Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Tuesday, 24 October 2017 "Set Free from Sin" by Duane Brush - Romans 6:15-23
Romans 6:15 Therefore, what conclusion should we reach? “Let’s go on sinning, because we’re not under legalism but under grace”? Heaven forbid! 16 Don’t you know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, then, of the one whom you are obeying, you are slaves — whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to being made righteous? 17 By God’s grace, you, who were once slaves to sin, obeyed from your heart the pattern of teaching to which you were exposed; 18 and after you had been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 (I am using popular language because your human nature is so weak.) For just as you used to offer your various parts as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led to more lawlessness; so now offer your various parts as slaves to righteousness, which leads to being made holy, set apart for God. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relationship to righteousness; 21 but what benefit did you derive from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end result of those things was death. 22 However, now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you do get the benefit — it consists in being made holy, set apart for God, and its end result is eternal life. 23 For what one earns from sin is death; but eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from God, in union with the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.
On January 1, 1863, United States President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that "all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." Even though legally declared free, most of the individuals enslaved did not get the word until much later. Many finally received the word on June 19, 1865, nearly two and a half years later, when the public announcement of their freedom was made in the former slave-holding states. This day is marked each year by the annual "Juneteenth" celebration.Romans 6:15 Therefore, what conclusion should we reach? “Let’s go on sinning, because we’re not under legalism but under grace”? Heaven forbid! 16 Don’t you know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, then, of the one whom you are obeying, you are slaves — whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to being made righteous? 17 By God’s grace, you, who were once slaves to sin, obeyed from your heart the pattern of teaching to which you were exposed; 18 and after you had been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 (I am using popular language because your human nature is so weak.) For just as you used to offer your various parts as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led to more lawlessness; so now offer your various parts as slaves to righteousness, which leads to being made holy, set apart for God. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relationship to righteousness; 21 but what benefit did you derive from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end result of those things was death. 22 However, now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you do get the benefit — it consists in being made holy, set apart for God, and its end result is eternal life. 23 For what one earns from sin is death; but eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from God, in union with the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.
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Many slaves to sin continue in bondage, unaware that their freedom was accomplished long ago in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. That is why Christ's faithful witnesses continue to "go into all the world" to proclaim the good news (Matthew 28:19-20). Some, however, have heard but believe that this freedom must not be for them, or that it is for some far-away date, perhaps after death. Paul replies, "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life" (Romans 6:22, emphasis added).
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Hymn for Today:
"Ye Ransomed Sinners, Hear" by Charles Wesley
1. Ye ransom'd sinners, hear,
The pris'ners of the Lord;
And wait till Christ appear,
According to his word:
Rejoice in hope, rejoice with me;
We shall from all our sins be free.
2. In God we put our trust;
If we our sins confess,
Faithful is he and just
From all unrighteousness
To cleanse us all, both you and me:
We shall from all our sins be free.
3. Surely in us the hope
Of glory shall appear:
Sinners your heads lift up,
And see redemption near:
Again I say, rejoice with me;
We shall from all our sins be free.
4. Who Jesus' sufferings share,
My fellow-pris'ners now,
Ye soon the crown shall wear
On your triumphant brow:
Rejoice in hope, rejoice with me;
We shall from all our sins be free.
5. The word of God is sure,
And never can remove;
We shall in heart be pure,
And perfected in love:
Rejoice in hope, rejoice with me;
We shall from all our sins be free.
Please pray:
For the development of Christian leaders in Saint Lucia. That many American White Christians will repent of their sins of reaping from white supremacy and change their behavior and attitude with the assist and Power of the Holy Spirit.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
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1. Ye ransom'd sinners, hear,
The pris'ners of the Lord;
And wait till Christ appear,
According to his word:
Rejoice in hope, rejoice with me;
We shall from all our sins be free.
2. In God we put our trust;
If we our sins confess,
Faithful is he and just
From all unrighteousness
To cleanse us all, both you and me:
We shall from all our sins be free.
3. Surely in us the hope
Of glory shall appear:
Sinners your heads lift up,
And see redemption near:
Again I say, rejoice with me;
We shall from all our sins be free.
4. Who Jesus' sufferings share,
My fellow-pris'ners now,
Ye soon the crown shall wear
On your triumphant brow:
Rejoice in hope, rejoice with me;
We shall from all our sins be free.
5. The word of God is sure,
And never can remove;
We shall in heart be pure,
And perfected in love:
Rejoice in hope, rejoice with me;
We shall from all our sins be free.
Thought for Today:
What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery..(Galatians 5:1}Please pray:
For the development of Christian leaders in Saint Lucia. That many American White Christians will repent of their sins of reaping from white supremacy and change their behavior and attitude with the assist and Power of the Holy Spirit.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
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