Prison Epistles

The Prison Epistles
Sermon Number Thirty-Eight
Living in Christ (part 2)
Colossians 3:1-11
February 5th, 2006
Jim Bordwine, ThD

Introduction

I began last week by stating that whenever error is encountered, whether it be on a small scale or a grand scale, whether it be error of belief or conduct or teaching, there are two steps that must be taken for correction. The two-step process is simple: first, you must expose the error or identify what is wrong, and second, you must provide accurate instruction. I began with those thoughts in order to say to you that the apostle Paul is a premier example of confronting error in the productive and necessary manner I've described. In his case, of course, he was confronting doctrinal error. The pattern he demonstrates in his many epistles is consistent and instructive to us for a variety of situations, not the least of which would be those times when we encounter false teaching.

In almost every one of his letters to New Testament churches, as I noted last time, Paul does two things without fail: he identifies error in the thinking of some Christians or error in the conduct of some Christians or error in the teaching being provided by others; and then the apostle explains how those Christians should be thinking or should be acting or what should be taught and believed.

In his epistle to the Colossians, as we certainly know by now, Paul has been writing about one of the most crucial questions imaginable, which has to do with the sufficiency of the work done by our Savior. He has declared more than once and in a variety of ways that the atonement provided by Jesus Christ is complete, meaning that nothing more needs to be done by the sinner who has faith in the Savior. Paul has emphasized that one aspect of the Biblical doctrine of redemption that is so hard for us to accept and so often attacked by enemies of the gospel, which is the fact that salvation is all of grace and depends not at all on the contribution of the sinner, either initially or during the sinner's lifetime of walking before the Lord.

Someone in that church, however, as I've said before, was teaching another view and Paul identifies the error, condemns it, and leaves no doubt regarding the conclusion that, as far as he was concerned, what was being taught was insidious doctrinal error, the kind that robs Christ of His glory and plunges the sinner into a world of doubt and spiritual misery. Following that pattern I described, Paul moves on to the second part of his treatment of doctrinal error, which is an explanation of what should be believed and what should be practiced.

The question, you'll remember, is about the sufficiency of Christ's work and whether that work by itself was enough to give the sinner the assurance of eternal security before God. Paul has taught that the work of Christ is wholly sufficient. An issue that naturally arises now has to do with the day-to-day living of the Christian. Paul refuted the false teachers' claims that the Colossians must live according to rules and regulations, some that were active during the period prior to the coming of Christ and some that they made up themselves. But that leaves the matter before us of the Christian response to those false teachers who said "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" (cf. 2:21).

We know that Paul was not saying that Christians may live as they please. And he wasn't saying that once a sinner expressed faith in Christ, nothing else mattered so he could go on with life according to his own desires. Paul is now explaining how believers are to think of themselves and how that perspective bears upon daily conduct. Last week, we considered the first four verses of the third chapter:

3:1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

In terms of an overall theme for this section, I stated that Paul is addressing the topic of life in Christ. We know already what he does not approve of, which is the kind of teaching these believers had been hearing from Paul's opponents. What, then, does the apostle think when it comes to living the Christian life? How is it done? What does life in Christ look like? Paul answers these questions in this section.

01. Life in Christ begins with your perspective (vv. 1-4)

I began explanation of these verses by asking you a couple of questions: Where do you look when you think about your identity and purpose in this life? What is your reference point? Most of us are going to think first of our family or our vocation or maybe our church. We tend to identify ourselves, and consequently derive our purpose, from such aspects of our existence. Ultimately, however, it is not your vocation or your church or even your family that defines who you are or why you are here. That which gives you identity and which, consequently, establishes your purpose in this life, is your relationship with Christ. Everything else, every other relationship, every responsibility, and every calling begins with the truth that you are in Christ and He, by His Spirit, is in you.

This means, as I said to you in the previous sermon, that your identity and the foundation upon which your life rests is that union with the Savior established when you come to believe the gospel. Your identity begins with the fact that you are one of God's children in Christ Jesus; and as one of God's children, your chief end in life, as our catechism teaches, is to glorify God--and that is the context in which you live day by day. This is Paul's message, but the false teachers in the Colossian church tried to ground the identity and purpose of those believers in their own efforts to live a "good" life. Such a position is forever subject to instability because it rests on the foundation of human effort, not divine initiative and provision.

Paul says "if you have been raised up with Christ, keeping seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." (v. 1) For the Christian, there is only one place to look, one viewpoint to hold and that is, as I said before, that my life is Christ--Christ living in me and through me, Christ supplying my strength and my purpose, Christ manifesting in me the reality of my union with Him. The days that we live are not to be lived as manifestations of what we are able to do but as glorious displays of what Christ is able to do through us.

The Christian life is supposed to be a joyful proof that He is in us and that we have been delivered from sin. It is not supposed to be an oppressive existence in which we try to overcome sin by our own power and try to stand strong during the hour of temptation all by ourselves and attempt to shoulder the burdens that inevitably come in this life as if we have no Helper. You are to look to Christ, as Paul says. That is where our sanctification begins--it begins with our eyes fixed on the One who delivered us from the power of sin. This means that we are capable of living God-honoring lives and we are capable of overcoming temptation and we are capable, all by the power of Christ living in us, to walk rightly before the Lord.

So, Paul has written about the right perspective. Now we can ask: Just what does this perspective do for us? Or, what does this perspective, in which we are seeking the things above and in which we have set our minds on heavenly things, look like in terms of my daily existence? That is what the apostle addresses in the remainder of this passage:

3:5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-- 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

02. Life in Christ is manifested in conduct (vv. 5-11)

Paul has an interesting way of describing the believer's status in Christ--it is as if we have died with Christ. He means, of course, that what was held against us before has been done away with or rendered inconsequential once Christ pays our debt and satisfies God's demands. But this is a vivid way of communicating what it means to have a Savior. If I am dead to anything, that means it no longer has power over me. Once death occurs, all the forces and influences of this world cease to be relevant.

Paul teaches that we should think in that way about sin, especially the sin associated with living our lives in this world between the time of our regeneration and our departure for heaven. Remember that the apostle just wrote that the Colossians were in Christ and he told them that their lives were hidden in Christ. Who they were as people and the purpose they had for existing, were bound up in their relationship with the Savior. He exhorted them to focus attention on "the things above" and, by way of implication, to draw their guidance and motivation for living from Christ.

What he says next is completely understandable. If the Colossians were in Christ, as Paul has explained, and if their lives were bound up in Him, as it were, and if they were to draw instruction and inspiration for living from heaven, then all this had some bearing on the things that are of the earth, we might say, or the instruction and inspiration for living found in this fallen world. Paul has established a contrast between life lived according to heavenly principles and life lived according to earthly principles.

And so, he writes: "Consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry." (v. 5) This, Paul teaches, is one of the chief implications of being in Christ--you are dead to all those expressions of sin, meaning that sin no longer masters you the way it did prior to your deliverance in the Savior.

Paul is making the essential point that there is no mingling of life in Christ and life in this fallen world, meaning that a person cannot live according to heaven's standards and the world's standards. I should say, to be more precise, a person should not attempt to live according to a mixture of standards--but, of course, many do, including many Christians. But Paul is talking about what is right in the eyes of God, not the regrettable examples set by people who try to live in some ways according to the world's standards and in other ways according to the standards of God. He's speaking of the unavoidable--and encouraging--consequences of being saved by Christ. We have been freed from the dominion of sin and we can live out this truth even while we remain in this world.

The picture here, as I said, is vivid. I am supposed to conduct myself as if I am dead to all the things Paul lists. Those things, which represent various aspects of sinful thinking and conduct, are not to have sway over me. They are the opposite of what it means to seek the things above and they are contrary to what it means to set my mind on the things above. But look at the list; those are the very characteristics we sometimes see in ourselves and other believers, yet Paul says we are dead to such things.

The word translated "immorality" (porneia) is a term with a wide meaning. It refers to just about any kind of sexual misconduct, including obvious acts like adultery, fornication, and homosexuality. Impurity (akatharsia) is a word meaning "uncleanness" in both a physical and, as Paul means here, moral sense. The word also refers to covetous living--never being satisfied with what you have, but always wanting more.

The term rendered as "passion" (pathos) refers to inordinate affection. "Evil desire" comes from a couple of words (kakos and epithumia), one meaning "wicked" or "harmful," including both thoughts and actions, and the other meaning "craving" or "longing," particularly for that which is forbidden. The final term in Paul's list, "greed" (pleonexia), means "the desire to have more"--it's a more specific description of covetousness than the previous term. And Paul points out that this kind of sin is the same as idolatry because it means the person is establishing his contentment on something other than God.

This list is ugly, to be sure, but it sums up what characterizes this fallen world, which is self-satisfaction, gratification of the flesh, and overall, an existence void of concern for God and His laws. Writing to a first century audience living in one of the most sexually unrestrained civilizations of all time, Paul speaks bluntly to the Colossian believers. He's telling them in no uncertain terms that the rules and regulations offered to them by the false teachers were no defense against these kinds of wickedness because these are sins of the flesh; they begin with the temptations that arise from within. And it is what is within, that is, our disposition, that needs to be changed.

Do you remember the statement Jesus made to some Pharisees who were so concerned about His disciples eating without first washing their hands? The Pharisees had little rituals they went through before eating in order to purify themselves. But Jesus told them they were in error: "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." (Matt. 15:11) Our problem is not what we touch, eat, or drink; that's why Paul dismissed those in this church who were teaching that sanctification comes through the keeping of man-made rules.

Our problem is what moves us to do what we do. That is the problem that needs to be solved for the sinner. And the solution is Christ. He regenerates us, gives us His Spirit, and begins a process of remaking us, not externally--at least not until the resurrection--but internally, in our hearts, so that we start to think differently, that is, in a Godly manner, and when we start thinking differently, we start acting differently. It's our natures that are corrupt and it is our natures that need renewal. As Christ has supplied what was needed to save us, so He supplies what is needed to sanctify us. That is Paul's point; that's what it means to be alive in Him, but dead to the sinful thoughts and practices and attitudes just mentioned by the apostle.

The fact that a transformation is taking place is made evident by Paul when he says: "6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them." Simply put, God opposes sin; God judges sin. All those categories of sin listed by Paul represent that which God detests and that which is, as I noted before, directly contrary to His own holy character. No one who is found in Christ should be marked by those sins. The Colossians used to manifest those traits, but they died to such impulses when they were united to Christ. Life in Him does not accommodate sin. "You used to be that way," Paul tells his readers, "but you are not that way now."

Note how he establishes the status of these believers before continuing. They were dead to sin, but alive in Christ. What they were and, therefore, their purpose in this life, were determined by their relationship with the Savior. That was the absolutely indispensable perspective that had to be adopted by them so that they might know how to deal with sin and temptation. Paul labors to establish this perspective because he is now dealing with the real-life, day-to-day, experiences of these people. They were saved, but God had not whisked them away to heaven. No, they were still on the earth, still among the same pagans as before, still witnessing the same debauchery, still being pulled toward fleshly indulgence by a culture defined by avarice.

It was imperative, therefore, that these believers be given the right information--not man-made rules and regulations that would only leave them frustrated and miserable, but information related to who and what they were in Christ. Paul wants them to understand that they did not have to live as they did before and they did not have to live as those around them were living. Christ had delivered them from that bondage and was at work in them so that righteousness and holiness were becoming the defining characteristics of their lives. The fact that they were alive in Him, as Paul said before, meant that this process was certain. They would progress in their sanctification, not by their own power, but by the power of Christ operating in them.

From that point of view, Paul leads the Colossians to consider sin, the sin they faced every day, the sin that still loomed before them like a determined adversary. Here is what the person who is in Christ does about sin: he adopts this perspective taught by Paul and then sets out to give the truth of his union with Christ manifestation in his daily life. In this way, it isn't me trying to meet a list of do's and don'ts, it's me being what I am--a follower of Christ, and it's letting His holy character be seen in me.

Paul puts it like this: "8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth." Paul expands his list of sins and says simply: "put them all aside." The word he uses (apotithemi) means "to lay down, to put away." Then he continues and says: "9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him--"

"Put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech," Paul writes. "And, do not lie to one another." There's nothing difficult to understand here. The apostle is saying "be done with sin." Be done with sin as if you were changing clothes, taking off spotted and torn garments and putting on clean, fresh garments. To follow this metaphor a bit longer--you don't improve your appearance by trying to dust yourself off or by wiping away some of the grime on your dirty garments or by using a safety pin to close a tear. You need to change clothes. Sin was like a dirty garment in which the Colossians were dressed. But Christ gave them new clothes to wear, as it were.

The point Paul is making in using this picture is that their corrupted dispositions were removed and Christ gave them new dispositions of holiness. And that is what should be manifested day by day. They weren't dead in sin now and they weren't alienated from God. They were alive in Christ and had been reconciled to God. And that is how they should live, not as those appearing to be under the power of sin as before, but as those clearly freed from sin's dominion.

Do you see the difference this perspective makes? It means that for the Christian, life isn't about achieving holiness, it is about expressing the holiness we already have in Christ. It's not about striving to do the righteous thing, it's about manifesting the righteousness we already have. One way is the way of striving for an end and the other is the way of revealing the end that has already been gained. The Christian life is about showing what we are, not trying to become what we want to be. I don't know how many different ways I can say this, but I feel I need to emphasize what Paul is saying because so many struggle with sin. I'm not talking about sinless perfection this side of heaven, of course, but I am talking about how our lives should look, in terms of leading characteristics.

Those in Christ should not be marked by sin, but should be known for holiness. Remember what Paul said: "2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." How can I practice immorality, how can I engage in impurity, how can I be ruled by inordinate desire, how can I be greedy and covetous, how can I be given to anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive speech if the life I live every day in front of my family and on my job is, in fact, Christ living in me? It is illogical and absurd for Christians to be characterized chiefly by sin. It is a denial of who we are and a denial of Christ.

We are new creatures in Christ. We have put on "the new self," as Paul says. This "new self" is right now being perfected. Right now, the sin that remains in us is being challenged and defeated; right now, that new disposition given to us by Christ is affecting our moods and our desires and our speech and our conduct. In short, we are, little by little, but certainly, being recreated. This is a state of existence, the apostle concludes, in which there are no divisions between men, regardless of ethnic background or prior religious experience or cultural sophistication or the lack thereof. In Christ, the divisions that exist between people, some harmless and some malicious, are erased. In Him, the Greek and the Jew are brothers, the barbarian and the refined man are brothers, and the slave dwells before God in peace along with the freeman.

What a glorious image Paul presents to the saints in this church. The false teachers focused on division by separating themselves and their followers from those who would not join them. In Christ, all are united and all are saved the same way and all experience that process of sanctification.

That last verse, by the way, where Paul emphasizes that absence of distinctions among those who have believed the gospel, is preparation for what comes next. Paul is going to deal with the character of the whole congregation and the character of specific individuals within the congregation. It's all part of the correction he is giving for the false teaching that had been troubling these Christians.

Application

I would like to help you apply Paul's teaching by asking a few questions. Remember, first, that Paul establishes a contrast between life lived according to heavenly principles and life lived according to earthly principles. I would like to ask you: which description best fits your life as of today? You know how you make decisions, you know what decisions you've made in the past; you know how you respond to temptation and you know what goals you have set for yourself and your family. You know what ranks as highly important in your life; and you know how you treat other people and how faithful you are to worship God. So, which description best fits your life as of today? Is your life being lived out according to heavenly principles or according to earthly principles, by which I mean, of course, are you living according to God's will as expressed in the Scriptures or according to your own desires and comforts?

I don't doubt that most of you, at least, want to live according to heavenly principles and you want to make decisions based on God's standards and you want to treat other people according to His word. The big question isn't "What do you want to do?," the big question is "How are you doing?" How are you living? Are you attempting to live according to a mixture of standards? If so, that can only bring grief to the one who truly has been born again and truly is seeking to walk with God. If you have unrest in your life of one kind or another, you might consider that the source of that unrest is your lack of obedience before God and your lack of commitment to what you know is right.

Let me continue with another question: What can you point to in your life that demonstrates that your life is in Christ? What can you point to that shows your life is not your own, but is Christ living through you? I know these are questions that might make you a bit uncomfortable, but this passage requires these kinds of inquiries if we are to benefit from what Paul teaches.

What can you point to that demonstrates that your life is in Christ and, therefore, you aren't the person you would be without Him? Would you like some help? Well, allow me to provide some assistance as you think about what you can point to that demonstrates Christ is living through you. How about your home? Is Christ living through you in your marriage and in your relationship with your children? How about your friendships? Is Christ living through you in all those relationships you have with other people? How about your workplace, be that an office, a warehouse, the home, or wherever you follow your calling? Is Christ living through you as you perform your job and seek to meet all of your responsibilities? How about the Lord's Day? Is Christ living through you as you spend the hours of this one day that God has claimed for Himself? How about your attitudes and those things you say in private? Is Christ heard in your statements and your opinions and your judgments when you are behind closed doors?

As you're thinking on those things, I have to say that Paul's list of sinful conduct and thinking requires that I ask the men and boys of this congregation a particular question: Men and young men, how pure are you? You are especially vulnerable to impure thoughts--and most of those things Paul lists in v. 5 have to do with how you think. Sexual sin is an ever-present and powerful temptation for men and boys. And the culture in which you are living is placing before your eyes a multitude of enticements daily. Are you guarding yourself against these attacks? Is your mind in submission to Christ as it should be?

There are many more questions that I could ask based on what Paul says in this passage. Every area of your life could be examined according to the principles he gives us. There isn't sufficient time to go into all the implications of a passage like this. When you talk about your life being in Christ and contrast that with all those sinful expressions Paul provides, you quickly see how penetrating this truth of Christ living in me really is.

Do you know what I would rank as one of our biggest problems? One of our biggest problems as believers is that we don't know how compromised we really are until someone starts probing and we have to answer these kinds of questions in our hearts. We eat the food God provides, we hug the family members He has given us, we go to sleep at night in the shelter He furnishes, we come to the church He has established and we take and take from Him and we take and take of His blessings, but we don't consider how serious is this matter of Christ living in us. This is a passage you need to think about at length even after this sermon.

Let's pray ...

Conclusion

Dealing with a passage like the one we've studied the past couple of weeks can be discouraging because it reveals to us just how far we are from where we should be in terms of the character of life we are rendering to God. But then we have this sacrament as an encouragement that we are not by ourselves--and this is one of the key truths Paul has emphasized. Christ is with us and He is living through us by His Spirit. This sacraments reminds us that we have been redeemed by Him and we are forever His. And that means He will forgive us and help us on this most challenging journey of living for His glory and for the glory of God.

The Scripture says:

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. (Matt. 26:26-28)