Pastor John, here's a question that we get often in the Ask Pastor John email inbox, worded in various ways, but here's the main thread in this common question. Is an addiction to pornography an unpardonable or unforgivable sin? In the way I understand the Bible about sin, the only sin that cannot be pardoned is the sin that cannot be repented of.

And what I mean by repented of is at least four things. One is a sin that produces remorse for the offense to God, not just the pain of the punishment. And two, a sin that is put consciously by faith under the blood of Christ. And three, a sin that is fought with dependence on the Holy Spirit, Romans 8, 13, "Put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit." And fourth, a sin that we renounce, we consciously say no to, renounce, with a genuine embrace of Christ as our superior treasure.

That's what I mean by the repentance of sin. Any sin that you can repent of will be forgiven. There is though, and this is probably why the question was asked, there is a depth and extent of sinning that is so deep and so long that the sinner can't repent anymore.

And the reason I feel frighteningly confident to say that is because Esau is given in Hebrews as an example of that very thing. And what's so stunningly relevant of that here is because the writer introduces Esau illustrating the need to fight sexual immorality. He says in Hebrews 12, 15, "See to it that no one is sexually immoral." Now, as far as we know, that wasn't the issue with Esau.

Maybe when he married those pagan women, but it says, "See to it that no one is sexually immoral." He's using Esau as an example of that. "Unholy like Esau who sold his birthright for a single meal, for you know that afterwards when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected for he found no place of repentance." And I think that means not a physical lethality, but there was no place in his heart as he cast about trying to find a real repentance in his heart.

It wasn't there, even though he was crying. And that's why I said the remorse has to be more than just remorse for the loss of punishment. So there is a too late in our compromise with sin. God does at times withdraw his patient protection from final destruction and hand us over like Romans 1.

God gave them over to dishonorable passions. And it was 126 or 128. God gave them over to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. But here's the encouragement. Here's what I want to press in on this person's conscience for hope. It says in Romans 2, 4, "Don't presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience." So God is long suffering and he's patient.

But you realize that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. So I would say to this person, don't assume it's too late. Assume that God's mercy is still leading you to repentance. Assume he's still at work in your life. After all, the question has arisen. You are not giving up, it sounds like.

So my answer is, an addiction to pornography is not unforgivable if it is repented of, which means it would be temporary. And I don't know how long it might last. God alone knows how long it would go on. And he's very, very patient. So the question is, knowing the present bondage, that's what I take an addiction to be, knowing the present bondage, are you making war on it?

Do you keep making war? Now there's the question. Sometimes guys will say, "I've tried to make war. It doesn't work." I say, "Well, you think the battle's over? It's not over. Do you keep making war as long as it takes? Or have you given up and settled in and made peace with your sin?

If that's the case, you're in big trouble. So are you putting it to death? It may be, it no doubt is a very resilient foe. It may refuse to die all at once, but the question is, do you keep thrusting the sword of the Spirit through it over and over again?

And I stumble onto this in thinking about this question as a final practical suggestion. It says in 1 John 5, 16, "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin, not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him," that is the sinning brother, "life." So if you see someone in an addiction or a bondage to sexual immorality, then you ask for that person.

So I would say one of the marks of the sin that you're committing not leading to death is that you are willing to find a brother and ask him to pray for you. And that prayer, 1 John 5, 16 says, will be one of God's instruments in delivering you.

Yes, good. That's a great point. So the bottom line is don't presume that you can sin today and repent tomorrow, and don't despair that you cannot repent today for the sin yesterday. Exactly. Excellent. Thank you, Pastor John. Our other Ask Pastor John episodes deal with pornography directly, and each of them can be found in the archives.

Episode 18 is about fighting porn with theology. Episode 60 is about men fighting porn with a brother in Christ. Episodes 122 and 165 deal with how a woman should respond to her boyfriend or husband's porn addiction. Well as you know, there's an interesting new trend in our churches, a trend that Charles Spurgeon and a whole lot of pastors were never concerned with, electronic Bible apps and smartphones and tablets.

So what's better for church, bringing a printed copy of the Bible or bringing an illuminated screen? What are the pros and cons of each? A listener wants to know, and Monday we'll hear Pastor John's thoughts. Until then, I'm your host Tony Reinke. Have a great weekend. 1 you you