After Your Passover, Don't Go Back

Introduction

That Sunday, while the congregation was worshiping, Pastor Jean-Blaise AMOUGOU got down on his knees and the Lord placed a text on his heart: Colossians 2, starting at verse 8. A text that reminds you that you have been made full in Christ, that he wiped out the record that stood against you and nailed it to the cross. From there, this message asks you a direct question: after your Passover, after what Jesus Christ accomplished at Golgotha, why go back to what God has set you free from? The Bible compares going back to something shocking, a dog returning to its vomit (2 Peter 2:22, Proverbs 26:11). This isn't a text meant to condemn you; it's a call to remember who you are in Jesus Christ, and to stop dirtying what the Son's blood has made clean.

Message Outline

1. Passover isn't religious, it's revolutionary

Colossians 2:8-10 warns: "Be careful that you don't let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ. For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily." You have been made full in Jesus, not almost, not partly. Fully.
Christ "is the head of all principality and power." Even Satan, as the pastor puts it, is small, he's nothing before Jesus, he's worthless.
Colossians 2:13-15 declares it: God made you alive together with Christ, having wiped out the handwriting of ordinances that was against you, nailing it to the cross, having stripped the principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them through the cross.
The Passover you celebrate isn't a religious ceremony: it's your exodus out of slavery, your deliverance from sin, your passage from death to life through Jesus Christ. You are no longer a slave. You are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

2. The danger of going back

2 Peter 2:22 and Proverbs 26:11 don't mince words: "The dog turns to his own vomit again, and the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire." What God has rejected, you must not touch again.
A forgiven sin should never become a habit again. "He forgave me, so I can keep doing it" is a trap. God set you free completely so you could live free, not so you could return to your chain.
Exodus 13:17-22 tells us that God did not lead Israel by the nearest way, the way of the Philistines, for "the people might change their minds when they see war, and they might return to Egypt." God knows our hearts better than we do.
Israel came out of Egypt, but Egypt hadn't come out of their hearts: they longed for the old food and the life of slavery (Numbers 11). Many Christians live the same way, set free physically but still bound spiritually to the things of this world, nostalgic for "how good things were back then."

3. The traps that pull you back down

Nostalgia for sin. People want to bring the nightclub into the church: light shows, an atmosphere that echoes the world. "We want to imitate the world when we've already been set free."
Bad company. God doesn't forbid you from spending time with people; he asks you not to imitate them.
Social media. The pastor gives the example of his own household: everyone in their own corner with a screen, a Switch, a phone, and God's word and prayer disappear. "That's what Christian life looks like today."
Lack of family prayer. Five minutes is enough to start. The absence of prayer kills a home.
Lack of spiritual discipline. There's no more respect for God's servants, no more discipline in homes with children. Yet "my disciples", Jesus himself said it: disciple means walking in discipline.

4. The price of going back to sin

Don't say, "the devil attacked me, that's why I fell into adultery." James 1:14-15 is clear: each one is tempted by his own lust. The devil doesn't create anything; he simply offers you a way back and plants his thoughts in your mind.
When you go back to sin, there's a price: you lose your peace, you weaken your faith, you grieve God.
And sometimes your condition ends up worse than before: Jesus said as much (Matthew 12:43-45), when you reopen the door to the demon, seven others come back, more wicked than the first.

5. How to stay free after your Passover

Make a radical decision, right now. What God has removed, don't pick it back up. What God has taken out of you, let it go.
Cut ties with certain things. You don't negotiate with sin. You abandon it. God knows your life better than anyone, it's up to you to decide before him.
Feed your spirit with the word and prayer. You don't need to "pray for a billion years": your life is a life of prayer, wherever you are, you pray.
Remember the price. Jesus's blood was not cheap. It was poured out for all of humanity, for the Muslim neighbor, for you, for your coworker. John 3:16 says it: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life."
Live Jesus every day. Bear witness at work, pray even for a harsh boss, share the gospel with a Muslim coworker who is searching for true freedom. "True freedom is found in the one who gave his life on the cross."

Key Takeaways

In Jesus Christ, you have been made full: he is the head of all principality and power, he nailed to the cross the record that stood against you, there is no more condemnation for you.
Passover isn't a religious holiday, it's your exodus out of slavery: you are a new creation, more than a conqueror, free.
Going back to what God has delivered you from is the dog returning to its vomit and the washed sow returning to the mire. A forgiven sin should never become a habit again.
The concrete traps that pull you back down: nostalgia for sin, bad company, social media, lack of family prayer, lack of spiritual discipline.
Don't blame Satan for your falls: James 1:14 reminds us that it's your own lust that tempts you. The price of going back to sin is lost peace, weakened faith, and a grieved God.
Freedom is guarded through a radical decision, a clean break, God's word, prayer, and remembering the price paid at the cross.

Personal Application

What "nostalgia for sin" still lingers in your heart (an atmosphere, a song, a place, a relationship), that you secretly miss even though God has delivered you from it?
Before which situations, people, or fears do you still tremble, as if Jesus hadn't already triumphed fully at the cross (Colossians 2:15)?
How many minutes of prayer and God's word do you share each week with your spouse, your children, or alone with God, and what will you decide to change this week, even if it's just five minutes?
What exactly is God asking you to cut off today, radically, without negotiating? Write it down and hand it over to Jesus before the day is over.
How will you concretely bear witness of Jesus this week to a coworker, a neighbor, or a family member, even when you don't feel like it, even when they look down on you?

Scriptures Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it actually mean for a Christian to "return to their vomit"?

It means willingly going back to a sin, a habit, or a bondage that God had already delivered you from. Pastor Jean-Blaise AMOUGOU describes it with two biblical images: the dog returning to lick up what it vomited (2 Peter 2:22) and the washed sow wallowing again in the mire (Proverbs 26:11). A forgiven sin can occasionally happen again, but it must never become a habit, a way of life, a place you feel "at home." In Christ, you have come out of Egypt: your heart needs to come out too.

Is it really true to say that "it's not Satan" who makes us fall?

The pastor isn't denying the devil's existence. He's simply pointing to James 1:14-15: "Each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed." The devil doesn't create anything; he offers, he suggests, he plants thoughts in your mind. But the one who accepts, who goes looking, who still loves the sin, that's you. Blaming every fall on a demonic attack lets you off the hook and robs you of the freedom Christ won for you at the cross.

How can you recognize a "false minister" or a ministry that exploits believers?

The message warns against the chase for titles, Dad, Bishop, Archbishop, prophet to the nations for someone who just got converted. The biblical markers are found in 2 Peter 2: these people enslave God's children, push them into a life submitted to them rather than to Christ, and demand a near-religious devotion ("touch his ring and you'll fall"). Your identity and your deliverance are found fully in Jesus (Colossians 2:10), you don't need a human middleman to be free, purified, or protected from the demonic.

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