Biblical Theology of Forever Free
The road to recovery is a process of discipleship and becoming like Jesus. While the process itself is a different for each individual, everyone starts at the same spot: Before coming into relationship with Jesus, their actions, feelings, and thoughts were corrupted by sin. They lived broken, immoral lives with horrible consequences. Some people’s choices created more damage than others. Sinful desires led them into addictions, bad habits, and dangerous lifestyles. When they follow Jesus, the spiritual consequences of that lifestyle are defeated. He sets people free! The process of resisting temptation and living out the healing that freedom brings i more difficult for some. Addiction is a terrible result of sinful living. While some who are instantly healed, the majority must get help in the battle against being pulled back into old patterns of living. Forever Free is guided by the belief that freedom is promised in scripture. Five core principles define the FOREVER FREE ministry
We believe God is our only hope of salvation, transformation, and freedom.
God is loving, merciful, kind, and gracious, and He is the one who saves (2 Timothy 1:9;Psalm 145:8). God loved the world so much, He gave Jesus to save mankind by dying on the cross (John 3:16). God is not just a higher power; He is the creator of the universe who revealed Himself and gave us the Bible as the authority and guide for how to live our lives (John 1:14-18; 2 Peter 1:16-19; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
God, the creator and restorer of all things, makes His miraculous power available to anyone who puts their faith in Him. The transformation of each person’s life is both spiritual and physical. He renews the soul, body, and mind (Eph. 2:3-10). His power brings freedom for the captive and the addict. Healing, transformation, and freedom come from Him alone (Eph. 3:20-21; John 14:12-14).
We believe we are set free from sin and set free from our old lifestyle.
We believe transformation and freedom is possible through God’s miraculous power and our daily decision to become more like Jesus.
Growing in Christ is normal for Christians. Freedom comes both from God and our managed, daily decisions (Heb. 6:1; 1 Timothy 4:11-16), Peter wrote God’s “divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness to escape the corruption of this world,” but he also said we need to make every effort to add to our lives goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love (2 Peter1:3).
Making every effort includes the daily discipline of saying “No” to sin. Regardless of whether we were instantly healed of addiction or are working hard to defeat lingering temptation, we are called to grow in faith and become more like Jesus every day.
Making every effort is a process that must be worked out every day in humility and trust in the Lord as He works in us (Phil. 2:12-13).
Making every effort means we abandon our ways of living in the world and embrace the new life through Christ Jesus (Rom. 12:1-2).
Making every effort means we are to learn more about God and ourselves through reading the Bible, praying, and studying our lives. It means making amends for past wrongs and learning what parts of our lives still need help.
Making every effort means getting help from others by coming together with other people working toward the same goal. We need each other to hold us accountable, to encourage us to make better decisions, and to support us when we are weak. (Heb.10:24-25). Different people need different levels of help during transformation. Whether the need is for a mentor, accountability partners, a group to process with, or a residential program, the goal is growth and transformation. We are not learning to merely cope; we are learning to live free.
We believe our freedom causes us to show compassion and grace to others on their journey of transformation.
When others fail, we are the first to come to help and restore. We carry other’s burdens as we walk in freedom together. We understand the need for help. When someone falls back into sinful habits, we do not reject them but gently and compassionately restore them (Gal. 6:1-2). Through Jesus, we expect victory and freedom from Christ, but we anticipate the struggle in resisting temptation.We are in a spiritual battle that requires preparation, cooperation, and restoration (1 Peter 5:8-9; Eph. 6:10-13). When some one fails, we will embrace them, love them, and work with them to continue their journey to freedom.
We believe in freedom and victory over sin and addiction.
We look forward to the day when, with our spiritual leaders and friends, we celebrate forever freedom. “Recovery” is returning to a normal way of living through natural methods. “Freedom” is a transformed way of life through supernatural power. When recovery principles are joined with supernatural power, Forever Freedom happens.We are promised victory in scripture. We have hope in the power of Jesus (Heb. 10:23).We believe that in Christ we are more than a conquerors (Rom. 8:37-39). There is no attack of the enemy or temptation that cannot be defeated (1 Cor. 10:13). When we obey God, we overcome the world and freedom is ours (1 John 5:3-5)!The freedom journey is one that must be carried out daily with fear and intentionality(Phil. 2:12,13). Every person’s journey will be different. At some point, an individual will no longer need as much support on their freedom journey. When that happens, we will celebrate together what God has done in our lives.