Sunday School Lesson for May 1, 2022 - Freedom from Sin: Printed Text: Romans 6:1-14 NLT; Background Scripture: Romans 6:1-14 NLT Devotional Reading: Romans 6:1-14 NLT

Unit 3: Liberating Letters

Key Verse:

Romans 6:5 NLT

 

5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.

 

Our redemption is at hand… Focus…

 

 

What you need to know

 

 

Romans 1:1 NLT

 

1 This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.

 

Paul wrote the letter to the church at Rome during his third missionary journey to the region of Macedonia (Greece), to the churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth. Paul is committed to preaching the Gospel (Good News) to the entirety of the civilized world. Rome represented the western edge of the ‘civilized’ world. The epistle is dated 56 AD to 57 AD. Paul is writing to a gentile-dominated church that has a smaller Jewish contingent that has recently returned to the area after having been exiled by the previous emperor, Claudius. Subsequently, the epistle to Romans is the fullest, most well-rounded of Paul’s presentations of the gospel, as he is preaching to people who have never heard every side of the argument for the Gospel…yet.

 

 

Romans 1:16-17 NLT

 

16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.[g] 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”[h]

 

Paul’s initial postulate concerns the power of the preaching of the Gospel. Per Paul, it is the very power of God. Through the preaching of the Gospel, God expresses faith to the world, thus saving with the same Agent by which creation was formed: Jesus, the Living Word.

 

 

Romans 3:22-24 NLT

 

22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

Paul’s Gospel informs us that we are saved by faith…alone. He preaches that, when we hear and receive God’s message, God grants us the greatest of gifts: eternal life. Undeserved, unmerited favor: God chose to save us because of what Jesus did on our behalf.

 

1 Corinthians 2:14 NLT

14 But people who aren’t spiritual[a] can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

However, to the un-regenerated mind, this is foolishness. “If these things be so”, they say, ”then it’s anything goes, does it not?” 

 

2 Peter 3:16 NLT

16 speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.

However, Paul’s rendering of the gospel is so radical, that even those who knew Jesus personally struggled to keep up, to reconcile what they had heard directly from Christ to the inconceivable possibilities that Paul preached. Radical is the right word.

 

The Lesson

Romans 6:1 NLT

1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?

So then, Paul restates the question that his proposal of grace, so radical, engenders. “Why shouldn’t we sin, so that God’s great grace may be made more evident in us?” Sadly, this reasoning contains a tragic flaw in logic that has plagued all who seek to, somehow, get God to do something for us based on our deeds, whether good or bad. No Beloved, grace is undeserved. There’s nothing we do, good or bad, to earn it. Anything less than that would not be attainable. Only Christ could bridge the gulf between us and God. Grace is a gift. It’s a gift.

Romans 6:2 NLT

2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

Paul is adamant in his response. No. Grace cannot be attained by works; good or bad. Why then should anyone continue in intentional sin? We have died to sin. Sin is our past. Allow it to grow smaller in the rear-view mirror of your mind. Put it behind you…

Romans 6:3-4a NLT

3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4a For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism…

Paul now reminds his audience that when they underwent water baptism, they were, figuratively, identifying themselves with Christ’s death. Death means dead. They died, figuratively speaking, and the public funeral was held at the river, where they were very ceremoniously … buried… with Christ… by baptism. You were, in heaven and on earth, declared dead! Dead!

Stop. I’m not here to argue about baptism. It is only an outward sign of an inward change. Baptism does not save. That grace is reserved for God, through the completed work of Christ at the cross and the continued work of the Holy Ghost in our hearts. I’m just here to tell you that … when we believed, we died. Dead.

Romans 6:4b-5 NLT

4b And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.

Paul now turns the attention of His audience to the unrealized possibilities before them: new life in Christ. As Christ was after the resurrection, so shall we become. We have infinity before us, We must no longer dwell on the finite that our past once offered. Allow the treasure Christ offers take preeminence in your heart.

Matthew 6:19-20 NLT

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

I’m just saying…

Romans 6:6-7 NLT

6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.

So then, we are no longer held prisoner by our sinful desires. Christ set us free from them. Our old nature was the problem. It no longer holds sway over us. We must move on if we are to grow in this ‘new life’ in which we have been immersed. We cannot move forward, looking back. Don’t ask me how I know this, but a drunk driver weaves because they are constantly looking in their rearview mirror. Because their reasoning is impaired by alcohol, they react to what they see in the mirror, where everything is moving in the opposite direction from them. Thus, they weave, trying to compensate for something that they have already bypassed, when where their focus should be, is what they are approaching and… what is approaching them. (Smile). Way back when, when I found myself in certain situations, I disciplined myself never to look in the rearview mirror. (Smile). Many Christians would prosper from that same advice…

Romans 6:8-11 NLT

8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

I purposely grouped this set of verses together, rather than speak to them individually because I need my audience (you) to identify with Christ through the entirety of what Paul wrote here. We are alive in Christ! We can be certain of this. And since we are alive in Christ, then like Christ, we will never ‘die’ again. In essence and in ‘fact’ death and the grave have no power over us. Death has lost its sting. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote, For me to live is Christ, fo me to die…is gain! For, to be absent from the body is to be present… with the Lord!

Beloved, if death has no power over your eternal future, how can sin have any power over this glorious ‘present’ that you now indwell in Christ. Christ is alive, and so are you… in him. Sin no longer has control of you, no matter how often you fail in it. When you fail personally, when you sin, intentionally or unintentionally, shake it off. Forgive yourself and move on. Christ has already forgiven you. He’s forgiven you for sins you haven’t yet committed. He is faithful like that. Because of His finished work at the cross, let us turn our hearts wholly toward Christ and through Him, to God, relinquishing our hold on sinful desires and setting the entirety of our being toward Him. 

Romans 6:12-14 NLT

12 Do not let sin control the way you live;[a] do not give in to sinful desires. 13 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. 14 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.

Again, let us serve God with the same passion with which we once served ourselves. We are no longer slaves to our sinful passions. How can we continue to live in them? No. we have been offered that which confounds and surpasses our greatest imaginations: everlasting and eternal life before God in Christ. Beloved, by grace; God’s unmerited favor, we have eternal peace with God. Reconciliation underserved. Live in it.

Philippians 3:12-14 NKJV

12 Not that I have already attained,[a] or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have [b]apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Beloved, like a child whose face is pressed against the window of a toy store, let us press wholeheartedly into the revelation of what God has set before us. Let us open our Bibles and press into the eternal truth that God has revealed to us through His beloved Son and our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.

Selah,

wb

Revelations 21:5-7 NKJV

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said [b]to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

6 And He said to me, “It[c] is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes [d]shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

Sunday School Lesson for April 24, 2022 - Freedom in the King! : Printed Text: John 8:31-38 NLT; Background Scripture: John 8:31-38 NLT Devotional Reading: John 8:31-38 NLT

 

Unit 2: Liberating Gospels

Key Verse:

John 8:36 NLT

 

36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

 

 

What freedom is it that Jesus speaks of?

 

 

What you need to know

 

 

John 7:1 NLT

 

1 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. 

 

There is much here to speak of. However, in order to set the proper atmosphere, there are a few things that you must know. Chief among them is the understanding that while Jesus was well thought of in Galilee and Samaria, all of northern Israel, he was despised by the religious leaders in the region of Judea, particularly in Jerusalem, the headquarters of the Sanhedrin. In fact, the religious leaders in Jerusalem had begun to formulate plans for His death.

 

 

John 7:2-10 NLT

 

2 But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters, 3 and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! 4 You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” 5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

6 Jesus replied, “Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go anytime. 7 The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil. 8 You go on. I’m not going[a] to this festival, because my time has not yet come.” 9 After saying these things, Jesus remained in Galilee. 10 But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view.

However, it was the occasion of the “Festival of Booths”, or ‘Succot’, one of three major Holy Days that Jews, particularly men, were to come to Jerusalem to observe. Subsequently, Jesus made the journey alone, keeping Himself out of public view because he was aware of the nefarious plots of the Pharisees.

 

 

John 7:28:30 NLT

28 While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I come from. But I’m not here on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you don’t know him. 29 But I know him because I come from him, and he sent me to you.” 30 Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time[c] had not yet come.

Upon His arrival in Jerusalem, Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach. While He was aware that the Pharisees planned to arrest Him, He defiantly proclaimed that His Presence was ordered and ordained by His Father, in Heaven. He was simply obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit. As He had been led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, so now had He been led to Jerusalem to declare His righteousness.

 

John 7:31 NLT

31 Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him. “After all,” they said, “would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?”

 

Because he spent so much more time in Galilee than in Jerusalem, Jesus had fewer true followers in Jerusalem. The people there had not seen or heard enough from Him to make cogent decisions concerning what they believed about Him. But, upon seeing Him at the Temple, and hearing of His miracles, the Bible states that ‘many’ believed in Him.

 

 

John 8:7-9 NLT

 

7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.

 

Finally, this was ‘that occasion’. This was the occasion where the Pharisees sought to trap Jesus by throwing an accused woman at His feet and demanding that He proclaim judgment against her. However, Jesus deftly confounded His accusers, leaving them retreating in shame.

 

 

 

The Lesson

John 8:31 NLT

31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.

In just the next few moments, Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees again. Earlier that week (John 7:37-37), He had invited ‘any who thirsted’ to come to Him for ‘Living Water’. His Presence in theTemple was concurrent with the pouring of water over the altar, a practice since the time of Joel that typified the day that the Messiah would cause water to flow from the Temple (Joel 3:18). Jesus’ declaration signaled that He was their long-awaited Messiah. 

Then, after being confronted by the Pharisees a few moments earlier, Jesus had declared Himself,”…the Light of the world”, another Messianic declaration that left the religious leaders aghast and incensed. This declaration was concurrent with the lighting of lamps in the Court of the Women, on the Temple grounds, another Messianic foreshadowing.

While the Pharisees left that confrontation enraged, those citizens of Jerusalem who believed in Him were emboldened to gather around Him, encouraged by His proclamation of Messiahship in the face of stiff opposition. This too was an act of the Holy Spirit. He drew these uncertain believers closer to Christ so that they might learn more of Him in whom they had believed. Yes, they were ‘believers’. They just didn’t know fully what they were believing. There is every indication that their belief was based on ‘head knowledge’ and not a true ‘change of heart…yet.

Jesus was calling these uncertain believers to discipleship. He invited them to continue to learn of Him and to remain faithful in what they were to learn. They were on the path to a ‘new life’. Jesus exhorted them to stay on that path.

John 8:32 NLT

32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus finished His statement by promising that those that continued in discipleship would reap the benefit of a changed life, a life of freedom. In fact, the unveiling of that freedom would be progressive. The more they learned, the freer they would become. This concurred with His words to the twelve that if they would make their abode in Him, they would bear ‘much fruit’ (John 15:1-8). The freedom that Jesus promised would be the result of the sanctification of these believers by the Holy Spirit as their minds were renewed by the washing and regeneration of the Word.

John 8:33 NLT

33 “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”

Again, this was a moment of discovery that Jesus would turn to introspection. Their collective statement that they “had never been slaves” revealed their ignorance about Jesus’ mission. Were they expecting fish and loaves, as Jesus had provided on two different occasions in Samaria? Were they expecting that Jesus would oppose the Roman occupiers and ‘free’ Israel from the yoke of their oppressors? They were still grasping at a head knowledge of salvation.

John 8:34 NLT

34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 

Jesus required them to look at themselves. He offered them eternal life, but they would each require sanctification, a turn toward personal Holiness that surpassed even the righteousness of the Pharisees. While that righteousness must be imparted by God, it must be pursued by us, those who call themselves ‘Christians’.

John 8:35 NLT

35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.

Now Jesus reveals a great truth, a slave is not a member of the master’s house, he is, rather, property of the master and property only. He has no inheritance that can be gained from the master’s possessions. What Jesus explained to these new believers was that they were now permanent members of the household of God, indeed they were now children of God with full rights to an eternal inheritance stored up for them in Heaven.

This is a foundational truth that is echoed later in Paul’s writing in Galatians and by the writer of the Book of Hebrews who both use the analogy of the rights of the slave versus the rights of the heir to illustrate to a Jewish audience that their physical connection to Abraham through ancestry was not sufficient to secure an eternal inheritance for them.

John 8:36 NLT

36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

So then, after the illustration of the heir and the slave, an illustration familiar to all of His listeners, Jesus restates His original premise. He is the only path available to mankind to… freedom.

John 8:37 NLT

37 Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message.

Obviously, this was a moment of contention between Jesus and these new converts. Some of them were not converted because they were holding to their belief that their kinship to Abraham was their ticket to eternity. They were missing the point, weren’t they. Abraham’s righteousness was imputed to Him because He believed God. If all have sinned and fallen short of God’s, then how can one be saved unless righteousness is imputed (gifted) to them by God as well? Additionally, how could they be saved if they looked past their awaited Messiah to Abraham? Jesus revealed that they had no room in their hearts for Him. They could not see past Abraham. Beloved, your grandmother’s right relationship with God won’t save you. You have to take Jesus to heart for yourself.

John 8:38 NLT

38 I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.”

Jesus continues his rebuke of these believers by informing them that their ‘belief’ is not yet genuine. He informs them that He knows that because the Father made it clear to Him. Theirs is a sorry state. They are lost in the confusion of their ancestry, not understanding that Abraham, himself was a servant and friend to God Almighty and that it was only because of His trust in God that righteousness was imparted to them. Jesus was inviting these listeners to that to come to that place of faith. But, he was lamenting the fact that they could not replace their esteem of Abraham in their minds with a real love for the true Messiah that had come to give them eternal life.

John 8:42 NLT

42 Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me.

Beloved, the verse above wasn’t part of the printed text, but I have included it, so as to bring the lesson to a proper conclusion. You see, my own experience with Christ was similar to what these Jews who confronted Jesus were experiencing. I had no consciousness of personal sin. My ideas about right and wrong hinged on whatever best served my carnal desires. However, I did have an abiding curiosity about God. Was He really real? How could I know? Thankfully, one Monday night, He revealed Himself to me in a church where the gospel was being preached. Once revealed, I fell in love. I fell completely in love with God. In that few moments, I threw everything else out of my heart and invited God in. My life has not been the same since. That was over thirty years ago and still, to this day, every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.

Selah,

wb

Lamentations 3:22-24 NLT

22 

The faithful love of the Lord never ends![a]

    His mercies never cease.

23 

Great is his faithfulness;

    his mercies begin afresh each morning.

24 

I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;

    therefore, I will hope in him!”