Proverbs 5:4

³ For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, And her speech is smoother than oil; ⁴ But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death, Her steps take hold of Sheol.

Four months ago I didn’t think myself equipped to pull the speck out of my reader’s eye (Matt. 7:2-4) regarding these verses –  if indeed there is a speck of lust? I was still in combat training against the lips of an adulteress; her speech is smoother than oil, which makes grappling against her batting of the eyes and biting of the lip impossible to resist for turning into some perverse fantasy. It wasn’t that I was involved in a physical affair or looking at porn—that demon departed—but that the idea of being unfulfilled in some lustful way…was my battle ground; self-control is developed through the discipline of resistance.

That battle ground I mentioned, it’s a place you and I are sharing in my writing and your reading. It’s only natural for the mind to think about our subject at hand, but how the information of the topic affects us… intrigues me.

I had judged what I was up against four months ago as worse than committing the act of adultery because I lived in “death” for the experience of “Sheol”. In other words not looking at porn or resisting masturbation will not solve the deeper problem of lust although it is a step in the right direction. The feet of a seductress goes down to death and her appetite is the devil’s bed, or restroom perhaps? Because you know the places of your vices, they’re home to you and the devil. It’s a deal bargained for your soul unless confessed and repented of. The mind is so powerful that it has the capacity to stronghold you into unbelief by keeping you in your sin that Jesus Christ saved you out of; the choice on whether you want to live in sin or escape is purely psychological and spiritual in nature, the choice is made by how you behave! So how do you behave in secret?

The question is simple: 

Do you want to escape from the will of the devil (2 Timothy 2:24-26)?

The answer is not so simple; discipline is suffering. 

In my case I lived in the adultery of my mind because of insecurities and pride that the Church couldn’t cure because it was too personal, beyond human intuition and perception. And until I faced what that meant in order for that part of me to die, I would continue to give myself over to the seductress of my soul—thinking I didn’t want that attractive person to look at me the way they did by which invoked sexual fantasies, but it happened because of sin… “So I must be safe, right?” Wrong! As innocent as it might be to experience the chemical and neurological processes of my reproductive and intellectual organs doesn’t mean I’m not guilty of committing adultery in my heart by turning what was innocent into a conscious fantasy where pleasure is performed until release, a proclivity to doing it over and over and over again.

The seductress of your soul might look like a number of different things: perhaps it is wanting something that someone else has, or perhaps fulfilling something that someone else doesn’t have or hasn’t experienced, or perhaps it’s the fact that the conscience convicts what is off limits and not understanding why will drive you absolutely insane until you find it out? I think we could go on and on in addition to scenarios, but I don’t think that wise, said facetiously. I think—or at least hope—you get the idea.

If you want to escape from the seductress of your soul you’ll need to first confess to the Church, that’s the first act of repentance and it might be multiple times, but don’t underestimate your faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. By “Church” I mean two or three witnesses of a congregation in the Body of Christ. These people will be governed by the Holy Spirit for the sake of your forgiveness and accountability moving forward in your new life. 

Without genuine christian accountability in your life you’ll fall all the harder into your sin you’ve just escaped from, so do not think you can win against evil without God, it is impossible without God!

I’ll be praying for you, reader.

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MORE CONTENT & RESOURCES

Proverbs 5 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org | biblegateway.com

Matthew Henry (P5-V4) Commentary

• (1.) How fatal the consequences will be. What fruit will the sinner have of his honey and oil when the end will be,
  • [1.] The terrors of conscience: It is bitter as wormwood, v. 4. What was luscious in the mouth rises in the stomach and turns sour there; it cuts, in the reflection, like a two-edged sword; take it which way you will, it wounds. Solomon could speak by experience, Eccl. 7:26.
  • [2.] The torments of hell. If some that have been guilty of this sin have repented and been saved, yet the direct tendency of the sin is to destruction of body and soul; the feet of it go down to death, nay, they take hold on hell, to pull it to the sinner, as if the damnations slumbered too long, v. 5. Those that are entangled in this sin should be reminded that there is but a step between them and hell, and that they are ready to drop into it.