For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you; and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,
We must not think of conversion only in negative terms as a turning away from the old life, but also positively as the beginning of a new life of service....In this way authentic conversion involves a double liberation, both from the thraldom of the idols whose slaves we were into the service of God whose children we become (41).