On-Again...off-Again

Col. 3:1-17 - 1Since you have been raised to new life

with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven,

where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor

and power. 2Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think

only about things down here on earth. 3For you died when

Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

4And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the

whole world, you will share in all his glory.

5So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within

you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and

shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of

this life, for that is idolatry. 6God’s terrible anger will come

upon those who do such things. 7You used to do them

when your life was still part of this world. 8But now is the

time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander,

and dirty language. 9Don’t lie to each other, for you have

stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds.

10In its place you have clothed yourselves with a

brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you

learn more and more about Christ, who created this new

nature within you. 11In this new life, it doesn’t matter if

you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised,

barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that

matters, and he lives in all of us.

12Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he

loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted

mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13You

must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the

person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you,

so you must forgive others. 14And the most important

piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds

us all together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace that

comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of

one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be

thankful.

16Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in

your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and

counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual

songs to God with thankful hearts. 17And whatever you do

or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the

while giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Col. 3:1- Assumes we understand...and have followed

the pattern set forth in Rom. 6:3-6

Rom. 6:3-6 - 3Or have you forgotten that when we

became Christians and were baptized to become one with

Christ Jesus, we died with him? 4For we died and were

buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was

raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father,

now we also may live new lives.

5Since we have been united with him in his death, we will

also be raised as he was. 6Our old sinful selves were

crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our

lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.

We have all, hopefully, been raised to a new life in Christ.

A. If this is true, we should have made a real change...

a tangible change...a change that others can see in

us, and a change that we can realize, as well.

1. This is not something static, but this change is

always in flux.

a. The change that took place when we were

baptized was just a start....we continue to

change as we live and learn the Christian

life.

Col. 3:10 - 10 In its place you have clothed yourselves

with a brand-new nature that is continually being

renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who

created this new nature within you.

Col. 3:2 tells us that our thoughts, which have been earthly

and materialistic...survival, jobs, pleasures, material things,

money........these things need to be, replaced with....and...

controlled (in the mind) by our new, spiritual, man.

A. If we think and act so very much as the world

does.....or if we are still thinking and acting as

we did when we were in the world....something

is dreadfully wrong.

ILLUSTRATION: A long time ago, a man married a

catholic woman and converted to Catholicism. This man

had a lot of problems with eating fish on Fridays. This man

loved his steaks and did not like fish. On Fridays, he

would sneak into his back yard and bar-b-que a nice, thick,

steak.

His wife reported him to the priest. The next Friday the

priest hid in the bushes by the man’s back yard. When the

man was just about finished with his steak, the priest

popped out of the bushes and said, “Ah-ha! Caught you!