Begin Again Within

March 12 & 13, 2022

Primary Text:  2 Corinthians 5:17                        

Previous Teaching:  The Boundaries of Freedom

1)  Limits of Freedom

Galatians 5:1, 13-14:  It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery….  You, my brothers, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.  The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

DQ 2) What are the limits of freedom for individuals?

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2)  The Limits of Governmental Freedom

Romans 13:3-4:  For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.  Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority?  Then do what is right and he will commend you.  For he is God's servant to do you good.  But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.  

    DQ 3) Why is governing authority necessary?

    DQ 4) When does any government abdicate its right to rule?

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This Week’s Teachings

1)  A New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17:  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

    DQ 1) How are people made new creations when they come into relationship with Jesus?

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2)  Everyone

Romans 10:8-13:  But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 

DQ 2) What does it mean to “call on the name of the Lord”?

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3)  Sanctified

2 Thessalonians 2:13:  But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24:  May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 

    DQ 3) What is sanctification?

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4)  Delivered

Luke 8:1-3:  After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.  The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others.  These women were helping to support them out of their own means. 

2 Corinthians 10:4-5:  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 

    DQ 4) What is demonic oppression?  Can a Christian be demonically oppressed?

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5)  Anointed

1 John 2:20-22:  But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.  I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.  Who is the liar?  It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ.  Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son. 

2 Corinthians 1:21-22:  Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.  He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 

    DQ 5) What is an anointing from God?

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