What expectations did you bring into this holiday season? We all have them. We cruise into Christmastime anticipating feasts and festivities, gifts and gatherings, rest and relaxation. Yet amidst the food, family, friends, and football lurks a saboteur, a prowling lion seeking someone to devour. “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). So many men and women will enter the new year racked with guilt over the forbidden fruit they ate in the garden of holiday leisure. Take heed! Add temptation to your list of holiday expectations. It will come, but there is hope! “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

One of the primary sins that plagues the leisurely holiday season is the sin of pornography. The absence of routine, reprieve from work or school responsibilities, and addition of discretionary time combine to create a corner where the forbidden woman waits. She is loud and wayward (Proverbs 7:11), but the Word made flesh is louder and stronger. Whether you are caught in pornography’s net, pulled in its direction, or snared by some other sin, Christ gives you hope for victory and a way of escape. The way is not easy, but it leads to the peaceful fruit of righteousness. “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet” (Hebrews 12:12a). The way of escape is just ahead.

The Trailhead: Radical Redemption

The way of escape begins at the trailhead of radical redemption. Only citizens of Christ’s Kingdom can have true victory over sin. But each of us was born a slave to sin. “The Kingdom of Darkness” is printed on our birth certificates, and we follow the wicked laws of the land. We had no access to the victorious kingdom of God. “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:10). You and I find ourselves in this list. The only way of escape must begin with a radical redemption that we cannot accomplish on our own.

If you want to defeat pornography’s temptation, the first step is to run to Christ. When you run to Jesus in faith and repentance, the Father delivers you from the domain of darkness. He transfers you to the kingdom of his beloved Son, “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). What’s more, Jesus takes you, a former citizen of darkness, and washes you. He makes you holy and declares you righteous (1 Corinthians 6:11). The way of escape starts with radical redemption.

Trail-marker 1: Radical Amputation

Jesus does not soften his explanation of how to deal with sexual sin. His words conjure images of spurting blood, severed limbs, and empty eye sockets. “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell” (Matthew 5:29-30). Jesus’ graphic portrait of the war with lust points us to the trail-marker of radical amputation.

The way of escape will cost you more than you think, but it will be worth it. Jesus uses the extreme language of amputation to open our eyes to the reality that victory over lust is worth any sacrifice. Pornography will send you to hell. That is its end. It approaches you like a fun friend, only to slide a knife between your ribs. It is hell’s hatred disguised as a good time. It has infiltrated your phone, computer, and devices, knowing that you have a thousand excuses for not being able to hack them off. The way of escape requires a “whatever it takes” mentality. The good Teacher loves you and is handing you a sword.

Trail-marker 2: Radical Self-Disclosure

The Bible is bookended by light. Light erupts into being at God’s command in Genesis 1:3, and Revelation 22:5 shines with the night-banishing brilliance of his glory. The Apostle John writes, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5b-7).

Pornography fights tooth and nail to be kept in the dark. Any righteous desire to drag it into the light is met with an avalanche of opposition. Sometimes, the opposition comes in the form of false confidence and the assurance that you have the sin under control. You are really going to change this time, so you don’t need to tell anyone about your struggle. Other times, the accuser highlights your guilt and the damage a confession could cause. All you see is a ruined reputation and wrecked relationships. Darkness hates the light.

The hateful powers of darkness do not want you to see the promise made in 1 John 1:7. If you walk in the light – if you take your secret sin and drag it filthy and ugly into the day – what will happen? You will be embraced into a fellowship of saints whose sins were so heinous that Christ had to die for their atonement. Your stained soul is then plunged beneath the blood of that atonement, and you lose all your guilty stains. The way of escape requires radical self-disclosure. Find a trusted Christian friend or counselor, stop your ears to sin’s pitiful pleading, and drag it into the light.

Trail-marker 3: Radical Replacement

Satan is the father of lies. His poisonous deceit becomes a mantra for pornography’s prisoners. The way of escape is not complete without a radical replacement. You must replace the devil’s lies with God’s truth. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:9-11). Victory against sin cannot be won without the weapon of the Word.

God’s Word does not work like a magic spell. You cannot simply speak its contents and banish temptation. The word is powerful because it is God’s self-revelation – a window through which you can behold his glory. Satan’s lies offer you life through worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator. God’s Word reveals the fountain of living water and beckons you to drink. In your fight against pornography, there will be many things that you have to give up, but as you fill your mind with the good Word, you will receive an overabundance of blessings as you soak up the glories of God’s person and work. Along the way of escape, stop at the trail marker of radical replacement. Store the word in your heart that you might not sin against God.

As Christmas turns into the New Year, you need to expect temptation to lurk in the shadows. But God is faithful, and he will provide a way of escape. Enter the way at the trailhead of the radical redemption that comes through Christ. Continue on the way as you amputate the sources of temptation. Stop at the marker of radical self-disclosure and drag your sin into the light. Run with endurance toward the greater pleasure of God as you replace the lies with his truth. This way is ancient, sturdy, and strong. Take the way of escape and let it lead you to life – let it lead you home.