Step 4 - RENOUNCE.
Before reading the next ‘R’, ensure you have read the previous 3 studies.
As we continue this journey toward freedom, especially for anyone struggling with sexual addiction or feeling trapped and addicted to porn, it’s important to understand the difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction is the awareness of wrong, and that awareness—though uncomfortable—is a gift from God. It is the first step toward growth, healing, and transformation. When the Holy Spirit convicts us, we sense His gentle drawing toward change. Condemnation, however, brings guilt, shame, and punishment. It leaves no room for growth, no hope for change, and no space to breathe. Condemnation accuses; conviction invites.
On this path toward freedom—freedom from lust, freedom from sexual sin, freedom from pornography—we began by recognizing that we have a problem. We then took responsibility for that problem, acknowledging that the issue is ours. That honesty leads us into genuine repentance, a turning of our hearts back toward God.
But repentance is not the final step. After repentance comes the fourth “R”: Renounce.
Repentance and renouncing always go together. One cannot truly exist without the other. To renounce something means to formally declare that we abandon it—to refuse to follow it, obey it, or recognize it any longer. It is a deliberate rejection of a sinful pattern, a destructive habit, or an old way of life. For those battling sexual addiction, this is the moment of saying, “No more porn. No more secret sin. I renounce this bondage in Jesus’ name. I will be set free from pornography. I will not return to what once held me.”
Scripture speaks directly to this.
Proverbs 28:13 – “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
Many people repent, but they do not mean it. Many feel remorse, but nothing changes inside. True repentance means to turn away from sin, and Scripture repeatedly calls God’s people to separate themselves from idols and destructive practices before those things destroy them. Sexual addiction—including being addicted to porn—functions like a modern idol, demanding loyalty and stealing intimacy with God. Renouncing it is essential for freedom.
The New Testament reinforces this with striking clarity. Under the new covenant, believers are instructed to make a clean break from anything that competes with loyalty to Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:21–22 – “You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. What? Do we dare…”
This passage confronts us with the reality that we cannot cling to Christ while also clinging to the very things that enslave us. We cannot feast at the Lord’s table while feeding on pornography, lust, or sexual sin. God calls us to renounce these things completely so that we can walk in purity, strength, and freedom.
Renouncing is not merely saying “I’m sorry.” It is declaring, with spiritual authority, that the old bondage no longer has a claim on your life. It is standing up in the power of Christ and saying, “I reject this addiction. I refuse to follow it. I abandon it. I renounce pornography, lust, and every chain connected to them. By the mercy of God, I will be set free from porn and walk in the freedom Jesus purchased for me.”
This is the heart of Step 4. Renouncing breaks agreement with darkness and aligns us fully with the light of Christ. It is a decisive step toward lasting freedom, healing, and restoration.
And finally, it is important, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to renounce not only all sexual and other sins we have practiced during our lifetime, but also the sins of our forefathers. This includes deeply rooted struggles such as sexual addiction to pornography, patterns of lust, and other behaviours that can entangle the heart. Some believers are aware of the spiritual or moral compromises present in their family line, and when these are not acknowledged and renounced, their influence can continue to affect future generations.
Exodus 20:5 – “For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.”
Complete freedom includes allowing God to break hereditary patterns and generational strongholds that have been handed down from previous generations. Through repentance, renunciation, and the healing work of the Holy Spirit, believers can walk in the liberty Christ intends for them.
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