Physical healing by the stripes and the blood of Jesus

Question: Do the stripes and the blood of Lord Jesus Christ physically heal us?

Answer:

The most common and most often committed error in interpreting Scripture is to take a particular passage or verse, or even a portion of a verse out of its context; then give it meanings and interpretations according to one’s liking or understanding; and then not only accept those erroneous meanings but also share those misinterpretations with others as ‘God’s truths’; even though those meanings do not stand up to the requirements of the context and the evidence of Biblical usage, therefore making them unrealistic and unacceptable. God’s Word, the Bible, in 2 Timothy 2:15 exhorts us to “diligently present ourselves approved to God (not to any man)” and to “rightly divide the Word of Truth”; and not fall for the trap of following teachers who instead of teaching sound doctrine, misuse God’s Word to only teach things that the audience want to hear (2 Timothy 4:2-4). To avoid falling for Satan’s ploys to misuse God’s Word (he had the audacity to do so even with the Lord Jesus – Matthew 4:1-11), we all need to take heed and obey 1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Test all things; hold fast what is good”; and be like the Berean Christians, who have been commended in the Bible for first cross checking everything from the Scriptures and only then believing in what was taught (Acts 17:11-12) – even though it was the apostle Paul who was teaching them.

In context of healing by the stripes of Lord Jesus, the Bible verse often stated is Isaiah 53:5 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Peter too quoted from this verse in his first epistle – “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Incidentally, and quite interestingly, other than these two verses (essentially, only a single verse), there is no other verse in the Bible containing the both the terms “stripes” and “healed.” Also, in both of these verses we see that the ‘healing’ being mentioned is the spiritual healing from effects of sin; and not a physical healing of the body from any disease, or sickness, or deformity, or any other physical ailment.

Since in common usage, the word ‘healing’ is mainly associated with physical infirmities, and with ailments of the body, hence without giving it much thought, people take it for granted that the ‘healing’ mentioned in these verses is physical healing as well. Unfortunately, many preachers and teachers also would like to have us believe it to be so; therefore they continue to emphasize and teach the misinterpretation, basing it upon verse portions taken out of context and out of continuity with the actual text of the Scriptures. They neither themselves pay heed to the context and related things in interpreting the verse or passage, nor encourage and allow us to study the context and related things of the complete verse and its passage, before accepting or coming to a conclusion about it.

Another very pertinent fact to be considered is that nowhere in the whole of the Bible, have either of the phrases “by His stripes we are healed” and “by whose stripes you were healed” ever been used or alluded to in any form of miraculous healing, by any Prophet, Apostle, or Man of God – and there is no dearth of instances of physical healings in either the Old or the New Testaments. Let us consider a few examples related to physical ailments and healing from the New Testament:

·         Paul instructing Timothy says to him, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23). Clearly, Timothy was distressed because of some recurrent physical ailments, and Paul is asking him to use “a little wine” as a medicine – why has Paul not asked Timothy to use and claim healing on the basis of the stripes of the Lord Jesus?

·         Consider Paul’s own “thorn in the flesh” – Paul says “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me” (2 Corinthians 12: 7, 8). Why did Paul have to plead with the Lord to deliver him from the problem of the flesh; instead, why did he simply not claim the healing made available through the stripes of the Lord? And  too when the “faith” of Paul and Timothy in the Lord and the Lord’s ability to heal in answer to prayer cannot be doubted!

·         We see in the book of Acts that when Peter, in Acts 3, healed the lame from birth person sitting at the entrance to the Temple, he did not say to the lame man “by the stripes of the Lord Jesus you are healed and made whole;” rather, “Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk"” (Acts 3:6).

Is there any instance of physical healing through applying or claiming the phrase “by the Lord’s stripes you/we have been healed” recorded anywhere in the Bible? If not then, why is such a usage and interpretation being so enthusiastically preached, taught and accepted? More importantly, why are people being so gullible and not asking the purveyors of untruth to justify their stand from God’s Word about it?

The plain and simple fact of the matter is that surely though these verses are referring to the suffering Christ endured in our place, but for our sins, which He had taken upon Himself. Because of His taking up our punishment, His bearing those stripes for us, we have received deliverance from our sins, and also the healing that was required for our spirits broken down by sin (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18). The phrase “By His stripes we are healed...” is not referring to any physical healing from diseases and infirmities, but to being healed from the deleterious consequences of our sins.

Similarly, nowhere does the Bible say that the blood of Jesus heals us from physical diseases and infirmities. The blood of Jesus is said to be efficacious for many other things – all of them spiritual and related to our relationship with the Lord God, e.g. – our propitiation (Romans 3:25); our justification (Romans 5:9); bringing us near to God i.e. reconciling us to God (Ephesians 2:13); cleansing of our conscience from dead works (Hebrews 9:14) and giving us the boldness to enter the Holiest (Hebrews 10:19); our redemption (1 Peter 1:19); cleansing of our sins (1 John 1:7); washing away of our sins (Revelation 1:5). But there is no mention of any physical healing through the blood of Lord Jesus Christ, and neither have any of the Apostles or writers of the New Testament at any place claimed or taught the use of “Blood of Jesus Christ” for any healing or recovery from physical ailments.

Therefore teaching people that we ask for or claim some portion of the Bible, out of its context and usage in God’s Word, in a manner, or, for something that the Word of God neither teaches about nor asks us to claim, can in no way be accepted as being in accordance with the teachings of God’s Word. All such teachings and applications are extraneous to God’s Word; they do not stand up to the admonition of 2 Timothy 2:15, therefore they ought to be rejected on grounds of being quite unacceptable and erroneous.

The sin that does not result in death

Question: In the Bible, in 1 John 5:16-17 what is the sin mentioned that does not result in death?

Answer:

           These verses have intrigued many people, and many explanations have been given by various Commentators. Therefore it may not be possible to have a clear explanation acceptable to everyone. When interpreting or understanding 1 John 5:16-17, it is quite common to start thinking in context of verses related to sin and it's damning effects, e.g. Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23, and other Bible verses with a similar application.

           But we need to keep in mind and consider the fact that at the time when John wrote this epistle, the New Testament had neither been compiled from the many writings available at that time, nor was it available to the people in the form we have it now. Therefore the people to whom John wrote this letter did not have those verses and the related teachings which we now have with us, on the basis of which we now try to interpret and understand these verses. Hence those people then could not see and understand what John had written to them, in a manner similar to how we commonly see and understand them today; nor could they apply any meanings from other New Testament teachings into these verses, as we presently do. Therefore to understand these verses, they should be seen and understood in the same context and manner as those initial audience did, when John had written to them. That is the primary and basic meaning of these verses/statements; any other meanings and interpretations that are ascribed can be supplementary or complimentary to this primary meaning; but the other meanings cannot ever replace this primary meaning.

           On reading the initial chapters of John's letter it seems that amongst the audience to whom this letter was addressed, though some were 'children' in the Christian Faith, but most of them were of a good standing and maturity, and knew the facts related to righteousness and their faith (1 John 2:7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 24, 27). Therefore it is quite likely that they had some knowledge and understanding about the Law given to the Israelites through Moses in the Old Testament. For those who believed in God Jehovah, their understanding of what sin is and what it is not was according to that part of the Scripture which we know as the Old Testament today; and from it mainly according to the Law. When we see on the basis of the Old Testament righteousness and Law, we see in the Law there are some sins mentioned for which there was no repentance and atonement provided, only the death penalty had been decreed for them; for example see: Exodus 28:43; Leviticus 22:9; Numbers 1:51; 3:10; 3:38; 18:7; 18:22; 18:32; etc. In Leviticus 10:1, 2 we see that Nadab and Abihu were given no time or opportunity to repent, nor was anyone given any opportunity to intercede and pray, or offer any atonement for them, they died immediately. The people who were aware of the righteousness of the Old Testament, they knew that in the Law some sins are mentioned that have the death penalty prescribed for them, with no provision of repentance, atonement, and forgiveness having been made for them; therefore, even if forgiveness were to be asked for them, there is no possibility of any forgiveness being granted for them.

           Secondly, in 1 John 5:16 twice a sense of "petitioning or praying" has been used; once as "ask" and second time as "pray". For these two instances, two separate words have been used in the original Greek language.  The word used for the first instance is ‘aiteo’ which means ‘to ask’, or, ‘to request’; whereas the word used in the second instance is ‘erotao’ which means ‘to interrogate.’ When we see the various English Versions of the Bible, then too the same thing becomes apparent that not all translators render these words as "pray" in the sense of putting forth a petition or making a request. Therefore, we can paraphrase 1 John 5:16 as follows “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he can ask [‘aiteo’ - request God], and He will give him life for those who commit a sin not leading to death. There also is a sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray [‘erotao’ – interrogate, or be inquisitive] about that.” Here the "pray" used in the latter part of the verse is not in the same sense, as we commonly understand it to mean as asking or petitioning God for something to seek His favor or benevolence.

           Here a note needs to be made of two very significant things in the verse that have a direct bearing on its interpretation and on understanding its meaning. The first is, as stated at the beginning of the verse, John is saying this about "his brother" i.e. another Christian Believer; or about a person who, by coming into faith in the Lord Jesus and having received forgiveness from sins by the grace of God, has entered into eternal life (John 1:12-13). Being a Christian Believer, he is now outside the purview and requirements of the Law and its compulsions; the requirements of the Law have no hold upon him (Romans 7:6; Colossians 2:14), and he can neither be evaluated under the provisions of the Law, nor held guilty and penalized under the Law.

           The second is, that the verse ends by saying “...There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that” and this is the sentence that has caused the uncertainty and confusion related to this verse. The important thing to be noted here and to be understood is that John has not said “since those sins of that person will not be forgiven so I am not asking you to pray for them” – but generally that is the understanding and meaning that is assumed and accepted while reading this verse; whereas that is not what is written here. Instead of "pray" if we use the literal meaning of the original Greek word ‘erotao’ i.e. ‘to interrogate’, then the sentence becomes “...There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should 'be interrogated' about that”, or, “...there is sin which leads to death as per the Law: but there is no need for anyone to interrogate or be inquisitive about it.” Reading this with the first factor - "brother" in mind, now the meaning of what John is saying becomes, that, when the Lord has forgiven that person who could not have been forgiven through the Law, and has included him in His Church and made him a member of His family as a child of God, then why should some person be interrogating about his sins; what need does anyone have of inquiring about his sins? He may have committed a sin which is unforgivable according to the Law, but you have nothing to do with the person's sins being forgivable or not, therefore there is no need for you to interrogate or inquire about them.

           If we see this verse, 1 John 5:16, in context of its preceding verses, then too this interpretation fits in with what is being said in those verses. In 1 John 5:13-15 John is explaining to his readers that through faith in the Lord Jesus they have not only received eternal life, but they also been given the confidence to ask of God, and that if their petitions are in accordance with the will of God then having heard their petitions, He will also fulfill them. Since, as per John 3:16 it is God's will to provide eternal life to those who believe on the Lord Jesus, and now since the Law and it's penalties are no longer applicable upon us because of our being in Christ Jesus, therefore they can unhesitatingly ask for pardon and for eternal life being granted to even those, who were not worthy of this on the basis of the Law, and the Lord will grant eternal life even to them.

           It may be possible that on the basis of the Law, some people may have been hesitant and may have doubted that when God has already decreed the death penalty for some sins in the Law, then how can we ask God to go back on His word and change His Law? Here John is encouraging them, that even if someone has committed a sin, which according to the Law is to be punished by death, even then the way has been opened for him, and through the Lord Jesus he has the opportunity to receive forgiveness and eternal life.

Healing by the Stripes and Blood of Lord Jesus

Question: What does the Biblical phrase “By His stripes we are healed...” mean? Are we healed, both spiritually and physically, by the blood of Jesus Christ?

        The most common error in interpreting Scripture is to take a particular passage or verse, or even a portion of a verse (as here) out of its context, give it meanings and interpretations according to one’s liking, and then not only accept but also share those interpretations with others as ‘truths’; even when those meanings do not stand up to the requirements and evidence of the context, and are therefore unrealistic, untrue, and unacceptable. God’s Word, the Bible exhorts us to “diligently present ourselves approved to God (not to any man)” and to “rightly divide the Word of Truth” (2 Timothy 2:15); and not fall for the trap of following teachers who do not teach Biblically sound doctrine but things that the audience want to hear (2 Timothy 4:2-4). To avoid falling for Satan’s ploys to misuse God’s Word (which he had the audacity to do so even with the Lord Jesus – Matthew 4:1-11), we all need to take heed to do according to 1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Test all things; hold fast what is good” and be like the Berean Christians, who have been commended in the Bible for first cross checking everything from the Scriptures and only then believing in what was taught (Acts 17:11-12) – even though it was Paul who was teaching them.

        The Bible verse from which this phrase has been taken is Isaiah 53:5 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Peter too quotes this verse in his first epistle – “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Incidentally, other than these two verses, there is no other verse in the Bible containing the terms “stripes” and “healed” together. In both of these verses we see that the ‘healing’ being mentioned is the spiritual healing from effects of sin; and not a physical healing of the body from any disease, or sickness, or deformity, or any other physical ailment.

        Since in common usage, the word ‘healing’ is predominantly associated with physical infirmities, with ailments of the body, hence without giving it much thought, it is taken for granted that the ‘healing’ mentioned in these verses is physical healing as well. Unfortunately, many preachers and teachers who would like to have us believe it to be so, continue to emphasize and teach the misinterpretation, basing it upon verse portions taken out of context and continuity with the actual text of the Scriptures. They neither themselves pay heed to the context and related things in appropriately interpreting the verse or passage, nor encourage and allow their audience to study the context and related things of the complete verse and its passage, before accepting or coming to a conclusion about it.

        Another very pertinent fact to be considered is that nowhere in the whole of the Bible, have either of the phrases “by His stripes we are healed” and “by whose stripes you were healed” ever been used or alluded to in any form of miraculous healing, by any Prophet, Apostle, or Man of God – and there is no dearth of instances of physical healings in either the Old or the New Testaments. Consider some examples related to physical ailments and healing from the New Testament: Paul instructing Timothy says to him, “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23). Clearly, Timothy was distressed because of some recurrent physical ailments, and Paul is asking him to use “a little wine” as a medicine – why has he not asked Timothy to use and claim healing on the basis of the stripes of the Lord Jesus? Consider Paul’s own “thorn in the flesh” – Paul says “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me” (2 Corinthians 12: 7, 8). Why did Paul have to plead with the Lord to deliver him from the problem of the flesh; instead, why did he simply not claim the healing made available through the stripes of the Lord? And the “faith” of Paul and Timothy in the Lord and the Lord’s ability to heal in answer to prayer cannot be doubted! We see in the book of Acts that when Peter healed the lame from birth person sitting at the entrance to the Temple, in Acts 3, he did not say to the lame man “by the stripes of the Lord Jesus you are healed and made whole;” rather, “Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk"” (Acts 3:6). Is there any instance of physical healing through applying or claiming the phrase “by the Lord’s stripes you/we have been healed” recorded anywhere in the Bible? If not then, why is such a usage and interpretation being so enthusiastically preached, taught and accepted? More importantly, why are people being so gullible and not asking the purveyors of untruth to either justify their stand from God’s Word about it, or to stop preaching and teaching these wrong things?

        The plain and simple fact of the matter is that these verses are referring to the suffering Christ endured in our place, for our sins, which He had taken upon Himself (1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 3:5). Because of His taking up our punishment, He had to bear those stripes and the agony of suffering on the cross for us, and by the Lord’s bearing all this for us we have received deliverance from our sins, and the healing that was required for our spirits broken down by sin, which had been prophesied by Isaiah and its fulfillment was claimed by the Lord (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18). The phrase “By His stripes we are healed...” is not referring to physical healing from diseases and infirmities, but to being healed from the deleterious consequences of our sins.

        Similarly, nowhere does the Bible say that the blood of Jesus heals us from physical diseases and infirmities. The blood of Jesus is said to be efficacious for other things, and is the one and only remedy for them – all of them are spiritual and related to our relationship with the Lord God, e.g. – our propitiation (Romans 3:25); our justification (Romans 5:9); bringing us near to God i.e. reconciling us to God (Ephesians 2:13); cleansing of our conscience from dead works (Hebrews 9:14) and giving boldness to enter the Holiest (Hebrews 10:19); our redemption (1 Peter 1:19); cleansing of our sins (1 John 1:7); washing away of our sins (Revelation 1:5). But there is no mention of any physical healing through the blood of Lord Jesus Christ, and neither have any of the Apostles or writers of the New Testament at any place claimed or taught the use of “Blood of Jesus Christ” for any healing or recovery from physical ailments. 

      Therefore teaching people that we ask for or claim some portion of the Bible, in a manner or for something that the Word of God neither teaches about nor asks us to claim, is certainly not in accordance with God’s Word, is extraneous to it, does not stand up to 2 Timothy 2: 15, therefore doing these things is quite unacceptable and ought to be rejected.

Why does James 5:16 command us to "confess our sins to one another"?

To understand it correctly, James 5:16 should be seen in its context – as a part of the passage from James 5:13-18. When we do so, it becomes apparent that there are two processes mentioned in these verses – physical healing and trespasses or sins. While the healing being mentioned in James 5:16 is a continuation of the thought of healing given in 5:14-15a; the confession of trespasses or sins mentioned in James 5:16 is not for their forgiveness – since, that has already been stated as accomplished in 5:15, prior to asking the confessing to one another in 5:16. The word used here in the original Greek language and translated as ‘confess’ into English, is ‘exomologeo (ex-o-mo-lo-ǰe'-ō)’, and means to acknowledge or (by implication, of assent) agree fully, (Strong’s Bible Dictionary).

To help us understand it better, we need to keep in mind two other verses related to this thought. These two verses are, first, 1 John 1:8-10, where the apostle John, by using ‘we’, and the present tense ‘have’ (instead of the past tense ‘had’) is saying that everyone – he included, sins, even now; and second,Galatians 6:1-2, where the Apostle Paul is exhorting other Christian Believers to lift up and help in the restoration of those Christian Believers who somehow have fallen into some ‘trespass’ or ‘fault’, i.e. have done something wrong; and those helping should also bear in mind that at some time they too can fall into a similar predicament. These references help us understand and accept the fact that Biblically speaking, even established and mature Christian Believers have a tendency to fall into sin, to commit errors or trespasses, to fall short of expectations or standards of morality expected of them. In other words, nobody is perfect and above reproach, everybody always needs God’s grace, strength and forgiveness to remain honest and true to the Lord, and may at times need to be extricated out of unpleasant situations by the Lord.

With the above in mind, coming back now to James 5:16, we can surmise that what is being implied in the verse is that “do not be overly righteous, nor be a hypocrite; do not have a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude, considering yourself over and above everyone else, or others around you. Rather, be humble and have an attitude of accepting and acknowledging that you too can falter and commit sin, therefore ‘confess your trespass to one another’ i.e. maintain an attitude of accepting and acknowledging before others that you too are prone to errors or sin, just as the others are, and you too need the prayers and help of others for your restoration, whenever you fail or fall.”

This verse is not saying that we need to go and declare our sins and short-comings to people around us, and our doing so will contribute to the forgiveness of those sins. Rather, it means to say that instead of being haughty, we need to remain humble and open to any correction from others; as and when they see some short-coming in us. Whenever our fault or trespass is brought to our notice, we should be gracious and humble enough to accept (‘confess’) it. We should also seek the prayer support of other Believers to keep us that way, or to be delivered from the situation, since the prayers of God’s people are a very effective means of help in any need.

Overcoming Temptations to Sin

     The flesh trying to overcome the spirit and keep it subdued is a common experience for all Christians, in some form or the other. Not everyone may have the same temptations, or fantasies, or reasons for despair; but in some form or the other, Satan keeps attacking us and tries his utmost to weaken us, to render us less effective in our Christian life and responsibilities, to cause us to suffer loss of our blessings, and to malign the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and His Word – the Bible, before the world through sin in our life, behavior, attitude and witness. That is why the Word of God exhorts us to be always on our guard and to give no place to Satan, in any manner, so that he is not able to get an upper hand against us.

    Please read and meditate upon Romans 6 to get a Biblical perspective and solution for the problem of sin in a Christian Believer’s life. The solution is not merely praying and resisting, it is in preventing Satan and his angels from getting a foothold in any manner in our lives. To this end, God’s Word the Bible provides us the required guidance. Remember, Satan can neither compel nor make us sin, he can only tempt and seduce us to commit sin; but to act according to that temptation or seduction and commit an act of sin is ultimately our choice and action. Even for the very first sin, committed in the Garden of Eden, the same held true; and for every sin of commission committed by any person anywhere on earth it still holds true just as well. The Lord Jesus said: “There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.” “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7: 15, 20-23). And therein lies the problem and its solution – what we allow to enter and to dwell within our hearts and our minds, and then what it makes us to do. Nothing can enter in on its own; we not only have to allow it to enter, but also take the required steps for it to enter and stay within us.

    The way to counter to this tendency of allowing the base and sinful things of the world into our lives has been given to us by the Holy Spirit, for our help and guidance through the Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4: 4-9).

    In other words, what we need to do to overcome the tendency to sin, (stating in the same chronological sequence as given above), is as follows:

·            Always have an attitude of praise and worship towards the Lord – at all times, for all things. This will keep your mind focused on the continual presence of the Lord with you, as well as keep you from entertaining sinful thoughts. Remember, before it manifests in works and deeds, it all starts in the mind, in thoughts! (James 1:14-16). Keep your mind, thoughts, and heart from harboring sinful things and the problem is quenched at its very point of inception. The subsequent points tell us how to achieve this.

·            Exhibit your ‘gentleness’ to all; i.e. actively witness for the Lord to the world about your faith through your life. It will be difficult for you to say one thing publicly and then go and do another, more so, if you make it a habit to keep on witnessing in some way or the other, time and again. Your witnessing about your faith and Lord is a God ordained means of overcoming Satan (Revelation 12:11), for it will keep you motivated to practice what you preach.

·            Shun anxiety, have faith, and be thankful to God for everything – even the seemingly problematic and painful, or the non-understandable ones too. Satan cannot draw away a person attached and dependent upon God; he can only sow seeds of doubt in you if you distance yourself from the Lord and His Word. Satan came to Eve when she was near the forbidden fruit, and created a doubt in her mind against God. Had she not been near the forbidden fruit, he could not have succeeded in his attempts, since she wouldn’t have had the chance to mull over and put to test what he was saying. Her entertaining doubts and showing a lack of faith in the provisions of God is what did her in. Similarly, whenever we doubt God and His intentions about our welfare, entertain ideas of being able to achieve better on our own, or feel drawn to try out what God has forbidden, we then lay ourselves open to Satan’s devices and deviousness (2 Corinthians 2:11). So stay away from those things, people, time, opportunities, and situations etc. which will draw you away from God and tempt, induce or challenge you to sin. Simultaneously, stay in the company of Christian Believers, stay attached to God’s Word, stay active in Christian work and responsibilities, and stay involved in things – physical and mental, that promote a healthy Christian life and witness.

·            Fill your mind and heart with all Biblical things; meditate upon them, listen to or read the Bible as often as you can to keep your mind from wandering to evil things (Colossians 3:15-17). Use your free time to listen to gospel and Christian songs and hymns. Take up a prayer list, and pray for people in whatever time you have at hand. Ask some Christian friend(s) to help you and be with you, to talk with you, to keep you occupied in a worthy manner, so that you simply don’t have the time to think about, let alone indulge in anything inappropriate or sinful. You in turn can do the same for somebody else who may be struggling with a similar problem, and the two of you can together lift yourselves out of this problem (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).

·            Take time to read the biographies and stories of great men of God, and learn from their struggles to reach where they did, and achieve what they could. Use them as role models and emulate their ways to overcome sin and temptations, since they too had to struggle against Satan’s ploys in their journey to the greatness they could achieve.

    It would also be very helpful if for some time you can put away your laptop/desktop/mobile phone etc. so that you cannot be drawn to use them inappropriately, till the bad habits, desires and tendencies are broken and overcome. You can use a phone with a small screen and a very low memory and processor, only as a means of communication and conversation, but unable to play any games or display any graphics on it. Similarly, if you really do have to use the laptop/computer, do so in the presence of family members or some other responsible people whose presence will ensure that you do not indulge in the prurient.

In short, prevent and ensure Satan from having a toe-hold in your life, keep in constant touch with God through prayer, worship, meditating upon portions from the Bible, and fellowshipping with other Christians; then Satan will not be able to draw you away from God into anything lustful or sinful.