ROMANS: More Than Togas and Tunics
Week 4 - Avoiding Open Graves
June 26th, 2022
Pastor Ray Benesh
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 6:23 (NLT)
Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. —Romans 6:12-14 (NLT)
Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master. —Genesis 4:7b (NLT)
And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. —Romans 7:18-25 (NLT)
…we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. —2 Corinthians 10:5b (NIV)
Practice
He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection. —Psalm 91:4 (NLT)“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. —Luke 13:34 (NLT)
Notes:
Discussion Questions:
1 – Have you ever felt trapped in your sin? How? Why?
2 – What did you do to escape that sin?
3 – What do you need to do to escape your current sin?
4 – Who can you form an accountability partnership with?