The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines pollution as any emissions which are or could be harmful to people. Certain states set their environmental standards based upon EPA recommendations. Meanwhile, the Bible defines pollution as any form of darkness, Matthew 6:22-23, that seeks to diminish the light of Christ. One of Jesus’ disciples refers to one specific spiritual pollutant: the lust of earthly passions.
And particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. Presumptuous [and] daring [self-willed and self-loving creatures]! They scoff at and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling, 2 Peter 2:10.
Peter appears to be referencing the Sermon on the Mount in the passage above. Jesus spoke about Christians being the light of the World in Matthew 5:14-16. One chapter later, Jesus compares human eyes to the spiritual lamp of your body, Matthew 6:22-23. If your eyes become unhealthy, the lust of polluting passions will fill your life with darkness. The apostle Paul compares this spiritual pollution to uniting yourself with someone during a one-night stand, 1 Corinthians 6:15-16.
For this reason God gave them over and abandoned them to vile affections and degrading passions. For their women exchanged their natural function for an unnatural and abnormal one, 27 And the men also turned from natural relations with women and were set ablaze (burning out, consumed) with lust for one another—men committing shameful acts with men and suffering in their own [d]bodies and personalities the inevitable consequences and penalty of their wrong-doing and going astray, which was [their] fitting retribution, Romans 1:26-27.
When people stop caring about God, these individuals will begin to feed their flesh daily. Like a drug addict searching for a more powerful substance to satisfy their desire to achieve a new high, sexual addictions set ablaze the lust of polluting passions. In the passage above, the apostle Paul reveals the origin of unwholesome desires. When natural affection is corrupted by the lust of polluting passions, spiritual lives become unfit for faith. Hebrews 6:4-6 compares this lifestyle to someone who crucifies Jesus over and over again. May the Bible serve as a form of detox to set you free from lust.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 