At The Cross Recovery
The Steps to Freedom in Christ
We need Christ to change! We are born physically alive, but spiritually dead. Our physical world is full of lies about us. If we believe these lies they become bondage and baggage, and keep us from knowing who we are in Christ. To become free we need to be spiritually alive, and to do that we need to know who we are in Christ. Then we are able to live in freedom!
The Steps to Freedom in Christ is a seven step process, offered to attendee's of ATCR, that helps to resolve the personal and spiritual conflicts that hold us back from a spiritually healthy relationship with God.
"Every born-again Christian is a child of God and a new creation in Christ. Incomplete repentance, a lack of faith in Him, and unresolved conflicts can keep Christians from experiencing their freedom in Christ."
"Who sets us free is Christ, What sets us free IS OUR RESPONSE TO HIM
through repentance AND FAITH..."
"...its not about our salvation, its about our fruitfulness..."
~ Neil Anderson
Step #1 – Counterfeit versus Real In making a public profession of faith, the early church would stand, face the west and say, “I renounce you Satan and all your works and all your ways.” This was the first step in repentance. The Catholic church and most liturgical churches still require that to be said at confirmation. That is a generic statement, however. The early church would specifically renounce every counterfeit religious experience they had, every false vow or pledge they made, and every false teacher or doctrine in whom they believed. We encourage every person we counsel to do that as well. Renounce means to give up a claim or a right to something. When we renounce something, we are making a definite decision to let go of our past commitments, pledges, vows, pacts, and beliefs that are not Christian. “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Prov. 28:13 NIV). Some people commit themselves to Christ and choose to believe the Word of God, but they hold on to past commitments and still believe what they always have. That would make salvation only addition instead of transformation. They just added something to what they already believe. Every believer must decisively let go of the past, which is the first step to genuine repentance. If we have totally embraced the truth, then we have also clearly understood what is not true. All this was made possible because of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Our sins are forgiven and we have new life in Christ, but nobody pushed the clear button in that organic computer between our ears. Our minds were not instantly transformed to the truth of God’s Word, but now we can repent by the grace of God. The Apostle Paul said, “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the Word of God, but by the manifestation of truth, commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor. 4:1,2). Paul is contrasting the truth of divine revelation with that of false teachers and prophets. Knowing God’s holiness and His call for church purity, Paul exhorts us to renounce every immoral practice, every distortion of truth, and any deceitfulness of the heart. God does not take lightly false guidance and false teachers. In the Old Testament they were to be stoned to death, and there were serious consequences for those who consulted them. “As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people” (Lev. 20:6). There are similar warnings about false teachers and false prophets in the New Testament. That is why we have found it necessary to renounce any and all involvement with false guidance, false teachers, false prophets, and every cult and occultic practice. We don’t want to be cut off by God; we want to be connected to Him.
Step #2 – Deception versus Truth The ultimate battle is between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, between Christ and the anti-Christ, between good and evil, between the father of lies and the Spirit of Truth. An important step in realizing our freedom is to sort out the lies and choose the truth. We are admonished to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:25), walk in the light and have fellowship with one another (1 Jn. 1:7). Many who struggle in their Christian walk believe lies, walk in darkness, and avoid intimate contact with others. In order to live free in Christ, we must choose the truth by winning the battle for our minds. This requires an uncompromising commitment to God’s Word, regardless of how one feels. Step #3 – Bitterness versus Forgiveness We have never met a defeated Christian who isn’t struggling with bitterness. They carry emotional scars and the painful wounds inflicted upon them by others. They have never known how to let go of the past and forgive from the heart. Some have chosen not to. They hang on to their anger as a means of protecting themselves from being hurt again, but they are only hurting themselves. Forgiveness is to set a captive free and then discover you were the captive. People cannot be free from their past and emotionally free today without forgiving from the heart. If we don’t forgive from our heart, God will turn us over to the torturers (Matt. 18:34). God is not out to get us; He is out to restore us. He knows that if we hang on to our bitterness, we will only hurt ourselves and others (Heb. 12:15). “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:31,32). We forgive others for our sake and for the sake of our relationship with God. What is to be gained in forgiving others is freedom. We are also warned by Paul that we need to forgive others so that Satan doesn’t take advantage of us (2 Cor. 2:10,11). This critical issue must be resolved in order to be free from our past.
Step #3 – Bitterness versus Forgiveness We have never met a defeated Christian who isn’t struggling with bitterness. They carry emotional scars and the painful wounds inflicted upon them by others. They have never known how to let go of the past and forgive from the heart. Some have chosen not to. They hang on to their anger as a means of protecting themselves from being hurt again, but they are only hurting themselves. Forgiveness is to set a captive free and then discover you were the captive. People cannot be free from their past and emotionally free today without forgiving from the heart. If we don’t forgive from our heart, God will turn us over to the torturers (Matt. 18:34). God is not out to get us; He is out to restore us. He knows that if we hang on to our bitterness, we will only hurt ourselves and others (Heb. 12:15). “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:31,32). We forgive others for our sake and for the sake of our relationship with God. What is to be gained in forgiving others is freedom. We are also warned by Paul that we need to forgive others so that Satan doesn’t take advantage of us (2 Cor. 2:10,11). This critical issue must be resolved in order to be free from our past.
Step #5 – Pride versus Humility God created Adam and Eve to live dependent upon Him. All temptation is an attempt to get us to live our lives independent of God. Pride is an independent spirit that wants to exalt self. “God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble” (Jas. 4:6). Pride says I can do it myself, and I don’t need God or anyone else. Such arrogant thinking sets us up for a fall, because “pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling” (Prov. 16:18). We absolutely need God and we necessarily need each other. Paul says, “we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh” (Phil. 3:3).
Step #4 – Rebellion versus Submission We live in a very rebellious age. Everyone thinks it is his right to criticize and sit in judgment of those who are over him. When sown, the seeds of rebellion reap anarchy and spiritual defeat. If you have a rebellion problem, you may have the worst problem in the world. Scripture instructs us to submit to and pray for those who are in authority over us. Honoring your mother and father is the first of the Ten Commandments that ends in a promise. The same is true in the New Testament (Rom. 13:1-3): Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. There are times when we must obey God rather than man, but they are usually rare exceptions. When a human authority requires you to do something that is forbidden by God, and restricts you from doing what God has called you to do, then you must obey God rather than man. The same applies when a person tries to exercise control over you when it exceeds the scope of his authority. A policeman can write you a ticket for breaking the traffic laws, but he cannot tell you what to believe or prevent you from going to church. Also, it is legitimate and necessary to set up scriptural boundaries to protect yourself from further abuse by tyrants. Living under a repressive political regime, critical boss, or abusive parents can be depressing if we let it. But they are not determining who we are unless we let them. It takes a great act of faith to trust God to work through something less than perfect authority figures, but that is what He is asking us to do. This is critically important for a right relationship with God, and that is essential for our complete victory in Christ.
Step #6 – Bondage versus Freedom Habitual sin will keep us in bondage. Paul wrote, “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts” (Rom. 13:12-14). Repentance and faith in God is the only answer for breaking the bondage to the sin which so easily entangles us. You can be free from bondage to sin, because every believer is alive in Christ and dead to sin (Rom. 6:11).
Step #7 – Curses versus Blessings The last step in helping others find freedom in Christ is to renounce the sins of our ancestors and actively take our place in Christ and resist the devil. The Ten Commandments reveal that the iniquities of fathers can be visited upon the third and fourth generation. This is evident in our society in the well-known cycles of abuse. Jesus said in Matthew 23:29-31: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, “If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.” So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. In other words, “Like father, like son.” We are not guilty of our father’s sins, but because they sinned, we will have to live with the consequences of their sin, and we are doomed to continue to live in the way we were taught by them unless we repent. “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher” (Lk. 6:40). The primary teachers in the first five years of our lives have been our parents, and much of our personality and temperament has been established in those early and formative years of our lives. When they repented in the Old Testament, they confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers (see Lev.26:39,40; Neh.1:5,6, 9:2; Jer.14:20; Dan. 9:10,11). Rather than defending their fathers and continuing in their sins, they made a clean break from that which they knew was wrong, and so must we, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver and gold from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Jesus” (1 Pet. 1:18,19).