Teaching summary
Pastors Leonard and Lori Rola teach that believers must examine whether what they were taught about Christ agrees with the gospel Paul preached. They challenge religious ideas that portray sickness, poverty, and hardship as things God sends to punish people, build their character, or make them more spiritual. Using passages from Ephesians and John, they explain that wrong teaching and an old, fallen way of thinking can keep believers “stuck in the yuck.” Their central encouragement is to renew the mind, remain dressed in the new man, and live from the righteousness, holiness, healing, inheritance, and abundant life Christ has already provided.
Bible verses referenced
Ephesians 2:6- “And hath raised us together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”
Ephesians 4:20- “But ye have not so learned Christ;”
Ephesians 4:23- “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;”
Ephesians 4:24- “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
Ephesians 4:27- “Neither give place to the devil.”
Romans 1:16- “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
2 Corinthians 8:9- “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”
Matthew 8:20- “And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
John 1:38-39- “Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.”
John 10:8- “All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.”
John 10:9- “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
John 10:10- “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
John 1:12-13- “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Romans 8:30- “Moreover whom he did predestine, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
1 John 4:17- “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”
1 Peter 2:24- “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”
Isaiah 53:5- “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Acts 10:38- “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
Romans 6:4- “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Teaching notes
Table of Contents
- Introduction: Unveiling the True You
- The Foundation in Ephesians
- “You Have Not So Learned Christ”
- Wrong Teaching About Healing and Suffering
- Wrong Teaching About Poverty and Prosperity
- Identifying the Thief in John 10
- Giving No Place to the Fallen Mindset
- Living as the Righteous New Creation
- Closing: Stay Dressed in the New Man
Introduction: Unveiling the True You
Pastors Leonard and Lori Rola open by warmly greeting their audience and expressing their love and appreciation. Leonard playfully compliments Lori before they turn their attention to the morning’s message. They thank viewers for their cards, letters, emails, encouraging telephone calls, prayers, and financial support. They explain that these gifts keep the ministry going and growing, which in turn helps God’s kingdom continue to advance.
Leonard emphasizes that the ministry is not about Pastor Leonard, Pastor Lori, or Leonard Rola Ministries. It is about the people listening, the kingdom of God, and unveiling the believer’s true identity. That true person is the new man God created in righteousness and true holiness.
Ephesians 4:24- “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
The pastors describe this identity as a new-creation reality. It is not obtained through work a believer must perform; it exists because of the completed work of Christ. Their ministry seeks to remove the veil produced by religion, religiosity, and denominationalism so believers can see who they truly are.
Leonard introduces a phrase he has recently been using: “stuck in the yuck.” He says it is time to become unstuck from the yuck and live in the new. The “yuck” represents the religious ideas, traditional thinking, and wrong teaching that prevent people from living in the reality of Christ’s finished work.
Leonard then shares how deeply a card from Kimberly in Ohio touched him. She thanked the pastors for their teachings, encouraged Leonard to stay in his lane, and expressed gratitude that they were “smashing sacred cows.” Leonard says many sacred cows have been established by people, and he previews another teaching in which they will challenge one of them.
The Foundation in Ephesians
The pastors connect this message to their Wednesday-night study of Ephesians. They have completed chapter 4 and are preparing to move through chapter 5 and into chapter 6. Leonard says that the foundation laid in the first four chapters will be essential when they reach the subject of principalities and powers. With the proper foundation, listeners will understand what Paul was saying instead of giving too much place to the devil.
Leonard declares that the devil is a defeated foe who was stripped of his power through Christ’s work at the cross. The believer’s present position is not beneath that defeated enemy but raised and seated with Christ.
Ephesians 2:6- “And hath raised us together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
He previews a future message about three reasons people remain stuck in the yuck: denominationalism, including traditionalism; experience; and legalism. These influences must be exposed so believers can become unstuck. Returning to the previous night’s study, Leonard says he began with the command to put on the new man but now recognizes that the preceding verse is essential to its context. The new man is put on through renewal in the spirit of the mind.
Ephesians 4:23- “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”
Ephesians 4:24- “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
He adds that he could have begun even earlier in the chapter because Paul’s entire letter builds the point so powerfully. This leads to the statement that supplies the central question of the teaching.
Ephesians 4:20- “But ye have not so learned Christ.”
“You Have Not So Learned Christ
Leonard explains that “Christ” may be understood as the Anointed One and the anointing. Paul could tell the Ephesian believers that they had not learned Christ in a certain way because Paul was the one who had taught them the gospel of Christ. Leonard connects this with Paul’s declaration in Romans.
Romans 1:16- “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
The pastors teach that the gospel of Christ releases the power of God’s salvation in the hearts of those who believe. When Jesus said that His work was finished, salvation had been provided. The believer’s part is to put on the new man by being renewed in the spirit of the mind.
Leonard then asks the audience to consider a searching question: How did we learn Christ? What were we taught about Him? Many religious teachings became fixed in people’s subconscious minds even though those teachings did not accurately reveal Christ. The rest of the message examines specific examples.
Wrong Teaching About Healing and Suffering
Lori recalls several beliefs they once accepted about healing. They were taught that God does not always heal, that healing depends on how favored a person is, or that it depends on how much the person has done. People were told they had to spend enough time in the Word, claim the right things, or speak correctly before God would heal them.
They were also taught that sometimes God does not heal because He does not want to. According to those teachings, God might use sickness for His honor and glory, to teach the sick person or someone else a lesson, to build character, to take a person home, to discipline the believer, or to chastise the believer. Leonard and Lori acknowledge that they were genuinely convinced of these ideas.
That way of thinking led people to search themselves anxiously whenever sickness came: “What did I do? What do I have to do? Why is this happening? Why me?” In some of their former circles, suffering and sickness could even become a badge of honor because people believed those experiences made them suffer like Jesus or become more like Him.
The pastors call this being stuck in the "yuck" of what they were taught. Yet they emphasize that the Word of God and its truth had always been available. Their present understanding centers on Christ bearing sickness and providing healing through His suffering.
1 Peter 2:24- “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”
Later in the message, Leonard returns to this truth by declaring that through Christ’s bruising, believers were made whole and now have peace with God.
Isaiah 53:5- “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Wrong Teaching About Poverty and Prosperity
Leonard offers prosperity as another example of an area in which believers may have learned Christ incorrectly. He points to Paul’s teaching that Christ became poor so believers could be made rich through His poverty.
2 Corinthians 8:9- “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”
Leonard explains that he understands the word “rich” in this passage as material provision and success in business ventures rather than merely spiritual richness. He contrasts that understanding with the teaching that Jesus was poor throughout His life and that poverty therefore makes a believer more like Jesus. He says people often label any teaching about God’s provision and heaven’s resources as a “prosperity gospel,” causing believers to embrace poverty as though it were a mark of godliness.
The pastors refer to the familiar statement that foxes have holes and birds have nests, while the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.
Matthew 8:20- “And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
Leonard argues that this statement concerned Jesus’ circumstances during a ministry journey, when He was traveling through deserted places without modern lodging. He says it should not be used to prove that Jesus never had a home. He points to the account in which disciples asked Jesus where He lived, and Jesus invited them to come and see.
John 1:38-39- “Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.”
In Leonard’s explanation, Jesus became poor as He went to the cross, but that does not mean He lived His entire earthly ministry without a home or resources. The larger point is that believers must investigate Scripture rather than remain trapped in inherited assumptions.
Identifying the Thief in John 10
Leonard next turns to a passage many believers know well.
John 10:10- “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
He observes that when believers do not experience abundant life, they are often told that Satan is the thief who has come to steal, kill, and destroy. Yet those same people may also have been taught that God sends sickness to chastise them or build their character. Leonard asks whether the deeper problem is that believers remain trapped by what they were taught while blaming the devil for the results. He stresses that the truth was always present in the surrounding passage. To understand who the thief is in this context, the listener must read what Jesus said immediately beforehand.
John 10:8- “All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.”
Leonard identifies these thieves and robbers as false prophets, false teachers, and religious leaders who abuse people’s confidence for their own gain instead of faithfully instructing them. He then points to Jesus as the door and the source of salvation and pasture.
John 10:9- “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
Leonard discusses the Greek word translated “thief,” describing it as a stealer, embezzler, or pilferer and saying it can be applied to false teachers who exploit others. He emphasizes that, in his interpretation of this passage, “the thief” is not a reference to Satan but to the false religious teachers already identified in the context. Until believers understand that, he says, they may continue blaming the devil while remaining stuck in wrong teaching. This brings the message back to Paul’s warning that the way of false teaching is not the way the believers learned Christ.
Ephesians 4:20- “But ye have not so learned Christ.”
Giving No Place to the Fallen Mindset
Lori reads a short statement from Paul’s letter.
Ephesians 4:27- “Neither give place to the devil.”
Leonard first voices the common interpretation: the devil is coming at believers, attacking them, and must not be given room. He and Lori describe the weight and fear produced by that understanding. Leonard then returns to the immediate context: Paul has just said that the believers did not learn Christ in the old way, instructed them to be renewed in the spirit of their minds, and told them to put on the new man.
Ephesians 4:20- “But ye have not so learned Christ.”
Ephesians 4:23- “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”
Ephesians 4:24- “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
The pastors examine the Greek term translated “devil,” describing it as a combination of components associated with casting down or placing in a lower position. In their teaching, the term in this context points to deception, temptation, and a mindset defined by the fall—the thought, “I am not who God says I am.” Leonard therefore paraphrases Paul’s warning as, “Do not give place to the fallen mindset.”
He connects that fallen mindset to the false teaching already discussed. Religious instructors tell people that poverty is godly, sickness is building their character, and their hardships prove that God is dealing harshly with them. Those teachings become “stinking thinking” that keeps them stuck in the yuck. The pastors urge listeners not to give that thinking a place in their minds. The practical point of their teaching is that believers should stop surrendering mental territory to thoughts that contradict what God says Christ has made them.
Living as the Righteous New Creation
Leonard and Lori describe the heart of New Life Ministry’s message: the work is not the believer’s work; Jesus did the work. Through Christ, believers have been made holy, made righteous, and declared righteous. They did not earn that status. They placed their faith in Jesus Christ, and His accomplishment fully qualified them for the greatness of their inheritance.
The pastors explain that Paul repeatedly calls believers saints—holy and blameless ones. They urge listeners not to give place to a fallen mindset that says they are not righteous, holy, blameless, justified, perfect, complete, favored, or children of God. Leonard cites John’s declaration about those who receive Christ and believe on His name.
John 1:12-13- “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
He also points to Paul’s statement that those God called, He justified, and those He justified, He glorified.
Romans 8:30- “Moreover whom he did predestine, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
The believer’s identity is also expressed in the declaration that believers are as Christ is in this world.
1 John 4:17- “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”
Leonard says inferior thoughts can enter through old mental programming, inferior teaching, conversations, personal experiences, or traditions. When that happens, the believer can answer that the thought is not how he or she learned Christ. The believer is now dressed in the new man, created in righteousness and true holiness.
Ephesians 4:24- “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
Instead of accepting the old program, believers can affirm what Christ accomplished: as He is, so are they in this world; Christ became poor so that through His poverty they might be rich; and by His stripes they were healed.
1 John 4:17- “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”
2 Corinthians 8:9- “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”
1 Peter 2:24- “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”
Leonard praises Jesus for His sacrifice, forgiveness, and perpetual cleansing. He says this is how believers learned Christ: Jesus went everywhere doing good, feeding the hungry with plenty, healing the brokenhearted, and healing the sick.
Acts 10:38- “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.”
Leonard describes Christ’s suffering at the cross: He was bloodied, battered, beaten, pierced by nails and thorns, and shed His blood. Through His bruising, believers received healing, peace with God, wholeness, forgiveness, cleansing, and righteousness.
Isaiah 53:5- “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Christ died and was buried, but He was raised to new life to the glory of the Father. The pastors connect His resurrection with the believer’s participation in newness of life.
Romans 6:4- “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
This, Leonard says, is how the believer learned Christ. Therefore, the believer should no longer give place to the fallen mindset.
As the message closes, Lori returns to the promise of abundant life.
John 10:10- “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
She declares that believers possess life in its fullness. Jesus accomplished the work; it is done and finished. Leonard and Lori encourage everyone to live that reality together, remain out of the yuck, and “stay dressed” in the new man.
We hope this article blessed you and helped you see more clearly what Christ has already accomplished. Please share this teaching with someone who needs encouragement to leave old religious thinking behind, renew the mind, and live in the fullness of the new life found in Jesus Christ.