Holy
Spirit creates a human spirit and God the Father imputes to it His Righteousness
(+R) and Eternal Life. Salvation is the divine solution to spiritual
death. At salvation, the Holy Spirit indwells the body and fills
the soul. Although the filling of the Holy Spirit will be lost when
the believer sins, it can be regained by following the recovery procedure,
which is Rebound (1 John
1:9).
Edification Complex of the Soul
At salvation, the believer receives a seed, which,
if nurtured, will grow into a mature Edification Complex of the Soul.
At first the ECS is very small and very weak like a plant that has just
sprouted or a newborn baby. Although the believer has salvation and
can never loose it, his ECS is at first very small and very weak.
The soul of the believer contains the seed that will
grow into the ECS. The ECS is constructed from the metabolization
of Bible Doctrine just as the body grows by metabolizing food. The
ECS in the midst of the soul is shown in the illustration of the soul.
Surrounding the ECS is the unconquered wilderness of the soul in its depraved
state. Only the ECS has God's Righteousness. The power, or
strength, of the soul to perform divine good is measured by the maturity
of the ECS. When the ECS is small and weak, the rest of the soul
in its original, depraved state will threaten it. Only after the
ECS becomes strong and powerful through the advance to Spiritual Maturity
will it have the power under the control of the Holy Spirit to dominate
the soul. Spiritual growth is the process of erecting the ECS through
the metabolization of Bible Doctrine.
Power of Spiritual Growth
The illustration shows the growth of the ECS during
the stages of Spiritual Growth from salvation to maturity. The ECS
is shown in relation to the unconquered wilderness of the rest of the soul.
The ECS resides in the human spirit. In order to utilize the power
of the ECS, the believer must have the Filling of the Holy Spirit.
Under the Filling of the Holy Spirit, the soul is controlled and empowered
by the Holy Spirit. This is comparable to running a Personal Computer
in Disk Operating System (DOS) mode. Whereas, the computer under
DOS is functional, it lacks the power of a robust operating system.
The Filling of the Spirit utilizes the power of the ECS. This is
the spiritual life. In the absence of the Filling of the Spirit,
in contrast, the soul reverts to its original depraved state, which is
subject to the power of the Old Sin Nature and is motivated by lust.
Thus, the ECS represents spiritual capacity and the soul without it is
at the mercy of the Old Sin Nature with its lust.
Lust Motivation
Lust is the desire, or motivation, to sin.
Lust is enticement to sin. Lust is temptation. The process
is as follows:
James 1:14-15, NAS
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried
away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives
birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
The believer chooses to sin. That choice
is made from a position of strength within the Filling of the Holy Spirit.
The soul has volition, which is freedom to choose. Since it is impossible
to sin under the Filling of the Spirit, the believer must use his volition
to reject the authority of God in order to choose to sin. The sequence
is:
-
Operating under the Filling of the Holy Spirit
-
Lust produces temptation
-
Volition - Rejection of the divine authority
-
Volition - The choice to sin.
-
Resulting real spiritual death in the soul.
Lust motivates the individual to sin, but sin requires
a conscientious decision from the volition of the soul. Lust may
come from many sources. Among these are bad values, false beliefs,
illusions, and the outside influence of the world and demons.
However, the believer must use the Volition of the
soul to choose to sin. The soul that sins is delivered into a state
of spiritual death just as it was before salvation. This doesn't
mean that salvation is lost. It just means that the Spiritual Life
has been set aside and the Old Sin Nature with its lust pattern is back
in control. The soul in a state of real spiritual death is separated
from God and at the mercy of the Cosmic System. The lust of the soul
has an affinity to the Cosmic System. The believer who is out of
fellowship will follow the road of Reversionism.
LUST PROBLEMS
Types of Lust
The major types of lust are lust for money, sex,
and power. These lusts oppose the primary axes of the Integrity Envelope.
Monetary Lust opposes the Faith (X) Axis (1 Timothy 6:10). Sex Lust
is rejection of Right Man - Right Woman and is a problem with the Love
(Y) Axis. Power Lust is a problem with the Authority (Z) Axis.
Inordinate Ambition is another form of lust that overruns the Time Axis.
There are many types of lust. The types lust include:
Monetary Lust
Money is the coin of the realm in the devil's world,
but virtue-love is the prize possession of the spiritual life.
But now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greater of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
When life is over, everyone departs this life without
their worldly possessions. Those who seek worldly riches are lusting
after false values. These things will not go to heaven.
1 Timothy 6:7-8
7 For we have brought nothing into the world,
so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8 And if we have food and
clothing, with these we shall be content.
The lust attraction for money and worldly riches
is based upon a false value.
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation,
the trap, and many foolish and harmful lusts which plunge people into ruin
and destruction. (1 Timothy 6:9)
The desire to be rich is a bad value that leaves
a person vulnerable to temptation. A multitude of sins may result,
such as greed, avarice, penuriousness, miserliness. Such temptations
are a trap of Cosmos Diabolicus that is waiting to enslave the one who
takes the bait. When the trap closes, Satan has the victim.
Those who are enslaved to the Cosmic System due to the money trap are casualties
in the Angelic Conflict. They have forfeited their spiritual lives
and are headed "into ruin and destruction." Ruin may not be loss
of money but loss of the spiritual life and the accompanying Intensified
Discipline. The end will be destruction - i.e. the sin that terminates
in death, which is the maximum discipline in this life.
For the root of all sorts of evil is the love
of money, which some by striving after have gone astray from doctrine and
have pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:10)
The love of money is a bad value, a false standard,
that is described as a root of all sorts of evil.
How can this be "root of all sorts of evil"?
The answer is: Because monetary lust links the Old Sin Nature with
the Satan through his evil policy. When a person falls into the trap
of Satan, he may be subject to all sorts of evil. Evil is the sum
total of the policy of Satan. Those who strive for money go astray
from Bible Doctrine, which is an X-Axis failure. They no longer are
subject to the will of God. The consequence will be Intensified Discipline
that is described as being "pierced." Horn judgment, e.g. a tornado,
is an example of piercing judgment.
Sex Lust
Sex lust is caused by a problem in the Right Man
- Right Woman relationship. Before identification of Right Man or
Right Woman, the other Problem Solving Devices must be used to take up
the slack. However, after the identification of Right Man or Right
Woman, sex lust is a sign that the Love (Y) Axis of the soul is out of
alignment.
As shown in the illustration, lust for a paramour
indicates that the Love (Y) Axis is pointing at the paramour instead of
toward the soul's Right Man or Right Woman. In order to lust for
a paramour, the Right Man or Right Woman must first be rejected.
This is what our Lord Jesus Christ taught:
but I say to you, that everyone who looks on
a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his
heart. (Matthew 5:28, NAS)
Committing adultery in the heart is the mental attitude
sin of adultery, which occurs after Right Man or Right Woman has been rejected.
Rejection of Right Man or Right Woman is a sin which sets the chain of
events into motion. Next comes mental attitude adultery, such as
fantasizing. Mental attitude adultery is followed by sex lust for
the paramour. However, sex lust is only the symptom of the real problem,
which is rejection of the love of Right Man or Right Woman.
When the Love (Y) Axis fails, the ECS also fails
and the soul is enslaved to the Old Sin Nature and the Cosmic System.
The Right Man or Right Woman has a home in the Intimacy Room of the ECS.
Only the Right Man or Right Woman can occupy that room. God's gift
of Intimacy for the Marriage is highly sensitive and failure to protect
it leaves the soul vulnerable to the passions of lust. God's gift of Intimacy
for Marriage cannot be shared with anyone else. Attempts to share
cause sex lust, sensuality, and other problems of reversionism. Reverse
Process Reversionism is one of the phases of reversionism. In it
the Right Man or Right Woman is rejected and there is strong phallic attraction
to a paramour. The paramour is a fraud, an actor or actress substitute.
Reverse Process Reversionism is fueled not by love but by sex lust.
Balaam's Lust
Illustration: Modern Examples of
Moabite Girl Types - Aleedra
Balaam was full of lust. He had problems with
monetary, sexual, and power lust. When Balak, the King of Moab, hired
him to curse Israel, his lust skyrocketed from his opportunity for fame
and fortune. Balaam loved money and was given an opportunity from
Balak to earn a handsome fee (Numbers
22:17) for divination. His lust
lured into the trap of Baal and anti-Semitism. Balaam's problem,
however, did not end with Balaam. The Church at Pergammon in the
Roman Empire had the same problem in 96 AD. The Lord Jesus Christ
warned the apostle John about them.
‘But I have a few
things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of
Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a baited trap before the sons of
Israel, to eat meat sacrificed to idols, and to fornicate. (Revelation
2:14)
Balaam was hired by Balak to curse Israel because
Balak feared an invasion from the Army of Israel. However, the Lord
would not permit Balaam, who was a Gentile prophet (Numbers
22:5) to curse Israel. This was
in keeping with the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis
12:3). Balak did not know that the
Lord had forbad the conquest of Moab by Israel (Deuteronomy
2:4-19) because they were descendants
of Lot through incest with his elder daughter (Genesis
19:37). After Balaam failed to curse
Israel, he soon went to live with the Midianites and counseled the Midianites
to worship Baal Peor (Numbers
31:8, 16). This is how Balaam earned
his fee. Balaam was killed in the invasion of Midian by the Jewish
Army of Moses.
The "baited trap" that Balaam counseled Balak
to use was Midianite girls who were sent into the camp of Israel to lure
the men into the adulterous worship of Baal. These young girls were
different from the Jewish women. The Midianite and Moabite girls
were initiated into the Phallic Cult of Baal at the time of puberty.
At perhaps the age of 13, young virgins were initiated. The initiation
ceremony in Moab is not known precisely, but the one used in similar cults
was for the father to take his virgin daughter to the heathen temple of
the goddess of love (Baal, Aphrodite, etc.). He left her there, and
she waited for a man to come up and throw money before the altar.
He would then take the girl and fornicate with her. The young girl
stayed in the temple for a while and men would pay to fornicate with her.
This was temple prostitution and is why the women in the cult were called
harlots or whores, which implies prostitutes. The young girls could
not leave the temple until they had fornicated and been initiated into
the cult.
The girls that the Midianites sent into the camp
of Israel were these temple prostitutes, though the temples of the day
were no more than tents. They were either virgins or those who had
been recently initiated. Their ages were probably 13-14 years old.
The Midianite girls were probably also chubby or fat since the culture
of Baal worship involved ritual eating. They sacrificed cattle to
Baal and ate grilled beef steak and other choice cuts during the worship
ritual. The culture of fornication and ritual eating likely produced
obese girls. Many cultures involved in idolatry revered the obese
female as the goddess of fertility.
The Jewish men left their wives behind and ran
away with the young Midianite and Moabite girls. The girls lured
them into the cult of Baal, which involved fornication, ritual eating and
worship of Baal. All of this activity was forbidden by the Mosaic
Law. Both idolatry and adultery were forbidden, and the penalty for
violation was capital punishment. Thus, the Jewish men were lured
into the Cosmic System. The bait of the trap was the Midianite and
Moabite girls. This was a violation of the authority of God under
the Mosaic Law and was a counterattack of demonism from the Cosmic System
(Z-Axis). The Jewish men fornicated with the girls, which was the
Political Babylon counterattack of the Love (Y) Axis. They also ate
"meat sacrificed to Baal" (Ecumenical (X) Axis counterattack.
When the Jewish men took the bait, the trap was
sprung. The men were enslaved in the Cosmic System under the power
of Baal, and God sent a plague to destroy them. Twenty-four thousand
died in the plague (Numbers
25:9) - 23,000 of those in one day (1
Corinthians 10:8). The Baal attack
on Israel was an attack of Marriage Culture. It was not a military
attack. It was a failure of the peace. The Jewish men rejected
Marriage and went into Phallic Reversionism with its sex lust. The
attack upon marriage struck the very foundation of the culture of Client
Nation Israel.
Satan opposes marriage because marriage is a divine
institution. Baal is still active today in opposition to marriage.
The bear is the symbol of Baal. It has a dual nature: Lust
for sweets like honey coupled with a ravenous, murderous bad side.
When lust and murder come together, it is a sign of Satan who appears as
the goddess of love and the god of war. When Satan inspires war,
evil troops kill the men and then rape and murder the women and children.
In time of peace, Satan seeks to undermine nations through Baal, who opposes
marriage. Baal is still actively engaged in attacking Marriage and
the family. Baal is also the enemy of children. The Jews of
Jeremiah's day not only engaged in the Phallic Cult of Baal worship (Jeremiah
3:6) but also sacrificed their children
to Baal (Jeremiah
7:31).
Then the Lord said to me in the days of
Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up
on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there.
(Jeremiah 3:6, NAS)
Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like
the nations!
For you have played the harlot, forsaking your
God.
You have loved harlots’ earnings on every
threshing floor. (Hosea 9:1, NAS)
Power Lust
Power lust is a problem with the Z Axis of the Integrity
Envelope. Power lust is a rejection of legitimate authority.
Power lust started with Satan and characterizes his followers.
Isaiah 14:13-14
13 “But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
This is a description of Satan's power lust.
Satan sought to usurp the authority of God. He wanted to "ascend
to heaven" and rule in God's place. He said, "I will make myself
like the Most High," i.e. like God. Satan wanted to be God over all
creation. This is the ultimate example of power lust.
Power lust often creeps in under various disguises,
such as the desire to do good. People may desire power so they can
solve the world's problems. This is the same as Satan, who wanted
to be "like the Most High." Politicians may seek power to alleviate
social problems. Businessmen may seek power to control the market
or get rich. Military leaders may seek power to conquer foreign powers.
These are examples of power lust, which is a problem with the Z-Axis alignment
of the Integrity Envelope. All of these things violate humility.
Under true authority, God promotes. Under power lust, man seeks to
gain power to play God, to be "like the Most High."
Principle: If God doesn't promote you,
you are not promoted.
The interesting thing is that most people cannot
handle power. When they get power, they are dupes for the devil's
lie and become the pawns of Satan. Power corrupts, especially the
weak. Those who lack integrity are easy prey and quickly become slaves
of Cosmos Diabolicus. Where do politicians get their public lies?
They get them from the Cosmic System (1
Timothy 4:1-2).
The Two Roads of Life
There are only two roads in life. One road
leads to spiritual maturity and dying grace while the other road leads
to reversionism and the sin that ends with death. The former is the
road of blessing while the latter is the road of cursing. There are
no other choices according to the Bible. There is no way to be lukewarm.
Everyone is either cold or hot, and those who are lukewarm will be classified
as cold before they die and will die the sin that ends in death.
For those who reject Bible Doctrine and live in lust, the result will be
a horrible death.
“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he
who does not gather with Me scatters. (Matthew 12:30, NAS)
The road to blessing requires love for God, which
motivates obedience to Bible Doctrine. Experiential sanctification
is accomplished through the daily perception and application of Bible Doctrine.
This requires rejecting the lust pattern and residing in the Integrity
Envelope.
The road of cursing includes rejection of the
love of God and subsequent reversionism. The reversionist follows
the desires of his lust pattern. Lust motivates behavior that opposes
the will of God. The reversionist is lured down the steps down to
the sin that ends in death by lust. Lust lures to further cursing
and death because lust motivates to sin. Lust also leaves the soul
exposed to the Cosmic System where the person is no match for the demons
of darkness.
THE DIVINE SOLUTION
General Principles
Lust is not a sin. It is desire to sin.
It is the temptation to sin. Temptation may be due to spiritual testing,
but sin is optional. A person must choose to sin. Temptation,
therefore, is not an excuse for sinning.
There as no testing overtaken you but such as
is common to mankind, but God is faithful who will not permit you to be
tested beyond your capability, but He will with the testing also provide
the solution so that you will be able to bear up under it (1 Corinthians
10:13)
However, should the believer sin, the recovery procedure
of Rebound (1 John 1:9) is required.
Neither the lust nor the sins of the unbeliever
are an issue. They were paid for on the cross. Therefore, the
solution for the unbeliever is always the same, namely, salvation.
The unbeliever needs to be saved. His lust and sins are not an issue.
The Solution of Spiritual Growth
The baby believer can be just as spiritual as the
adult. The Filling of the Holy Spirit is available to both.
This does not mean, however, that the baby believer an the adult believer
have the same spiritual strength. Strength is measured by Capacity
for Life and Love. The completed Edification Complex of the Soul
of the adult believer has maximum strength; whereas the incomplete ECS
of the baby believer is weak by comparison.
The baby believer, therefore, is easily lured into
the Cosmic System. His soul is mostly untamed wilderness. His
ECS may have little more than a foundation. He will, therefore, be
unable to withstand strong lust temptation and will be weak in the face
of temptation. The adult believer, in contrast, has a disciplined
soul that operates in the power of the ECS under the Filling of the Spirit.
The adult believer has the spiritual strength to resist temptation because
of the competed ECS. This does not mean the adult cannot be tempted.
It simply means that his power to resist temptation is great compared to
the baby believer.
Through spiritual growth, the problem of lust
is literally outgrown. The Integrity Envelope clothes the soul and
protects it from lust.
Logistical Grace Solution
Lust is motivated by bad values in the soul.
The Lord Jesus Christ taught the spiritual solution.
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures
upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and
steal. 20 “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves never break in nor steal; 21
for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
.The motivation for the Christian life must be to
erect the Edification Complex of the Soul and produce divine good.
Thieves may break in an steal earthly treasures, which are the object of
lust attraction. The person who longs for treasures for his home
has bad values. Those treasures on earth will be destroyed eventually
and certainly will not be taken to heaven with the believer.
Shelter is one of the necessities of life.
God provides the necessities of life under Logistical Grace. The
believer, however, is free to accept or reject God's offer. If the
believer is too immature to know whether his shelter is from Logistical
Grace or not, he needs to get Bible Doctrine so that he will have the discernment
to know the answer. The believer who accepts the Logistical Grace
solution for his home and the details of life required to operate it will
avoid the lust for worldly possessions that will lure him into the Cosmic
System.
“For this reason I communicate to you, do not
be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink;
nor for your body, regarding what you shall wear. Is not life more
than food, and the body than clothing? (Matthew 6:25)
Here, the Lord Jesus Christ gives instruction about
two more necessities of life, food and clothing. Since people are
anxious for their life and think the necessities of life can be lost and
cause them to die, the reminder is: "Do
not be anxious for your life." Death
is a sovereign decision of God, Who determines the time, place, and manner
of death. People should not be anxious about their life. Two
necessities, food and clothing, cause additional anxiety. The command
from the Lord is to not be anxious about them either.
Anxiety is a sin. But to be anxious about
the necessities of life is tantamount to rejecting Logistical Grace.
God provides the necessities, and the believer should let Him. The
beginner believer must learn to identify Logistical Grace provision.
Those who reject Logistical Grace will be the victims of the Cosmic System.
If God's grace is rejected, then the only alternative is the Cosmic System.
Those with bad values regarding food and clothing will easy prey for lusts
associated with these things.
The three necessities of life are associated with
the X, Y, and Z axes of the Space-Time Coordinate System. Shelter
is having a roof overhead, which is the Authority (Z) axis. Eating
is the symbol of perception and metabolization of Bible Doctrine, which
is the Faith (X) axis. And clothing is related to relationships in
life. The first clothes of Adam and 'Ishah only covered the
genitals. Clothes are related to the Love (Y) axis. So, the
Lord Jesus Christ was teaching the importance of good values that motivate
erection of the Edification Complex of the Soul.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
(John 14:15, NAS)
Only those who love the Lord will keep His commandments.
Only those who obey Bible Doctrine will have the power to withstand the
lust of the soul. Only those who love the Lord will obey Him and
erect the Edification Complex of the Soul, which clothes the soul and protects
against lust. Only those who love the Lord will use Rebound and operate
in the Filling of the Spirit. The Filling of the Holy Spirit provides
the power to avoid lust.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not
carry out the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)
In order to walk, which means executing the Plan
of God, the X, Y, Z and Time axes must be aligned with the will of God.
Otherwise, the believer will be a casualty and the victim of the Old Sin
Nature with its lust. Only those who love the Lord will obey Him
and be able to withstand the lust of the soul. The obedience to the
commandments associated with Logistical Grace are the beginning of the
Christian life. Those who will not trust God for the necessities
of life are doomed to the power of the Old Sin Nature with its lust.
Separation from the World
The world is the Cosmic System of Satan. Those
who never separate from the world are doomed to live under the power of
the lust of the Old Sin Nature.
1 John 2
15 Stop loving the Cosmic System or anything
in the Cosmic System. If anyone keeps loving the Cosmic System, the
love of the Father is not in him 16 Because all that is in the Cosmic System:
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the arrogant pattern of
life, is not from the Father but is from the Cosmic System.
The only way to execute the Christian life successfully
is to separate from the world. In this passage the worldly counterattacks
are mentioned. The "lust of the flesh" covers the Old Sin Nature
and the body - i.e. a relationship with self. This is often the counterattack
of Ecumenical Babylon on the X axis. "The lust of the eyes" is may
be the counterattack of Political Babylon on the Y axis because a relationship
with another person is desired. The adulterous heart is an example.
This may also include lust for the details of life or money and represent
a counterattack of the X axis. "The arrogant pattern of life" is
an authority problem due to a counterattack of Cosmic Babylon on the Z
axis. Thus, the verses cover counterattacks of Cosmic, Political,
and Ecumenical Babylon. These counterattacks are upon the X, Y, and
Z axes of the ECS.
Spiritual Rapport
Spiritual rapport, which is harmonious relationship
with God, is the real solution to lust. The ten Problem Solving Devices
will solve the problem of lust. Maximum power over lust is achieved
when the mature believer has deployed all ten of them and is in harmonious
relationship with God.
2 Peter 1:3-4
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to
us everything pertaining to life and the spiritual life, through the true
knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and virtue. 4 For by these
He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that
by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world by lust.
The solution for lust is not accomplished by studying
the problem. It is accomplished by concentrating on the solution.
Lust isn't really the problem, anyway. It is only a symptom.
The problems of lust that plague the immature believer will fall by the
wayside naturally through spiritual growth. However, only by harmonious
relationship with God will there be maximum power over lust.
NEXT
Last Revision: August 8, 2007
Author: Larry Wood