Epithumeia — this is the Greek word usually translated “lust” or “ungodly passions.” It’s an important word to understand. The word literally means “over-desire.” We want too much. A desire becomes a demand. We take a created thing and make it a god.

2 Peter 1:4 says that “corruption is in the world because of ‘epithumeia.” If you have ever asked, “What is wrong with the world?’ Or, even better, “What is wrong with me?” Peter gives you the answer.

Why is this word so important?  Tim Keller, a pastor and scholar, says that this idea is what bridges the gap between the Old and New Testament in regards to the concept of sin.  In the Old Testament the problem is idolatry, the literal fashioning of a god from something created.  In the New Testament “epithumeia” is the equivalent of idolatry.

“Over-desire” is the fashioning of a god from something created as well, it just doesn’t have to be physical. We take a created thing like power or money or recognition or romance and make it the thing we have to have in order to have life.  If we do not get these things we will not be happy.  Therefore, we are willing to be very bad to get these things, which is irreligious.  Or we are willing to be very good to get these things, which is religion.  Either way, these both cause corruption, because the focus is the self.

But in the gospel, the self is replaced with a greater passion, a desire for God Himself.  In light of what Jesus has done, we can no longer ignore God irreligiously, or use God religiously, but we now can get God.  He no longer is marginalized or a means to an end, but the end itself, the desire of our hearts.