A picture of the reformed life is when an alcoholic goes to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and puts his faith in a higher power, but not Jesus. As a result, he may get delivered from alcohol but sadly many “reformed” alcoholics become heavy smokers and thus exchange one bondage for another. I believe the reason AA can help people is not because of the so-called higher power, but because of the group dynamic and having accountability partners. However, when this same alcoholic gives his life over to Christ he becomes transformed into a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) tells us: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” My friends there is a huge difference between the reformed life that AA offers and the transformed life that Christ supplies.
We live in a world where society thinks that positive thinking, self-help books, and better education can solve all of mankind’s problems. However, as a psychiatrist once said, “I can cure someone’s madness but not their badness.” I think C. S. Lewis said it well when he proclaimed: “We are not merely imperfect creatures who must be improved; we are rebels who must lay down our arms.”1
Since the Bible says that we are dead in our sins and trespasses we have no capacity on our own to make the transformational changes necessary to re-establish our severed relationship with God. In fact if you read (Romans 7) we see that Paul says that no good dwells in his old sinful nature. Thus, before we come to Christ, asking self to help self, make the foundational changes necessary to find true peace, joy, and meaning in life, is a total impossibility. Oh yes, mankind is capable of making modest improvements to his life, but the transformational changes necessary to experience true joy and peace and a re-established relationship with the God of the universe can only come about through Christ.
All the efforts we make outside of Christ can at best reform some of our habits, but fall woefully short of the transformed life that is necessary to change us from a sinner to a saint and from bondage to free. My friends only Jesus Christ can make the necessary changes needed to bring you back to God and to a life of rich meaning both now and into eternity.
I like what apologist Josh McDowell shares what happens to an individual when he lets Jesus into his heart: “Most important of all, individual believers can experience the power of the risen Christ in their lives today. First of all, they can know that their sins are forgiven (see Luke 24:46-47; 1 Corinthians 15:3). Second, they can be assured of eternal life and their own resurrection from the grave (see 1 Corinthians 15:19-26). Third, they can be released from a meaningless and empty life and be transformed into new creatures in Jesus Christ (see John 10:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17).”2 He then goes on to add: “You can laugh at Christianity; you can mock it and ridicule it. But it works. It changes lives. I should say Jesus Christ changes lives. Christianity is not a religion; it’s not a system; it’s not an ethical idea; it’s not a psychological phenomenon. It’s a person. If you trust Christ, start watching your attitudes and actions because Jesus Christ is in the business of changing lives.”3
And finally, only those who have been transformed by Christ, can know with certainty that their passports have been restamped from hell bound to heaven bound!
1 ‘The Problem of Pain’ by C.S. Lewis: A summary (samselikoff.com)
2 Josh McDowell – Most important of all, individual believers can… (bibleportal.com)
3 Josh McDowell – You can laugh at Christianity, you can mock it… (bibleportal.com)
Position Commentary: “Trading Bottles for Cigarettes”
…From the Desk of the Auditor
AA has helped a lot of people stop drinking. That’s not a small thing. Alcohol can ruin bodies, marriages, careers, and souls with a kind of patient brutality. So when a man walks into a room, admits he’s powerless, and finally stops lying, something real has started.
But we should be cautious to not confuse a good outcome with a complete solution.
What AA gets right (and why it often works):
AA has a few structural strengths that, frankly, the average person’s willpower does not.
Confession and accountability: “I have a problem” is the first honest sentence many alcoholics say in years. AA normalizes truth-telling.
Community and repetition: Frequent meetings replace isolation with rhythm. Isolation is where relapse breeds.
A workable humility: The program attacks pride and self-deception. That matters because addiction feeds on “I’m fine.”
A “higher power” bridge: For people who can’t yet say “Jesus,” the idea of a power greater than self is sometimes the only doorway they can walk through without bolting.
So yes: AA can function like emergency triage. Bleeding slows. The person can stand up. Families can breathe again.
Where the cracks show (especially spiritually):
Now the hard part: AA’s “higher power” concept is intentionally flexible. That flexibility is also its theological weakness.
If the “higher power” is vague, personalized, or basically self-designed, then the alcoholic may still be living under the same old management style: self at the center, just with better habits and new vocabulary.
From a Christian lens, that’s not salvation. That’s behavior modification with a spiritual garnish.
And when the core issue is not transformed, the heart often demands a substitute.
The cigarette problem: one bondage for another
It’s common to see someone stop drinking and then ramp up nicotine, caffeine, food, gambling, porn, anger, workaholism, or control. Smoking is just the obvious one because it’s socially tolerated and chemically efficient.
Why this happens:
The body still wants a regulator. Alcohol turned down anxiety, shame, and rage. Nicotine becomes the new thermostat.
Identity shifts faster than healing. “I’m sober now” is true, but the wounds underneath sobriety may still be untreated.
Spiritual displacement isn’t the same as spiritual deliverance. Removing alcohol without addressing worship, meaning, and surrender often leaves a vacuum. Vacuums get filled.
So yes: the man may leave alcohol and pick up cigarettes and call it victory. And in one sense, it is. But it can also be a lateral move: less destructive today, still enslaved tomorrow.
A Christian assessment of “Higher Power” vs Jesus:
Here’s the clean audit line.
AA can help someone stop drinking.
Only Christ makes someone new.
AA’s “higher power” can restrain a behavior. Jesus confronts the heart, the sin, the shame, the identity, and the lordship issue underneath it all.
Christianity isn’t “add God to my recovery plan.” It’s repentance and surrender. Not “I’ll accept help from Something Up There,” but “Jesus is Lord, not my appetite, not my fear, not my pain, not my story.”
If a person will not submit to Christ, they may still experience real common-grace improvements. I’ll acknowledge that without sneering. But from a biblical standpoint, the endgame is not “less alcohol.” It’s freedom. And freedom is not merely the absence of a substance. It’s the presence of a new Master.
So what do we say, responsibly?
AA is often a merciful on-ramp for people who would otherwise die or destroy everything.
AA is not the gospel, and a vague “higher power” can leave the self in charge.
Addiction substitution is real. Sobriety can coexist with new dependencies, including heavy smoking.
The goal is not sobriety alone. The goal is transformation, holiness, and wholeness.
Christ-centered recovery goes deeper: not just “stop drinking,” but “learn to live surrendered, healed, honest, and free.”
AA is broad and effective for alcohol recovery, but its openness can lead to partial deliverance and substitution behaviors. Celebrate Recovery narrows the path to Christ, offering holistic healing but limiting accessibility to those outside the Christian faith.
Conclusion:
If someone quits alcohol through AA but becomes a heavy smoker, we shouldn’t mock the win. We should also refuse to call the job done.
Sobriety is a milestone.
Bondage swapping is a warning sign.
Jesus is the cure, not the coping strategy.
If the bottle is gone but the chains remain, you didn’t find freedom. You found a new set of keys to the same cell.