This course will continue to reinforce the principles of freedom from impurity that we learned in Bootcamp. It will focus us on the power of the cross, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the power of Jesus' resurrection enabling our own resurrection from the tomb of impurity.
Right after Jesus said, “everyone who sins is a slave of sin” (John 8:34), He said, “So if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed” (verse 36).
Jesus sets us free as we learn to Wash at the cross, cleansing our consciences and our thoughts, as we learn to Walk by the Spirit and as we learn to War against our flesh.
Friend, there is real power at the cross, power to change our hearts and then our actions. This power does not have to do with behavior modification techniques, willing ourselves to change, addiction/recovery or any other kind of external stimulus to try to get us to improve. God designed the solution to go straight to our hearts, making the internal change both real and lasting.
Romans 1:16 ESV For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
So, we see that the gospel is the power of God for everyone who believes. It is power to save us, and power to free us. It is power to rescue us from sin’s slavery, and power to keep us safe. It is power to change our hearts and power to heal our messed-up past. It is power to mend broken lives and broken marriages, power to raise us up from sin and make us godly men and women. This is the power of God’s grace as shown in the gospel.
Notice from the passage below how the gospel affected one group of people, and as you’re reading keep in mind that the changes that happened to these people can happen to you as well:
1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, 9 ESV For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, (5) because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction....(9) For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
The gospel came to these people with power (verse 5), the power to change their lives! What changes did they experience?