FINALLY
FREE
FIGHTING FOR PURITY
WITH THE POWER OF GRACE
HEATH LAMBERT
To my beloved and precious sons,
Carson and Connor .
A wicked world seeks to enslave your souls to pornography; the grace of Jesus Christ alone sets you free .
Look to him!
Contents
Picture your life as a room.
Beautiful hardwood floors are swept clean. Sunlight streams through windows. Photos of family and friends hang on the walls. The furniture is arranged just how you want itfor maximum usefulness and comfort. The room is peaceful. Its just right.
But in a corner hidden by shadows, in a tiny crack between two floorboards, a small, ugly weed has sprouted.
The weed represents pornography.
Its so small. Its easy to hide. You can cover it with a rug or chair. You can ignore it and downplay its significance. There are so many other good and beautiful things to enjoy in the room of your life.
But the weed grows and grows.
Its thorny, twisted vines steadily spread across the floor and climb the walls. They wrap themselves around tables and chairs. They even grow over the windowsblocking out the sunlight. Now no part of your room is untouched. Everywhere you turn, the weed has invaded and is choking out life. You feel like a prisoner.
I dont know how big a problem pornography is for you. Maybe this weed has overtaken your life. Or maybe its just beginning to grow. If youre like many people, youve tried to uproot it with little success.
The problem is that too many of us use ineffective tools. Picture that tough, thorn-covered weed. And then imagine yourself trying to dislodge it with a plastic fork. A toothpick. A flimsy straw. These are the kinds of useless tools were working with when we try to change deeply rooted habits with mere willpower, personal resolutions, and self-centered, worldly sorrow.
We need better tools.
And thats what Finally Free is all about. Using simple, no-nonsense language, Heath Lambert walks into the pornography-defiled room of your life with a huge box of tools. He gives you gloves. He gives you shears. He gives you a shovel. He hands you an ax. He pulls out a blowtorch!
The reason these tools Heath shares are so effective is that theyre thoroughly biblical and sharpened by grace. Heath doesnt just call you to action; he calls you to grace-motivated, Spirit-empowered action. Ive read many books on sexual purity (Ive even written one myself), but this one is at the top of my list of favorites. I found myself praying as I read it that God would use it in the lives of millions of men and women who are right now enslaved to pornography.
The best thing about this book is that as you read it, your preoccupation wont primarily be the ugliness of the weed you need to killor even the effectiveness of the tools it will teach you to use. Page by page, youll become more and more aware that Someone is with you in this fight.
Finally Free will help you grow in your awareness of the presence and power of Jesus Christ, the Redeemerthe One who promised to never leave you, the One whose death and resurrection for you has broken the power of canceled sin. Its your union with Jesushis life in youthat is your hope.
So take up these tools with faith. Jesus is with you.
That weed is going to die.
Joshua Harris, lead pastor of Covenant Life Church, Gaithersburg, Maryland, and author of Humble Orthodoxy: Holding the Truth High without Putting People Down
This book is not about pornography. You can find countless books about pornography. They include detailed information about the pornography industryhow many movies are made, what kinds of movies are made, how many people are involved, how much money is spent, and how many Internet sites are devoted to it. In this book, you will not find any information about the pornography industry.
Other books about pornography include long discussions about the damage pornography doesthe layers of damage done to actors, the moral erosion within societies that embrace it, the physical and spiritual harm done to viewers, the carnage inflicted on marriages, the pain that afflicts the children and parents of consumers, and the incredible difficulty of defeating its temptations. This book is not about the catastrophic effects of pornography.
Other books about pornography spend a lot of time telling people how to think about pornographyhow it is bad, how it stands in opposition to the kingdom of Jesus, how it goes against committed marital love, how it impedes ministry productivity, and how it harms ones Christian witness. It is not the purpose of this book to rewire your brain when it comes to pornography.
The goals of these other books are noble. There is a time and place to talk about all of these issues. But this book has a different purpose. For the past decade, I have spent thousands of hours talking with hundreds of people who struggle with pornography. I have never met anyone who experienced profound change because someone told them how many billions of dollars are spent on pornography every year. I have never met anyone whose life was radically changed by hearing (again) how damaging the pornography industry is and how they desperately need to think differently about it. Rather, every person I have ever talked to who sincerely wanted help already knew most of this information. People who are trapped in the deceitful web of pornography do not need more information about pornography.
This book is about something much better than pornography. This book is about the amazing power of Jesus Christ to free you from pornography.
In this book, I want to share with you the amazing depth and effect of Christs power to eradicate pornography from your life. Whether you struggle with pornography yourself or are trying to help someone who struggles, I have good news for you: no matter how intense or long-standing the struggle, it is the work of Jesus Christ to set people free from such sin. Listen to the words of the apostle Paul:
Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God .
1 Corinthians 6:911, emphasis added
Do you see the power available to those who trust in Christ? Paul moves from condemnation to confidence. First, sin is powerfully condemned. The words are clear: if you are sexually immoral you will not inherit the kingdom of God. All those who look at pornography have only a fearful expectation of condemnation. Thankfully, Paul does not end there. He moves toward confidence in our Redeemer, Jesus. Jesus cleanses sinners. Jesus loves to cleanse those who love to look at pornography, and he loves to give them power to change. Our sinfulness does not get the final word. Instead, Jesus justifies, washes, and sanctifies us. Our only hope is in a risen Savior who has the power to bring us out of the pit of pornography. This book is a guide to the exciting process Jesus uses to do this work.
Jesus power is extremely practical, and so this book is practical as well. Jesus will set you free from your struggle, but he also calls you to participate in his work. Again Paul writes, Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyednot only in my presence, but now much more in my absencecontinue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose (Philippians 2:1213).
