The Word of God tells us to put to death our members which are on the earth, and this exhortation is followed by a list of that unhappy crew (Col. 3:4-6). Uncleanness, lust, fornication . . . all must die. The apostle Paul gives this assignment to Christians, to saints and faithful brethren (Col. 1:2). Anyone who thinks that our salvation guarantees automatic separation from lust is just kidding himself. And anyone who thinks that mortification of lust is “unrealistic” is disobeying the word of the apostle.
Confusion is the first refuge that lust seeks out—if it doesn’t want to die (and it never wants to die). One such confusion is that of thinking that men are the ones with a lust problem. No, men want to want, and women want to be wanted. The fact that men and women yearn differently does not mean that half the human race got to opt out of the human condition. One of our confusions is that we spend too much time marveling at other people’s temptations.
If the modern porn industry had existed in Paul’s day, it most certainly would have been included in this list. If this is something that needs to be mortified in your life, then mortify it. And remember that the enemy does not seduce Christians aimlessly—the seduction is always directional. It is always to something.
In our era, that direction is every form of slavery. A nation of porn slaves will not be free elsewhere. Slaves to sin deserve to be slaves in their outward circumstances. That is just God teaching us on the outside what we are like inside.