๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข What is something you did as a child that you would never do now?
โข Look back at yourself ten years ago. Are you where you thought you would be back then?
โข Recall a time when you had a debt canceled or a deadline moved. Share your story and how you felt.ย
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ฎ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ.ย ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ญ-๐ญ๐ฎ
(Read also ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ.)
Paul wrote to the church at Colossae to address the false teachings they were hearing. He warned about being taken captive by human philosophy (Colossians 2:8), and also emphasized the deity of Jesus Christ, who, though man, was also fully God (Colossians 2:9). Because we are now in Christ, our nature has changed. Christ forgave our sin and canceled our debt (Colossians 2:14). Now, we can live to fullness with Him. Today, letโs talk about what happens when we receive Christ as Lord.
๐ญ. ๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐, ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐๐น ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ.
๐๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฉ, ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต . . . ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ญ
In the Old Testament, circumcision, wherein a piece of flesh is cut off from the tip of the male organ, was done by Godโs people as a sign of the covenant God had made with them. Paul likens this act to what happens to believers when they receive Christ as Lord. We undergo a circumcision made without handsโa spiritual one. When we receive Christ as Lord, He sets us apart from our old sinful nature so that we no longer have to be controlled by it. Like circumcision, baptism is an outward sign that we have been set apart for God as His people. What are some sinful practices or attitudes that God has changed in your life?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐, ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐๐น ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฏ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ.
. . . ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ฎ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ.ย ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ฎ
In Christian practice, baptism is the act of immersing someone briefly in water as an outward sign of the inward act of receiving Christ as Lord. Aside from circumcision, baptism is also likened to a burial, where our old sinful nature is considered dead and buried. We are now dead to sin or sin is dead to us in Christ. Just like we no longer communicate with people who have died, we are to no longer entertain our old sinful desires, since our old selves have already died with Christ. What does Romans 6:1โ3 say about the implications of this truth?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ.
. . . ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ฎ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ.ย ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ฎ
Baptism is also a picture of union with Christ not only in His death and burial but also in His resurrection. Just as Christ died and was resurrected, our old self died when we received Christ and we are made spiritually alive and given a new life. Since all of our sins are forgiven and our record of debt is canceled, nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:13โ14), we can experience a victorious life in Christ because He has already triumphed (Colossians 2:15). We are set free from the stains of our past and are now free to live our lives with and for God. What are some positive changes in your life since you received Christ? What change did others notice in your life after you received Christ as Lord?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Have you received Christ as Lord and Savior? If not, would you like to receive Him today?ย
โข Share to the group positive changes in your life since you received Christ? Are there areas in your life where you need to see Christโs life in you more?
โข Romans 6:11 does not say that we need to die to sin but rather that we should consider ourselves already dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. What are practical ways that you could consider this truth regularly?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His great love that made a way to cancel our debt and forgive our sins, bringing us near to Him.
โข Thank Him that we are dead to sin and made alive in Christ because of Jesusโ sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection.
โข Pray to hear Godโs voice clearly as you walk through life, growing to be more and more like Christ, especially in times of temptation and hardship. Pray that you will always consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God so that you could continue to reflect the new life He has given you.