The gospel is good news because it reveals the grace of God. Jesus died on a cross and rose from the dead to rescue you from the coming wrath. You will not be condemned in the future because your sins have been judged in the past. The perfect life of Christ has been eternally transferred into your account.
You have been saved by grace. This grace must now equip you in your daily battle against sin.
Grace Trains Us
Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”
For the weary soldier who is tired of the conflict, I would ask him to listen to the general who stands beside him on the battlefield. In that moment, He will hear his Messiah say, “I love you. I always have. I always will. I am not finished with you.” As John Newton reminds us, the grace that has brought us safe thus far is the grace that will lead us home.
Porn Ensnares Us
Despite the glorious liberation that is promised in Titus 2, many grace-loving believers still find themselves overwhelmed by specific sins. In fact the intensity of their battle and the frequency of their failure causes them to wonder if this verse truly applies to them.
I have spoken with countless men whose lives are filled with a passion to serve God, yet are continually defeated by pornographic images on the computer. Their question is always the same, “If grace is so amazing, why is my life not changed by it?” So often the answer is that they are not incorporating the specific means through which God can funnel His grace into their life.
Use the Means of Grace
God’s grace is free but it flows through specific means or conduits. Traditionally the church has associated these means of grace with such things as Bible study, prayer, journaling, etc. But surely a God that is as creative as ours will continue to give us new means of grace for new battles.
I believe that one of the new means of grace for the 21st century believer is Covenant Eyes. The moment that a man downloads the program on his computer, he can choose someone as an accountability partner who will receive a weekly report of the websites he visits. The transparency that is made possible through this software is a means of grace that will produce ever-increasing freedom.
I love the honesty that Covenant Eyes produces in my life. It prevents me from living in deceit. God wants us to be free, but as Jesus reminds us, only “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The secret sinner will never be free.
Covenant Eyes helps men tell the truth. Through the weekly internet reports that are generated, there is no mistaking where someone has been on their computer. Once a guy knows that his web trail will be seen by a close friend, he begins to take seriously the sites that he visits. In fact, the very moment he knows that this software is watching his every movement on the web, the temptation to visit impure sites is greatly diminished.
Covenant Eyes cannot replace the Holy Spirit’s work in giving us new desires. But like guardrails on a mountain curve, it can keep us from destruction on a day when our flesh feels like driving wild. I cannot express my gratitude enough for the freedom that comes through this ministry, both to my life and to the lives of the many men who use it with me. It truly is a means of grace.
Richard Smith is the lead pastor at Hope Point Community Church. Richard is a graduate of Clemson University and Southwestern Seminary. Joining him in ministry is his wife, Lisa, and their daughter, Anna. Among his interests are golfing with a good friend and hiking with his dog Conrad.
Pastor Smith talks about his experience with Covenant Eyes…
Hello, hi, I have to confess, I need to say this, I am a pastor leading a new born church in Venezuela, it is difficult this days in our country with all the political struggles, still I am trying to fight and manage to overcome all this resting on God sovereign will, but I have to confess I struggle and fight with pornography, I dont spend everyday on watching porn, or have subscribe to it, but I admitted I have watch porn and even if I do it just one day and feel bad about it, I keep pressing not to go back and still I keep coming back in between 2 two weeks or so in a month, I am tired of this, I dont want to fail on this subject I feel horrible preaching and talking to the church in this way but I have try free software like K9, even thou the program is excellent and runs great I know some of informatics and have manage to bypass the software trought disable the dispositive on services window in windows 7, I know, I cannot explain but sometimes with the urge is so strong that you try to break every bond to obtain that, like an addiction, so I cannot rely on free software, on the other hand if you say that covenant eyes cannot be in anyway bypass I would believe it but in our country we have american dollar currency restriction and no one has access to that other than the government, so if you please can manage to open some international account for those in other continents that can pay with theyre country currency we will do all the efforts but meanwhile we only have God, and ourselves, still you may know how hard for a pastor is to reach this kind of help, I cannot turn to my church for that, we dont have any elders right now, and somehow the church have Jesus to look on and in other instance have me, I feel so terrible for this, I hope God forgives me and help me trought all this, not only me but all the pastors and people in the church that have to fight with this, pray for me, pray for the Godly people in south america and specially in Venezuela.
I struggled w/an addiction to pornography for 12 years. It was my physical solace. In my case, I had to GO THROUGH it until the the VERY THOUGHT of it turned my stomach. Covenant Eyes was instrumental in my eternal deliverance. From the bottom of my heart: I thank you.
Since joining on August 22nd, as cheesy as this may sound, I’ve had an obtuse sense peace. In addition, I feel that blogging about my past struggle with pornography has helped me to let go of the residual guilt and shame.
Wonderful to hear, Cory!