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. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

By Chad Prigmore

In 1 Corinthians 6:9 the apostle Paul mentions idolatry as a sin of the unrighteous. Not only does Alcoholics Anonymous promote and encourage idolatry through its concept of creating "your own conception of God", but the entire concept of recovery put forth by the modern recovery movement, and especially by programs like Alcoholics Anonymous and Celebrate Recovery is an idol itself to those who are drawn into it.

One of the most glaring lies that begins closing the trap around the unwary alcoholic or addicted sinner is the idea that their alcoholism or addiction is a disease from which they will never fully recover, but will only be granted a "daily reprieve" from for as long as they "give themselves" to the program of recovery. But we see in 1 Corinthians 6:10 that "drunkards" (Alcoholism) is listed as a sin and therefore, is not a disease according to scripture. If AA were to present the truth that alcoholism is sin that can only be overcome by the blood of Jesus Christ it would nullify the need for its own twelve-step program. So instead, the AA program leads its adherents into the lie of the disease concept which begins the indoctrination into idolatry.

The idol of recovery demands complete submission and the sacrificing of one's life upon it's Twelve Step altar. The book Alcoholics Anonymous on page 58 states, "Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves." The use of fear, accusations of being dishonest, and even threats of death through relapse by not submitting completely to the Alcoholics Anonymous program are common all through the literature of it's program and professed by it's "sponsors" to those they claim to be helping.

The idol of recovery's victims are fooled into trading relief from their sin of addiction for the sin of idolatry in a life long worship of a false God in a false church known as the "Fellowship of the Program". If you have bowed and submitted to the idol of recovery, and committed your life to it's worship through programs like Alcoholics Anonymous - that is your choice. But if you profess to be a Christian who has been led into the recovery movement through a program like Celebrate Recovery which is simply the Twelve Steps of AA with some mostly erroneously applied Bible verses mixed in, are you not living in contradiction to the Christian gospel and commands of scripture? As 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 states, 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. Also, we are directly commanded in 1 Corinthians 10:14, Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

Relying on and living for a program in an effort to be in recovery - even if that program claims to be Christian is nothing more than idolatry. Those in Christ are told in scripture, And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30), looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). We are to look faithfully to Jesus and to Him only for deliverance from every sinful desire and for every need we have.

But "Christian Recovery" programs - especially Celebrate Recovery do not look to Jesus, but instead look to and point others to the false idol of recovery completely ignoring the commands of scripture - even going so far as to disregard the command of God in Deuteronomy 4:2 and actually printing their own Bible with the demonically inspired Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Celebrate Recovery program written into it. 

You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you, - Deuteronomy 4:2

Celebrate Recovery, by mixing the worldly demonic teachings of Alcoholics Anonymous with the word of God in an effort to draw people into the idolatrous recovery movement, displays the dangerous heresy that the apostle Paul warns about in 1 Corinthians 10:21 which says, You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Spend some time researching the demonic origins of Alcoholics Anonymous and the massive amount of heresy put forth in their books, Alcoholics Anonymous, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, as well as many others and it becomes glaringly clear that Celebrate Recovery is indeed a program which promotes the cup and table of demons with a Christian marketing angle.

Romans 12:2 says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We, as followers of Jesus Christ are not to be conformed to this world but instead to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds by seeking the Lord and by the prayerful study and meditating on of His word by the leading and working of the Holy Spirit. We are to discern what is of God's will and what is of this dark and fallen world by testing everything and holding it up to the light of scripture and seeking only what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

If you are a Christian who has been misled by the modern idol of recovery you must reject it and flee from it, understanding that in Christ is the only absolute truth and freedom from sin and you must abide only in Him. Reject and cast off the things of this world and seek to understand and grasp the awesome and merciful truth of 1 Corinthians 6:11:

If you are a Christian who was fooled and trapped in the false teachings of Twelve Step programs, I hope you will read and meditate on the words of this wonderful prayer. When I realized the truth of the Twelve Steps I was horrified that I had participated for so long in such heresy. I asked the Lord for forgiveness, turned from the path I was on and repented of the sin the Twelve Steps had led me into.

Chad Prigmore

​Dear Lord,
I am so sorry for the way I'm wasting the precious life you gave me.
Forgive me for living like a selfish three year old.
Forgive me for any pride I take in my "wild times" war stories.
Forgive me for believing in worldly labels like addict, alcoholic, and many others.
Forgive me for portraying myself as sick and diseased.
Let me see the reality of my state.
I am not a victim.
I am a sinner, and a law breaker.
I am guilty for my crimes.
Forgive me Lord for making a program my Messiah and savior instead of you.
Forgive me Lord for putting The Big Book in front of or even alongside your awesome word.
Forgive me for every recovery meeting I ever attended because a recovery meeting is all about ME!
Forgive me for sitting in a room where you are horrifically referred to as a higher power. My heart aches that I described you in that way.
Have mercy on me for holding hands and reciting the way you taught us to pray as a cheap means to a better life. Show me what that prayer really means!
Forgive me for every sponsor I ever had and I pray that you would reveal truth in their hearts that they might also be saved.
Lord, from this day forward I put my faith and trust in you.
I repent, I am turning from my sin and wicked way of life and I desire to live a life that is pleasing to you.
I believe Lord that you went to the cross and took my sins, my lawlessness with you and you suffered and drank down the cup of wrath that was mine.
I believe I am saved through grace alone, in Christ alone.
It is this grace that keeps me sober and changes my desires.
I believe that your word is sufficient for my life.
Father, thank you for the gift of your son.
Holy Spirit, fill me and help me live the life I am called to.
All praise and thanks to Jesus Christ my Lord who took me from death to life and from darkness to light.

Amen!! 

- By Doug Hardy

By Chad Prigmore

When you break it down, victory over the sin of addiction is victory over temptation - the temptation to sin. Our natural fallen desire to sin must be transformed into a righteous desire to please God which from a purely human capacity is impossible and in direct contradiction to our nature. It is only by the supernatural power of God's grace that a person's natural desire to sin can be transformed into a desire to please God in righteousness.

The prophet Jeremiah explained perfectly the human condition without the transforming power of God's grace: ​"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)

But even as Christians, saved and transformed by the blood of Jesus Christ, we still struggle against temptation for the time that we are here in the flesh. So the question becomes, "Just what is the most powerful way, as we grow in sanctification, to obtain victory over the temptations of the flesh"? This question - especially during the time in which we live, in which so much Christian teaching has come to look outside of the Word, or added to the Word from the teachings of psychology, psychiatry, new age philosophy, secular recovery, etc... is a very important one to address. And, with the hope of not seeming to overly simplistic, might we now consider turning back to the founder and perfecter of our faith and casting aside the influences of this world for the needed victory over the age old battle against the temptation to sin? Might Jesus our Savior have provided the means of victory for us in this battle?

Consider the greatest single onslaught of temptation that any human has ever had to endure - the temptation that Jesus faced in the desert and the victory He claimed over it. Also, as you read through this section of scripture please bear in mind that when Jesus faced these temptations he had fasted for forty days and forty nights out in the desert by Himself. Jesus also knew what lay ahead for Him in just three years. He knew that He was moving toward the time when His closest followers would desert Him, when He would be betrayed by one of His own apostles, when He would be arrested and accused falsely, then spat on, ridiculed, tortured, and stripped naked and hung from a cross by those He came to save. But beyond all the ridicule and physical pain Jesus knew as Satan tempted Him that He would have to take on Himself the sins of all mankind and endure the wrath of His Father in order to atone for our transgressions - in order to save us from that horrific and justified wrath.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 
And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 
And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 
But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 
and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" 
Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 
And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 
Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" 
Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. - Matthew 4:1-11

​All the Lord had to do in order to avoid what He knew He would soon endure was to give in to Satan's temptations. But by giving in to Satan, the Lord Jesus would have been abandoning us to eternal damnation. Because of love for us He stood firm, fought of the temptations of Satan and the devil left Him.

When we are faced with temptations, why would we ever consider looking for a solution other than what Jesus Himself shows us so clearly in His Word? Jesus, when tempted declared "It is written" in response to each temptation and the power of the Word proclaimed faithfully gave Him the victory. For whatever temptations we struggle against, for whatever attacks Satan unleashes on us through the enticements of this world, Jesus shows us the way to victory - through His Word!

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:2

By Chad Prigmore

​Every alcoholic or addict knows what slavery is. You become a slave when you hate the booze and you hate the dope - but it doesn't matter. You reach that point where your liquid and chemical friends that used to be so fun begin to take and take and take until the stuff on the outside of you is either gone or completely messed up, and then they start ripping out pieces of your soul. And even though you despise the thought of giving them more after each time they have used you up, it's not long until you go looking for them again. And each time you find them they make the horror go away just a little less and for not quite as long as they did the last time, and after they've worn off and gone away the terror is a little worse than it was the time before.

The truth for the slave in this state of servitude is that they are already dead. Not because of their relentless friends booze and dope. The slave is dead because he is a slave to sin, and anyone not freed from the clutches of sin regardless of whether they look like it or not is a dead man walking.
​
The slave to sin is not a sinner because he sins; someone is not a sinner because they are an alcoholic or an addict. The slave sins because he is a sinner, he was born with a nature already enslaved to sin as we all were. His nefarious friends feed on the sin that has already killed it's slave.

There is only one way out of the bondage the Sin Slave is trapped in death to. But the slave must beware, because the darkness of this world will do all it can to entice and lure the slave away from the only truth than can redeem him and bring him back from the dead. He must learn and know the one and only truth that can save him.

The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray. - Proverbs 5:22-23

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- 
and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 
so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  
not a result of works, so that no one may boast. - Ephesians 2:4-9

"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:12