Going Off Sin Cold
Thirty one years ago this week the
American Cancer Society launched the first Great
American Smokeout.. The campaign challenged smokers to
give up cigarettes for 24 hours, hoping their first step would lead to a
thousand mile journey of stopping forever.
The event is still held every year on the third Thursday in November. It
was placed the Thursday before Thanksgiving because it challenged people to go
off tobacco “cold Turkey”. Thousands
did and they crushed up their cigarette packs to never smoke again. Those were the days before nicotine patches
and long term recovery and support groups.
Today’s programs often rely more
on the gradual weaning away from cigarettes, or even the reduction in number of
nicotine events.
A similar shift has happened among
evangelicals. In
1977 the “normal” way to overcome sin was to go off sin cold turkey. A sinner got
“under conviction” and “went to the altar” and repented of their sin then
walked away claiming to have stopped sinning with a single cold-turkey
event. There were drunks who rose from
the altar, went home and poured their liquor down the drain and claimed
instantaneous deliverance from even their thirst for alcohol—and they stayed
dry for the rest of their life. Same with sins like
pornography, rage, lying, cheating and cussing. These folk had no twelve
steps groups or support groups to join who could help them “manage” sin or gradually
reduce the frequency of incidence. They claimed God had delivered them
instantaneously. Today’s efforts in
dealing with sin often rely more on the gradual weaning away from the sin or
the reduction in number of sin events.
So I’m wondering: Is this sort of instantaneous
deliverance from sin still available from God but we seldom see it nowadays
because nobody believes it is possible? Or has God shifted the methods He uses
to deliver people from sin?
So what do you
think?
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