Our God makes Sons out of Slaves: The Victory in Christ Series Introduction

This series is inspired by seeking the Lord in prayer and in the Word regarding full freedom from lust & sexual immorality, and with these, addiction & shame. It is also inspired by walking alongside other young men who are struggling or have struggled under the immense weight of shame and the consequences of struggling with lust, addiction, porn, masturbation, etc.

Victory is Christ has been given through Christ, the victorious Lamb of God who was slain. Real freedom from slavery to sexual immorality, addiction, & shame is available and possible through Christ for all followers of Jesus.

A Testimony that needs to be shared

I was addicted, full of shame, and believing I was unloved and unlovable.

Then Jesus met me with love in the midst of my guilt and shame and changed the course of my life with three words: YOU ARE LOVED.

Now, I am free from addiction and shame, and I experience the love of God on a daily basis.

All glory to our awesome God! My life has been utterly changed ever since.

While I have shared this testimony with many in person, I have not published it for others to see until now.

Through reading the Word of God, prayer, and countless conversations with others regarding so-called “taboo” topics of sexual immorality, addiction, and shame, the Lord has revealed to me how necessary it is to bring these topics into the light, especially so considering how many struggle greatly with shame as a result of sexual immorality and addiction amid our hyper-sexualized Western world, media, and culture.

By sharing my own experience and God’s love and grace to free me from addiction and shame, the Lord has opened up numerous doors to walk alongside others who are in the same shoes I was in. In the last few months alone, God has opened up several opportunities to build ongoing relationships with men in need of discipleship, namely, needing a friend to open up to without fear of condemnation.

7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” - Romans 5:7-9

That is very, very good news. Christ died for us while we were still sinners, not once we got our act together. Hallelujah!

Lust is a plague.

Sexual immorality is a stronghold.

Here are some weighty statistics on the gravity of the issue at hand.

To all those reading and listening, there is eye-opening, sad, and heart-wrenching information below. It is hard to hear but I strongly believe it must be brought into the light. If it remains in the darkness, we have no reason to expect any of this to change. But the Bible says in Ephesians 5:11-14,

11 “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead,and Christ will shine on you.’”

Feel free to take a moment to pray and ask God to give you wisdom and insight on how to respond to this knowledge. After reading or listening to these, please join me in my prayer (below).

* More people visit porn sites each month than Amazon, TikTok, OpenAI (Chat GPT), LinkedIn, and Netflix (Psychology Today). The disparity is humongous.

* The top-ranked pornography site had

* 700,000,000 more total visits than Amazon,

* 900,000,000 more total visits than TikTok,

* 1,100,000,000 more total visits than OpenAI (Chat GPT),

* 1,300,000,000 more total visits than LinkedIn, and

* 1,500,000,000 more total visits than Netflix.

* The report, "Teens and Pornography," found that 73% of teen respondents age 13 to 17 have watched pornography online—and more than half (54%) reported first seeing pornography by the time they reached the age of 13. And, online pornography is shaping their views about sex and sexual relationships, as nearly half (45%) of teen respondents said that they felt online pornography gives "helpful" information about sex.

* Men who report having watched pornography in the past 24 hours report the highest rates of loneliness. (How Prevalent Is Pornography? | Institute for Family Studies).

* According to Pornography Survey Statistics - Proven Men

* 97% of men have viewed pornography.

* 80% of men don’t have an Internet filter to block porn from computers or cell phones (79% for “born-again Christian men”).

* 78% of men viewed porn before turning 16 years old.

* 77% of men between 18-30 view porn at least monthly.

Exactly how great is the issue? God knows. But it is clear that lust is a plague and sexual immorality is a stronghold. This is a deeply personal issue as well as a global issue. Sexual immorality, addiction, and shame don’t just impact an individual’s inner personal life, it knowingly or unknowingly impacts all they say and do and all the relationships they have. These vices impact people, who impact families and nations alike.

Please join me in Praying

Merciful Father,

Have mercy on us. Our world is in dire need of salvation and we know that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. Deliver us from sin. Purify our hearts and minds. In Your grace, show us how to respond to this information. Move our hearts to care for the things you care about. Teach us how to love others well as you love us well, even in the midst of our own dark valleys. Help us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. As Your Spirit leads us, grant us the right words to speak the truth in love. Inspire us to act. Correct us where we need correction. Search us, Lord, and know our hearts. Refine us and know our wayward thoughts. Please highlight any of our wrong beliefs or ways, and lead us down paths of righteousness for the sake of Jesus and Your Kingdom. Teach us to walk in purity and to live as ambassadors of Christ and Your Kingdom of Light amid a world that can love darkness and needs Your light to shine. Shine through us, Lord! Bring about transformation in us and through us. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

What’s the solution? How can we truly be set free?

This is complex. That much is clear. We need the Lord’s help.

Because of what Christ has done, we already have victory in Christ. We are victorious in Him; that is a core part of our identity in Jesus. We must also choose to follow Jesus daily or else, choose to go our own way, toward sin and away from the straight and narrow path God designed for us. For me, gaining victory through Christ over sexual immorality, addiction, and shame happened over time. It was a long process of sanctification, through which the Lord tested and refined my faith. It was not easy or pleasant but it did keep me relying on Him. For that, I am deeply grateful to God.

Our God is more committed to us, to shaping us into the likeness of His Son Jesus, than we could possibly fathom. There is no one who is for us like the Lord our God. There’s none like our covenantally faithful Father in heaven. His steadfast love for us unwavering and unmatched.

Now we get to respond, no longer as slaves to sin, but as sons and daughters of our God who loves us. The following is not an exhaustive list, but these are core Biblical ways was can truly walk in the victory that Christ secured for His sons and daughters through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection.

What is needed to truly walk in freedom?

* Acknowledgement of our neediness, surrender, and dependence on God,

* fear of the Lord,

* a true desire to walk in freedom,

* willingness to flee from sexual immorality,

* courage,

* a hatred of evil,

* commitment to living in the light,

* loving our neighbor as ourself,

* valuing the dignity God has given to other women (and men), uniquely, lovingly, and wonderfully made in His image,

* a longing to please God,

* an “eternal perspective,”

* a right theology of suffering, as Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24),

* a true appreciation and gratitude for the cross and what Jesus accomplished,

* a new mind and heart,

* loving what God loves and hating what He hates,

* overcoming evil,

* boldly representing Christ as servants, sons, and ambassadors,

* firm resolve, diligence, tenacity, grit, and commitment/dedication.

Ultimately, it requires love for God and for others.

Our God makes sons out of slaves. He makes new creations in Christ Jesus.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord!

With God’s help, we will dive into these topics that must be brought into the light and seek to uncover together how we can best respond, empowered by God’s Spirit.

I am convinced the Lord has much more to share with us as we deep dive into these topics and discover freedom in Christ as His modern-day disciples.

Jesus’ words to His disciples are still true for us today. He said in John 14:6,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus also said,

31 “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” - John 8:31-32

It is by the grace of God, through Christ, empowered by His Spirit, that the Lord has graciously helped me to overcome sexual immorality, addiction, and shame. Thank You, LORD!

While I celebrate victory in Christ, I am still learning to take care, so that I don’t fall back toward the slippery slope of sin in my mind or heart. I know I need to remain rooted in Christ, in His love and in His Word. I need to keep seeking the Lord’s guidance and leadership daily, throughout each day. I know I need to remain humble and dependent on the the LORD our God who fights for us (Exodus 14:14). I need to remain steadfast in prayer and to receive prayer from others. I need to boast not in my strength but in Christ’s victory, for His grace is sufficient for us; His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

While the deceiver wants to keep us buried under the weight of our sin and shame, hidden in the dark, Jesus our victorious Savior invites us:

28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.” - Matthew 11:28-29

Through this Victory in Christ series, “Slaves to Sons,” we will ask, seek, and knock together as Jesus instructs us in Matthew 7:7-8, trusting that our great God will give, reveal, and open doors. We will continue to discover how to get freedom from sexual immorality, addiction, and shame as we embrace our identity as a beloved sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven.

Our God is for us, who can be against us!

Stayed tuned for more to come and please share this with a friend if the Lord made an impact on you through this. May God bless you!