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THE EVILS OF CHRISTIAN HEDONISM
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29
James 4:1

Galatians 5:16-17

 

“…Walk in the Spirit,
and ye shall not fulfil

the lust of the flesh.”

 

THE EVILS OF CHRISTIAN HEDONISM
 
Hedonism unbiblically teaches that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life. The word comes from the Greek hedone, which means “pleasure” or “lust” (James 4:1). It is said that “John Piper coins Christian Hedonism.” Hedonism wrongly teaches that the desire to be happy is a proper motive for every good deed, and if you abandon the pursuit of your joy, you cannot love a man or please God.
 
Wars in you: From the Greek word for “wars” (James 4:1) we get the English “polemics,” i.e. prolonged and severe disputing or combat. Figuratively and negatively, as a word, it means “battle within a community,” strife or quarrel. The word for “fightings” refers to conflicts, a specific fight or battle. The phrase “wars and fightings” entails a severe conflict, either physical or non-physical. Intensively, it describes clashing severely or struggling. Both terms (“wars” and “fightings”) are used here metaphorically for violent personal relationships, which, in the extreme, can result even in murder.
 
War in your members: James states plainly that the source of conflicts is “lusts,” or worldly pleasures. This word “lusts” is translated from the Greek “hedone,” from which “hedonist” and “hedonism” are derived. It connotes the gratification of sensual, natural, fleshly desires. The word is always used in a negative, ungodly sense in the New Testament. Hedonism is the uncontrolled personal desire to fulfil every passion and whim that promises sensual satisfaction and enjoyment. It is used consistently in the New Testament of sinful pleasures or the desire for them (e.g. Luke 8:14).
 
Dear reader, many young people today are deceived by the New Calvinistic, false teaching on Christian Hedonism. It is a syncretistic teaching of the world’s philosophies and the Bible. It is dangerous because it is promoted as a Christian teaching when it uses the humanistic ideas of satisfying the desires of the flesh.
 
THOUGHT: Am I a hedonistic Christian?
PRAYER: Father, grant me the discernment to see the subtleties of today’s deceptions. May I not be sucked into this hellish whirlpool.

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