Fentanyl, Death, and Eternal Life (2 of 3)

By TAC Team with Dr. Mark E. Shaw

(Part 2 of 3)

In our part 1 post, you read the fictional scenarios about:

John (age 36) is seeking same high from his usual drug of choice from one of his usual dealers.

Jake (age 15) is trying out a new vape for the first time that his friend at school gives him to “stay focused” as he studies for finals.

Drug Distributor Donnie (age 21) receives a new batch of pills for a better price so he can make more money more quickly, and so he decides to test it out with his girlfriend first…

Addiction and Drug Use: Not a Super-Sized Problem

As we talked about in part 1, pursuing drunkenness (an altered state of consciousness induced from intoxicating substances or behaviors) and the sinful use of other drugs are NOT special sin categories because we are all in the same Jeremiah 17:9 predicament with a deceiving heart that leads us astray.

But with the choices that John, Jake, and Donnie are making today, they are each in urgent need of hearing a Gospel message. Their lives are in imminent danger because of the fentanyl overdose crisis we are witnessing.

We Christ-followers have:

A message of hope
We have gifts from God to be used to offer eternal solutions
We can offer practical life-changing help to others all for the glory of God.

Better than Harm Reduction

Yes, let’s bring to their attention that fentanyl has been tainting the press pills out there, and many other drugs are being cut with it as well. But our message is not,

“Be safe!”

or “Take care!”

or “Use with a buddy!”

Our message is better:

“There is something guaranteed to be better for you than drugs – an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!” (Dr. Mark E. Shaw – 2022)

Imminent death is coming to everyone on earth, and Christ-followers have a biblical message that universally applies. It’s the same message we have for every reader of this post, and every person on the planet, whoever you are:

Jesus saves and transforms the desires of the heart.

The Good News of Jesus Christ

Every individual person, no matter who you are, has a body that will be resurrected to eternal life after death (Acts 24:14-16, 1 Cor 15, Rev 20). You are going to live forever: in either a place of everlasting bliss and perfection, or a place of physical pain and torment that lasts forever,

and ever,

and ever.

Jesus Christ, the God-made-man-Savior-of-the-world, can and will forgive those who call upon Him for salvation from all their sins. (Romans 10:9) Christian friend, will you join us, and let’s spread the Word of hope for addiction? Consider:

obtaining our fundamentals of addictions biblical counseling training
jumping into our commissioning process
learning more about our recommended resources
pointing people to a genuinely biblical program or addiction biblical counselors
or listening to our free podcast for conversations that will ignite a passion for action in the midst of the fentanyl epidemic.

Jesus offers a free gift of grace for all sinners who are willing to turn around and run to Him.

“But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” [Rom 5:15-17 ESV]

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Rom 6:23 ESV]

The Addiction Connection “TAC TEAM” assisted with this article.

Mark E. Shaw, D.Min., CADAC II, CABC, IABC, ACBC, Founder and President of The Addiction Connection, is the author of the new booklet, Fentanyl, the first release in The Transformation Series; Cross Talking: A Daily Gospel for Transforming Addicts; The Heart of Addiction: A Biblical Perspective; and Relapse: Biblical Prevention Strategies, which are all available at Focus Publishing for bulk discounts by calling 800.913.6287. Mark resides in the northern KY, greater Cincinnati area with his wife and four adult children, where he serves Grace Fellowship Church as the Director of Counseling.