Peace With God

Have you ever prepared to go to somewhere and packed everything that you thought you would need when you get there only to find that you don’t need 90% of what you brought? You end up carrying all this extra stuff with you and it weighs you down, and then you find that you forgot some things that you really needed. Life is that way too. We carry burdens with us that we don’t have to, only to find that they are weighing us down and keeping us from bringing more important things along on the journey with us.

In Colosse, there were false teachers who were putting extra burdens upon the church. The teachers wanted believers to walk according to the old way of the law instead of walking in the newness of the freedom of Christ. They did not seem to understand that as Christians we are free from the law. We are no longer required to live according to the law. When we walk according to the law, we carry an unnecessary burden. God uses Paul to confront this. Paul shows them how they should walk.

Read Col. 3:1-11

As Christians there are some steps to take to avoid excess burdens and enjoy the Peace of God:

I. Seek v. 1-4.

The church at Colosse struggled against the false teachers. These ft taught that the Christians should focus on the world and the things that were happening now and forget about the things to come. It is our privilege that we have risen with Christ. Through our union and communion with him we are justified and sanctified, and shall be glorified. As a result, we must seek those things which are above.

Paul tells us as Christians we are to love heavenly things; study them; let our hearts be entirely engrossed by them. Now, that we are converted to God, act towards the heavenly things as we did formerly towards those of earth; and vice versa. They were telling the Christians that there did not have to be a difference in their life now.

Rom. 8:6-8 “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Christ died for our sins. Christ did not stay in the grave. He rose again on the third day. As believers, we too were raised from the dead.

We are hidden w/ Christ in God. We have not seen Christ, but He is hidden. Our life is hidden with Him and is protected and secured until the day.

Jesus tells us where your treasure is, there your heart is. Christ is our treasure and our focus should be on Him. We must continually discipline ourselves to focus on the eternal. Seek those things which will last and will make an eternal difference. Seek the things of the spirit and not the flesh. When we walk in the Spirit, we are pleasing to God. Our desire should be that of the Psalmist.

Ps. 27:4 “4 One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.

What is your desire? What is it that you seek? Are you walking in the Spirit?

II. Put Off v. 5-8.

The Ft taught that you could live however you wanted now that you belonged to Christ. The problem is that now we are new and no longer apart of the same family. Now, our actions, motivations, etc. change. We cannot be a Christian and continue to live in the same condition. It is impossible- 2 Cor. 5:17.

Paul says put those evil things to death. Put them to death: the verb is used metaphorically to signify, to deprive a thing of its power, to destroy its strength. Use no member of your body to sin against God; keep all under dominion; and never permit the beast to run away with the man. Die to the old things that use to control you, and seek that which we have been born into.

Rom. 6:13 “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

Eph. 5 tells us to be imitators of God as His children. The chapter goes on to tell us to not even let the evil things that controlled us before, but no longer do, to even be mentioned among believers. Put those things off and flee from the immorality and unrighteousness.