“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Many years ago when I was relatively young in my service before the Lord, I was challenged by a woman in what was at the time a new pastoral charge. I had been serving in that new assembly for only a matter of weeks when, during a message to the new congregation, I commented that some things needed to die. I was quite clear in stating that I was speaking of attitudes that exalted the self, attitudes that were unworthy of the Risen Saviour. Almost before the service had ended, one woman in the congregation was registering a complaint. She was incensed and immediately complained to her husband, browbeating him until he approached church leaders.
There were already hard feelings among some of the leaders because I had been adamant that because we are Christians we must look to the Word of God for guidance in how we conduct our lives. Thus, this woman received a sympathetic hearing from those to whom she complained. The woman charged that I had said some people in that church needed to die. Of course, I had said no such thing, but that was nevertheless what she argued that had heard, and she was determined to have her revenge on me because she was certain that I was speaking about her. As it turned out, she was not a pleasant woman. Candidly, she was a tyrant, and she had exercised a death grip on the conduct of the church. What I had said offended her because it apparently struck home.
In light of this experience, I will say that I’m not attacking anyone in this message. I am, however, stating without equivocation that some things need to die if we will honour the Saviour. There are attitudes we gladly harbour and favoured actions that mark our conduct that need to die if we will please Him Whom we call Master.
THOSE WHOM PAUL ADDRESSED — “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” [COLOSSIANS 3:1-4].
If we wish to understand what is being said in Scripture, it is essential that we understand who is being addressed. Not all that is written in the Word of God is meant for a general audience. Some things are specifically addressed to saved people; the lost cannot appropriate what is promised to God’s holy people. Sone things written to the redeemed are meant to urge them toward righteous lives. Lost people attempting to apply these things will be disappointed. Some things that are written are addressed to the lost. Though these statements may serve to caution God’s saved saints, the immediate implication of what is written is meant for the lost so that they will take warning, so that they will realise the consequences of their failure to receive the love of God in Christ.
However much he detests his weakness, it is a caricature that a drunkard will waken each morning after a bender resolving that he will take control of his drinking. However, nothing ever changes for him. A drug addict awakens from her stupor admonishing herself that she must quit destroying herself. Her resolve lasts for a short while, until the monkey on her back begins to claw at her again, driving her to seek a fix. The sex addict is ashamed of the debasement that destroys respect for others and respect for self. Determination to change seems somehow to elude the one gripped by this degrading, soul-destroying craving for gratification. The issue is that the casual sinner has no power to do good. To tell the lost that they should act right makes about as much sense as trying to teach a tiger to eat straw. Character is not casually changed.
No words are addressed to the lost in the Apostle’s admonition; rather, he is definite that what he has to say is given only for those who have been raised with Christ. Christians, those who are born from above, reveal their parentage through seeking the things that are above. We have died, the old nature is dead, and now our life is hidden with Christ in God. This is what we testified when we were baptised.
You will recall how the Apostle addressed the matter of what each Christian confessed when he was dipped beneath the waters of baptism. Addressing the matter of antinomianism, the concept that since we have received grace a godly life is no longer necessary, Paul appeals to the baptism that the obedient follower of Christ will have received. He writes, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” [ROMANS 6:1-14].
The Apostle is reminding the Romans, and us also, that when one is baptised, that one is confessing that the old nature that was dead has been buried with Christ the Lord through faith. When the one being baptised is raised up from the water, he is testifying that he was raised from that death that had once marked his life in order to live a new life in the Risen Saviour. Thus, baptism bespeaks a wonderful truth for the saved individual, as that one identifies fully with Jesus the Son of God in His death, burial, and resurrection. The baptised individual has laid claim to a desire to live a righteous and holy life, acknowledging that the power of the Spirit of Christ is now available for him.
The lost person, whether having submitted to a church ritual or not, is not particularly concerned about a righteous life. What God says in His Word is not seen as relevant to the lost individual. She may hold membership in a church and she may participate in the rites of the church, but her participation is all an outward show. Therefore, we realise that the Apostle is addressing those who are born from above, those who have chosen to follow the Risen Saviour as Master over life.
This raises an interesting point that is sometimes overlooked among Evangelical Christians. We imagine that the services of the church are meant to bring lost people to faith in Christ. To be certain, lost people should be invited to share the services of the congregation, but the services are not designed specifically to win lost people to faith. I do not wish to be misunderstood in making this assertion, but I do want us to be clear on what we do when we gather in our services of worship.
Paul was providing instruction to the saints assembled, specifically contrasting the outwardly flashy spiritual gifts and those which are quieter, less exciting when he wrote, “One who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say ‘Amen’ to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue” [1 CORINTHIANS 14:13-19].
The Apostle of Christ is pointedly reminding each of us that telling others of God’s work in this present generation is a vastly superior labour when set against making yourself feel good about yourself. Among other reasons for stating what should be obvious is that the Apostle realised that outsiders—whether redeemed individuals or lost people who were exploring the Faith—likely would be present at any given service.
Having established this foundational truth, Paul continues. “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. In the Law it is written, ‘By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.’ Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you” [1 CORINTHIANS 14:20-25].
Paul used a third-class conditional construct, indicating that this was a future possibility. The congregation didn’t plan to create an opportunity to evangelise with each service of worship; nevertheless, because the body was gathered for worship it was possible—even likely—that lost people would be present each time the assembly met. The relevant point is not that the preacher must preach a hot message of damnation, but that as each member of the assembly testifies to the grace of God and speaks of His glory, outsiders will be convicted by what is said. That testimony of praise doesn’t even need to be a formal statement detailing what God is doing. The one praising God need only sing joyfully, rejoice in the knowledge of God’s love, or give hearty assent to the reading of the Word of God. When we are actually worshipping the Risen Saviour, the Spirit of God will do what only the Spirit of God can do, and the lost person will be convicted. Amen!
Of course, this is precisely what Jesus promised as He prepared His disciples for His exodus. You will no doubt remember that Jesus taught, “When [the Helper] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” [JOHN 16:8-11]. Jesus taught that His Spirit, working through His people will bring lost people to faith as they witnessed Him at work among the followers of the Lord.
Think about what I just said. Your presence at the services of the congregation and your participation in the services of your congregation, especially as you worship the Risen Lord of Glory and as you testify to His grace, becomes incredibly powerful evidence of God’s power. It is not an issue of how you feel about what you are doing, it is the fact that God’s Spirit is at work as you honour the Risen Lord of Glory. Hallelujah! To be certain, your presence and your witness is evidence that may be rejected by many who do not believe our Lord Jesus Christ; nevertheless, people who witness your faithfulness are provided evidence that cannot be easily dismissed.
We who are twice-born must come to grips with the truth as recorded in the Word: “We walk by faith, not by sight” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:7]. How we feel about what we are doing is immaterial. What we do is everything. Therefore, the instructions we are given in the text are for us who follow the Risen Master and not for the world at large.
THE ACTIONS WE MUST TAKE — “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” [COLOSSIANS 3:5-10].
I find it extremely interesting to note that the follower of Christ is responsible to put to death those aspects of life which are identified as “earthly.” Wouldn’t you think that the Spirit of God will kill off whatever needs to be slain in your life? However, that is not what is stated in this passage. We who follow the Risen Saviour are responsible to take deliberate action to kill off some things that are quite natural in this life. By our own determinate choice, we are responsible to kill off some things that dishonour Christ. And each of us has been contaminated to a disturbing extent by many of these aspects of life.
Paul lists some qualities that must be killed off, and then he lists other aspects of life that are associated with those qualities that are to be place on the chopping block. Each follower of Christ is charged with responsibility to kill off sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness. Associated with these contaminating aspects of life are a plethora of contaminating qualities that must be set aside, including anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk. Did the Apostle wing anyone? Of course he did! Each of us has harboured far too many of these qualities in the past. Though the instructions Paul has provided were written for saints living almost two millennia past, it is obvious that what was written then is applicable to us to this day.
I urge you to take note of an issue in this text that is quite fascinating. Some of the characteristics named are to be killed off—that is, they are to be ruthlessly throttled so that they are never again seen in the life of the child of God. In a practical sense, they are to be utterly renounced and removed from the life of the follower of Christ Jesus. Moreover, it should be obvious that they are not to be tolerated in the life of the assembly of the righteous. Members of the Body of Christ are responsible to police themselves to ensure that those facets of earthly life tolerated among others is not so much as named among the saints. Other facets of life will be with us, but these facets must be put away so that they will not to be seen in our walk with the Lord. I will not attempt to tell you why the Lord allows this distinction; I only note that He does make the distinction.
What I do know is that we are responsible to kill off five facets of life that invite the wrath of God. The first of these dreadful aspects of life that are so commonly witnessed in people in this day is sexual immorality. The term conveys a broad meaning that exposes much of modern society. The Greek term is porneía. We obtain our English term pornography and pornographic from this Greek term. The word speaks of engaging in sexual immorality of any kind. While many people wish to slice and dice words to attempt to excuse one behaviour or another, the term simply speaks of any activity in which one seeks or obtains sexual gratification outside of the marriage relationship between a man and a woman.
It seems shameful that we must provide such precise definition; but the English tongue has grown rather imprecise in this day. Supreme court judges no longer know how to define what a woman is, medical schools are teaching physicians to provide prostate exams for “women,” public schools provide tampons for “men,” and no one seems able to address another until first determining their pronouns. Under such constraints it is necessary to reduce definitions to the simplest possible terms. And even then, there is no guarantee that people won’t try to wiggle out of applying what is meant.
The next facet under scrutiny is impurity. The term Paul uses is related to sexual immorality, but it conveys the perception of perverseness that is recognised as impure or filthy. The filthiness is especially that which is corrupt or morally impure in the sight of God. Writing the Roman Christians, Paul pointed out the depravity of the mind that was characteristic of mankind in that day, and consequently in our own day, boldly stating, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. …For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” [ROMANS 1:18, 21-23].
Then, having set the groundwork for the degeneracy of mankind, the Apostle continued by saying, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen” [ROMANS 1:24-25].
Take note specifically of what is stated in the TWENTY-FOURTH VERSE, as the Apostle says that the people who had excluded God from their thinking were surrendered to their own desires. Specifically, Paul says that they were surrendered to “impurity.” That is our word under scrutiny at this moment. If there is somehow doubt about what Paul is saying, he will continue by condemning mankind as having been given up to “dishonourable passions” [see ROMANS 1:26]. He then provides a list of the dishonourable passions that are characterised as “impurity.” These passions begin with lesbianism and homosexuality and continue on include the inability to think morally or righteously.
In our text, the Apostle next says that we who follow Christ must kill off passion. The Greek term is páthos. In this context, the word speaks of sexual passion, with the implication that one is being controlled by emotion. The individual who is unfaithful to her marriage vow, pleading that “she couldn’t help herself,” is displaying passion. She is controlled by her emotions rather than being in control of her emotions. She has ceased to think logically, and is responding to the moment rather than living with an eye on that which is eternal. We might speak of one who surrenders to lust. Undoubtedly many young men and many young women have fallen into lust, rather than falling into love. The heat of the moment overwhelmed them, and they surrendered the rule over their own bodies for a momentary excursus into the realm of transient gratification.
The next aspect of modernity that must be slain in a Christian’s life is evil desires. The Apostle is specifically warning against succumbing to the cravings that contemporary society considers normal. “Everyone feels this way,” is not justification to surrender to one’s own desires. The desires of which the Apostle writes can only be said to be wicked. Well, in our argumentative world our contemporaries will confront us demanding that we define what desires are evil. It’s a “gotcha” question, but I will answer knowing full well that the answer will not satisfy an argumentative person.
Writing the Corinthians, Paul confesses, ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything” [1 CORINTHIANS 6:12]. Here, Paul specifically addresses an issue of whether a Christian could eat food that had been offered to an idol, or whether a Christian should abstain from eating such food. Note how the Apostle turns the question. “‘Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food’—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ‘The two will become one flesh.’ But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” [1 CORINTHIANS 6:12-20].
Paul transitioned from the question of food to the issue of hiring a prostitute. Writing as he does, he is implying that the issues are related insofar as either case is a surrender to what the individual wants rather than what is good and honourable. The question being raised was whether personal gratification superseded the need to glorify the Lord. Those who lived in that ancient city would realise as they were reading his words, whether they were prepared to admit it or not, that using the “services” of a prostitute would be ungodly. It would not do for a follower of the Christ to say that their urges had to be satisfied because they would intuitively know that using a prostitute is wrong. Thus, the principle is established that whatever masters you reveals what is of greatest importance in your life. If your own desires, the cravings of your body, override your desire to glorify Christ, you are no longer serving the Lord. Therefore, the evil desires in view are those desires that exclude reason and dishonour Christ.
It is not wrong to desire to excel in righteousness. It honours Christ to have the desire to better yourself, especially as you prepare yourself for service to the Lord. It glorifies the Saviour to long to tell others of His mercy and His love. It is right to want to understand the will of God as revealed in His Word. It honours the Lord to have the desire to honour your spouse and to see your children behave in an honourable manner.
It dishonours Christ when you surrender to your desire to gratify your cravings which will dissipate and which will need to be gratified again in the near future. Sex with your spouse in the marriage relationship builds trust and enhances the desire for one another. Sex with someone other than your spouse may provide gratification for a brief while, and then the feeling quickly fades into a distant and vague memory. So the issue revolves around the matter of whether our desires advance the cause of Christ and builds others, or whether the desires are exclusively squandered on gratifying ourselves.
Finally, Paul admonishes us who follow the Saviour to kill off covetousness. Many translations translate this word as greed. The concept emphasises exploitation of people or things for one’s own purpose. So it speaks not only of longing to possess something or someone, though that is certainly inherent in the word, but it speaks of using that thing or that person, and not necessarily in an honourable fashion.
You will no doubt have recognised that the facets of natural life that must be mastered each points back to surrender to sexual issues. God has given men and women a means to fulfil sexual desires honourably, and that fulfilment benefits both partners. The means God has given is marriage, the permanent union of a male and a female in loving commitment to one another. As the sexual desires of the couple are fulfilled, their sense of commitment is strengthened and their love for one another is enhanced. That cannot be said of a person’s pursuit of sexual gratification with a prostitute, whether a male prostitute or a female prostitute. Neither can that be demonstrated physiologically in sexual activity between two males or between two females, whether or not they have received a government certificate declaring that they are “married.”
In our text, the Apostle continues by pointing to facets of the “old self,” the earthly character each of us carry. He specifically says that “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk” together with lying must be put away [cf. COLOSSIANS 3:8-9]. These characteristics are associated with the “old self,” and all the practices of that old nature are to be put away. We are not to engage in those practises any longer, because they are uncomely for the follower of Christ, failing to honour the Lord Who has redeemed us.
What I must emphasise is that we must recognise that each Christian is responsible to kill off the named actions. Our emphasis must be on building one another, on encouraging one another, rather than using others for our own purposes. Earlier in his writing to the churches, the Apostle addressed this in a positive fashion when he wrote to the saints in Thessalonica. In his first missive to those saints, Paul wrote, “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:1-8].
I do want to speak pointedly to each one who hears me at this time. I want to address some practical aspects that must be implemented in the life of each individual follower of Christ. Men, you are responsible to treat each woman as a sister; this is especially true for your interactions with women who are members of the Faith,. You must treat each woman who shares this Holy Faith as equally important in the sight of the Lord, equally valuable in His service, and as pure and holy. You must never allow your mind to degrade a woman as though she was an object or a plaything. Rather, you are responsible to recognise her as holy and pure, doing all that is possible to ensure that she knows that you will be always trustworthy in your intentions toward women and in your conduct with those of the distaff side of the Faith. In doing this, you honour the Saviour Who redeems you. By showing honour to the sisters, and especially to your own wife, you strengthen the Faith and advance Christ’s cause.
The Apostle to the Gentiles addresses this matter when he writes, “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” [1 PETER 3:7]. As an aside, when Peter begins that sentence with the word “likewise,” he is pointing back to what has preceded. Just as wives are to depend upon their inner beauty rather than external features to reveal the beauty of Christ in their lives, so men are to work at making themselves attractive so that they draw attention to the Saviour. Above all, men and women are to so live that they honour Christ the Lord.
Ladies, the same responsibilities rests upon you. I have been speaking of the necessity of men being holy in their conduct and in their attitude toward sisters in the Faith, so you ladies are responsible to consider each man, and especially the men who are members of the Faith, as brothers. You must hold them accountable for their speech and for their attitudes as they are expressed. Do not allow their conduct to slide and do not permit their attitude toward you slide. Women should not give men a pass on the issue of attitude, or speech, or conduct toward women. Ladies, you must never permit your mind to wander to what might have been, if only… You are where you are, and you are who you are, by the grace of God. Determine that you will glorify the Lord Who redeemed you by living a holy life now, where you are. Amen.
CHRISTIANS MUST ACT DECISIVELY — “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” [COLOSSIANS 3:11]. Here—within the Body of Christ. Here—among the people of God gathered to worship and to serve the Risen Lord of Glory. Here, we do not distinguish on the basis of race, or on the basis of education, or on the basis of culture. Here, there are only followers of the Risen Saviour.
A former elder serving among us was heard to say on numerous occasions, “This isn’t Mike’s church; this is God’s church.” He was responding to what some would consider innocuous statements when people would comment they were considering attending “Mike’s church.” Doug wasn’t going to allow such a view to persist. He wanted people to know that we were adamant that this is God’s church. We don’t do things our way, but we study the Word of God to ensure that we please God. Because we belong to Christ, we confess that we are responsible to know the will of God and that we are responsible to pursue His holy will.
The import of that stance is that if we know what honours God, which is if we know His will, we are responsible to do His will. The present Speaker of the United States House of Representatives trots out her religion on a regular basis in advocating her support for the murder of the unborn. This woman does this knowing that despite the religion she professes teaching quite clearly that abortion is murder. Madam Speaker picks and chooses what she will hold as religious dogma, disregarding what her church holds to be true. Of course, she only deceives herself in her contention.
Here is the point, if God has clearly stated His will and we yet ignore what He has communicated in His Holy Word, how can we say we are followers of the Son of God. When we fail to do what is revealed in the Word of the Living God, we are exposed as being no better than Madam Speaker, picking and choosing what we will do in any situation. In that instance, we are exalting ourselves above the Lord and we have elevated our thoughts to a position of greater importance than the Word of the Living God. At that point, we are exposed as hypocrites at best, and outright liars at the worst. And what do you suppose the Lord God will do about those who exalt themselves against Him and His holy will?
The Christian Faith is a Faith that demands action. No follower of the Saviour is to be passive in his or her practise of the Faith. The Faith is meant to be practised actively, however, the action that is expected is not often as the world imagines it is to be. God does not call His people to be combative, to be pugnacious; God calls His people to be active in taking control of their own choices, to be active in doing what is good and noble, to be active in pursuing what is righteous and holy. We who dare profess to seek the glory of the Risen Saviour are to be active in fulfilling His will in our own lives.
While I have spoken of what needs to die and what needs to be put away, I now want you to return to the beginning of the chapter. Notice what the Apostle says there. “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” [COLOSSIANS 3:1-2]. In brief, the one who accepts this contention as authoritative will understand that she or he is responsible to take some definite actions. The one who follows the Saviour must act to seek the things that are above; that is, the Christian is to think Christ’s thoughts after Him. The one who will please God is to accomplish this goal by setting the mind on things above, and not on things of the earth.
The follower of Christ is responsible to know the will of the Master, and that follower will know the will of the Lord because it is given in the Word of God. What I think about a matter is immaterial; what is essential is what has Christ said concerning the issue. If the Word of God is silent on an issue, then we are free to apply our best thoughts. However, when the will of God has been revealed, we are responsible to obey what the Lord has delivered, without attempting to circumvent what He has commanded.
That is straight forward enough I should think. The reason the redeemed saint is to act so decisively is given in the next two verses. There, Paul informs those who read what is written, “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” [COLOSSIANS 3:3-4]. And that brings us to the point that must be advanced to all who hear the message.
Do you have faith that Jesus, the Son of God, died because of your sin? Do you believe that He has been raised from the dead? Do you look to Him as Master over your life? If so, are you following Him, seeking to do that which honours Him? If you claim His Name and you yet refuse to obey Him in the matter of which we spoke this day, then it is mute though effective evidence that you have deceived yourself. For if His Spirit lived in you, you would seek His will and you would endeavour to do His will so that He might be glorified through your actions. If your will prevails over His will, how can you say that you are a follower of the Son of God?
The Apostle of Love was speaking of these very issues when he wrote, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” [1 JOHN 1:5-10].
We who are born from above do not need to try to walk in the light, because we are redeemed, we want to walk in the light. And the Spirit of Christ guides us so that we seek the path that glorifies the Name of the Saviour Who has redeemed us. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
