Romans 6. 1-14

Starting again after judgment?

I am happier and more fulfilled than ever I was in the heyday of being in the spotlight of Cabinet power and vaulting ambition. So there is life after a libel catastrophe and it can be a good life.

After judgment:There is no one righteous, not even one;

    there is no one who understands;    there is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good,    not even one.”     Romans 3.10-12

There is no fear of God before their eyes. 3.17There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for

all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 3.23

We all, like sheep, have gone astray..

The merciful kingBut now God has shown us a way to be made right with him….. 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.

Romans 3.21-22 NLT

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

(Romans 5. 6-8, NLT)

Good News!Not

The Atheist says there is no God:

The Buddhist says God is unreachable

The Hindu says God contains everything: creation and destruction, male and female, good and evil,

The Muslim says acceptance by God hinges on obedience, but still nothing is certain

But we know there is a God

who makes sense of the universe, and loves his creation.

we know he cares, and reaches out to us

we know he is our loving Father, who came to us in Christ

we know God will forgive us because Jesus died in our place, and that we have only to trust him.

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Living a new life?For we know that our old self

was crucified with him (6 v.6)

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.(6v.8)

If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come

(2 Corinthians 5.17)

800 missionaries 125 schools 18,000 Christians 300 stations

Hudson Taylor

Living a new life…

Newrelationsh

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Newthing

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Newtasks

Newenergie

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Newperso

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We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

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.

Offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (6.v 13 - 14)

The practical response (3)

A need You can meet

A job that needs doing

A choice you can make

Join a campaign(www.40acts.org.uk)

Build a bridge to someone

Choose…..