Set Free

PAID IN FULL - SET FREE

Part 1 We Learned That Jesus Paid Our Debt, today we are going to be dealing with the freedom we have in Christ Jesus

Romans 3:23-24 (AMP) 23 since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,

Colossians 2:13-15 (AMP) 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (worldliness, manner of life), God made you alive together with Christ, having [freely] forgiven us all our sins, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of legal demands [which were in force] against us and which were hostile to us. And this certificate He has set aside and completely removed by nailing it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], He made a public example of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them through the cross.

Main Text: Romans 6:1-13 (AMP)

Believers Are Dead to Sin, Alive to God

1 What shall we say [to all this]? Should we continue in sin and practice sin as a habit so that [God's gift of] grace may increase and overflow?

A. Another way to understand this, since our debt has been canceled, show we run up our credit card again

B. Practice - the customary, habitual, or expected procedure or way of doing of something:

C. The reason you are good at sinning, is you practice it

D. What ever you practice you become

2 Certainly not! How can we, the very ones who died to sin, continue to live in it any longer?

A. When did I become dead to sin?

B. I'm glad you asked

2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].

3 Or are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

A. With Christ death on the cross my sins died

B. All of us

4 We have therefore been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory and power of the Father, we too might walk habitually in newness of life [abandoning our old ways].

A. Everyone say newness

B. The challenge with abandoning the old you, is that was your nature

C. We must build new habits

D. Start a new habit, WWJD

1 John 3:7-9 (AMP) 7 Little children (believers, dear ones), do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who practices righteousness [the one who strives to live a consistently honorable life—in private as well as in public—and to conform to God's precepts] is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 The one who practices sin [separating himself from God, and offending Him by acts of disobedience, indifference, or rebellion] is of the devil [and takes his inner character and moral values from him, not God]; for the devil has sinned and violated God's law from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is born of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, because God's seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains [permanently] in him [who is born again—who is reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]; and he [who is born again] cannot habitually [live a life characterized by] sin, because he is born of God and longs to please Him.

5 For if we have become one with Him [permanently united] in the likeness of His death, we will also certainly be [one with Him and share fully] in the likeness of His resurrection. 6 We know that our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.

A. Every issue your dealing with today has been nailed to the cross

B. Potential Large Picture of me

C. Phil. 4:13

D. With Christ all things are possible

E. No longer a slave

Galatians 2:20 (AMP) 20 I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

7 For the person who has died [with Christ] has been freed from [the power of] sin.

A. Im free from the power of sin

John 8:36 (AMP) 36 So if the Son makes you free, then you are unquestionably free.

8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live [together] with Him, 9 because we know [the self-evident truth] that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin [ending its power and paying the sinner's debt] once and for all; and the life that He lives, He lives to [glorify] God [in unbroken fellowship with Him]. 11 Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin [and your relationship to it broken], but alive to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts and passions.

A. This passage lets us know that we have a choice in the matter

B. Hand cuffs and choosing to place myself back into situations

C. Lust and passions don't go away

Galatians 5:24 (AMP) 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

13 Do not go on offering members of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness. But offer yourselves to God [in a decisive act] as those alive [raised] from the dead [to a new life], and your members [all of your abilities—sanctified, set apart] as instruments of righteousness [yielded] to God.

A. The real question is who are you yielding your abilities to

B. Question, how much time do you give God?

C. How much talent do you give God?

D. Instrument, Joy Stick

Romans 12:1-3 (MSG) 1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Discussion Questions

1. Romans 6:1 asks, "Should we continue in sin...so that grace may increase?" Paul's answer is "Certainly not!" Why would it be absurd to deliberately sin more just because we're forgiven? What does this reveal about the purpose of grace?
2. The notes say "The reason you are good at sinning, is you practice it. Whatever you practice you become." How does this principle apply to righteousness as well? What are you currently practicing?
3. Romans 6:2 says we "died to sin" when we were baptized into Christ. If we're dead to sin, why do we still struggle with it? What does it mean practically to be "dead to sin"?
4. 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares "the old things have passed away...new things have come." Yet verse 4 admits "the challenge with abandoning the old you, is that was your nature." How do we reconcile being a "new creation" while still battling old patterns?
5. Romans 6:6 says "we would no longer be slaves to sin." The notes mention handcuffs and "choosing to place myself back into situations." How do we sometimes voluntarily re-enslave ourselves to sins we've been freed from?
6. Galatians 2:20 says "I have been crucified with Christ...it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." What does it mean for Christ to live in you? How does this identity change daily decisions?
7. John 8:36 promises "if the Son makes you free, then you are unquestionably free." If this is true, why do so many Christians still feel enslaved by shame, guilt, or habitual sin?
8. Romans 6:12 commands "do not let sin reign in your mortal body." This implies we have a choice. What specific choices can we make daily to prevent sin from reigning in our lives?
9. The notes ask: "Who are you yielding your abilities to?" Romans 6:13 contrasts offering ourselves to sin versus offering ourselves to God. What does it look like to actively yield your time, talents, and abilities to God?
10. Romans 12:1-2 calls us to "place [your everyday, ordinary life] before God as an offering" and warns against being "so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking." What cultural values have you unconsciously absorbed that conflict with God's values?

Stay Connected

Submit a prayer request

Join us online

View our devotionals