Book: Colossians

Partakers With Christ, Part 4
In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij examines Colossians 3:15-17 and the fourth aspect of the new self in Christ that, according to the apostle Paul, believers are to put on by faith like new clothing. After some review, Pastor Babij explains the three central priorities of the new self.

The New Self Puts on New Clothing (vv. 10-17)
A. The calling of the new self (v.12a)
B. The character of the new self (v. 12b-13)
C. The cohesion of the new self (v. 14)
D. The central priorities of the new self (vv. 15-17)
D.i. Let the peace of Christ rule
D.ii. Let the word of Christ dwell
D.iii. Let the name of Christ prevail

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Summary

We are reminded that the Christian life is a continuous journey of putting off sin and putting on righteousness, grounded in the true Christ of Scripture. Colossians 3:15-17 calls us to three central priorities of the new self: letting the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly, and doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus with gratitude.

Key Lessons:
1. The true Jesus — Lord, Creator, Savior, and Judge — must be the foundation of our Christian life; a distorted view of Jesus leads to a distorted view of Christian living.
2. The peace of Christ is not passive but active, functioning as an umpire over our emotions, will, and passions, especially in moments of conflict and injustice.
3. Letting the word of Christ dwell richly involves both teaching (planting truth in the mind) and admonishing (correcting error in belief and behavior), including through theologically grounded music.
4. Gratitude is a command, not merely a feeling — we are called to give thanks not only when all is well, but especially in hardship, as a mark of genuine spiritual maturity.
Application: We are called to examine our daily progress in Christ — whether peace rules our hearts, whether the word of Christ saturates our thinking, and whether everything we say and do can be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. Spiritual fullness is found not in spectacular experiences but in the faithful, everyday practice of putting off sin and putting on righteousness.

Discussion Questions:
1. In what areas of your life is it hardest to let the peace of Christ act as the final “umpire” over your emotions and reactions?
2. Are you more shaped by the word of Christ or by the surrounding culture? What practical steps could help the message about Christ dwell more richly in you?
3. Think of a current difficult circumstance in your life — can you give genuine thanks to God in it? What would it look like to trust God’s providence there?
Scripture Focus: Colossians 3:15-17 — the three central priorities of the new self (peace, the word, and the name of Christ); Colossians 1:19-20 on peace through the blood of the cross; Psalm 95 and Revelation 15 on worship and the character of God through song.

Outline
Introduction

Okay, take your Bibles and turn to Colossians. I hope I didn’t forget how to preach—it’s been a while—but thank you for being here and being ready to look at the word of God. We’re going to be looking at Colossians 3:15-17, but I’ll probably have to do some review to bring you up to date.

Let me just pray. Father, this morning, thank you for bringing us here. We know, Lord, that in our life Christ is to be exalted, and Lord, the spirit of God is to be obeyed as he applies the scripture to our heart.

Lord, every one of us is not where we ought to be spiritually. We all need to grow more. We all have areas where we need to defeat sin and put it to death, and we need to put on righteousness. All of us are there.

So I pray, Lord, that for us as a congregation our desire would always be progressing forward, not going backward. And I pray as we do that, we would grow in holiness and godliness and that we would honor you in our words and our deeds. I pray this in Christ’s name, amen.

The True Jesus vs. the Popular Jesus

As we are in Colossians, Colossians really has a warning about false teachers. A person really shouldn’t carelessly follow just anybody, any personable religious leader, merely because they talk about Jesus or maybe they urge audiences to receive the spirit.

Jesus is quite popular among worldly people, but not the true Jesus. The popular Jesus may be the baby Jesus in the manger at Christmas time, or the Buddy Jesus of Nashville gospel music, or the success counseling Jesus of positive thinkers.

He may also be the Romantic Jesus of the Christian crooners, or the rhythmic Jesus of Christian rock, or even the reforming Jesus of the liberals. But none of these are the Jesus preached by the Apostle Paul and the apostles, therefore not the real Jesus who saves men and women from their sins.

Jesus in reality is the Lord Jesus Christ, the offended creator of the universe, who died for men and women on the cross to redeem them and by shedding his blood to wash away their sin. Then he rose from the dead to be set far above principalities and powers and might and dominion in every name that is named.

Jesus is above all. Finally, it is Jesus who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.

“Jesus is above all — the offended creator who died to redeem, rose from the dead, and shall judge the quick and the dead.”

The Lord Jesus, as he really is, is not the popular Jesus of shirts and bumper stickers, of politicians and entertainers. He is the despised one, rejected of men. They crucified the Lord of Glory, and they would do the same today. We would do the same today.

He is the Mighty God, the perfect man, the only savior, the Eternal King, the Lord of lords. All God-called teachers will preach not an imaginary Jesus who appeals to the flesh, but rather the true Christ of creation and salvation, who appeals to the spirit, the redeemed spirit of God.

Getting Jesus Right Shapes the Christian Life

If one gets Jesus right, they will get the Christian life right. But if one gets Jesus wrong, one also gets a distorted view of the Christian life. I have observed many today have a distorted view of the Christian life.

“If one gets Jesus right, they will get the Christian life right.”

Putting Off and Putting On: The New Self

When we come to Colossians, we find that it gives us a picture of the lifestyle that leads to dynamic holiness. It is the picture that we are very familiar with from the scriptures, because it talks about the putting off and the putting on of sins and the putting on of righteousness.

Every time we put on clothes, it should remind us of our sin before a holy God, that your sin has made you unrighteous and unfit for the presence of God. It should also remind us of the basic message of the gospel, that God sent Jesus to die outside the gate of Jerusalem to take away our sins, to cover us up with his perfect righteousness, and to give us new clean clothes, to give us new life by his resurrection.

Jesus provided the righteousness we needed and took upon himself all the wrath that we deserved. This is where the resurrection life, the life that we have now as believers, is observed by others. There must be this putting off before there can be putting on.

We are not just putting on clean clothes, but a clean new self. The Bible connects clothing with righteousness, and the believer is clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

By the transformative power of the gospel of the cross of Christ, Jesus is making a new humanity, the community of all kinds of people groups that bear the image of God, by putting off the old practices and putting on the new humanity that bears the image of the Creator.

“By the transformative power of the gospel, Jesus is making a new humanity that bears the image of the Creator.”

No one could break down the barriers between all kinds of people groups in the world and all the differences they bring. That’s where all the conflict is, when it’s the differences in social things, in religious things, in ethnic things, in geographical places people live in, the education that they have, in the economic situation that they’re in. All differences and distinctions would be impossible to conquer, and it would be impossible to unify people into one body.

But there is one who does the impossible, and that is Jesus Christ. Right now, all who come to Christ in repentance of their sins and faith in Jesus—as it says in Colossians 3:10—are being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him.

To be renewed in knowledge points to a reversal of the effects of the fall through the new creation of God’s creative act in Christ Jesus, so that all distinctions between different people groups are null and void for those who are in Christ. They mean nothing at all. The world wants to make them something, so the divisions continue on.

Since Christ conquered all and removed all these distinctions, all peoples can be unified and participate together in one body, achieved by Christ’s death and resurrection. Where does it all lead to?

Colossians 3:11 says, “But Christ is all and in all.” That’s where it leads, that in Christ all are one, all are unified.

Let me bring you up to speed a little bit from where we were and where we’re going. There are certain distinctions of the new self that we see in scripture. In verse 12 of chapter 3, there’s the calling of the new self. It says, “So as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved.”

The first thing is that there’s a calling, that God calls you to salvation. The message we receive about our identity really does shape our lives in very powerful ways. Who we understand ourselves to be matters how we live our lives.

Long before Adam sinned, God already decreed and determined salvation for sinners in eternity past, before there was even heaven and earth. The Father chose a people in Christ who would be saved from his wrath, and this selection was not based upon any foreseen faith in those who he chose, nor was it promised by inherent goodness.

Instead, according to his infinite love and inscrutable wisdom, God set his affection upon his elect. Each one chosen was predestined by the Father to be conformed to the image of his Son, and then to sing forth his praises, not only now but forever.

Your new identity shows you are in the kingdom of God, or you are not in the kingdom of God. It shows that you are a kingdom kid, or you are not a kingdom kid.

Last time we stepped into God’s clothes closet and we started selecting clothing that Jesus wants us to wear, that reflects a kingdom kid living in this world. We see a comparison. There are two ways of life that are compared.

Review: The Vices to Put to Death

The first one, in verses 5 through 7, gives a list of five vices that we are to put to death. What are those vices? In verse 5 it says: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

All these vices are manifestations of the worship of idols and the loss of contentment in Christ, the worship of gold and not God. Where people are greedy in their hearts, they lose sight of God, with a mad desire to get things. Covetousness is a sin of always wanting more, never being satisfied by your circumstances, or by what God has given you, or by anything. This is idolatry, and covetousness really puts things in the place of God.

If someone would think that God could overlook habitual patterns of sexual, covetous, idolatrous sin, they would be actually believing a lie. Just because our culture has subtly normalized sin, and we live in the middle of a highly charged, sexually intoxicated culture, that is no excuse to have the influence of the world affect how we live.

Instead, we are to put those things to death. As Christians, you are now in a new position. You can stop the reign of sin in your life and live a holy life.

Christians have to consider that. They have to get that. You don’t get it right away, but you get it as you’re in scripture, you’re learning the word of God.

There is a motive behind wanting to learn those things. In verse 6 it says, “Because of these things the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience.” The motive for holy living is the wrath of God. God is angry against sin.

That’s why the Father had to send the Son to die in his place, because his anger had to be poured out on someone. Jesus was the only one qualified, willing, and able to receive that anger and then take care of it and satisfy the justice of the Father.

“The motive for holy living is the wrath of God. God is angry against sin.”

There’s also a humility that comes when we understand holy living, because such conduct doesn’t belong to our past. If you notice in verse 7, it says, “And in them you also once walked when you were living in them.”

We all were there, weren’t we? We were all living in sin, in some kind of sin. We were all habitually doing something that dishonored God and committing idolatry every day of our life, doing what we wanted, what we thought was right. Isn’t that the American way anyway?

Maybe there’s no better way to stay humble when dealing with our own sin and the sins of others than to know that we are enslaved and engaged in a sinful habitual lifestyle, until we are made alive and repent of our sins and trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

We used to walk in them. We still live in those sins, but these are all in your past. Don’t go back to those sins anymore.

As far as Colossians is concerned, the false teachers, which he’s exposing here spiritually, taught that any kind of spiritual fullness has to be found beyond the world of things and persons. They concluded and reasoned that since our bodies are part of the evil universe, it doesn’t matter what you do. They can indulge every fleshly desire, for whatever is done, from their perspective, cannot contaminate the spiritual part within.

They taught that spiritual reality is found through special knowledge and subjective experience and ritual religious observations, totally divorced from daily life or even from reality.

If we are to fix our eyes on Christ, which it says right here in our text, verse 2 of chapter 3, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things of the earth,” then the demand that we should have is not for perfection right now. We should be focused and be satisfied with the progress of our spiritual maturity. That’s where we look. How are we progressing in Christ? Are we progressing in Christ? How have we grown more this year than last year?

What should we expect fullness in Christ to be like? Should it be some supernatural or some ascetic religious experience? What are the marks of holiness?

We really shouldn’t expect spiritual fullness to be marked by the spectacular, even though God does the spectacular. But that doesn’t mark most of our Christian life. It should be marked by the common goodness expressed in the mundane everyday life.

God wants us to live right there. Godliness in human flesh lives a Jesus kind of life. Jesus didn’t have a place to lay his head. He didn’t really have an address. He was almost like a nomad, moving from place to place, teaching, living on, sleeping on the ground, lived a very humble, low life. That’s what he lived. And yet he did exactly what God wanted him to do.

Where is fullness, spiritual fullness, to be found? It’s to be found in our devotion and growing love to Jesus, and in our loving relationships with other people.

Holy living, the fullness of living our relationship with Christ, is to be sought in the context of living out life in this world every day. Such as putting off sinful patterns.

In verse 8, he gives us a general list of those sins. Put off anger, wrath, malice, slander, abuse of speech. Put them all off. Take off those dirty clothes. That’s part of this existence that God’s called us to.

Then he says in verse 9, “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self and its evil practices.”

Lying includes untruth, part truth, conveying wrong impressions, exaggeration, and so on and so forth, which distorts the facts. God says, let’s listen to this. If we do that with each other, we will never be able to establish trust with each other, or neither will we be able to accomplish anything if we lie to each other.

We’ve all lied, we’re all guilty, but it should never be our default. We have to put it to death. Death to the old way of life should be a reality in everyday practice.

It means to wipe out, to utterly slay, not simply to suppress it or to control evil acts and desires, but to put them to death. In our passage, the decisive act is to strike dead the bodily members, so that being dead they shall become incapable of being used for any of the vices listed in the passage.

“We are to wipe out, utterly slay sin — not simply suppress or control it, but put it to death.”

Clothes are the first things people see. What do they see when they see your life? Do they see these old things?

Review: The Virtues to Put On

Or scripture gives us also a comparison for the second things to put on. We take something off and put something on. But notice the second list, from verse 12 to verse 13.

Here’s the designation of the new self, the character of the new self, five virtues to put on. Putting to death sin, putting off the dirty garments of unrighteousness, means we as Christians cannot stay neutral, but must put on clean clothes, to put on the virtues that exemplify the character qualities of the Lord Jesus himself, and of those who are God’s beloved elect.

And what are they? Put on, verse 12, a heart of compassion. That’s to be like Jesus. Put on kindness. That’s to be like Jesus. Put on humility. That’s to be like Jesus. Put on gentleness. That’s to be like Jesus. Put on patience. That’s to be like Jesus.

“Put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience — each one is to be like Jesus.”

And then two ways to carry out those five virtues. Verse 13, what do you do, where do you carry them out? Bearing with one another, right, amongst each other. That’s how you carry, where we carry them out. That’s where we have to see the progress.

And then notice in verse 13, not only do we bear with one another, that means bearing long with and putting up with a great deal of injustices and even unpleasant circumstances without retaliation or revenge. That’s how Jesus dealt with us.

And the second thing he says there is forgiving each other. In verse 13 he says, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

Has the Lord forgiven you? Has the Lord dealt long with you and been long-suffering and patient with you? Yes. When it comes to other people, we have really no wiggle room to dig in against them.

If we’re going to be like Christ, if we want to go back to the old flesh, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll say, no, I have my rights. But for a Christian you have no rights. The only right I have is to live like Jesus. That’s the only right I have.

And that’s the only right that will give me fullness of life, and that’s what I want. I want fullness of life. I want to enjoy what God has given me, not keep digging in against him.

Forgiveness and Love as the Bond of Unity

And there’s a third distinction he mentions in verse 14: what holds it all together. Look what it says in verse 14. “Beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”

Some have referred to love as relational glue. It’s like the outer garment that goes over all the other clothing, and it holds it all together. That’s what love is. Loving others is to be like Jesus.

“Love is the outer garment that goes over all the other clothing and holds it all together.”

The new self is the born-again self. It is the new creature in Christ. Only the Christian has the capacity to consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God, with the ability and the will to serve and please God.

We never had that ability before. Now we have it by the spirit of God and by the word of God.

Loving God’s word and loving God’s son includes hating sin, with the desire to pursue righteousness. There’s never a vacuum in that space. There’s always something there.

Progress in Christ: The Goal of the New Self

That means that salvation is not a matter of improvement or perfection of what had previously existed. It is a matter of comprehensive transformation, or progress in Christ. Like this, that’s where we all need to look. Are we making progress?

When you put on the new clothes, you really don’t want to take them off, because they will only begin to stink if you do not keep them on. You’ll begin to experience the fullness of the Christian life when you keep these clean clothes on you.

“You will begin to experience the fullness of the Christian life when you keep these clean clothes on.”

And when you put on these new clothes, you won’t want to take them off. What does that mean? What will it make you look like? Well, you’ll look like Christ, you’ll act like Christ.

The Christian first undresses himself of the old clothing, he disposes the stench-riddled, sin-contaminated clothing, in order to dress himself suitably. The Christian is now ready for his journey through this life.

Here in this passage, there’s really a threefold need to prod along successfully, to even gauge your progress. This section of early Colossians refers to living together with God’s people within the gathered community of Christ’s church.

Two words are used again that are imperatives, and these means that they’re just not things to consider lightly. They’re actually things we are to give serious thought and practice. These commands now apply more specifically to the inner disposition of the believer.

The inner disposition is to be a regular, habitual pattern of putting off the old and putting on the new in our daily life. It is the outflow of one’s calling, that leads to putting off, putting on, demands of the gospel, that leads to peace, which Christ brings and gives to us.

“This inner disposition — the regular putting off and putting on — is to be habitual, the outflow of one’s calling.”

Central Priorities of the New Self (Colossians 3:15-17)

This morning, let’s look at verse 15, because now we look at the central priorities of the new self. There are at least three of them for this morning: central priorities of the new self.

Priority 1: Let the Peace of Christ Rule

In verse 15 it says this: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” So what is the central priority? The first one is, let the peace of God rule.

The phrase “in your hearts” shows the hiddenness of Christian growth and maturity. Not everybody sees what’s going on in your heart, but God sees, and you often know what’s going on in your heart.

Here, this ruling—Christ’s ruling—is going on inside of you. This growth is seen in the peace-loving temper which governs our words and our actions.

Someone said it like this: it’s the calm mind which is not ruffled by adversity, or clouded by sin or a remorseful conscience, or disturbed by any fear. It’s a peace that rules in the heart.

The very Greek word for this term, “rule,” means to judge, or to be in a position to decide something, or to control. Christ’s peace must be the final decision. It is the umpire over our wills, over our passions, and over our emotions.

“Christ’s peace must be the final decision — the umpire over our wills, our passions, and our emotions.”

What Peace with God Gives the Believer

And only a real born-again Christian can have this peace. Now how is that, that Christians are at peace with God?

Well, if you notice in our passage, if you go to Colossians 1:2, it says, “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, who are classified, grace to you and peace from God the Father.”

And then in Colossians 1:19-20, “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him, and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, and through him, I say, whether the things on earth or things in heaven.”

So when we are at peace with God, Christians have something. What do they have? They have peace of conscience. There’s nothing to condemn you anymore, because there’s no condemnation to those who are in Christ.

It also means that you’re free from the bondage of your own sin, and you can now serve Christ without guilt. You can get up every day and say, “Lord, I’m your servant, take care of me today as I go out into this hostile world. I’m going out in your name, make me an instrument in your hand, give me victory over my remaining sin, over my enemies, and the allurments and temptations that are going to be presented to me in the world, almost every day without fail.”

I have peace of conscience. Though I know who I am, I know what God wants me to do, I know what dirty clothes look like and how they smell, and I’m now starting to know what new clean clothes look like, and I’m starting to do that every day.

And then what else do I have? I have access to God. There is nothing to prevent me from enjoying God’s presence. There is freedom to go into the Lord with holy boldness in prayer, and to speak to the Lord as a member of his family, to have regular and deep fellowship with the Lord Jesus.

Also, I have no fear of hell. There is nothing, not one thing, that can send you there, because Christ has been punished in your place, and therefore his justice cannot touch you again, because the justice has already been satisfied.

And then what do I have? I have expectation of heaven. Look at Colossians 3:1: “If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” I’m looking forward to heaven. Sudden death means sudden glory.

Colossians 3:1: “If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”

There’s also peace in providence. Every day there is a potential to have my peace robbed from me, and I want to take care of that too.

And then it leads to peace with people. Like Romans says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

So how does this peace ruling in your heart work? Here’s an example. Suppose a person has been unjustly insulted. Two thoughts may be presented to his mind, the one urging him to retaliation and vengeance, and the other to patience and restraint. These wrestle with one another in his mind.

So if the peace of Christ stands as an umpire over your emotions and your will and your passions, you’ll receive a prize, and the prize will be you’ll lean towards patience and restraint. See, the proof, the peace of Christ prevails.

So you see, this peace is not simply to be present, but it is to be exercised. It’s to have supreme control within us. This is all happening in our heart, right. We can fake it on the outside, but in the heart you can’t.

Each individual believer is responsible to make certain that Christ reigns in the heart, and from his heart in his relationship with others. See, this is how you begin to gauge your progress. This is what the child of God looks like when they are putting into practice the word of God and walking in the spirit.

As it says in Matthew, “Blessed are the peacemakers. How will they look? They will be called sons of God.” Don’t you want to be called the son of God?

Peace in the Body and Thankfulness

But this also brings us to another place in our verse. In Colossians 3:15, it says, notice this: “to which indeed you were called in one body.” It helps you keep the unity that God has given to us.

The oneness of the body is this sphere in which the peace of Christ is to be carried out and actually realized. You see, when God summons us and transforms us from the realm of sin and death to the realm of righteousness and life, he calls us and chooses us not simply to be his people—that’s part of it—but to live a certain kind of life, a different kind of life.

We have been called together as one unit, and the peace of God gives us, or aids us, to help us keep that unified body. All we have to do is step into the flesh and we already are causing divisions, right. Like it says in Philippians, these two women are not getting together, there’s division among you, there’s strife among you, take care of that. That’s what Paul tells the Philippians, right.

Take care of that little bit of strife there, because that little bit of strife ends up being a big ordeal.

And then notice the next thing he says in verse 15: “and be thankful.” Now, brethren, I don’t know about you, but believers who are full of gratitude to God for his gracious calling of them will find it much easier to extend to fellow believers and other people the grace of love and the forgiveness that God gives to us, and to put aside petty issues that might inhibit the expression, or destroy the expression, of peace in the community.

It’s easy to do when you understand who you are, what God’s done for you. I don’t go back to that old way. No, this is what pleases God. But that’s what brings fullness, spiritual fullness, to my life. That’s what maintains the peace in my heart, that maintains the unity in the body, when I’m like that.

“Believers full of gratitude to God will find it much easier to extend grace, love, and forgiveness to others.”

And in this short section of scripture, three times he mentions thankfulness. Here in verse 15, then notice in verse 16, he says, “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

And then in verse 17, “whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” So it’s all about Jesus Christ, all of it’s about Jesus Christ.

The Lord loves to see people who serve in his church maintain a cheerful and a thankful heart. Both are the will of God.

Even though, oh, preacher and pastor C.H. Spurgeon in the 1800s said, “when joy and prayer are married, their firstborn child is gratitude.”

The Command to Be Thankful

It seems when I say this is a command, this is an imperative, it seems an easy command to follow. It does. Be thankful.

And I’m sure if I were to personally ask you, are you thankful, you would reply, “Pastor, of course.” If I rephrased the question and asked you, have you honestly given thanks to God in everything, well, now you’re meddling, now you’re stepping on toes.

Have you given heartfelt thanks, in other words, to your poor health, or your unrewarding job, or lack of work, for less than an ideal marriage, or ongoing family struggle, for an unstable financial situation, for not having your prayers answered just quite the way you would like, for unfulfilled dreams and unreached goals, for broken and difficult relationships, for lost opportunities?

Brethren, I do not need to remind you to give thanks when all is well. I have to remind myself. I need to give thanks when all is not well, because that’s where I grow in spiritual maturity, when I know that what’s going on in my life, God knows all about it. It’s no mistake, no mistake at all.

Anyone can say and give thanks when they have good health and abundant food and a secure and rewarding job. It’s easy then. Thank you.

So we may need to conclude that there is much more ingratitude in our life than genuine gratitude. But the scriptures are teaching us that should not be normal. It should not be normal, or the default conduct, of the genuine believer who is growing in their knowledge and understanding of the word of God.

“Ingratitude should not be normal for the genuine believer growing in knowledge and understanding of God’s word.”

See, we must be thankful. It is a command to do it. And when I obey, when I love Jesus, I do what he says, and he says to me, be thankful.

Priority 2: Let the Word of Christ Dwell Richly

Let the peace of God rule in your heart is the first priority of the new self. The second one, in verse 16, is this: let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.

You notice how it’s using “within” here. This is going on inside of a person. Let the word of Christ dwell. The better rendering of this phrase, “let the word of Christ richly dwell within you,” is “let the message that proclaims Christ dwell in you.”

In fact, Paul uses it in a different way in Colossians 1:5, where he says, “Because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard the word of truth, the gospel.” See, the word of truth, the word, the gospel—or the message that proclaims Christ.

It’s always the centrality of Christ in Colossians. In other words, put the message about Christ at the center of your corporate worship experience, and let this message about Christ take up permanent residence in you and among you. The message has a transforming power in the life of the community.

“Put the message about Christ at the center of your corporate worship and let it take up permanent residence in you.”

How does the message have a transforming power in the life of a community? Well, notice in verse 16—it says there are two things it tells us there. As you teach. What is teaching? Teaching is really the positive presentation of Christian truth.

Teaching plants the truth in the mind, so it gets hold of the conscience and it transforms the will. You go from understanding or listening to something to actually doing something. Now that shift doesn’t happen right away. That takes a constant word of God being taught to you.

Personal opinions must bow to Christ’s word. Personal feelings must yield to what Christ says. Personal individual ideas must be adjusted by God’s word.

Teaching and Admonishing One Another

That’s one way this transforming power comes. A second way is really kind of like it goes along with teaching, but it’s the word in our text: as you teach and admonish one another.

Now what is an admonition as compared to teaching? Admonishing really digs error out. It gives warning about the dangers of straying away from the truth. It’s the word nouthetic counseling—instruction put into the mind regarding belief and behavior.

So there is belief, but how is belief affecting my behavior? Many times when anybody counsels, Pastor Dave counsels, what he’s doing actually is showing where error has gotten in there. A misunderstanding about how you live the Christian life has gotten in there. He takes the word of God, and what does he do? He reminds you of what belief is and what your behavior ought to be as far as that belief.

When you put it into practice, he can’t make you do that. When you put it into practice, what happens? Spiritual transformation, spiritual fulfillment happens. But until you put it into practice, you don’t get there.

In our gathered worship we must be teaching and admonishing one another. The word of Christ has central place in our worship and is made to dwell richly in our hearts—that the central core of our being, our intellect, our emotion, our volition, is being repeatedly drenched with the word of Christ, until it takes residence in your heart, until it lavishly fills every nook and cranny and corner of your being, and controls your thinking and your actions.

“The word of Christ must lavishly fill every nook and cranny of your being, controlling your thinking and your actions.”

How do we do this? With all wisdom. What’s wisdom? It’s the ability to use knowledge in the right way, the wise way. For what reason? So you can do the right thing, and then you could help other people do the right thing.

If you notice in our text, we’re to teach and admonish one another. Sometimes we have to come alongside each other and say, “What you say you believe this, but you’re not doing it. This is what you need to do.”

Now if they have a receptive spirit, and if they have the peace of God, and they’re really a believer and they want to keep the unity, know what they’re going to say? “Let’s talk about that, because I want to correct my behavior.” That’s what a believer does.

But how he does it, from our passage of scripture, it looks like he does it also through music. Music is a great means of teaching. However, it must be real music, and not just a sensual beat with the psychedelic sound.

Spiritual songs are based on biblical doctrine and consist of words and sounds that represent and honor the Lord. What did Jesus say? What Jesus said to those disciples walking on the road to Emmaus after the resurrection, this is what he said to them.

“These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.”

So what happens is that if you look at Colossians 3:16, it says, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”

Being Word-Filled and Spirit-Filled

Now let me just say that being word-filled and being Spirit-filled is something quite practical. It first comes when someone has realized what God has done for them in Christ, and with that understanding they feel they no longer belong to themselves. They have a new purpose in this world: to show the world that the Lord Jesus has delivered them from sin, and that they have been made holy, and God is preparing them for heaven.

Being word-filled and being Spirit-filled is related not to the realm of the euphoric experience, but to the ethical rigors of the Christian life—the putting on, the putting off, the putting off, the putting on. Both Ephesians and Colossians show that believers have already received the Holy Spirit, and the New Testament knows nothing of a believer who has not received the word and the Holy Spirit, been baptized in the spirit, and been filled with the spirit.

As our life becomes more like Christ, we find ourselves constantly repeating and rejoicing over the truths of scripture. That’s what we do—we go over them, over them, all the time. And songs help us to do that.

We end up singing and even whistling songs. We capture biblical concepts and teachings and principles in the songs. And that means the object in focus of a word-filled person is the Lord, not themselves, not others, not their problems. They are occupied with spiritual things and meditating upon the enjoyment of them.

“The word-filled person is occupied with spiritual things — their focus is the Lord, not themselves, not their problems.”

They have joy inside that is expressed outwardly in the fellowship to their family and to their brethren. And when the focus of the believer’s heart is the Lord Jesus Christ, then Christian joy is present in spiritual fellowship. We address one another not with worldly chatter, but as it says in scripture, with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs

Well, let’s take our Bibles for a moment and look at a few passages that mention the word psalms, the word hymns, and the word sing, or things pertaining to the Holy Spirit. This will give you a sense of what comes out when somebody is singing this and what the context of what they say is.

Look at Psalm 95, verses 1 through 6. I’m not going to read the whole thing, but I want you to notice that Psalm 95:1 is a psalm spoken about the nature and the work of God the Father, and of course other psalms speak of God the Son.

It says in verse 1, “O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, let us shout joyfully to him with what? With psalms, right.”

But notice in verse 3, “For the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth, and the peaks of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for it was he who made it, and his hands formed the dry ground. Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker.”

A person is filled with the character of God, and what do they do? They sang these songs on the way to Jerusalem, usually on the high holy days, and they would sing them over and over again. Repetition is so important in the Christian life, especially when it comes to theology about who God is. So we sing psalms about who God is.

Then you have another one. In Acts 16:25-31, remember Paul and Silas are in jail, and what are they doing?

The Bible says in verse 25, “And about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to the praise of God.” They’re singing. They’re in jail, they’re in stocks, and jails were nothing like they have today. They weren’t getting three squares a day and they didn’t have climate control. They were in stocks, it was damp, it was a dungeon. And they’re there singing.

Why are they singing? They’re singing about so great a salvation. It doesn’t give us all the context of what they’re saying, but if you notice in verse 31, the jailers are listening to them and they’re saying, “These guys are singing and they’re in this position in their life. How is this possible? This is crazy, this is nuts. But what they have, I want.”

And what does it say? It says Paul said, “Don’t do harm to yourselves, for all are here.” And he called for lights and rushed in, trembling with fear, and fell down before Paul and Silas. And after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, and your household, you shall be saved.”

So obviously they were singing about salvation, they were singing about salvation in Christ Jesus. That’s what they were singing about. And these soldiers wanted it.

I don’t know about you, but that’s about the worst situation you could be in, to be singing hymns. Yet look at the outcome, the results. God wants to bring spiritual fullness to Paul and Silas.

And of course in other places in scripture, spiritual songs are usually directed at the Holy Spirit of God and pertaining to the spirit, like in Revelation where it says, “And they sang a new song. And what are they saying? Worthy are you to take the book and break its seals, for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nations.”

You see how they understood the gospel, they understood what Jesus did, they understood the purchase that God had to make for that person to be saved. That just brings to us joy.

And then in Revelation 15, they sang the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. These are like two bookends. And what do they sing? This is what they sang: “Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord the Mighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name, for you alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

They’re writing and singing about what God has done, who God is, what God has accomplished.

Revelation 15:3: “Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord the Mighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of the nations.”

The word-filled believer joyfully exhorts and admonishes their brethren to worship their Lord and practice a Christ-conscious life. And all the music comes out of a transformed heart.

When a person is at peace with God, the heart indicates not so much the place but the manner, the attitude in which they are to sing. Teaching christological doctrine naturally leads to doxological response. Everything’s focused on Christ; he is the center of all theology.

If anyone diminishes or minimizes who Christ is and what he has done, they are in jeopardy of being a heretic. That is what the false teachers were doing; they were minimizing who Christ was.

And then how is all this to take place? Notice in Colossians 3:16, singing to God. That’s who you sing to. And then what you sing with: gratitude in your hearts.

Where does this inner singing and gratitude show up? If we have been living filled with the message that proclaims Christ, it will show up in the conduct of everyday living. Or it will expose you that you have not been singing to the Lord or been truly thankful in your heart. That’s where it’ll show.

For example, if somebody’s always worried, worry is a killjoy. It kills a genuine attitude of thankfulness. Worry really reflects doubt upon God and makes us miserable. It makes us grumbling and complaining as we mumble under our breath, “I don’t think God knows what I’m really going through,” or maybe, “God, you made a mistake in regard to my situation.”

But a defeated and unhappy Christian is no example of the message that proclaims Christ. Who would want that? I’m trying to get delivered from that.

Brethren, if you are in that condition today, bring it all to the Lord, cast your care on him, trust in him. He will give you the peace of God that guards your heart and mind, so you don’t get caught in that vicious cycle of worry, like a broken tape going on.

Scripture concludes these exhortations with a touchstone of Christian conduct and makes the test of what is right and what is wrong very clear to the child of God. This is not something that you can’t figure out; this is something that we know very clearly.

Priority 3: Do All in the Name of the Lord Jesus

We’re to live so that the name of Christ prevails. So what do we do? Let the name of Christ prevail.

Look at verse 17, and I’m coming to a close here. It says, “Whatever you do, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”

So do all in the name of the Lord Jesus means that we act with his approval and we show him to others in everything, including what we say and what we do. This really shows what it means to bear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember, the name of the Lord stands for his person and his character and his will. So we Christians should act in concert with the nature and the character of the Lord.

“The name of the Lord stands for his person, his character, and his will — Christians should act in concert with that.”

This is the third time it tells us to give thanks. Notice, we give thanks through him, through Christ. However, we really can’t be honestly thankful if we don’t honor him by our words and our deeds.

One best way to test action is to ask the question: Can I do it calling on the name of the Lord? Can I do this thing I’m going to do, calling on the name of the Lord? Or does it disrupt peace, or does it violate the word of God, or does it bring dishonor to his name?

Another test, as far as a word is concerned: Can I speak it and in the same breath name the name of Jesus? Can I speak this thing to this person and in the same breath name the name of Jesus?

Conclusion: Progress Toward Completeness in Christ

Remember, if we are to fix our eyes on Christ, it is not the perfection of your life, but the progress of your spiritual maturity that we should demand. Will that come when we appear with Jesus in glory? Right now we should focus and be satisfied with the progress of our spiritual maturity.

Are you progressing in these things? Are you satisfied?

I say, may the Spirit of the Lord bring conviction so the Holy Spirit and you can make adjustments in your life, so that you will make progress. In making progress, you will experience spiritual fulfillment.

That’s where he comes in. In fact, when I pick this passage up next time, notice where it actually shows up. In verse 18, wives. In verse 19, husbands. In verse 20, children. In verse 21, fathers. In verse 22, slaves, bosses, employees. That’s where it shows up.

That’s where the Lord wants us to live, right there. All of us live there, and none of us can get out of there.

But what’s the point? In Colossians 1:28, this is what Paul says: “We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”

Colossians 1:28: “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.”

That’s the goal of the Holy Spirit of God: to present us complete in Christ. How far are you from that goal? I pray that you see progress, and I pray that progress would be enjoyed by you as God is working in your life. It gives evidence to your own salvation and makes you a Christian that could actually be used in the body. Amen.
September 10, 2023
Partakers With Christ, Part 3
In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij finishes looking at Colossians 3:1-14 and the new life of a believer in Christ. In part 3, Pastor Babij examines the third characteristic of the new self as explained in Colossians 3:10-14: the new self puts on new clothing.

Three Characteristics of the New Self in Christ
1. The New Self Has New Pursuits (vv. 1-4)
2. The New Self Deals Decisively with the Old Man (vv. 5-9)
3. The New Self Puts on New Clothing (vv. 10-14)
3a. The calling of the new self (v.12a)
3b. The character of the new self (v. 12b-13)
3c. The cohesion of the new self (v. 14)

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

We are reminded that fullness of life is not found in spectacular experiences, special knowledge, or rigid rule-keeping, but in putting on Christ daily through the virtues He modeled. Colossians 3:9-14 calls us to discard the old self and clothe ourselves with the character of Jesus—compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, and love—as those chosen, holy, and beloved by God.

Key Lessons:
1. False teachings throughout history and today rob Christ of His preeminence and replace transformation with rule-keeping, asceticism, or mystical experience—none of which produce true fullness of life.
2. The clothing metaphor rooted in Genesis reminds us that sin left us spiritually naked, but God provided covering through Christ’s righteousness, and we are now called to wear that new identity every day.
3. Our election by God before the foundation of the world is not a doctrine to fear but to rejoice in—it humbles us and shapes every thought and action of our new identity as children of the King.
4. The five virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience—carried out through forbearance and forgiveness—are the spiritual clothing that makes us look like Christ to the world around us.
Application: We are called to examine ourselves daily, asking whether we have put on the right spiritual clothing. When we respond in anger, impatience, or unkindness, we have reached into the wrong pile. We must ask God each day to help us clothe ourselves in Christ’s character so that our ordinary interactions become the place where fullness of life is experienced and Christ is seen.

Discussion Questions:
1. Where in your daily life are you most tempted to reach for the ‘old clothing’—anger, impatience, or unkindness—instead of putting on the virtues of Christ?
2. How does understanding that God chose you before the foundation of the world change the way you see yourself and treat others?
3. Is there someone in your life you have felt justified not forgiving? How does the truth that God no longer holds your sins against you challenge that position?
Scripture Focus: Colossians 3:9-14 is the central passage, teaching that believers are to put off the old self and put on the new self—characterized by compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love. Genesis 3:7, 21 provides the clothing metaphor’s root, and Romans 13:14 calls us to ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ.’

Outline
Introduction

Okay, let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to Colossians 3.

We’ll be looking at verses 9 through 14 this morning. Let me read that. Colossians 3:9-14: “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and having put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him, a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew and circumcised and uncircumcised and Barbarian, Scythian, slave and free man, but Christ is all and in all.

So as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”

Let’s pray. Father, this morning as we come before you and we use the very word from heaven, I pray, Lord, we would receive it like the Thessalonians, as the word of God and the power of the word of God, to be used in our mind, in our heart, by the Holy Spirit of God, to actually transform us into the image of Christ, making us ready and prepared to be revealed with you in glory someday.

Let us give ourselves over to that wholeheartedly today and every day. I pray, Lord, that our life would reflect your life in Christ. Amen.

As I’ve been saying, the Christian, once they become a believer, everything is really new in their life. It should be. Things should be changing like never before, because you are in Christ, the Holy Spirit is indwelling you, and the word of God is transforming you, as it says in verse 11: a renewal in which there is no distinction.

In the beginning of preaching Colossians, I mentioned a quote, and I’d like to mention that again. It says: “In the society of Christians a new type of humanity is being formed, that Christ’s life flows out of his people and is reproduced in their midst.”

One proof of this new life was seen in the canceling of the restrictions and inhibitions which made the ancient world so socially stratified and class conscious. The Apostle Paul had shown how the church barriers of race, social distinction, and sex were being broken down as Christians acted upon their profession of faith and their initiation into the body of Christ.

In other words, have you seen a change in your life, and do you continue to see that change in your life? I pray that you do, because that is part of how you’re a Christian.

False Paths to Fullness of Life

But many in the ancient world struggled against the new idea. They were attracted to the church but tried to adjust Christ to fit their old categories, kind of like Christ was an add-on. It was good to believe in Christ, but it was added on to everything else with no change, no transformation.

They tried to define Christianity in terms of their human philosophers rather than letting Christ define them and the new humanity. We have the same problem today.

“They tried to define Christianity in terms of their human philosophers rather than letting Christ define them and the new humanity.”

For example, two characteristic marks of the church: number one, it is a living organism in which everyone is to be interacting and involved with one another. Yet often we treat the church like a business, like a democracy, rather than all people with their God-given spiritual gifts functioning together as a living organism as God designed it.

A second characteristic is a dynamic holiness which is to mark the character of believers and the believing community as a whole. Yet we persist in trying to define our righteousness by lists of things we do and things we don’t.

We are tempted to put new wine into old wineskins. What happens when that occurs? It bursts and then explodes.

The two greatest failures of the teachers in Colossians, the false teachers, is that they were disparaging Christ and actually distorting what it really meant to live the Christian life. Nobody really knew. They just thought if we do these things you’re a Christian, if you don’t do those things you’re a Christian.

If teaching dethrones Christ, it not only robs him of his rightful place of preeminence, but it distorts all the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith. The Christian life becomes a set of man-made rules and regulations with no spiritual power, no ability to deal with the sin nature, and no capacity to put sins to death.

The false teachers failed to teach what is Godlike and what is his relationship to the world. They failed to teach how a human being gains access to God through his true presence, where they have fellowship with God. And they failed to teach how a human being gains fullness of life.

How did the false teachers actually handle the matter of gaining fullness of life? Well, believers should practice the way of life laid out by the false teachers with this special knowledge. They thought there is something more, more than the simple message of Christ. That’s a very dangerous thought.

Once somebody believed, they had to have special knowledge and they had a special experience in their Christian walk. How did that look when the false teachers thought that?

Ascetic, Legalistic, and Antinomian Lifestyles

Well, then you would live in an ascetic lifestyle. That means the way of life stressed rigid regulations of abstinence and self-punishment, that fullness of life is obtained by pursuing or pushing down desires, controlling the body by severe fasting and punishment, and being suspicious of anything associated with the material world.

This has a strange appeal to people still today. It seems spiritual, but it really is an escape from regular life that we all have to deal with every single day. It tries to transport people to some otherworldly plane, but there’s no such thing.

Also, it looked like a legalistic lifestyle. Here, fullness of life is obtained by carefully keeping prescribed rules and rituals and taboos, by refraining from eating meat, keeping the Sabbath in a special way, by keeping lists and traditions and maintaining everything within a prescribed set of rules.

Spirituality had to be found beyond this world of things and people. Or it could look like the antinomian lifestyle, liberation from evil by indulging the flesh, and this is how fullness of life was obtained for them.

“It seems spiritual, but it really is an escape from regular life that we all have to deal with every single day.”

Some have reasoned that since our bodies are part of the evil material universe, it doesn’t matter what you do. They can indulge every fleshly desire, for whatever is done cannot be contaminated by the spiritual, the spiritual part of man.

Or it led to an idolatrous lifestyle, the worship of angels, and this is the mystical part of it. Every false teaching has a mystical element to it. That means it’s an element you cannot just define, you cannot categorize, it’s an experience you have.

Many people, and I talk to Christians too, want something more than what God gave them and found in the word of God, and that is a very dangerous place to be. They go seeking for it, they seek for an experience, they seek for a special event that happens, and for them that would be fullness of life.

So that means that the false teachers, for them, fullness of life and spiritual reality is found through some special knowledge or some subjective experience or some ritual observation. This is the way fullness may be found.

However, this old idea of spirituality drastically distorts true biblical doctrine and the Christian way of living. Specifically, it is rooted in the doctrine that robs Jesus Christ of his central place.

That was the essence of their teaching, that they were confusing the believers with their novel ideas and their false gospel. These teachers sounded so amazing and knowledgeable, they sounded so contemporary and up-to-date, but they were wrong, as they are wrong today.

All you have to do is go to scripture and find out they’re wrong, just by going verse by verse, book by book. You find out what God really wants us to do and really where fullness of life and spiritual reality is actually found.

True Fullness of Life: Putting On Christ

And where is it found anyway? It’s found by putting on Christ, that’s where it’s found. In fact, the Apostle Paul said in Romans 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

Now what does it mean? Being the loving person Jesus was, that’s what it means, part of it. True holiness is hidden pretty much in daily life but seen in our loving relationship with other people.

The fullness of living our relationship with Christ is to be sought in the context of our life as God gave it to you, in the world where you’re at. That’s where you find it every day, in your interaction life.

What set Jesus apart? Well, he was a man among men. He enjoyed companionship, he ate and drank with other people, he prayed, he showed us the Father by the way he responded to people and taught with authority. He claimed to be the Son of God.

He didn’t fit his own people’s image of the Divine, so they rejected him. And yet God walked on Earth in the man Jesus. Now that seems like too simple—God could have done better than that—and yet that’s exactly what God has done.

In his life we see God unveiled. We discover holiness in the love and the compassion of the one whose company was sought by prostitutes and sinners of all types. The godliness in human flesh lives a Jesus kind of life.

When you live a Jesus kind of life, that is where fullness of life is found, and that’s where spiritual reality is found, and that’s where you learn to rest and enjoy life as God wants us to, even with all the problems and circumstances that surround us every single day.

“When you live a Jesus kind of life, that is where fullness of life is found, and that’s where spiritual reality is found.”

It is not found in the spectacular, even though God does spectacular things with people at times. It’s not his regular way of doing things, so don’t look there. Don’t look at the spectacular, don’t look for a lightning bolt, don’t look for a grand thing to happen in your life, don’t even look for a miracle in that sense, because that’s where it’s not.

God does those things, but not on a regular basis. It is found in everyday life, where we are living out the reality of this new self, this new transformation.

The book of Colossians has already begun to answer the question: how do we gain fullness of life? I often say to people when they ask me how I’m doing, I say to them, I am breathing in and out, I’m putting one foot in front of the other, and I’m doing the next thing that pleases the Lord. That’s how I’m doing.

If you live like that, I’ve learned to live like that, because you have to live in reality. Things go wrong in reality, but see, Christ doesn’t change. He’s with me, he’ll never leave me or forsake me. That’s true, that’s always true, no matter what’s going on, no matter how dark it gets in my life. That’s what reality is.

I must live there, and when I live there, I receive the blessing of God. I receive the fullness of what God wants in my life, and I minister to other people. I become the light and salt God wants me to be, and you to be. That’s where it’s found.

“Christ doesn’t change. He’s with me, he’ll never leave me or forsake me—no matter how dark it gets in my life.”

In Colossians 3:1-4, the Apostle Paul immediately stresses that we have been raised with Christ. Earthly regulations and principles are to be set aside, and our attention is to be fixed on things above.

In Colossians 3:5-11, two ways of life are compared. Immorality, malice, lust, anger, greed—these passions are to be rejected. These are to be put to death and put off like an old soiled garment.

To experience life’s fullness, these old ways must be replaced by the new ways, which we’ll look at this morning. In Colossians 3:12-15, fullness of life is experienced by putting on the new way of life.

The picture is put on, the image is putting on clothes. You take off clothes and you put clothes on all the time. Some people do it two or three times a day, some people don’t do it that often at all.

I have already said in Colossians 3:1 all the way over to Colossians 4:6, the applications are given to us who can live the true life that we have in Christ and practice biblical imperatives. Because there are many imperatives in these sections—these are commands for Christians.

Do these, and if God gives us a command, he will give us the power to carry out that command and institute it in our life. Then we receive the blessing by doing it.

The New Self Puts On New Clothing

There are at least three things that are realized very quickly about the actual life of a Christian. The scriptures before us in Colossians 3 help us to identify some characteristics of the new self.

The first and the second have already been covered. Today we will look at the third. The first was the new self has new pursuits, the second is the new self deals decisively with the old self, and today the new self puts on new clothing.

What does the scripture actually do? It brings us right down to earth where we live, and we are given the power of God to deal with the inner man by the metaphor of putting off clothes and putting on clothes.

It is a fact that it has been estimated that if a person lives to 70 or 80, they will spend five years dressing and about one and a half years to two years in church. That’s not a good ratio, but that’s the truth. In some people I’m sure that’s more.

“Scripture brings us right down to earth where we live, and we are given the power of God to deal with the inner man.”

But let’s look at the first one, and the third of our category in chapter 3, verses 9 through 14. The new self puts on new clothing. Look what it says in verse 11: a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, Barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.

The Clothing Metaphor: Adam, Genesis, and the Gospel

Now the clothing metaphor alludes to Adam, the account of Adam in Genesis 3:7 and 3:21. What does it say there? It says, “Then the eyes of both of them were open and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

Something happened that made Adam and Eve realize that they did not have any clothes on. They sensed immediately that they could no longer stand in the presence of God, so they tried to remedy their own situation, to cover their own nakedness, with establishing their own plan of their own righteousness.

They sinned, they knew they had to cover themselves. Adam and Eve were no longer innocent because of their sin of disobedience. Their nakedness before God was a symbol of their innocence; now because of sin they were not innocent.

The fig leaves became their own inadequate attempt to cover their sins and their disobedience. They felt afraid, they felt guilty, they felt ashamed before God, where they didn’t feel that way before.

In the rags of their own self-righteousness they ran and hid and covered their naked bodies. That’s what we always do when we sin—we want to hide, we want to hide from God and people when we do that, we want to cover it, we don’t want people to really know what’s going on in our life.

But God sees. Every time you and I put on clothes, it should remind you and me that sin before God has made you unrighteous and unfit for the presence of God.

The very message of the Gospel is that God sent Jesus to die outside the gate of Jerusalem to take away our sin, to cover us with his perfect righteousness, to give us new clean clothes, and to give us new life by his resurrection.

Jesus provided to us the righteousness that we needed and took on himself all the wrath that we deserve. He did that when we were helpless, when we were ungodly, when we were sinners, and when we were enemies.

This is where the resurrection life is observed by others. There must be putting off before there can be putting on. We are not just putting on clean clothes, but we are putting on a clean new self.

The Bible connects clothing with righteousness and nakedness with depravity. The believer is clothed with Christ’s righteousness. The Bible even tells us in the mindset of the Hebrew, from Isaiah, it says:

“I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul exalt in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in the robe of righteousness.”

How has he done that? Like a bridegroom decks himself with garland, and like a bride adorns herself with her jewels. That’s what God does in his righteousness when he clothes us with it—we look beautiful and ready for a wedding ceremony.

Back in Genesis, the Lord made garments of skin for Adam and Eve and clothed them. This is God’s remedy, and it is the picture that we receive: God provides new clothing for fallen humanity. The change of clothing signifies the believer’s new creation and relationship with God.

“God provides new clothing for fallen humanity—the change of clothing signifies the believer’s new creation and relationship with God.”

An animal had to die and shed blood to get garments of skin to cover people’s sin. Right in Genesis we get the picture of the cross.

Unity in Christ: No More Distinctions

And if we look back at Colossians 3:10, it says: “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.” By the transformative power of the Gospel of the Cross of Christ, Jesus is making a new community of believers, a community of all kinds of people groups that bear the image of God, by putting off the old practices and by putting on the new humanity that bears the image of its creator.

The renewal here is that in verse 11, a distinction between groups that is gone. No one could break down the barriers between different people groups, with the differences they have in their social, religious, ethnic, geographic, educational, and economic distinctions and their class divisions. It would be impossible to conquer these distinctions and unify people into one body.

Nobody can do that. Even in our government today, in our world today, they’re keeping these distinctions so vivid that people are actually against each other and they remain that way so they can control them. That’s what they do.

But when you come to Christ, all that’s gone. There’s no more distinctions, there’s no more division between you and me. It’s not about skin color, it’s not about where you grew up, it’s not about how wealthy or poor you are. It’s about you and me being in Christ and we’re being made new together.

“When you come to Christ, all that’s gone. It’s not about skin color or wealth—it’s about you and I being in Christ and being made new together.”

There is one who has done the impossible, and that’s Jesus Christ. Right now, all who come to Christ in repentance of their sins and faith in Jesus are being renewed, as the Bible says, to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him.

To be renewed in knowledge points to a reversal of the effects of the fall through God’s new creative act in Christ. Where’s that seen? It’s seen in daily life, it’s seen in our daily direction of our lifestyle.

For example, a young woman who was renewed after the image of the one who created her is not going to mold herself in the pattern of Hollywood or some YouTube personality or the different trends offered by a godless world. But she will be willing to be modest and feminine, and she’ll know who a woman is and enjoy her identity as a child of God with a submissive heart to serve Christ.

A young man who was renewed after the image of Christ is not going to indulge in a habitual practice of sin, or sins that he knows offends the Lord. But he will be masculine and strong and yet gentle, and enjoy his identity as a child of God with a submissive heart. He will know that he is in control because the spirit of God is growing and leading him, and he’ll wait on God for the desires of his heart, and so shall she.

Since Christ conquered all and removed all these distinctions in verse 11, all peoples can be unified and participate together in one body, achieved by Christ’s death and resurrection. Where does all this lead?

Look at the end of verse 11, it says: “but Christ is all and in all.” That’s where it leads—to that we’re all one in Christ. In Christ all are one, and that’s what makes Christianity so completely different than anything else. God unifies us no matter who we are, where we came from, what our experiences are, and he brings us together and makes us one body.

In the midst of diversity there is unity, and there’s real genuine love. Christ engulfs all radical racial, religious, and cultural differences with his indiscriminate grace. Christ is all, and anyone really needs is Christ, and that’s it. There’s nothing to be added, there’s nothing to be taken away. Christ is all and in all.

“Christ is all, and anyone really needs is Christ—there’s nothing to be added, there’s nothing to be taken away.”

With that in mind, I want you to consider with me this morning three designations of the new self. Verse 12, here’s the first one.

The Calling of the New Self: Chosen, Holy, and Beloved

The first designation is in verse 12, and it says this: as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved. Here’s the first one, the calling of the new self.

In other words, the message we receive about our identity shapes our lives in a very powerful way. Who we understand ourselves to be matters, how we live our lives. The worst thing for a person to experience is not knowing who they are, why they’re here, what they’re supposed to do.

Well, the Bible tells us why we’re here. We’re called and we’re chosen. Now this word chosen is the word elected. Long before Adam sinned, God already decreed and determined salvation for sinners in eternity past.

The father chose a people in Christ who would be saved, and they would be saved from his wrath. This selection process was not based on any foreseen faith in those who he chose, nor was it prompted by inherent goodness in a person.

Instead, it was according to his infinite love and inscrutable wisdom that God set his affection upon his elect. And when did he do that? According to Ephesians 1, he did it before the foundation of the world.

He did it not only that he would elect us and choose us in Christ, but he also elected us to be not only saved but holy and blameless. They all go together. You can’t separate them.

So a person who says, “Well yeah I’m saved”—well where’s your holiness? Where’s the change in your life? “Well I don’t really have any change in my life.” Well you’re not a Christian then, because the Bible says you were elected to be changed by God by his power. That’s what he’s done.

So each one chosen was predestined by the father to be conformed to the image of a son and to sing his praises forever. I love to sing this morning. Thank you for all our praise team groups who put the work in to bring it to us on Sunday.

It is really a blessing to sing, and then to hear you sing is a blessing. Everybody’s singing from their heart, and singing not because they want to get worked up, but because they love Christ and they know what Christ has done for them. That’s the only way to sing right. And that’s what we want to do.

The Doctrine of Election

You may not realize it, but divine election is the grandest, most joy-producing doctrine in all scripture. But it’s also the most hated doctrine. In one Sunday school we’re going to have to teach again on the doctrines of grace, because they are probably the most convicting and humbling doctrines that we could ever learn as believers, and they really change your life.

The doctrine of election is never presented in scripture as something to be afraid of, but always as something for believers to rejoice in. God elected you before the foundation of the world. You really had nothing to do with your salvation—God had everything to do with it.

You may not fully understand that truth, but you must come to terms with this doctrine one way or another. Don’t fight it. Instead, submit to the wisdom of God, because the judge of all the earth shall do what is right.

You and I may not be able to fully explain the doctrine of election. If somebody asks you why God chose you and loves you, I don’t know—because of God’s nature, because of who God is. That’s all I can say. But that’s all right, that’s all scripture says.

I pray that everyone here would come to understand and love this doctrine. When you do, it will inform every thought and shape everything you do. Your new identity shows up every day of your life.

“When you come to understand and love this doctrine, it will inform every thought and shape everything you do.”

Your new identity also shows that you live in the kingdom of God and that you are a king’s kid. A king’s kid must dress with appropriate clothing.

Let’s step into God’s closet this morning and select some clothing that Jesus wants us to wear. Clothes are the first thing people see when they see you. They can tell if you are a blue collar worker or a white collar worker, whether you are stylish or not. Clothes can communicate social status, destination, and nationality. In short, clothing gives us much information about a person.

The clothing that I speak of this morning is not physical clothing but spiritual clothing. The clothing you and I are to put on is the same clothing Jesus wore. This is how we put on Christ. Jesus is the model upon which we are to fashion our daily lives.

Here is clothing that is fashionable in the kingdom of God and never goes out of style. First, we are reminded of our calling and identity—that we have been elected by God as his children. We are kingdom children, not just children of a king, but children of the King of Kings. We are his kids. When we go out in the world, we’ve got to live like that, because that’s your new identity.

“We are kingdom children—not just children of a king, but children of the King of Kings. When we go out in the world, we’ve got to live like that.”

The Character of the New Self: Five Virtues

The second designation of the new self is this, in verse 12 and 13: the character of the new self. Notice what it says in verse 12. It begins to give us a list of things.

The first thing it says in verse 12 is this: once you’re chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on. See, we’re to put something on. It’s again a command here for us. And what are we going to put on? We’re to put on five virtues. Last time we looked at five vices, but now five virtues.

Compassion and Kindness

What’s the first virtue? A heart of compassion. Some have translated it a tender-hearted mercy, the Old King James says the bowels of mercy. Now I like that in a way, because it’s talking about the inner side of you, the inside of you.

In fact, there are two words used to translate this phrase. One refers to the inner seat of one’s deepest emotion, and the other a motivating outward emotion that moves toward meeting a need. So in other words, a biblical compassion is a compassion that you feel it in your gut, and then it moves to your will and you do something about it.

That’s how you see Christ. In fact, Christ is the epitome of this particular attribute. When Jesus went ashore, he saw a large crowd and he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to do something.

How did he meet their need? How did he move toward them? He began to teach them with authority, he began to lead them like a shepherd. That’s how he met their need.

And then also in Mark 8, it says: “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with me now three days and have nothing to eat.” So what does Jesus do? He feeds them.

So you say, well that’s very basic stuff. Yes, that’s what I’m talking about. Fullness of life comes in the very basics of life. That’s how we bless other people and we are used of God to be a blessing and get blessed ourselves. Putting on a heart of compassion is to be like Jesus.

“Fullness of life comes in the very basics of life. Putting on a heart of compassion is to be like Jesus.”

Look at the next one in Colossians 3:12: kindness. Kindness is the sympathetic expression of love shown to another human being whether they deserve it or not.

You ever heard the expression kill them with kindness? Actually there’s truth to that, a lot of truth to that. Why? Because someone yelling at you and you’re kind to them, they don’t know what to do. Someone coming against you and you’re actually kind to them, with a good attitude, a smile on your face, and you want to be helpful, they just don’t know what to do. They either stop talking or they’ll walk away. You just stopped them in their path.

Kindness is an incredible characteristic that God wants us to put on every single day. Kindness shows up in action. When we think of David in the Old Testament, when Saul was dead and Jonathan was dead, David went and he was saying, “Listen, is there anybody I can show kindness to?”

And so there was a guy named Zeba, and he says, “Yeah, I know somebody.” And David says, “Can I show them, can I show this person the kindness of God?” And he says, “Yes, who is it?” Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, son of Saul.

And this is what David says to him when he comes in before him: “Don’t fear, for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you shall eat at my table regularly.” That’s kindness.

Now when somebody’s kind like that, how do you respond? There’s only one way to respond: humbly, right? It humbles you, it puts you kind of in your place, no argument, no quarreling, none of that kind of stuff going on. Kindness is what God wants us to put on in this world.

Kindness also shows up in words, where it says in Proverbs 31: “She opens up her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” It comes out of your mouth.

Kindness shows up in spiritual life, in Galatians 5: “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, kindness.” And kindness is an instrument in salvation. What do I mean by that?

Romans 2:4 says by way of a question: “Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” It’s the kindness of God that brings us to a place where we receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Putting kindness on is to be like Jesus.

“It is the kindness of God that brings us to a place where we receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Humility and Gentleness

And then what’s the next one? Humility. It’s the inward virtue of voluntary submission, unselfishness, and a lowliness of thinking, like it says in Ephesians: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love.

See, humility is needed in a loving relationship. It also tells us in Philippians: do not do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another more important than yourself. So humility is shown in an attitude of the mind where others’ interests are more important than your own.

And then even Peter uses the word for clothing when it comes to humility, where it says in 1 Peter 5: you young men likewise be subject to your elders, and all of you clothe yourselves with humility, toward one another. It’s always the toward one another thing.

See, it’s the daily life, living, interacting with people, that’s where you get blessed and that’s where the fullness of life is.

So those who walk with God must be humble. In the Old Testament the prophet Micah said: he has told you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

What is that? That’s daily living. Just go, walk your life, live your life for Christ, and show these, put these things on every day, and you will find fullness of life.

“Walk your life, live your life for Christ, show these things, put them on every day, and you will find fullness of life.”

What’s the next one in our passage? Gentleness, recognizing one’s own weakness yet God’s power. It’s often referred to as power under control, this is gentleness.

And who exemplifies that more than anybody? When Jesus says in Matthew 11:29: take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul.

See, you don’t run away from people who are gentle yet strong, you run towards them, because they’re going to help you. It’s like what Paul says about gentleness in Thessalonians: but we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.

And then the wisdom that comes from above, it says in James, is gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits. See, gentleness is the opposite of quarreling, it’s the opposite of quarreling.

Paul writing Titus says to the people: malign no one, that means speak no evil of anyone, but be peaceful, not quarreling, gentle, showing every consideration of all men. Man, if we did that, we wouldn’t have the issues and problems we have.

In fact, Titus says in the next verse: and we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. See, it has to be put off, that’s not Christ. Putting on gentleness is to be like Christ.

Matthew 11:29: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. — Matthew 11:29”

Patience, Forbearance, and Forgiveness

And then he says this: patience is the next one in our passage, and that’s just simply long suffering, holding out long with someone. In fact, holding out of your mind before it gives room to action or passion, especially in the face of indignities and injuries by others.

What a person is in his character will also show up in his relationship with others. That is, looking at people and dealing with them as God would look at them and deal with them. Aren’t you glad Jesus bore along with you, and still does?

When Jesus even said in Peter, and while being reviled he did not revile in return, while suffering he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. That’s patience in the midst of injustice, it’s patience.

Now, if you go back to Colossians, there are really two ways to carry out the five virtues, and he gives just two. Notice what he says in verse 13: bearing with one another.

That’s the word forbearance, to bear long with and to put up with a great deal of even injustice and unpleasant circumstances without retaliation or revenge. Are we doing that, do we do that? Or do we always feel like we have to defend ourselves, always feel like we have to put ourselves up in front and give always a reason why everything happens, we’re always being confrontational?

I’m glad Jesus bears along with us. He will never desert you, he will never forsake you, that’s what the scripture says.

And then notice again the next one in verse 13: forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone. These are basic things, these are relational things. It may take a long time for people to come around, so you’ll have to forgive people more often than you probably calculate.

Like it says in scripture: and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, for if you forgive others for their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.

Mark it down: if you feel justified not to forgive, I’m always amazed when I have to, not argue with somebody, or convince them that they ought to forgive somebody. I’m always a little bit amazed at that, especially when they’re claiming to be a Christian.

Because when you look at scripture, when you look at this scripture right here, you see that God’s forgiveness is really incomparable, because he forgives us in Christ without compromise of his holy justice.

The prophet Micah in chapter 7, verse 19, shows us that God casts our sins into the depth of the sea. When he forgives us, he puts them so far out of his sight that he never sees them again.

The Lord does not actually forget our sins. Micah only means that God no longer holds our sin against us when he forgives us. In other words, he won’t bring it up anymore, it’s a done deal.

And in fact Paul says this in Romans, where he says: blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered, blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.

Isn’t it great to know that the Lord’s not going to take something into account that you did, because Jesus Christ took care of it? When he sees your account, I don’t see anything there, Jesus already took care of that.

If he’s done that for you, you ought to forgive people no matter what. We have no justification at all whatsoever to not forgive anybody, because look at the end of verse 13.

Why should you and I want to forgive all the time? Verse 13 says: just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. In other words, being forbearing with people, suffering along with them, and forgiving others is being like Jesus, that’s how you put on Jesus.

“Being forbearing with people, suffering along with them, and forgiving others is being like Jesus—that’s how you put on Jesus.”

The Cohesion of the New Self: Love

And then one last thing in verse 14: the cohesion of the new self. Notice what it says in verse 14: “Beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”

It gives us harmony. Some have referred to love that God works in our life as relational glue. The existence of love in the body of believers keeps it held together. That’s why Jesus says you will know them by their love. That’s all he said in that. Why? Because that’s what keeps us together.

All the distinctions that we have, the different backgrounds we have, the different skin colors we have, the different cultures we have, the different things we are—we’re so different. God gives us unity and gives us love for each other, so those distinctions mean nothing. They don’t cause division; they cause unity, so we can do the work of God.

Now just think with me for a moment about this grand subject. As you experience the love of the Father in heaven and ponder how he treats you, you will come to realize God’s love is the most wonderful thing in the world. It is at the center of what makes life vivid and hopeful and worth living and fulfilled.

“God’s love is the most wonderful thing in the world. It is at the center of what makes life vivid and hopeful and worth living and fulfilled.”

You and I are called to put on these virtues because we present God in the world as his children of the king. Loving others is being like Jesus.

Putting On the Right Clothing Every Day

See, this is the kind of clothing we have to wear. When you go through your daily life and your clothing starts stinking, it’s because you have not put on the right garment. You have put on the old flesh, you reached in the wrong pile of dirty clothes and you put that on, not even thinking about it.

You go out in your world, and before long you’re like a bull in a china closet. Wherever you go you’re fighting with people, you’re arguing, you’re complaining. You come home and then you realize your day didn’t go well, and you realize you put on the wrong clothing that day, you stunk, and you did not look like a child of the king.

I pray this morning that we all would want to be a person that’s controlled by the love of God, who walks in the spirit of God, no longer by the intentions of the flesh. When we do that, that’s when we experience the fulfilled life.

You must discard and be done with the old life, and you must put on the new life. If you don’t, you will be a miserable Christian, you will.

God may allow you to go along like that for a while. He may allow you to leave the house with really stinky, messy clothing, and he may allow you to do that for a while. But you’re going to find out you’re not fulfilled, you’re actually discouraged, you’re depressed, you’re going to your medicine cabinet for help and you’re not coming to God for help.

Why? Because you haven’t been putting on the right clothing, you’ve been dealing with this situation all wrong. Right here in this text, all I have to do is put this on.

You have to ask God every day to help you put these clothes on and help you pick from the right pile. The new self is the born-again self, it is the new creation in Christ. Only the Christian has the capacity to consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God, with the ability and will to serve and please God and know how to do that.

Loving God’s word and loving God’s son includes hating sin with the desire to pursue righteousness. Therefore, salvation is not a matter of improvement, it is not a matter of perfection, it is a matter of comprehensive transformation that the spirit of God is doing on you and me every single day.

I don’t know about you, but to me this is pretty simple. I can pretty much evaluate my life every day to see how I’m doing. If I dealt with somebody in anger that day, I have not put on the right clothing. If I wasn’t patient with somebody, I did not put on the right clothing. If I didn’t love the person or had compassion on them and tried to meet their need, I did not have the right clothing on, and I was not representing Christ.

“Salvation is not a matter of improvement, it is not a matter of perfection—it is a matter of comprehensive transformation that the Spirit of God is doing every single day.”

I was representing the old kingdom, the kingdom of darkness, where Satan thinks he reigns. When you put on these new clothes this morning, you won’t want to take them off, because you will begin to experience the fullness of the Christian life. What is that? To be like Christ.

Let’s pray. Thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord, for your word being so clear. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure these things out, and Lord, you didn’t write it that way. You wrote it so the simplest person on this planet can get it, and I thank you, Lord, that you’ve done that.

Every day when we get up and we walk outside the door of our home, I pray, Lord, that we would have the right clothing on. So anything that’s thrown at us that day, any person that comes across our path, anything that a husband and wife can deal with, or a parent and children can deal with, or people that we deal with on our job, I pray, Lord, that you would give us the power of the spirit of God to put on the clothing that can show someone Christ by just the way we act.

That may open up the door to share the gospel of Christ with them. Lord, use us in that way. Lord, we know you have a lot of work to do on us, but I pray, Lord, we would give ourselves to that, so we can experience what you want us to. I pray this in Christ’s name, amen.
June 25, 2023
Partakers With Christ, Part 2
In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij continues looking at Colossians 3 and the new life of a believer in Christ. In part 2, Pastor Babij examines the second characteristic of the new self as explained in Colossians 3:5-9: the new self deals decisively with the old man of sin.

Three Characteristics of the New Self in Christ
1. The New Self Has New Pursuits (vv. 1-4)
2. The New Self Deals Decisively with the Old Man (vv. 5-9)
2a. The first list of vices to put to death (vv. 5-7)
2b. The second list of vices to put away (v. 8)
2c. Lying (v. 9)

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

We are reminded that the gospel transforms us radically—not just forgiving our sin, but empowering us to put it to death. Drawing from Colossians 3, we are called to decisively deal with the old self by laying aside both the sins of the flesh and the sins of speech, recognizing that we now have resurrection power through union with Christ to say no to sin’s mastery.

Key Lessons:
1. Because we died and rose with Christ, we have real power to refuse sin’s reign—we are no longer slaves to it but are called to consider it dead.
2. The first list of vices (sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed) are forms of idolatry—they place something other than Christ on the throne of our hearts.
3. The second list of vices (anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech, and lying) harm others and reflect whose lord we are serving in that moment.
4. Knowledge, willpower, and self-imposed religion are all insufficient to overcome sin—only the Spirit of God working through our union with Christ gives us true victory.
Application: We are called to actively put off the dirty garments of sin—both fleshly and relational—and prepare to put on righteousness, because leaving a vacuum without putting on virtue makes repentance incomplete.

Discussion Questions:
1. Which of the two lists of vices (sins of the flesh or sins of speech) do you find hardest to ‘put to death,’ and why?
2. How does remembering that we ‘once walked in’ these sins (v. 7) shape the way we respond to others who are still trapped in them?
3. In what practical ways can you ‘make no provision for the flesh’ this week—what would it look like to starve a specific sin rather than feed it?
Scripture Focus: Colossians 3:1–11 is the central passage, showing that the new self must put to death earthly vices and lay aside social sins. Romans 6 reinforces that sin is no longer master over the believer, and James 3 warns of the deadly power of the tongue.

Outline
Introduction

And let me have a word of prayer. Father, this morning as we approach your word, we thank you for it again. We thank you for the awesome privilege to have it in our hands, to be able to read it.

And thank you, Lord, that we’re still free to read it, to live it, to speak of it. And I pray, Lord, that you would allow that to go on for some time.

I just pray, Lord, that you, through the word of God, would make us mature, especially, Lord, in regard to sin and how we deal with it. I pray, Lord, that by your spirit you may give us the power to say no to it when it often tempts us.

To past sins and even present realities that are around us that are not pleasing to you, that do not honor your name, that do not bear the light of the gospel, nor is it the salt that should provide flavor and preservatives to our surroundings.

Lord, this morning open thy word to us, teach us, so we are maturing in this area and are steadfast in it. And I pray in Christ’s name, amen.

The Story of Gerald Lander

It was the year 1882.

You probably never heard the name Gerald Lander, but you probably heard the name D.L. Moody. He was an evangelist around the 1800s, and he had planned to preach at the Historical Cambridge University in England.

On a Sunday morning when he started the meetings, many Christians met early for a prayer meeting, and then about eight o’clock they returned to a hall and began to fill it with rowdy university students, eventually numbering about 1700.

The brave choir began singing, mocked by the students that were there, and pandemonium reigned during that particular meeting. The door was open and D.L. Moody the evangelist came in, and his song leader Ira Shanky came in, and several Christian faculty members also came in, along with other clergy.

They had a word of prayer. Ira Shanky began to sing “The Ninety and the Nine,” and the audience began to shout, “Here, here,” and then when he was done they would shout, “Encore,” not in a good way but in a bad way.

Then he got up before the message and started singing “Man of Sorrows,” and before he was done he was almost in tears because of the chaos going on amongst the students.

Then D.L. Moody began to preach on Daniel in the Lion’s Den. Moody’s monosyllabic pronunciation, where he would pronounce Daniel, “Daniel,” was too much for the rabble rousers, and they came back and began to repeat, “Daniel, Daniel,” each time Moody mentioned the name.

Whenever Moody used an American phrase or non-British pronunciation, they were louder and started laughing at him. Hecklers were there, led by a student named Gerald Lander. He was the vocal minority of the group, but he was the leader of the group and he was the main heckler in the front row.

Moody was looking at him and tried to shut him down, but he wouldn’t, and he got louder, and those with him also. He finally said, after the message, “If uneducated men will come to teach the varsity, they deserve to be snubbed.”

The next morning, November 6th, a bellboy knocked on Moody’s hotel room door and handed him a personal calling card bearing the name Mr. Gerald Lander. Moody invited Lander to his room and recognized him instantly.

The student said humbly, “I want to apologize, sir. I brought a letter of apology from the men, some of the more gentlemen, appalled that my behavior has written an apology.” He came to deliver the apology, though reluctantly.

When Moody, the English gentleman, realized that he overstepped his bounds of propriety, he had a long talk with this man. He said, “If you are really sincere, you’ll come to the meeting tonight and show me your sincerity.”

This man was definitely an abusive person and a very prideful person, and a person that definitely was not a believer. But a most unlikely thing happened.

Years later, and little did Moody know, that one day Gerald Lander, the disruptive leader and the leader of the students, would spend the rest of his life evangelizing Southern China as a missionary.

“One day Gerald Lander would spend the rest of his life evangelizing Southern China as a missionary.”

So what happened? See, that’s the question. What happened?

The Transforming Power of the Gospel

Well, Gerald Lander came to believe in Christ. The transformative and sanctifying gospel got a hold of his heart, and he was no longer that abusive student from Cambridge. He was now a man under the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying process.

What now moved his heart to evangelize in one place for the rest of his life? I’m sure that was an encouragement to D.L. Moody, and it’s an encouragement to us to hear a story and see how God works in people’s lives and how he changes them.

He makes them new, and they put off sin—even the sins of abuse and speech—so they can live for the Lord.

“The transformative and sanctifying gospel got a hold of his heart—he was now a man under the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying process.”

We come to Colossians again, and we realize that a Christian has experienced a radical change of their spiritual environment. That environment should affect the whole of their life: the way they live, the way they think, the way they act, the way they speak.

That just does not happen by itself. When a Christian realizes they’re now different, they’re changed, they’re alive as never before, because God opened their heart and soul to the truth and to the spiritual light given to them from the word of God, everything becomes different and everything becomes new.

I’ve already said in Colossians 3:1-4 and chapter 4, verse 6, the applications are given for living a true life in Christ and practicing biblical imperatives.

Now, there are three things that are realized very quickly about the actual life of a Christian, and the scriptures before us this morning in Colossians 3 actually help us identify some characteristics of the new self.

The first has already been covered. Today I will examine the second. There is a third, but most likely I’ll not get that far today.

Review: The New Self Has New Pursuits

But the second one this morning, found in our passage, but I’ll just mention first of all the first one from last week: the new self has new pursuits. And why they have those new pursuits is because in verse 1 of chapter 3, the new self is risen with Christ.

Also, the new self is consecrated for Christ, and then in their consecration they are to pursue certain things. The first thing they are to pursue is seeking things above, that the direction of the Christian’s life is different. And they are to keep minding things above, meaning the direction of their thinking and outlook is different.

The Christian is also identified with Christ. The first reason for you and I to seek and mind things above is because in verse 3 we have died, that’s past. Secondly, we are hidden in Christ, that’s present.

Being hidden in Christ means that for us, that is a secret thing, it’s hidden from the view of the world. They can’t see it, but we can see it in the change that’s taking place in our life, because the spirit of God is transforming us.

It also means that there’s a security as a Christian of double protection, where it says in verse 3 that the security comes with God in Christ. The way that is referred to there is that the Christian has an unbreakable bond, because Christ and God are their fathers and the spirit of God now indwells them.

It is a bond that provides security for the believer as they await the final fulfillment of God’s plan of history. And that also gives us a new identity, that our identification is no longer the way we were in our old sin, but what we are now in Christ. We are called to identify ourselves as Christ followers.

And then that leads to a lasting identity: the new self is glorified in Christ. In verse 4, it says, “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you will be revealed with him in glory.” So we will be glorified with Christ, that is future.

The Bible says that God is taking care of our past, he’s taking care of the present, and he will take care of the future. Our future is guaranteed, we have a certainty, nothing can prevent our final salvation. We are under the power and dominion and reign of the grace of God.

“God is taking care of our past, the present, and the future. Our future is guaranteed—nothing can prevent our final salvation.”

That means the saints in Christ are to be Christ-directed, for they are indwelled by the spirit of God. And the old self, the old self of sin, is to be shriveled up, and it is to become ineffective in the life of the believer.

The New Self Deals Decisively with the Old Man

Now, this morning we want to look at the second point: the new self deals decisively with the old man. This becomes the reality of the Christian.

What We Are to Consider and Present

And notice what it says in verse 5: “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead.” Let me just stop right there for a minute, because that word “consider”—we’re to consider several things.

The first thing we’re to consider means to think about, to observe. In the Old King James it says to reckon. The one thing we’re to consider and reckon is that a Christian’s sin has been put to death and Christians have resurrection power. That’s what we’re to consider every single day we wake up.

We should consider that. That means to take into account, to calculate how that is going to change how I live my life, because I now have the power to actually say no to my sin.

We are to consider also that sin is no longer master, but Christ is the master. We have the power to refuse sin and its command that it tries to reign over us. In other words, we don’t have to obey it.

In Romans 6:6 it says, “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” See, that’s what we were before. We were slaves to sin. Sin had mastery over us; it dictated our passions and desires. But now we’re different, and that no longer should be taking place.

The purpose of the believer’s death with Christ is that the body, as controlled by sin, might be completely put out of a job. Christians should want to put sin in the unemployment line. Christians do not have to serve sin, really, ever again.

“Christians should want to put sin in the unemployment line. Christians do not have to serve sin, really, ever again.”

Now, that’s one thing we’re to consider. But there’s also one thing we’re to present. In verse 5 it says we’re to present our members, our earthly members of our body—that means the sinful flesh. We’re to present them to God. It’s the practice of walking in grace.

We don’t present our members to unrighteousness anymore. And this really does assume that we can quit sinning. That’s not becoming sinless, but sinning less. And when we do sin, we are confessing the sin and then putting that sin to death. We’re not making provisions for that sin anymore.

We don’t present our members to unrighteousness and to sin, but we present our members to the righteousness of God, to pleasing God.

What does putting to death mean? There’s a negative sense to it, because immediately there’s a struggle. In fact, Ephesians tells us there is a battle. We are to resist such temptations and impulses. If you are a believer, you no longer make provision to gratify the flesh.

It also has a positive sense to it, because you are given the way of victory over your sin. You are to seek and set your mind on things above, where Christ is the one we desire to please.

The Fivefold Grace of Union with Christ

The picture is of one putting off the old sinful behavioral patterns that evidence a new transformed life in Christ. Believers are enabled to carry out this death sentence on the members of their body, their passions and their desires, because they now have a fivefold grace that has been bestowed upon them by virtue of being in union with the risen Savior Jesus Christ.

What is that grace? Those graces have already been given in the word of God: that we died with Christ, that we are raised with Christ, that we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, that we are hidden with Christ, and that we will be revealed with Christ when that day comes.

Death to the old way of life should be the reality of every believer every single day of their life. In fact, the imperative here means to wipe away or to utterly slay, not simply to suppress or control evil acts and desires, but to actually put those sins out from you and to death.

Anything that is dead is not going to get back up and get you anymore. In our passage, the decisive act is to strike dead the bodily members, so that being dead they shall become incapable of being used for any of the vices that are listed in our passage this morning.

“The imperative means to wipe away or to utterly slay—not simply to suppress evil, but to actually put those sins to death.”

Either you are joined to Adam and in union with the old Adam, and in Adam what happened with him—we were under the reign of sin and death. Or you are in union with Christ, and in Christ we are under the reign of grace and life and power.

That was not what you used to be, but that’s what you are now. We could talk about our sin, we can talk about putting sin to death, we can even share stories about others who put their sin to death. But are we putting our sin to death?

“In Christ we are under the reign of grace and life and power. That was not what you used to be, but that’s what you are now.”

Are we looking on ourselves honestly to say, “Listen, that is something that was part of my life, and even now it rears its ugly head and tries to get me to go that way again”? You could say no to that and then find victory in that.

The next section of scripture is going to give us vices and it’s going to give us virtues. But I’m not going to look at the virtues today. I’m going to look at the vices, because that’s what’s next in the text.

First List of Vices: Sins of the Flesh

And I want you to notice the first general list of vices to put to death, found in verses 5 through 7. These are five kinds of impulses of the flesh, and here it’s really clear. It’s really a direct call to avoid certain vices and the manifestations of the human sinful heart that is going to raise its head to try to drag us down.

These are sins connected to our old hell-bound life. I want you to notice—I’ll read them quickly, then look at each one individually.

In verse 5 it says, “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, which amounts to idolatry.” Now that last one is really telling us all these sins are really forms of our idolatry. They become the master in your life.

Sexual Immorality and Impurity

Now the first one is the word immorality. It’s the Greek word pornia, and this is a word that includes every kind of extramarital, unlawful, or unnatural sexual intercourse: fornication, sexual immorality, prostitution. All those words can go there.

The word we derive—the word porn or pornography—from this Greek term. It’s used here as an all-inclusive term designating complete abstinence from any form of sexual immorality. This includes abstinence from any real or imagined sexual deviant behavior.

Pornography really reduces a person to a subordinate tool, and when a person puts that person in that place, it really robs them of the dignity as one created in the image of God.

For human beings to attempt to gratify their sexual hunger in any way other than marriage or abstinence is really a deviation from God’s plan and God’s will. That would include any man-to-woman sexual relationship outside or before marriage. Before marriage it would be called fornication; after marriage it would be called adultery.

It also would include any man-to-man or woman-to-woman sexual gratification, such as occurs in homosexuality. Even though some people today would have us believe that sexual activity is neither wrong nor immoral, but simply a different lifestyle that they chose because of the strong attraction that they had, they can usually conclude, “Would God want me to be unhappy?”

Well, God declares in the word of God, in many places, that it is sin. It is a twisted perversion of the norm created by God: one man, one woman, in the marriage bond.

It also would include self-stimulation or gratification that occurs in masturbation. Masturbation is impure because it is attempting to have pleasure outside the marriage bond or outside of abstinence that would please God. It is a selfish act rather than a loving one; it is gratifying the flesh; it is a perversion of something good.

We know from scripture that sexual desires are a very, very powerful desire. You can’t just shut that down. That has to be shut down by someone greater than us and the power that God’s given us in his spirit.

It’s like what Paul told the Romans, in Romans 13: “Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing or drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

Romans 13: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

In other words, this really cannot be done unless someone is a believer and has the spirit of God and wants to obey the spirit. The words, as it says in Romans, would make no provision. Any lust is impure, no matter how small one considers it to be or how short-lived it is.

The Apostle Paul also said to the Ephesians Christians, “But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.” When you read something like that, you hear something like that, and immediately you say, “That can’t happen, that’s impossible.”

It is impossible, but it’s not impossible as a believer. That lust is so aggressive that we must fight against it as a soldier of Jesus Christ, and not to fight against it is actually to accept defeat.

This battle has cosmic proportions, for it is part of the war against Satan, who is really viciously fighting to divert our attention as believers away from our glorious God and savior, and trying to get our mind to be in the gutter instead of heaven, and on the earth instead of where Christ is.

“This battle has cosmic proportions—it is part of the war against Satan, who is fighting to divert our attention from our glorious God.”

Now, that’s the first one. Look at the next one. They’re all connected, but I believe that as you look at this passage of scripture, God is saying, “Listen, no one could wiggle out of this in some form or some way.” This type of sin you have to deal with, or you have dealt with, or maybe you’re dealing with it right now.

Pornography in our culture is on the rise, both for men and for women and for young people, because of the access they have to the internet and to sites that you don’t even know what they’re watching there.

The next word is impurity. In our verse, that’s really uncleanness. It’s used in the Old Testament to refer to ceremonial uncleanness. In other words, you’re unclean, where you cannot come into the presence of God; you have to take care of that first. It’s really something opposite of holy living.

Immorality and impurity are the most nasty pair, which include every kind of sexual deviant behavior, and here, dirty-mindedness, having your mind on dirty things.

Passion, Evil Desire, and Greed as Idolatry

And then the next word is passion. Passion here is a strong emotion of desire or craving. It’s really a base fire kindled in the human heart which reaches out for an object in order to satisfy itself, and does not rest until it is satisfied. That’s how strong that is, like uncontrolled sexual passion or evil craving, usually of a sexual nature.

Again, Paul writing to the Thessalonians says that each of you is to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles, or like the way you were when you were not a believer, who don’t know God.

And that is always key when it comes to sexual sin: that people who do not want to deal with it, they don’t know God, because they love their sin. They don’t love and want to please God at all.

And then the next one is evil desire. That’s any strong, overwhelming evil desire of the mind. And then the last one there would be greed. Greed is really a disposition to have more than one’s share. You always want more, never satisfied with anything. In this case here, it’s greed also not only for material things but for sexual things.

And the relative clause he uses at the end of the passage, “which amounts to idolatry,” meaning that all these vices are a manifestation of the worship of idols. It’s a loss of contentment with Christ, it’s not having your mind above and your desire to want to please Christ.

The worship of gold instead of God. When a person has greed in his heart, he loses sight of God in his mad desire to get things for himself. Covetousness is a sin of always wanting more.

That’s the last commandment. That’s the commandment that really done in the Apostle Paul. He says, “When I realized I was covetous, it slayed me, it killed me. I realized that I was guilty of all the commandments.” And that’s what it ought to do. It ought to put us in a place where we realize that these sins are powerful sins and they have no part of the Christian walk anymore.

Idolatry, because covetousness puts things in the place of God, idolatry puts things in the place of God. And when sexual sin begins to dominate one’s every waking moment, every thought, every look, every relationship, well then sex has become the Lord of that very moment, in that very day, and in that person’s life. And that is idolatry.

It’s now a master to you. And we as a Christian can do that, we can allow sin to master us. But we’re different than we used to be. Now we don’t have to let sin master us, and we have the power to say no to it.

But we also know enough that if our mind is in heaven, we will make no provision for that particular sin. We will not feed it, we will not give to it where it keeps it alive, we will not imagine in our mind things that will put our imagination to death, because we don’t want that sin to have authority over our life.

“When sexual sin dominates every thought and look, sex has become Lord of that moment and that life. That is idolatry.”

Or, as Romans says, to reign over us as a king. And it will, if we let it.

Satan’s Lies and Our Responsibility

See, Satan, with each expression of sin we must put to death all the impulses and actions. We must go to the root of such acts and impulses and deal a death blow to them and the lies they feed us.

Believe me, sin and continuing in a sin has a lot to do with how you lie to yourself. Satan is the father of lies, that’s what the Bible says. He has a toolbox full of lies.

Satan will flatter sinners by saying to them, “You’re as good as anyone else, everybody’s doing it, it is not a big deal, today it’s not considered shocking anymore, the whole culture embraces it, even the government approves of it. So go ahead, indulge yourself, enjoy yourself, whatever passion, whatever desire you have, go ahead and do it, because God wants you to be happy, and if this makes you happy, you do it.”

Have you ever lied to yourself like that? I have. I’m going to be honest with you. Sometimes you like those lies, because maybe he’s right, maybe I need a little fun in my life, and I want to do this, and an opportunity to do it, and you do it.

But I tell you what, if you have the spirit of God in your heart, you’re going to be deeply convicted by it, to the point where you say, “Lord, I know you hate this, I want to hate this sin, I want this sin out of my life, but I need your power to do it, and I need my mind to be on the right things.”

If someone would think that God will overlook a habitual pattern of sexual, covetous, idolatrous sin, he or she has already believed a lie. Just because our culture has subtly normalized sin, and we live in the middle of a highly charged, sexually intoxicated culture, that is no excuse to fall in line with the world’s norms instead of putting sin to death.

See, it’s not so easy being a Christian. A Christian, as Paul said in Ephesians 6, is warfare. It’s going to be warfare with your own mind, with your own past, with your own passions and desires. That’s where you fight the battle, and that’s where you win the battle.

If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time and you’ve been putting these things into practice, they work, because God gives you the power to say no to things. You are in a new position, and you can stop sin’s reign in its path right when you’re being tempted with it. You can.

There’s a biblical principle behind this, found almost in every book of the New Testament, and that believers are free from the mastery and controlling power of sin.

Paul said in Romans 6, which we read this morning, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” He also said in Romans 6:18, “And having been freed from sin, you have become slaves.” We are slaves, but now we’re slaves to righteousness.

Romans 6: “Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

What’s righteousness? Doing what pleases God. What pleased God? That we once yielded ourselves to uncleanness and sinful behavior, and what did that lead to? It led to more iniquity, more lawlessness, and eventually only to death.

But now that you’re a believer, you present your members as instruments of righteousness. So now you’re slaves to God, but God’s a good master. He’s a loving master, he’s a kind master, he’s a merciful master.

He will forgive you of your sin that you confessed to him. Why? Because he’s already taking care of that sin on the cross. That’s why 1 John tells us, “If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.”

Every time we confess, God’s cleaning up everything else. When we live like that, we will realize that these passages of scripture are real and they are practical for us every single day.

From a past standpoint, positionally, the sinner becomes a saint the moment they are saved. Presently, experimentally, or experientially, we are growing, we’re growing to spiritual maturity.

Everybody who’s a believer is at different levels of spiritual growth right now. These sins may be sins that you’re no longer really dealing with anymore, because you’re past them. But it still rears its head from time to time, depending on how you want to let things into your life.

But there’s a future aspect: this sinless state that we don’t have on this side of eternity, we’ll have when we’re at home with the Lord. And that’s the hope that we have.

We’re always going to have this struggle here while God leaves us here. We’re going to be struggling with our sin, all kinds of sins, at all different stages of our life.

Just because you’re an older Christian doesn’t mean you won’t struggle with sin. Sometimes the sin is more complex and the temptation is more subtle, because Satan’s smart. He knows that he can’t get you with the old stuff anymore, so he has to make up some new stuff, and he does, and he’s good at it.

He puts you in situations, like, “How did I get in a situation I didn’t even ever want to be here, but I’m here now, I’m dealing with this and this and this and this?” But you have to put everything into practice at that time.

Believe me, when you do, and you put first God, and you call upon him in that weak moment, he will deliver you. He will deliver you.

“When you put first God and call upon him in that weak moment, he will deliver you.”

The Motive of Holy Living: God’s Wrath

And not only that, back to Colossians, it is the motive of holy living. What is that motive? That Christians know God’s serious about these vices, and he’s also patient.

Notice what it says in verse 6: “For on account of these things the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience.” Is that not a motive to live a holy life? What’s the motive? I know God’s going to judge this stuff. God’s not going to look over this stuff.

This passage of scripture is not just stuck in there. It’s giving us something here, that the anger is the reaction of God’s holiness and righteousness against sin, that we should have also. We hate living that way, we hate those times where we fall into sin.

And this also shows that our sovereign Lord will carry out his judgment on all those who do not obey the gospel. So if the culture goes one way and they say, “Well, all this sexual freedom is fine, don’t worry about it, you’re all right, everything’s fine, well and dandy,” it’s a big lie. It’s not fine, well and dandy.

Not according to this passage of scripture, because God is the one who inflicts wrath. What did Paul tell the Romans in Romans 3:5? “But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he?”

Is God unrighteous to say that lifestyle is all right, it’s all right to do those things, no matter what people around you are saying? It’s not all right. See, that’s a motivation for holy living.

“God is the one who inflicts wrath. Just because the culture says it’s fine and dandy does not make it fine and dandy.”

That God, it was for such perversions as here listed that God brought the flood in Noah’s time, that the wickedness of their heart was continual. And that fire and brimstone fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins, sexual sins, and that of homosexuality and all the other things that go with that.

And today the audacious sinners flaunt unrighteousness, with which we are bombarded every single day, with the LGBTQ Plus agenda of unrighteousness. Judgment will come. And who should know that the most? Christians should know that most.

But it is a motivator. It’s a motivator to know that God is going to take care of things. But what happens is that it’s like what it says in Ecclesiastes.

“Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly,” what does it say? Ecclesiastes: “Therefore the hearts of the sons of men are given fully to do evil.”

See, I said that God is not only holding wrath but he’s patient. His wrath will come. The Bible says in this passage of scripture it will come. Don’t make that mistake to think it won’t. It will come, and it will come on these sins, on a culture who flaunts these sins, and people who love these sins also.

God’s wrath presently abides on unbelievers. In the Gospel of John 3:36, it says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

And also, what does Paul say in Romans 1? The wrath is currently falling from heaven on all unrighteousness. For Romans 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” That’s what they’re doing, they’re holding down what they know is true.

John 3:36: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

“God’s going to judge?” “Nah, no he’s not, I’m a good person, I’m good most of the time.” No. It should be a motivation for holy living.

Humility: We Once Walked in These Sins

But then notice in verse 7 there’s a humility also for holy living. And what is that humility? In verse 7, “And in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.”

That is close to home. What is it saying? Don’t let your head get too big as a Christian. You were just like that. You not only walked in it—that’s the manner of life, that’s your lifestyle—but you also were in it.

Such conduct actually belongs to the past. Maybe there’s no better way to say, “Stay humble when dealing with our sin and the sins of others, before we’re too quick to judge,” than to know that we were enslaved and engaged in a sinful, habitual lifestyle until we were made alive to repent of our sins and to trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior.

At that point we realized that our walking wasn’t pleasing to him, our living was not pleasing to him, and our thinking wasn’t pleasing to him. These are all in your past as a believer. Don’t go back. Don’t go back to the dreary catacombs of sin.

“Stay humble—we were enslaved in sinful, habitual lifestyle until we were made alive to repent and trust in Jesus Christ.”

When I was in Rome, I got a chance to go down to the catacombs, where many Christians actually held services and prayed because they had to stay away from persecution. What a dreary place. It was like pretty much dirt and cubes carved out so they put the dead bodies there with no cover on them at all.

That must have been a horrible place to go. But that’s how we should look at sin. That’s going back to the old dreary catacombs—lifeless, dead things. Why would we want to spend time in a cemetery as a Christian? We don’t want to spend time in the cemetery.

Second List of Vices: Sins of Speech

Now, that leads me to something else in our passage of scripture. Here’s the second general list of vices to lay aside. These are a little bit different from the first group. The first group really harmed the sinner themselves. This group of vices harms other people.

These are what some have called the social sins, related to speech and violence of the heart. Notice what it says in verse 8. Here’s the second general list of vices to put aside. The first group was to put to death; this one is to lay aside.

It says, “But now you also put them all aside.” And here they are: anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech from your mouth.

The Christian is really to execute what God has already sentenced, and to put to death the old practices, and put off the domination of the old self, put away from you once for all, since the fearful former time has passed. And thank God that you’re able to do it.

“The picture is of changing clothes—putting off dirty garments of sin, and putting on the good virtues of the new self.”

The picture here, and further into the passage, is of changing clothes. You’re putting something off, like dirty garments, and then you’re going to put something on. Those are going to be the good virtues, and we’re not going to get to those today.

Anger, Wrath, Malice, and Slander

But I want you to notice what they are. The first one is pretty simple: anger. It really means revenge too. It includes a subtle feeling of hatred towards someone.

And then the next one is wrath. This is an intense outburst of passion that someone has, that usually builds up inside, and then boom, it bursts out through all kinds of body language and attitudes.

And then malice. Malice is really meanness, being mean to people. There’s a lot of bullying today that goes on with younger and older people, but it’s mean. And also it includes a desire to want to inflict bodily injury on someone, because of the boiling agitation of the feeling someone has when they have malice towards someone.

It’s almost like you want to put your hands around their neck and choke them. If you could do that and get away with it, you would.

And then slander. It’s the word blasphemy here in scripture, speaking against God. But also blasphemy is really self-opinion, and it’s expressed with challenges to the character and the wisdom of God.

“I don’t think it’s that way, there’s other ways to look at this, or I think I want to do this, or I will do what I want no matter what God says.” That’s blasphemy. Defamatory speech against others, human beings being created in the likeness of God.

See, people don’t often think that. Listen, if I am outbursting towards someone, whether it’s in anger or wrath or malice or slander, speaking about them in a way I ought not to, we think that’s all right, that we have the privilege to do that.

And yet what does James tell us? What he says in James 3:3: “But no one can tame the tongue, it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men.”

And then it says this: “Who have been made in the likeness of God.” So in other words, treating all people with respect, for what reason? It doesn’t matter how great a sinner they are, they have been created in the image of God, they have the likeness of God stamped upon them.

So therefore they have no right for us to be angry towards them, or wrathful, or hold malice, or slander them.

James 3: “With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God.”

Abusive Speech and Lying

And then also he uses the word abusive speech, and at the end of verse eight he says, “Put abusive speech from your mouth.” Ephesians says that there must be no filthiness or silly talk or coarse jesting, which is not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Evil speech is also reflective in a refusal to worship God and the lordship of Christ. It always has to do with whose Lord. Is your sin Lord? And if your sin is Lord, then you’re going to convince yourself, “I have every right to be angry with this person, I have every right to slander them with my tongue and slice them to pieces with abusive speech, because I have rights and I’ve been abused.”

Instead of being thankful that what you do have has been given to you by God.

These are sins that harm other people. I always say in the membership class, “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never harm me.” That’s the biggest lie from the pit of hell.

Throw stones at me, hit me with a stick, but words, I remember words. When I was just five years old, if somebody said something to me that was really hateful, I never forgot it. It was a dentist, and I told my mother, “I’ll never go back to him again.” And my mom says, “Well, that’s your family dentist.” I said, “I’m not going back to him because of what he said to me.”

I was just a little kid, I didn’t know the context of that, I just know that it was mean and I didn’t want to hear it. You have stories, I have stories, of people who have said things to you that you have never forgotten, and probably never will. You just know what to do with it now, right?

But here’s this last one, in verse nine, and this is very crucial. Look what it says: “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices.”

Now, brethren, if we lie to each other, where do you go with that? What do you do with that when someone lies to you? There’s nothing, I don’t know what to do with that, because I don’t know when you’re telling the truth and when you’re not.

Don’t forget half truths, part truth, conveying wrong impressions, exaggeration which really distorts the facts, hypocrisy, false teaching contrary to the Bible. If we lie to one another, there is no way to establish trust or to work together to accomplish anything worthwhile.

Can’t happen in a marriage, can’t happen in a relationship, in the family with parents and children, can’t happen at work, can’t happen anywhere, if someone is not going to tell you the truth.

All of us have committed this sin, and more than once. Sometimes you get to the place where, “I’m not even going to open my mouth right now until I have the facts right and tell this person exactly what is true.” Because they say, if you tell the truth you’ll never have to remember what you said, right? And it is true.

But I tell you what, you fudge the facts, you just turn the truth a little bit, and that’s all Satan does, he just gives it a little twist. You won’t remember from day to day what you said to that person at that point and at that time. Your story is going to change and change and change and change.

And then what’s going to happen? People aren’t going to come to you and ask you for anything, because they cannot trust you.

If this is a person’s practice, it will demonstrate that they do not know the Lord and are in fact a child of the devil, who is the father of lies. I’m saying this according to First John: if they practice this, if this is the mode of operation for their life, and they do not want to let go of it because they have some good success doing it, they don’t know the Lord, and they shouldn’t deceive themselves that they do.

“If you tell the truth you’ll never have to remember what you said. Fudge the facts, and your story will change and change.”

It’s just like the prophet Jeremiah. Listen to what the prophet Jeremiah said to the people who started believing the practices of the false prophets. Listen what he said: “They bend their tongue like their bow, lies and not truth prevail in the land, for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, says the Lord.”

And then it says, “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, and do not trust any brother, because every brother deals craftily and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. Everyone deceives his neighbor and does not speak the truth. They have taught their tongues to speak lies, they weary themselves committing iniquity. Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit. Through deceit they refuse to know me, says the Lord.”

Probably the greatest characteristic of someone who’s a perpetual practice and gifted liar is that they are a tool of Satan, because Satan is their father and Lord, and not Jesus.

If we’re convicted about anything in our life, it should be this sin, that we’re always, always to be on guard with, right, to making sure. If we’re not sure, we don’t say anything. It’s only when we’re sure.

These two lists of vices belong to the old, unsaved, unregenerated, dead self. Are you going to leave them behind? Are you going to put them off? Are you going to put them to death?

You are to put them away, because these are the dirty rags that should be away from your mouth and the practice of your life.

Lessons on Dealing with Sinful Desires

But there’s a few lessons I just want to close with to learn in dealing with sinful desires. The first comes from Romans 6 and 7, and also Colossians 2. I’m not going to give you all those things, I’m just going to tell you what they are.

Knowledge is not the answer. Paul felt fine as long as he did not understand the law’s demand. As soon as he knew the law’s demand, what was his conclusion? “I’m doomed.” In other words, there’s an inadequacy of human knowledge to overcome the flesh.

I could know this is wrong to do, and it could be clear theology or clear theoretically, but I just don’t do it. Your knowledge helps you understand that you sinned, but it doesn’t help you overcome the sin.

Secondly, self-determination or will doesn’t overcome the flesh. Where does that come from? Romans 7:15: “For the willing is present with me, but the doing of the good is not.” Just because you’re strong-willed and have the ability to do all these things, you have no will to overcome the flesh by yourself.

There’s an inadequacy of the human will to overcome fleshly passions and desires. The human will, not strengthened by Christ, is bound to crack.

Thirdly, self-imposed religion is not the answer. Where do I get that from? Colossians 2 says this: “Are matters which have to be sure the appearance of wisdom and self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value against fleshly indulgences.”

There’s an inadequacy of human religion to overcome the flesh. Many people park right here because they think this is going to be the balance between them overcoming something and God forgiving them.

That’s why there’s a lot of religions that are giving approval to all these sins and say, “Don’t worry, come to our church, come be with us, be who you are made to be, and we can have fun together.” All that’s kind of garbage, because it’s just a big lie, that’s all it is.

“The human will, not strengthened by Christ, is bound to crack. There is an inadequacy of human will to overcome fleshly passions.”

Putting Off Sin and Putting On Righteousness

And then the last one is even profound: Christian experience does not instantly stamp out all sin from a believer’s life. That means a conversion to Christ does not stamp off all sin in your life. It forgives you of your sin, it covers your sin, but now you must deal with your sin, putting it to death and putting on righteousness.

All I say to you this week is that it is our responsibility to put off and to put to death these vices. Next time, for balance, we will learn to put on the virtues.

Because anytime you put something off, like sin, you cannot leave a vacuum. You must put on the opposite of what you’re repenting of and putting to death. If not, then that repentance is not complete.

We put off the old dirty garments of whatever sin it is, and then we put on the righteousness and we robe ourselves in it. That’s where we find protection, and that’s where we find the power of the spirit of God to say no to the mastery of sin and allow Christ to reign. That’s where you find joy and peace in Christ.

“Put off the old dirty garments of sin, put on righteousness—that’s where you find the power to say no and allow Christ to reign.”

Amen. Let’s pray.

Lord, thank you this morning for the clarity and conviction of scripture. Thank you, Lord, that these things are clear to us, that these are the things that are not righteous, that are the things that come under your judgment, and the things, Lord, you’ve given us the power to say no to.

I pray, Lord, if there’s anyone here struggling with any of these things, and maybe they have been struggling with it for a long time, the struggle is good, Lord, but I pray that they would win the battle and they would put these sins aside into death.

And that you would give them the joy and the peace that they’ve been looking for in that sin, but found, did not find it there, just found bondage and disappointment. But, Lord, in you we find peace and rest, and we find your merciful face shining upon us.

Strengthen us in these things. As we do that, let us be the ambassadors of light in a culture, and we can even counsel other people with the word of God, to say, “Listen, I struggle with this until I had victory, and this is how I had the victory.”

Lord, let us do that, and let us give honor to your name, that, Lord, you would be our Lord and master, and that sin would be something that we hate, and we learn to put it aside and put it to death and not make provision for the flesh.

I pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
June 11, 2023
Partakers With Christ, Part 1
In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij begins looking at Colossians 3 and the new life of a believer in Christ. The first characteristic of the new self appears in Colossians 3:1-4: the new self has new pursuits.

1a. The new self is risen with Christ (v. 1a)
1b. The new self is consecrated for Christ (vv. 1b-2)
1c. The new self is identified with Christ (v. 3)
1d. The new self is glorified with Christ (v. 4)

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

We are called to embrace our new identity in Christ as described in Colossians 3:1-4. Because we have been raised with Christ, we are no longer defined by the old self with its earthly pursuits, religious dead works, and self-centered desires. Instead, we are called to seek and mind the things above—centering our lives on Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Key Lessons:
1. The new self is risen with Christ—our old life of sin and self has died, and we now have resurrection life and power to live for God each day.
2. The new self is consecrated for Christ—we are commanded to keep seeking and setting our minds on things above, not on the earthly, temporal, and self-serving pursuits that once defined us.
3. The new self is identified with Christ—our lives are hidden with Christ in God, meaning we have both spiritual secrecy (nurtured by the Holy Spirit) and eternal security (no one can snatch us from God’s hand).
4. The new self is glorified with Christ—when Christ is revealed at his second coming, we will be revealed with him in glory, which is the ultimate purpose and hope of salvation.
Application: We are called to examine our daily pursuits and ask whether Christ is truly the center of our lives. We should reject the dead works of empty religion, worldly success, and self-seeking, and instead meditate deeply on the truths of Scripture—letting the Word steep into our minds like a tea bag in hot water—so that our affections, habits, and speech are increasingly shaped by Christ.

Discussion Questions:
1. In what practical ways does setting your mind on things above change how you respond to everyday temptations, frustrations, or worldly pressures?
2. What are the ‘earthly things’—whether religious routines, material pursuits, or self-focused habits—that most easily distract you from a Christocentric focus?
3. How does understanding that your life is ‘hidden with Christ in God’ change the way you face uncertainty, fear, or a sense of spiritual failure?
Scripture Focus: Colossians 3:1-4 is the central text, teaching that believers who are raised with Christ must seek things above and set their minds on Christ, who is seated at God’s right hand. Supporting passages include Galatians 2:20 (crucified with Christ), Hebrews 10:12 (Christ seated after one sacrifice), John 10:28-30 (eternal security), and Philippians 3:21 (transformation into Christ’s glorious body).

Outline
Introduction

Morning. Let’s take our Bibles and turn to Colossians 3.

This morning we’re going to be looking at verses one through four.

If you have your Bible there, turn to it. If you have a few Bibles, you can turn also to that and find Colossians. Let me have a word of prayer first. Let’s pray.

Father, we thank you this morning for bringing us here together. Thank you, Lord, for the word of God that is our food for our soul. I pray, Father, you would mature us with the word of God, make us strong in these days to know the difference between your way and every other way.

Help us to put on the armor of God, to be able to stand up against the wiles of the enemy and to stand in your strength. As we look at the word of God this morning, I pray that we would realize that when we become Christians we become new. Everything has changed, Lord.

Thank you for the word of God teaching us that. As we go on in Colossians, it will describe what changes take place. But today, Lord, let us at least know that we are partakers with Christ, that you not only saved us but you’ve given us your spirit to sanctify us, make us like you, preparing us for your presence.

So thank you, Lord. Give us ears to hear and a heart to receive it and a will to do it. I pray in Christ’s name, amen.

According to Colossians, because of the supremacy of God, the God-man, and the completeness of his work, Jesus is sitting, for his work is done. In Hebrews 10:12 it says, “And he, having offered one sacrifice for sin for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.”

So let us rise and rest in him. He is sitting on a throne this morning. Observe his majesty, delight in his power, and trust in his dominion.

He is sitting at the right hand of the Father, at the place of honor and favor. This is proof that we are beloved and favored of God, for our representative has a choice place. He is risen, he is done with death and earth, he ascended to a majesty on high.

It says in Romans, “For if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” Several things come to mind when we consider what that says and what these passages say.

We were dead in trespasses and sins, but having believed in Christ, you have been quickened, you have been made alive by his spirit, you have been made new. Conviction and confession of sin, the dread of judgment to come, and the sense of present condemnation was worked in us.

We realized the only thing that could rescue us is Christ. Here is the point: believers in Christ Jesus are no longer spiritually dead.

The first two chapters of Colossians have already laid down the doctrinal foundations while exposing false teachers and the aberrant, transitory, human, and useless methods of their teaching. Like traditions of church fathers and men, like new moons and sabbaths and holy days and holidays, like rules and regulations, like mystical teachings, like physical philosophical teachings, and all the attitudes which really burden us and keep us in the grave.

All these need to be thrown away. All the furniture of your religion needs to be set aside. Religion is pretty furniture to the spiritually dead man’s chamber, but the living man rips off the grave clothes and any garments that are unsuitable for life and for maturity.

A tomb is not a fit place for a living person. The Christian has experienced a radical change of spiritual environment, and that should affect the whole of our life, every aspect of life. Our life, the very way we think, the very way we look at things, the very way we speak, the very imaginations we have in our mind.

The Christian is different. He’s changed, he’s new, he’s alive like never before. God has opened a window on his soul which is letting in the spiritual light for the first time, and everything looks different.

Martin, in his parables of the gospels, tells a story of a rather rough, uncultured man who fell in love with a beautiful vase in a shop window. He bought the vase and put it on his mantelpiece in his room. There it became a kind of judgment on its surroundings.

He had to clean up the room and make it worthy of the vase. The curtains looked dingy beside it, the old chair with the stuffing coming out of the seat would not do anymore, the wallpaper and the paint needed renewing. So gradually the whole room was transformed.

In a very similar sense and way, when Christ is on the mantle of our heart, your whole life is transformed. As Christ is reigning in our heart, when we look around in our past life and what’s going on, things have to change. Everything looks old and dingy and complicated and confusing, but when we come to Christ, that all changes.

“When Christ is on the mantle of our heart, your whole life is transformed.”

The New Self Has New Pursuits

Now, from Colossians 3:1–4:6, the applications are given for living a true Christian life and practicing biblical imperatives. There are at least three things that are realized very quickly about the actual life of a Christian coming into this chapter.

The scriptures before us in Colossians 3 help us to identify some characteristics of this new self, this new man, this new person in Christ. The first of three things I want to focus on this morning is that the new self has new pursuits.

Later, we’ll look at how the new self deals decisively with the old man, and then how the new self puts on new clothing. But today we’re going to look at the new self has new pursuits.

Now, today, if you are a true Christian, you are alive. Because you are alive, God has given to you new aims and pursuits in your life. But there’s a reason for that.

We have to know the new self. We have to know how it looks, what the new self does, and why the new self is able to do those things.

It’s not because we have turned over a new leaf. It’s not because we have the willpower to do it. It’s because Christ has saved us, he’s given us a spirit, and we have a new power to live the Christian life.

“It’s not because we have the willpower to do it. Christ has saved us, given us a spirit, and we have new power to live the Christian life.”

The New Self Is Risen with Christ

And so really the first thing a Christian sees, that is pursuing new things, is that the new self is risen with Christ. Notice in Colossians 3:1, it says that if then you have been raised up with Christ.

Here we have that if again. If, and this is a first class conditional if, and indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. And the normal idea then would be that if you are raised with Christ, and let us assume that that’s true, I’m assuming the audience is raised with Christ, they are real believers, all right.

And we’re going to do that. Then you always have the if and the then, right. If this is true, then something else is going to take place, something new is going to take place.

When Christ died on the cross for believers’ sins, God counted that we were crucified with him, even though we were not yet born. And when he rose from the dead, God counted that we rose with him.

The Apostle Paul said it this way in another passage of scripture. In Galatians 2:20, he says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Now that is a very real truth that a believer has, but we don’t all get it right away. It’s something we grow into, but it’s something that we must be always thinking about, because this change has taken place.

Salvation means death to the old life and resurrection to the new one in Christ. The true believer has real union with Christ, entered into through repentance and faith. It is not something experienced after zealous efforts of fulfilling some kind of self-imposed religious ritual, not at all.

It is a settled fact, accomplished by God through Jesus Christ. That is not something you seek, it is something you receive as a gift from God. God has done everything for us, we receive it by faith as a gift.

So if then you have been raised up with Christ, if you have been made alive in Christ, then you will have new aims and you will be actively pursuing those aims. When you are given newness of life, we should know, we should long to come out of the grave of self-seeking and sin, and fling off those worldly desires and habits, leaving behind wrong religion, and begin to worship in spirit and in truth.

“When you are given newness of life, we should long to come out of the grave of self-seeking and sin.”

So see, he’s already talked about this in Colossians. The Apostle Paul, we are raised with him, and because we are raised with him, we have resurrection life to live every day while God leaves us here on this earth to live for him.

We have to know that this is all part of the Christian identity. And really, the Christian people talk about Christian identity today so often, but I think they distort it biblically. There’s only two things that could happen in identity: either you’re in the old man and the old life, or you have the new man and the new life. That’s it.

That’s my identity right now, in Christ. And so therefore I—why? Because I’ve been raised with him, I’ve been given new life, I’m alive to God, where before I was not alive to God.

The New Self Is Consecrated for Christ

But secondly, I want you to notice in verse 1 that the new self is consecrated for Christ. It says there, “Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”

The two imperatives in verses 1 and 2 point to what those new pursuits include. He’s really setting us up for what’s coming in Colossians: the new consecrated life in Christ entails continuing in two imperatives. Imperatives are commands, but they are commands now because I’m alive in Christ, and I want to do them. No one’s forcing me to do it; I want to do it.

What do I want to do? First of all, I want to keep seeking things above, like it says in verse 1. This first imperative means to search for, and this present imperative points to an action taken repeatedly as a matter of habit.

It becomes a habit of a believer, and this is what the believer aims and strives for every day. This has to do with the outer disposition of the new man, the practical pursuits to obtain what God wants us to be in Christ Jesus. This is the outward proof that we are truly saved and risen with Christ, because now we have a desire to seek heavenly graces, to seek the upward things of life and of godliness.

The direction of the person has changed radically, and it includes some vital activities. Our quest is not simply for a place, but our quest is for a person. It says in the scriptures here, “above” means where Christ is, up there at God’s right hand in the glory of heaven.

We now have a Christocentric theology, a Christocentric mindset. We focus on Christ alone, who is the proper object of worship, the one in whom, as we read, all treasure and knowledge is found. He is the one who has finished his redemptive mission, the one who is now seated in the place of power and dominion.

Christ sitting at God’s right hand is the exercise of all majesty and power of deity according to his risen human nature. The fact that Christ is sitting speaks of his finished work of redemption. Christ does not die over and over again when the communion celebration comes; he has died once, forever and ever.

“The fact that Christ is sitting speaks of his finished work of redemption. Christ has died once, forever and ever.”

This means that our activity as Christians centers around him, that we will seek to please him and look forward to being with him. The question we have to ask ourselves is: Do we want to be with Christ? Don’t answer that question after it’s all over; answer it now, because that’s where we’re heading.

We’re heading to a place where we will be with Christ. We will labor after Christ’s likeness, we will labor after faith and love and patience and zeal and kindness and humbleness of spirit. This also means that we will clean out every catchall closet and every shelf, with all its old grudges.

Grudges and sinful habits have to go; it all has to go. But now we can see it. We can see the destruction our sin has done in our life, we can see what needs to go. We can see our speech needs to change, we can see the things that we dwell upon in our mind need to be altered by the spirit of God.

We see all those things because we’re alive now. We never saw them before. Actually, we lived according to our desires and our lust, but now we’re examining our lusts, we’re examining our desires. Why? Because we’re new.

Dead Religion vs. Resurrection Life

And let me remind you that in the backdrop of this whole letter is the point that the Judaistic religious life is the opposite of the new spiritual life of those who have been raised up with Christ. For the Jew, that was a radical thought. That’s why they wanted to crucify Jesus, because he was exposing their religious system as false, as empty, as just a bunch of dead works.

The Judaistic religious life consisted of decrees about material, earthly things, as it says in scripture, destined to perish. That means they’re just temporal things, like do not handle and do not taste and do not touch, which were just the commandments and the teachings of men.

It also included a particular or peculiar worship of humility and severity of the body, backed by empty philosophy and the traditions of men. Like it says in Colossians 2:8, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

They also gave a show of earthly wisdom and superstition. Where it says in Colossians 2:23, “These are matters which have, to be sure, an appearance of wisdom and self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgences.”

Those are religious things that people did, but they could not expose their heart. They could not give them power to put away their sin and to put it to death. It had no power at all to do that. It’s just a bunch of pile of dead men’s bones, that’s all it was.

That’s where Satan works the most. He works in religion. He deceives people by all the millions of religions that we have in the world today, and he does it just to deceive them, to think they’re doing right and good. But it’s going to end up they’re not, not until the gospel of light shines in and exposes that. Then they come and call on Christ, they repent of their sin, they come in, and now they’re made alive. They see all that stuff meant nothing and could do nothing in their spiritual life.

Paul gives this idea and goal in place of merely ascetic rules. The admonition here is for the reader to live the new spiritual resurrected life and to give a display of the spiritual vitality in your life.

“The admonition is to live the new spiritual resurrected life and to give a display of the spiritual vitality in your life.”

It was a commentator named Lightfoot who says you must not only seek heaven, but you must think heaven. There cannot be spiritual transformation unless the mind is transformed. The Lord is definitely going to change your mind.

Setting the Mind on Things Above

We not only seek the things above where Christ is and the things that go with that, but also we are to consecrate our lives. It also entails continuing in the second imperative in verse 2. Notice what it says: to set your mind on things above, not on things that are on Earth.

In other words, keep minding things above. Remember, we formerly were hostile in mind. Colossians 1:21 says, “Although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds”—that’s who we were before we came to Christ. Our mind was darkened; we could not see the truth.

But now we’re alive, and now we can set our mind above. Our mind is now bent towards Jesus, bent towards truth.

In verse 2, this imperative is to think, to have in mind, to devote ourselves, to attend to something. The things above are not necessarily heaven. What I mean is that we are not to strive to attain heaven and let go of Earth, but that’s not really the thought here.

Believers are to ever be minding things above and not things that are on the Earth. We’re going to either be minding one or the other. You can’t be minding two as a believer; that will be a duplicitous mindset, and there is very, very bad confusion.

The things above are going to be that we are minding what Christ desires for us to put our minds upon. That’s where truth and doctrine comes in.

“The things above are going to be that we are minding what Christ desires for us to put our minds upon.”

The things believers are not to attend to or to mind are the material, elementary, temporal things of the world, as I’ve already mentioned. Religiously, it would be decrees about handling and tasting and touching and certain things, the decrees about eating and drinking and festivals and sabbaths and all kinds of religious rules and rituals they thought to be okay, spiritually powerful, but ended up being all dead works.

These have no salvific or sanctifying value. Instead, believers are to mind the things above. Things above are defined in their high nature by the clause “where Christ is,” in his supreme exaltation, and they are just the opposite of things on the Earth.

Some of those things are, if you go back to Colossians 1:14, the ransoming and the remission of our sins. It says, “In whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins.” To actually be forgiven by God—that’s what we ought to be thinking about, that your sins are washed away in Christ and nailed to the cross.

That’s what we mind as Christians, and that should be something we mind every day: to know we are forgiven by God. When we do, we’re able to forgive others, because God forgave us in Christ Jesus.

“To know we are forgiven by God—when we do, we’re able to forgive others, because God forgave us in Christ Jesus.”

Secondly, the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are all hidden in Christ. As it says in Colossians 2:3, “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Christ is the treasure. Why do we have to go anywhere else when he has everything that we need for life and godliness? There’s nowhere else to go.

Or that he, Christ, is the head and supplies the body to make it grow with the growth of God. As it says in Colossians 2:19, “Holding fast to the Head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.”

Christ is in control of growing us, of sanctifying us, of making us new. We are not just left alone to do those things; God is doing it in us.

These are some of the things that must occupy our mind, not religion with rules about material things, temporal things, and with superstitious philosophy regarding those things. We’re to leave these, and then you will be minding a person. You will be minding the Lord Jesus Christ. You will be setting your affection upon him who has first set his affection upon you.

In other words, you will be minding and attending to sound doctrine, and that is the practice and life based on biblical truth. Your thoughts should be on spiritual things and the precepts you are to follow concerning moral conduct.

As we think in our mind as a new believer, we died with Christ, we are raised with Christ, we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, we are hidden with Christ, we will be received with Christ. In a sense, we’re dead, we’re resurrected, we have new life. What do we have to look forward to? We have glory to look forward to.

Meditating on the Word

There are things we as Christians are to meditate upon, and those things are all found in the word of God. Meditation is that very special thing a Christian has, and it was Donald Whitney who compared meditation to hot water in a tea bag.

Hearing God’s word is like one dip of the tea bag into the cup. Some of the tea’s flavor is absorbed by the water, but not as much as would occur with a more thorough, circling soaking of the bag.

Meditation is like immersing the bag completely and letting it steep until the rich tea flavor has been exactly extracted. In other words, the word of God has to steep and permeate your whole mind, like a tea bag left to steep in a cup of hot water, until the tea leaves infuse the whole cup.

Only then can you enjoy the full and rich flavor of the cup of tea. Only then can we enjoy the full and rich flavor of the word of God, when the word of God will permeate our minds and lead you and me to develop an intense Christocentric focus of our life.

“The word of God has to steep and permeate your whole mind, until the tea leaves infuse the whole cup.”

If our mind is set on Christ, then our activity will center around him, and we will seek to please him, and we will look forward to being with him.

The Old Self and Its Earthly Pursuits

Now, thinking of that, the old self did seek things too. And what did the old self seek? When the Bible says here, “Set your mind on things above, not on the things of the earth,” there’s nothing wrong with preferring riches to poverty, but when the mind is set on possessions, this is worldly and earthly.

The things of earth could all be summarized as self, or selfishness. Actually, the suffix often has a derogatory meaning, and in slang it means horrible. It could be translated: what is selfish means horrible self. The new self is to be minding the eternal, not the earthly.

So the root cause of sin is self, that sinful nature of ours which says, “I will do what I want instead of living for God and wanting to do his will.” Man loves himself and wants to do his own will. Self says, “I must have my own way, and if I don’t get it I will be displeased and I may get angry.”

This attitude of self-will and selfishness is in the heart of every single human being. The world considers this to be natural and normal, for a person to live for himself and to seek what pleases him the most. The world says, “Seek your own fulfillment, you have the right to do what you want, seek what pleases you, regardless of how it may affect other people, and maybe even destroy other people.”

However, we cannot live for ourselves and at the same time do the will of God. No one can follow the Lord so long as self is in control. As man continues to go his own way, not obeying God, he loads himself down with an unbearable load of guilt.

“We cannot live for ourselves and at the same time do the will of God. No one can follow the Lord so long as self is in control.”

Worldly Success, Pleasure, and Religion as Dead Ends

Man tries many ways to solve his problem of guilt and escape from his guilt-ridden conscience. Some of the ways man tries to meet his inner need and solve his problems is by seeking worldly success.

Many people try to find satisfaction in life by accumulating things: automobiles, houses, luxuries, conveniences. These things may make life easier, but they do not meet the deep needs of the heart.

That scripture tells us, beware, that you be on your guard against every form of greed, for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of possessions. Success, money, power do not make people happy. They don’t even prepare people for the judgment of God that comes after death. It’s all temporal pursuits.

Even Mark tells us, for what does it profit if a man gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Popularity wanes, possessions wear out. It’s all temporal.

Some people, on the other hand, the old self seeks worldly pleasure: eating, drinking, and being merry, for tomorrow we die. Entertainment, fun, vacations, music, movies, food and drink and drugs—all those things our people are trying to get pleasure from.

Some people are trying to escape their life, and one of the ways Satan destroys people is through alcoholic drinks and many different kinds of drugs. People often turn to these things to escape from their troubles. Drinking and drugs may seem to give relief from the problems of life, but eventually they destroy those who use them.

Proverbs gives us wisdom here, where it says, wine is a mocker and strong drink a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated by them is not wise. It’s foolish pursuits. Beauty fades, health fades and fails. Earthly indulgences do not satisfy. They’re all temporal.

James says they’re rotten to the core. Your gold and your silver have rusted, and the rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire.

Some people just try to reform in their life. They say they realize, hey, I haven’t lived such a great life, I’ve been a pretty bad person, I’ve lived this sinful life. They say to themselves, I’ll reform, I will live a good life from now on, and maybe that will make up for my past sins and transgressions.

But no one can live the rest of his life without sinning, no matter how hard he tries. Even if he could, he would not make up for his past sins.

And then some people just say, well, I’ll just be religious, that seems like the best way out. I’ll be religious. Many people go to church and many people pray and they light candles and they give money and they do many religious things, and hope that they will be forgiven of their sins, hoping someday somehow their good will outweigh their bad.

But becoming religious does not take away sins, nor does it change the person on the inside. Again, all these earthly things and pursuits are just nothing but dead works.

The new man keeps minding the eternal. The admonition for us is, don’t become attracted and attached to what is only temporary. It’s all going to be passing away. The only thing to live your life for is Christ.

“The only thing to live your life for is Christ. Don’t become attracted and attached to what is only temporary.”

The New Self Is Identified with Christ

See, the new self is risen with Christ, the new self is consecrated for Christ. But I want you to notice in verse 3 of Colossians 3, it says here, this gives us the third one: the new self is identified with Christ.

There are two reasons for these exhortations. The first reason you are to go on seeking and minding is that it says very clearly—again he says this over and over—the believer has died. That’s in the past tense. You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

You died points to a definite event that has happened. Also it includes here the thought that death, which connected you with the saving death of Christ, rendered you dead, a dead person, as far as religiosity operating merely in the realm of the material and the earthly.

Those who have been raised with Christ are to count the old person, the old self, as dead to the old life, finished with Satan’s family. The believer is dead to the old pattern of externalism in religion, as well as dead to the guilt and damnation of Satan’s family, and dead to worldliness, defeat, and doubt.

The new self does not love sin anymore. It doesn’t mean that the new self does not sin, but the new self doesn’t love it anymore. It actually loathes sin. The things of sin should be repugnant to the saint in Christ, as a decaying corpse, dead decaying flesh. If you’ve ever been around it, it really stinks. It will get your nostrils quick and get you out of there as fast as you smell it.

“The new self does not love sin anymore. The things of sin should be repugnant to the saint in Christ.”

Did that old, selfishly sensitive part of you come to an end at conversion to Christ? Did that happen to you, and a new nature come alive in your life? If that has happened to you, I pray that that is your experience. But if not, Christ is calling you to repent today of your sin and to have faith in Jesus to save your soul, forgive you, and give you eternal life, so you can be made new.

See, I’m identified with Christ because I died with him, and I died to this lust and the desire for sin. I don’t want it anymore. I want to stay as far away from it as possible.

Hidden in Secrecy and Security

But there’s a second reason you have to go on seeking and minding, and that is in verse three: you are hid with Christ. And that’s present, right now. It says, you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

This really points to something that is concealed or covered. The perfect tense used here points to something completed, and really alludes to a permanent outcome for the believer. This has happened to us, and this is our case right now as believers.

Believers are hid, which suggests three things. Hidden suggests, number one, secrecy. The believer’s life is maintained and nurtured by an invisible power, and that power is the Holy Spirit of God.

Because we seek those things which are above, this new life is hidden from you. The world can’t see it, your family often cannot see it. They see change, but they don’t see that internal working in your heart. The world cannot see this new life which the believer has experienced. The Christian sphere of life is not Earth but heaven.

And then also it includes security. Notice how it says there, God in Christ—that is the mark of double protection. God wants us to know that as we go through this life, we are protected by God.

A.T. Robertson says it has the force to mean locked together with the unbreakable bond between believers. Christ and God the Father are one. It is this bond that provides the security for believers as they await the final fulfillment of God’s plan in history.

No hellish burglar can break this combination of Christ in God, and now the Spirit of God indwelling us. The Gospel of John says it this way: “I have given eternal life to them and they will never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

John 10:28-30: “No one shall snatch them out of my hand… no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

It’s talking about eternal security. You and I are hid with Christ and protected by him. Satan has no handle on you, he has no right to get you anymore. Christ has you.

That’s something we have to think about every single day. No matter how troublesome life gets, no matter how confusing the world gets, you are hid with Christ.

“No matter how troublesome life gets, no matter how confusing the world gets, you are hid with Christ.”

So that means not only is it secret, not only is it security, but it’s also identity. The believer is identified with the risen Christ. Instead of identity markers that provide external identification of those who follow false teachers, the Colossian believers are called to identify themselves simply in reference to Christ. We are called to identify ourselves as Christ’s followers.

These are the things that attract and excite believers. We belong to God and are citizens in the kingdom of his dear Son. In a very real sense, believers are already living in the company of Christ and in the heavenly realm, all this being hidden from human gaze. But the Christian knows it, because they trust in the character of God and know what God says is true.

That has to be true of you. You are risen with Christ, you are consecrated with Christ, you are identified with Christ, secured in Christ.

The New Self Is Glorified with Christ

And then why all that? Well, look at verse number three, the end of verse number three. It says, when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you will be revealed with him in glory.

Here, this is the end result. You had the past, being dead with Christ. You have the present, you’re hidden with Christ. And now you have the future. We always have a past, present, and future as believers, right? That’s what gives us identity.

And so if the past is true, that I’m dead and risen with Christ, if the present is true, that I am hidden and secure and identified in Christ, then the future is true also. We will be glorified with Christ.

And this refers to the second coming of Christ and to the revelation of believers in their new glorified states, when we’ll have resurrected bodies and be in the presence of God. A time when the veil will be removed, so that the things which are now hidden from the eyes will be illuminated in a bright light, and we will see him as he is. But we will also see ourselves as we are in Christ.

Christ’s unveiling is inextricably bound with our unveiling in glory. This will take place. This is our hope. As Philippians tells us, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory, by the exertion of the power that he has, even to subject all things to himself.

So the ultimate purpose of salvation is to see him, to live for him, and to ultimately be with him. That is the ultimate purpose of salvation.

“The ultimate purpose of salvation is to see him, to live for him, and to ultimately be with him.”

One man went to call at a place of business of one of his friends, a jeweler who had a large clientele. So he invited them to his jewelry shop, and the jeweler showed his friends a store of superb diamonds and other precious stones. Among them was a stone so lusterless that the friend says, that has no beauty at all.

Hasn’t it? the jeweler said, lifting the stone from the tray and closing his fist over it, covering it. A few moments went by, and he opened up his hand, and the stone glowed with the splendor of a rainbow.

Why, what happened, what had been done? the friend asked. The jeweler smiled and said, this is an opal. It is what is called a sympathetic jewel. It needs only to be gripped in the human hand to bring out the wonderful beauty.

See, it’s like a believer. A believer, once gripped and held securely in the hand of God, that is what brings out the beauty of being a believer. The fullness of what we will be has not been revealed yet. The luster and the wonderful beauty of Christ and his sheep will not be unveiled until Christ is unveiled.

Conclusion: Live for Christ’s Glory

Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father, but one day he will come and take his people home. When he does, we shall enter into eternal glory with Christ forever and ever. This is the encouragement of believers to go on and live in this world until Christ takes us out, and to live for his glory.

Here’s the reality of the Christian life. This is where the changed life can be seen, in accord with the very completeness of our death and resurrection with Christ. We are to render dead our members.

But here’s a note of warning. Our measure of glory in that day will depend upon whether Christ is indeed our very life and the center focus of our life on earth. That becomes a very important thing.

Is that your focus? Make sure today that you are in Christ, that these changes have taken place in your life. You can see the fruit of being a believer, of seeing this new self that has emerged once you’ve come to Christ.

If you haven’t seen any of those things, don’t deceive yourself that you’re a believer. You’re not. They have to be evident.

The new self pursues living for Christ because he has risen with Christ, he’s consecrated for Christ, he’s identified with Christ, and he is glorified with Christ. That is our hope.

“The new self pursues living for Christ because he has risen with Christ, is consecrated for Christ, identified with Christ, and glorified with Christ.”

Amen. Let’s pray.

Lord, thank you for the word of God, for the conviction of it, the clarity of it, for us to be able to have it in our hands so we can see these things. Now we can know what you desire and what pleases you, we can know the things that should be going on in our life.

I pray, Lord, as we continue in Colossians, we will see the sin that we ought to put off and the new things we ought to put on. But I pray until that day, Lord, you would make us faithful followers of Christ, and that we would be seeking things above, we would be minding things that have to do with spiritual things and biblical things and things that are related to Christ.

But then also, Lord, that we know that we have a present, a future, and a past that is connected to us as believers. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for providing these truths to us so we can live a faithful, consistent Christian life, and I pray in Christ’s name.
June 4, 2023
Paganism versus Christ
In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij examines Colossians 2:20-23 and the warning the apostle Paul presents there against being lured away into false religion—even false Christianity. Paul gives three reasons to resist false religion:

1. Because their false religious practices are transitory (v. 22)
2. Because their false religious practices are merely human (v. 23a)
3. Because their false religious practices are worthless (v. 23b)

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

We are reminded that genuine salvation in Christ means we have truly died to sin, to the law, to the world, and to self-made religion. This passage from Colossians 2 calls us to resist every false religious system that would lure us away from the complete and finished work of Christ on the cross.

Key Lessons:
1. Real faith in Christ produces real change — there are no signs of life in mere religious profession, emotional decisions, or inherited religion without genuine conversion.
2. Because we have died with Christ, we are dead to sin, dead to the law’s condemnation, dead to the world’s elementary principles, and dead to self-made religion — we no longer have to submit to their power.
3. False religious practices are transitory, merely human, and worthless — they cannot restrain the flesh, they only satisfy it temporarily, and they lead people away from God.
4. Christians are in the know: they know who Jesus is, what he has done, that they are in Christ, and what they are to do for him — making it hard to be deceived when grounded in sound biblical teaching.
Application: We are called to close the door on every religious system, ritual, or human tradition that would add to or subtract from what Christ has fully accomplished, and instead live daily in the freedom and new life given to us through union with Christ.

Discussion Questions:
1. What are some subtle ways false teachers or religious systems today try to lure believers away from the sufficiency of Christ’s finished work?
2. In what areas of your life do you find yourself living as if you were still alive to the world, the flesh, or self-made religion, rather than to Christ?
3. How does understanding that you are truly dead to sin and alive to God change the way you respond when you are tempted?
Scripture Focus: Colossians 2:6–23 — the central passage showing that believers are complete in Christ and must resist false religious practices that are transitory, merely human, and worthless. Romans 6–7 is used to show that Christians are dead to sin and to the law’s condemnation. Isaiah 29:13–14 is referenced to expose the hypocrisy of lip-service worship without heart.

Outline
Introduction

Foreign, let’s take our Bibles and turn to Colossians 2.

I’m going to read from verse 6 to verse 20.

Verse 6: “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, having been firmly rooted, now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

For in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, and in him you have been made complete, and he is the head over all rule and authority.

And in him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead.

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and yes, taking it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

When he had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him.

Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, for whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with him with the growth which is from God.

If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees such as do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, which all refer to things destined to perish with use, in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?

These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom and self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but have no value against fleshly indulgence.”

Let’s pray. Lord, thank you this morning for the word of God, the privilege and the opportunity you give us to be here together, gathered as your body, able to have the word of God in our hands, to listen to it, the word of the king of kings to his subjects.

Lord, give us ears to hear and a heart sensitive to receive it, that it would move our wills to put it into practice and to bear fruit unto all good works, because we met Christ, believed in him, and now he is our Lord and savior.

I pray you would give us discernment while we walk through this world, so we are not deceived and we are not moved away from the substance which is in Christ. I pray this in your name, amen.

The Danger of False Religion

Paganism versus Christ. See, there’s a difference between knowing God and knowing about him. You hear people say all the time, “Oh yes, I believe in God, or I made a profession of faith many years ago, and I even prayed the prayer,” yet there are no signs of life or daily trust in God.

Paganism in its simple meaning is really someone who has no religion, or a person practicing aberrant religion. In other words, it’s self-made religion, whether it’s organized or not.

True Salvation Produces Real Change

A person living like this really either has to give evidence one way or the other, whether they really have a relationship with God and they’re alive, or if they’re not. The evidence that a person has been awakened to God and trusted in Jesus for salvation is change.

You also hear people say I was born in this religion and I’m going to die in this religion, and sometimes the person is devout, sometimes they’re not. In any case, people often think if I do what my religion dictates, I should be all right.

The crazy thing is how people carry out what they supposedly believe and are to do. One person says I was baptized as a baby, no problem, I’m getting to heaven, yet no signs of life.

Another person’s parents were pillars in First Church. He thinks, no problem, I’m in, my ticket is punched, my train is headed for the Pearly Gates, and yet no sign of life.

Another walks forward in an evangelistic meeting, cries tears, prays a prayer, gets baptized, signs the church roll, and then he says, man, I’m glad that’s all over with. I don’t know what got into me, but at least I’m safe now, yet no signs of life.

At one extreme is a person who is on the roller coaster of emotion, saved one day, lost the next. This person goes forward at every opportunity but never gains any peace, never really bothers them, they don’t read the Bible much, and there’s no change in behavior, no signs of life.

At the other extreme is one who knows all the right theology and says all the right things, yet bitterness and selfishness and secret sins are nurtured in the heart, absent of a mournful and repentant heart that is willing to confess sin and put it off. There’s just no signs of life.

There are still others who say that there are many ways to get saved, as many ways as there are people who are doing the saving. That’s probably a true statement, because we all have our own ways of thinking of ourselves as right with God, but even in all those instances there’s no sign of life.

“The evidence that a person has been awakened to God and trusted in Jesus for salvation is change.”

With so many ways to be fooled, how does one know salvation has truly come?

When someone genuinely comes and believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and savior and moves away from their religious system, changing religions is not like changing homes or changing an outfit or changing your hairstyle. It’s a way of life.

As the spirit of God enters that person, they want to live for the Lord. Their whole world outlook is entirely changed. It is different. The way they go is different because they met Christ.

There is only one who can save, and that is God who truly exists. There’s only one place to go for rescue, the cross of Jesus Christ.

“There is only one who can save, and that is God who truly exists. There’s only one place to go for rescue, the cross of Jesus Christ.”

You are not redeemed by profession of faith. You do not receive the benefits of Christ and the inheritance of the Father by a claim to faith, or even by a decision of faith, but by possession of faith. Do I have the faith in Christ? Faith must be real.

The Prodigal Son: A Picture of Genuine Faith

We read this morning about the prodigal son. If anyone had real faith, he did. He woke up from his sin, and the first thing he said when he came alive was, “I will arise and go to my father.”

What does that mean? That means he had a new desire. He had a change that utterly rejected the past and all that he was trusting in, and he took a completely different direction.

The prodigal used to believe happiness meant liberation from my father. Self-gratification was the way to live. But now, what he believed then is all deception—all of it was deception.

Like the prodigal son, if you rejoice in the satisfaction for God’s wrath that Christ has performed for you on the cross, if the Holy Spirit has made you alive, you will leave the pigpen of sin and all self means of salvation. You will rest in the complete salvation that is received only, only in Jesus Christ.

“You will leave the pigpen of sin and all self means of salvation, and you will rest in the complete salvation received only in Jesus Christ.”

Dying with Christ: The Core Condition

So that brings me to our text this morning, looking to verse 20 of Colossians 2.

It starts with a very, very small word. It’s the word “if.” Now, “if” points to a condition, and it functions as a claim of fact, at least here.

Notice what it says in Colossians 2:20: “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world.” That phrase, “if you have died with Christ,” means this: if you have died with Christ you will be like this; if you have not died with Christ you will be like this—you will be your old self. If you have died with Christ you will be a new self. There’s no in-between at all whatsoever.

So that word is very significant in this text. The intense focus in this whole section is the relevance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for those who believe in him.

Because of the relevance of dying with Christ, we are called to resist the practices imposed by others, especially false teachers upon us. Why is that?

Well, there are actually three reasons to resist. Because there is a clear and present danger in the teachings and practices imposed by false teachers, believers are really not to submit themselves to any ethnic or religious rituals and visionary experiences and aesthetic practices at all whatsoever. They mean nothing; they have no value.

So in light of the grand, complete victory accomplished by God through Jesus Christ on the cross, all the imposed regulations and practices are nothing. But like that prodigal son, deception—everything before Christ was all deception—because we’re the greatest deceivers. We deceive ourselves, and we want to fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

And they also only proved to be false promises and a distraction from God’s powerful work of eternal salvation. So there’s a danger for believers: once they are Christians, they can be lured away from what they believed, and sometimes that is very subtle.

So here in Scripture, he is believing that the Colossians are true believers, but they’re still in danger, just like us. We’re still in danger in this world to be lured away, and Satan is good at doing that.

“There is a danger for believers that they can be lured away from what they believed, and sometimes that is very subtle.”

So the first reason to resist false pagan religion—that’s what I’m calling it—is because their false religious practices are transitory. Now I’ll pick that up at the end.

But notice again in Colossians 2:20: “If you have died with Christ,” since Christ is the head, then nothing else counts with the believer except to please him. All religious laws and practices that are not Christ-centered and Christ-directed have no value at all.

For the real believer, to be dead with Christ is to be finished with the old life of sin and error and to begin a new life as a member of his body. So why would we spend time and resources and energy on what is passing away, what is transitory? It’s here today, it’s gone tomorrow.

So submitting also requires understanding and devotion. Further, it is absurd to follow that which Christ has already conquered.

Two Commands: Don’t Be Judged or Defrauded

As our text had said, in the last section of verses we were introduced to two imperatives, two commands. In verse 16, the first command was: let no one act as your judge. The strength of keeping that command is the knowledge of the complete salvation that we have in Christ Jesus.

If what you believe is based on the biblical doctrine found in the word of God, there is nothing to fear from those who desire to impose judgment on you. You have confidence in Christ’s finished work on your behalf, and you have the Holy Spirit and the word of God that gives you discernment and confidence and assurance of your salvation.

The second command was found in verse 18. It says: let no one keep defrauding you of your prize. That means someone trying to steal from you what God has already given you, and they do it in a way where they make a decision not for you but against you.

You’re not living like this, you’re not looking like this, you’re not doing these things, you’re not keeping this diet, so how could you be a believer? That’s how it goes. It’s what they’re doing—it’s all outward observance—and that’s how a person is judged.

The prize of which the Colossians and us are being robbed is the fullness of life and union with the incomparable Christ. If Christians give in, then they go back to square one.

The command is: let no one act as your umpire against you, to get you to deny your claim to be a genuine Christian. We can’t be robbed if we stick to what we’ve learned from God’s word.

Remember that Christians are in the know because they know Christ, they have the Holy Spirit, and they have the entire word of God. What do they know? They know who Jesus is, they know what Jesus had done for them, they know that Jesus is the Christ and they are in Christ, and they know what they’re to do for him.

It’s hard to be deceived when you are in the know of sound biblical teaching.

“It’s hard to be deceived when you are in the know of sound biblical teaching.”

Here in our text again, the Lord’s day, it does begin with this conditional sentence followed by the question why. The why question points to an irrational choice of those who belong to Christ, if they have or are thinking of following the practices of the false teachers.

Paul gives the first class condition: if that assumes it is true that they are believers, just like it says in Colossians 1:3-4, where it says we give thanks to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying for you always. Why? Since you heard, we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Even Epaphras, the pastor of that church at that time, informed us of your love of the spirit. In other words, here’s the evidence that someone’s a believer: it’s not the outward observance, it’s the inward heart.

They have Christ, they love people, which they didn’t love before. Remember the Jew and Gentile problem that I mentioned several messages ago? That’s a huge difference. When a Jew and a Gentile come together and start loving each other, something radical has to happen, and what has happened is conversion.

They were now in union with Christ’s death. That means they were identified with Christ’s atonement for sin and placed into his atoning work. They were in union with Christ’s burial, meaning they died to self. The old man and his ways were dead, and the Colossians were now freed up to serve and live for the Lord.

Everything was cut away from the person’s life which would keep them from being God’s obedient children. They were dead, in other words, to Satan’s family and Satan’s agenda.

They were also in union with Christ’s resurrection. They were raised with him, with Christ, to a new life. Once they served sin and were saved, but now they serve God as Lord and desire to walk in the path of righteousness.

As it says in our text, God gave them new life. They were raised to life, they were not left in the graveyard. They have been rescued from spiritual death and given spiritual life. In other words, they were alive in Christ.

“They have been rescued from spiritual death and given spiritual life. They were alive in Christ.”

In verse 20, if you have died with Christ to these things, for the past life there must be change in your life, there must be.

Four Things We Have Died To

Now what exactly have we died to? To do that, I want to, there’s at least four things, at least I can mention now, four things that we have died to.

Dead to Sin

The first thing is we’ve died to sin. Now just to highlight that a bit, take your Bibles and turn over to Romans 6, and just let me pick up a few verses from that.

Romans 6:1 says, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” Verse 2: “May it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

Now go down to verse 6 of Romans 6. It says, “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died is freed from sin.”

And then verse 8: “And if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” Verse 11 of Romans 6: “Even so, consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

In Romans 6, the Apostle Paul is saying to you Christians, you have to think about this. He’s saying the word “consider”—think about it, mull it over in your mind until it becomes practice in your life—that you are actually dead to sin.

Being dead to sin does not mean that you are perfect, nor does it mean that you are without sin, or that you shall never sin again. What it means is that we no longer belong to the realm of sin, wherein we are dominated by sin and under its power and governed by the various lusts and desires of our own flesh. We have been rescued from that. That’s what we have died to.

If you have died to something, then it’s no longer alive in your life. Why do we keep making it alive? Why do we keep going back to our old habits and patterns of sin? We don’t have to do that because of what Christ has done for us.

If you have been a Christian for a while and you actually have considered that, when you do get tempted to sin, who has the upper hand? You do, because you can say to your sin, “No way. I’m not going that way again. That’s just bondage that leads to destruction and death.”

I want to be alive in Christ. I want to experience the life that I have as a believer. And when you do that, and it happens in your life, you are so excited. You say, “Wow, this is—God’s given me the power to do this.”

There’s no way I would have said no before. Now I’m saying no. Now I don’t even want it. I don’t desire it, because I know what it causes in my life and what it caused in my past life.

So we’re dead to sin.

“We no longer belong to the realm of sin, wherein we are dominated by sin and under its power. We have been rescued from that.”

Dead to the Law

Secondly, we’re dead to the law. Right here in Romans, we might as well stay there, Romans 7, we’re dead to the law.

Verse 4 of Romans 7 says, “I am dead to the law’s condemnation and sting. Therefore my brethren, you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ.”

Then down to verse 6 of Romans 7: “But now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.”

In other words, there’s a change there. We’re no longer under the condemnation of law, and that frees us, right? God is not holding wrath and judgment on me. I’m freed from that.

Because of that, in the forgiveness that comes through Christ, I’m dead to the law and to its condemnation.

“We’re no longer under the condemnation of law — God is not holding wrath and judgment on me. I’m freed from that.”

Dead to the World

But there’s the next one, and turn back to Colossians for this one. We’re dead to the world, we’ve died to the world.

Colossians 2:20. Notice what it says: if you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world.

Now the elemental principles or spirits of the world refer to the evil spiritual forces that fight against God’s work and God’s people. It also includes the rudiments of man-made superstitions and prescriptions that involve physical elements, like already mentioned in our text.

It’s a practice of religion which are not after Christ, and that could be any religion at all. And this would incorporate human generated religious teachings mixed with ideas of Judaism and paganism and mysticism, along with principles and practices and persons under control of the world system under Satan. To all these things we have died.

That, to these, all the saints in Christ are dead. In fact, back in Colossians 1:13, he rescued us from the domain of darkness and he transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

So we are dead to Satan’s dictates and doctrines. And what happens under his domain? In his domain, the love of darkness abounds. In his domain, hatred abounds towards God and his people. In his domain, no fellowship with God takes place at all.

Darkness in scripture is ungodliness, it’s opposition, it’s estrangement from God, and includes all those dreadful evils which are involved in an evil state of heart and mind. The power of sin still remains, the tyranny of error still remains, the slavery of corruption still remains, and these things are everywhere you go and are the characteristic of human nature and existence all throughout the world throughout all time.

See, Satan is battling for the mind and the heart, even after you become a believer. But now it’s open, Satan’s come out of the closet.

Did that just this week, I came across an article, and a school right here in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, now has a Satan Club run by the Satanic Temple. Yes, they allure children in with fun games and food and all those things.

So people took them to the court, and the court had to uphold the First Amendment and say they have the right to have that club. So they meet after school, Satan’s Temple, which second, will lead to, that’s going to lead to Satan worship, right?

And people would think that that is all right. And who are, this is a middle school, so we’re talking about the minds of children, and that’s what’s happening today.

All this trans stuff going on, where they have trans parties for, what, adults with kids, they’re training them up, giving them what they need for what’s happening. See, satanic things are happening all around us everywhere, and Satan is out, doesn’t matter, he doesn’t care anymore, he’s not keeping himself private anymore, he’s out there.

The mystery of iniquity is growing and developing and exploding behind the scenes, until finally exploding on the scene that we can see. But believers, as they stand on the spiritual realities of being in union with Christ, Christians actually live outside the physical world, that’s Satan’s domain here below.

What do I mean by that? Believers are citizens of heaven. In fact, in Colossians 3:1-2, what else do they do? They set their minds on Christ above.

Look at verse one and two of chapter three of Colossians: therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

That’s where a Christian lives. A Christian lives with their mind in heaven, on Christ, on the word of God.

Colossians 3:1-2: “Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Another thing, a fourth thing that we’re dead to, is we’re dead to self-made religion, and I’m going to deal with that in a minute.

The Why Question: Submitting to False Decrees

If you are a real believer and are dead to these things, which you are, then why does the why question come up in our text? Look at verse 20 again.

It says, “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees such as…” Here’s the why question.

If you’ve died in Christ and you have new life, what else is there to do? The answer is there’s nothing else to do. Christ has done it all.

But look at what he says here in our text. What are the false teachers telling them to do? These decrees and regulations are commands given by a false religion or world religious system and their teachers. They require followers to submit voluntarily to these things.

And what do they promise? If people do these things, then they’re right with God and they’re right with that religion. Their conscience is soothed because they’re doing these things.

What are these decrees? They are prohibitions: do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. This could mean dietary regulations, the keeping of holy days, or all kinds of things.

But it can also mean a degree of getting deeper and deeper into something so you can have a religious experience.

God did give degrees and ordained things in Old Testament worship—priests, robes, lamps, and altars. As I mentioned last week, these were all types of Christ, all fulfilled in Christ.

All these and more have now been fulfilled in Jesus’ coming and done away with. They have never been given to the Christian afterwards. The only two ordinances given to the church by God for all believers are the Lord’s table and believer’s baptism, and we are to continue to do these things until he comes.

Neither of these two ordinances are aids to salvation, and both are only for those who are in Christ.

So if you died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit to them?

Obviously some of the believers were ready to submit to these things and add something on to what Christ had done for them. Paul is warning them: don’t do that. You don’t have to do that. There’s nothing else to do. Now live your life that God’s given you.

The system of the world is godless. Through Christ’s death you were given freedom from the control of its spiritual evil forces. So then why do you still live as if you were still alive to the world? Why are you allowing yourself to be subject to authoritative commands that mean nothing for you?

Regardless of whether someone already believed these false teachers or is in danger of submitting to them, the danger is still real. It was real then, and it is real today.

That’s why it’s so important when somebody becomes a new believer that they get into the church and get into the doctrine of the church quickly. They can learn the Bible and stand upon Scripture so they cannot be deceived.

It’s so important for you now to remain in that, because if you don’t remain in it, you can easily slip away very slowly.

The answer to the why question is already given to us in Colossians. The believers have already received something from the Lord. Through his cross, Christ has given you and me complete salvation.

If we know Christ as Lord and Savior, in Colossians 2:13, he has forgiven us completely. If we know Christ as Lord and Savior, in Colossians 2:14, he has obliterated your IOU of sin that we could have never paid. If Christ as Lord and Savior, he has triumphed over all our enemies, and we have to fear no one anymore because of what Christ has done.

“Christ has given you and I complete salvation. He has forgiven us completely, obliterated our IOU of sin, and triumphed over all our enemies.”

Reason 1: False Religious Practices Are Transitory

Look at verse 22 of chapter 2. Here’s the first reason to resist the practice imposed by false teachers. It says in verse 22, the first part of that: “which all refer to things destined to perish with their use.”

In other words, the first point was their religious practices are transitory. They perish and lack any permanent value at all. Just like food and drink perish and cease to exist in their original form once we eat them, they go through your system and are discarded.

That’s how he’s viewing anything that could be added to or taken away from our faith in Christ. He’s saying that they are useless. These false teachers made eternal things dependent on temporal, earthly bound things, overestimating the use of food and drink. Therefore, resist them.

“Anything that could be added to or taken away from our faith in Christ is useless — only temporary, lacking any permanent value at all.”

Reason 2: False Religious Practices Are Merely Human

A second reason to resist the lure of false religion is found in the second part of verse 22, because their false religion and practices are merely human.

Notice what it says in verse 22: “in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men.” The false teachers get the content of their teaching from human ingenuity.

Dogma laid down by false teachers is definitely a clear and present danger for anyone who comes under their teaching. In other words, the source of their teaching is syncretistic: they get some from philosophy, some from Judaism, some from mystical experiences, some from pragmatic ritualism.

Along with that, it’s sprinkled with impious or imposed religious piety, and then voluntary humility, and then a harsh treatment of the body. All those things are outward things.

All religious systems show some appearance of wisdom. In fact, if you look at Colossians 2:23, it says these are matters which have for sure the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body.

The Apostle Paul makes an allusion here to Isaiah 29:13-14. It’s good for you to turn there this morning, Isaiah 29:13-14, because in this allusion there’s a connection made to these false teachers in the Old Testament who misled Israel into a departure from the worship of the one true living God into idolatrous acts. That is simply idolatry.

Notice in verse 13, the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words and honor me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from me, and their reverence for me consists of tradition learned by rote.”

In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it actually says there “by the commandments and teaching of men,” which is, I believe, the correct rendering of that passage of scripture.

Isaiah the prophet was describing the shallow religious lives of these eighth century Jewish people. They were just going through the motions, and that’s why they put and italicize “by rote.”

Isaiah 29:13: “This people draw near with their words and honor me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from me.”

When you have a religious system where you’re just going through the motions and it’s all outward stuff, you don’t have to think about it. They repeat phrases that are repeated every single week in every single thing they do. They have things to perform, and when they perform them they just do it by rote.

The Hypocrisy of Lip Service Without Heart

And what happens when that happens is that there’s no heart anymore. So what happens? They have lip service without heart, that’s hypocrisy.

And the principle behind their thinking is, because there is a God, I must relate to God by being good, or by going through these things. And this is the principle that really we all work by.

The principle is worked out religiously in different ways. The legalist works out this principle by living their lives by a code of conduct, by a set of rules, do’s and don’ts, that’s the tradition of men. And if they follow it, then they are what, God looks at them with favor. If they don’t follow it, God looks at them not with favor.

Now you have to think about that for a minute. For a Christian, even when we sin, God doesn’t look at us with disfavor. He may discipline us to bring us back, but he doesn’t look at us with disfavor. He looks at us as in Christ.

And so the legalism takes account of man’s outward actions, but it takes no account at all of his inward actions. He may well be meticulously serving God in outward things, but disobeying God in reference to inward things, and that is simple hypocrisy, and God hates hypocrisy.

So if you ever find yourself being numb in your heart and coming to church and looking at the Bible and thinking about God in a way where there’s no movement of the heart, you definitely have to check yourself.

And yet a lot of people get lured into religious systems and this is where they end up, because there is nowhere else to go when you’re still in your sin.

So the moment the heart keeps far from God, it also leaves something else. It leaves the word of God. In fact, there will be a failure to see the true source of religious authority, which is scripture alone.

They were offering worship to God without the word of God, just like Jesus said in Mark 7:6. “But in vain they do worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men, neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

They actually annihilate the word of God. Substituting men’s rules for God’s laws will only end up in not listening to God at all, or accepting his word, or following his voice. A real sheep follows the voice of God. He speaks, we listen, we follow.

“Substituting men’s rules for God’s laws will only end up in not listening to God at all. A real sheep follows the voice of God — he speaks, we listen, we follow.”

So what does God do with this show and appearance of their human wisdom? What does he do with that?

Well, if you notice in Isaiah 29:14, it says this: “Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous, and look what it says, and the wisdom of their wise man will, what, perish, and the discernment of the discerning men will be concealed.”

Now this is exactly what it says in Colossians, that religious systems give an appearance of wisdom, but it ends up being foolish living, a living without heart, a religion without heart.

And remember this, that wrong teaching, wrong teaching, lays aside the commandments of God, but Christians are to lay aside the commandments of men. And those who do not worship God by his way do not worship him at all.

It does not matter how devout a person is, or how sincere a person is. If they are sincerely wrong, what’s the point?

So following the teachings and the commandments of men actually move people away from God, away from his word, and leads them into the sin of hypocrisy and false worship, which is idolatry.

Just like Titus records: “This testimony is true, for this reason reprove them severely, so that they may be sound in faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths and the commandments of men who turn away from the truth.”

So any religious system that anybody can be involved with, whether they name in that system Christ or not, if it is a system based on men’s wisdom, it will lead away from God and not to God. Because there’s always in the back of someone’s mind something: I have to do more to either keep myself saved or to be saved.

So here’s the second reason to resist the practices imposed by false teachers: it is a man-made, religious, works-based, human system which diminishes Christ and is hollow and deceptive. And what is the second reason? Their religious practices are merely human, with no divine source at all.

“It is a man-made, religious, works-based, human system which diminishes Christ and is hollow and deceptive.”

Reason 3: False Religious Practices Are Worthless

And here’s the last reason to resist the lure of false religion: their false religious practices are worthless.

Look at Colossians 2:23. These are matters which have the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement of the body and severe treatment of the body.

In other words, this is all self-imposed. Here’s the pattern of human wisdom: self-imposed religious piety, mock humility, and harsh treatment of the body. All these hinge on outward expressions, observances, and rules, instead of inward conviction and devotion to Christ.

The last part of verse 23 has been interpreted in both a negative sense and a positive sense. Look what it says: “but are of no value against fleshly indulgences.”

Here’s the positive sense. I believe this is the twist that false teachers would give: false teachers aim at satisfaction. By carrying out these religious patterns and this human wisdom, the flesh is gratified and satisfied.

And that’s what usually happens with religion. I go through my emotions, I do my rituals, I follow the rules, and what do I do? I feel good about it. I feel like, okay, I’m clean, and I go out and I live my sinful life anyway.

That’s what I did in the past, before I became a Christian. I was involved in a religious system that I was baptized, galvanized, and homogenized in, and yet it didn’t change my life. I just did what I wanted. When something came up I wanted to do, I did it. There was no question about whether it would honor God or be the right thing to do or hurt people. No, it was like my flesh dictated, I did it.

So these false teachers want to put these things in place to help people feel gratified and satisfied with their life. However, all that is satisfied is the flesh. There’s nothing else that’s satisfied.

A negative sense is that these man-made religious endeavors could not hold the sinful flesh in check, but in fact pandered to the flesh. I believe that’s more the sense of the text here. If I’m in a religious system, what’s going to hold down my desires and my lusts? Your regulations? No, none of that’s going to matter.

Matter of fact, according to Ephesians, somebody who practices these things has no spiritual value in the practice of these things, because they are still dead in their trespasses and sin. They still walk according to the course of the world and according to the prince of the power of the air. They still live in the flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and are by nature the children of wrath. That’s Ephesians 2.

So in other words, rules do not carry us very far spiritually. They cannot keep us from our sin. Our sin will just dominate, no matter what system we follow.

“Rules do not carry us very far spiritually — they cannot keep us from our sin. Our sin will just dominate, no matter what system we follow.”

Only Christ Sets Us Free

The only one that doesn’t dominate is when someone follows Christ and has the spirit of God living in them, and they follow the word of God, and then they become free, because the truth makes them free.

Rules are not enough of themselves. In fact, the practice and use of these things are damning and destructive, because they will actually send people to hell.

Who’s in charge of religious systems? Satan is. All religions are run by him, and they get people and keep people in bondage and slavery, and the only one that is freed is the Christian.

That’s why he’ll go after you. He’ll go after you for what reason? To get you to do things, to come back to the old way, to come back to the old practices, to go back to where you came from, because he would remind you of some of the light you had back then and how you did have some satisfaction and gratification.

You don’t seem to always have that in the Christian life. Some of the times the Christian life brings suffering and trouble and tribulation in our life, and we muse back there of those things.

But remember what Paul told Timothy: they hold the form of godliness, although they have denied the power, avoid such men as these.

Only God can give you and me the power to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. Only he can do that.

The three reasons to resist pagan religious systems, any religious systems, no matter what they want to name them, are: first, because their religious practices are transitory; second, because their religious practices are merely human; and third, because their religious practices are worthless.

Why would I want to spend time with that? I wouldn’t, and that’s the point. The point is it convinces us: don’t spend time there anymore, it’s done, put it to death, close the door, and go on and live for Christ. That’s the only way we can do it, because salvation is only complete in Christ, everything else has no value.

“Only God can give you and I the power to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. Only he can do that.”

Let’s pray. Lord, thank you again for the word of God, thank you Lord for the scriptures that are before us that help us to handle the things that come our way.

I pray Lord that as we do that, we would, maybe for the first time in a long time, go back and consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ.

Lord, if there’s any way, either now or in the future, that someone’s going to come along to lure us away from you, I pray Lord that we would resist that at all cost, and we would go back to these scriptures and we would be informed again by what they say, so we can become strong, faithful followers of Christ with great discernment, leaning on the Holy Spirit, not grieving him or quenching him, but giving ourselves over as a clean vessel.

Because we know, Lord, it’s our reasonable service of worship to give ourselves to you, because of your mercy, you didn’t give us what we deserved, you gave us your compassion. And so because of that, Lord, we would be motivated every day to want to know the good and the acceptable will of God.

We would not want to be conformed to the world, but be transformed in the renewing of our mind, that we could actually know your will. Lord, I pray also that we wouldn’t lift ourselves up higher than we ought to, or lower, but just the way you created us, and go out and serve you with love and zeal.

I pray that for us, and I ask you to strengthen us by your word, in Christ’s name, amen.
May 7, 2023
Warnings
In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij examines Colossians 2:16-19 and the two warnings Paul gives Christians against false teachers demanding legalism, ascetism, or cult-like submission.

1. Sever yourself from any deformed pattern of Christian living and practice (vv. 16-17)
2. Sever yourself from those who have a diminished view of Christ (vv. 18-19)

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

We are warned in Colossians 2:16-19 against two dangerous errors that false teachers use to rob believers of what they already possess in Christ. The penalty for our sins has been placed on Christ, and his perfect righteousness has been credited to us — yet the enemy works through false teaching to make us doubt the sufficiency of that finished work.

Key Lessons:
1. The Old Testament dietary laws, festivals, and Sabbaths were mere shadows pointing to Christ, who is their substance and fulfillment — we are not obligated to keep them.
2. False teachers use legalism, self-abasement, angel worship, and claims of secret visions to rob believers of the prize of full, free life in union with Christ.
3. Any religious system that diminishes Christ — his person, his completed work, or his sole role as mediator — has the fingerprints of Satan on it, regardless of how wise or humble it appears.
4. True spiritual growth comes not from fasting rituals, rule-keeping, or secret knowledge, but from holding fast to Christ as the head and being nourished together as his body.
Application: We are called to stand firm against anyone who would judge us by food, holy days, or man-made regulations, and to reject any teaching that adds to or takes from the all-sufficient work of Christ. We must keep our discernment sharp, hold fast to Christ as head, and find our growth through the gathered body of believers in the word of God.

Discussion Questions:
1. In what ways do modern religious movements still impose ‘shadows’ — rules, rituals, or special days — as if Christ’s work were not enough?
2. How can you recognize false humility or self-abasement in today’s spiritual landscape, and what does true humility look like according to Scripture?
3. What does it mean practically for you to ‘hold fast to the head,’ and how does your participation in the gathered church body support your spiritual growth?
Scripture Focus: Colossians 2:16-19 — the two warnings against legalism and a diminished view of Christ. Supporting passages include Hebrews 8:5 (the tabernacle as shadow), Acts 10:9-16 (all foods declared clean), 1 Timothy 2:5 (one mediator), and John 8:12 (Christ as the light of the world).

Outline
Introduction

Foreign, this morning, turn to Colossians 2.

Then be ready to go to the Old Testament in Numbers. We’re going to be looking at a few passages there. This morning we’ll be looking at Colossians 2:16-19.

In this passage we’ll see the warnings that are given to us as believers, because we are in Christ. Let’s pray.

Lord, this morning as we approach your word, we want to do so with reverence, because we are coming before the word of the king whom we serve and in whose kingdom we are subjects. We are so because of Christ, who is the king of kings and Lord of lords.

Lord, give us listening ears and a receptive heart, that we would understand the word of God. And Lord, let it move our will so we do it. I pray we would do it in a way that is filled with thankfulness and joy and honors you.

Give us discernment every day to know the good and the bad, the right and the wrong, your way and every other way. I pray in Christ’s name, amen.

Our Victory and the Enemy’s Strategy

This morning, Colossians 2. I want you to think about this: the penalty for our sins was accounted to him, Christ’s perfect righteousness credited to us. That means we are vindicated, that we are on the victory side.

Therefore, when a Christian is being persecuted for their faith in Christ alone, or for their obedience in doing what is right, or for their refusal to participate in the old sins that they used to commit and the sins of others in society, we can find comfort and contentment in the middle of those troubles and temptations. We can reflect thoughtfully on the ultimate vindication and victory that we have in the finished work of Christ.

Jesus’ sacrifice was so perfect, so final, and so sufficient—that is, complete—that it gave to all who believe in Christ a permanent justification and a continuous position before God that will be enjoyed now and forever.

“Jesus’ sacrifice was so perfect, so final, and so sufficient that it gave to all who believe a permanent justification and a continuous position before God.”

But remember, we have an enemy who through false teaching and false teachers desires to confuse Christians and to get them to think that somehow the cross of Christ was not enough or sufficient. That there are things we need to do in order to help God save us or help God keep us saved.

In other words, the enemy wants to steal what you already have. He can’t get you anymore, he can’t make you his possession anymore, but he can steal what you have. The demons used the certificate of indebtedness, as mentioned last week, against us to keep us accused in the state of guilt and enslaved to his decrees, to his commandments, and to obey his regulations, not God’s.

The implications of our completeness in Christ come with warnings. Every Christian should want to inquire as to what the Christian life is. What am I to expect as a believer?

The true Christian life is a life that is hidden with Christ and God, yet it is a life lived out on this earth with many dangers. Scripture now gives us instruction concerning warnings about doctrinal and practical errors of false teachers.

If a man creates a religion, any man creates a religion, it will be man-centered. It will turn out to have no saving or sanctifying value. It will lead to worship of the creature and not the Creator. It will not lead to a worship and a relationship with the true and living God.

“If a man creates a religion, it will be man-centered, with no saving or sanctifying value, and will lead to worship of the creature and not the Creator.”

The Two Warnings Overview

There are two warnings given to the church about the wrong way concerning Christian doctrine and life. Each of these warnings is like a stop sign at a very busy intersection, and it warns us to stop and to look both ways and proceed with caution.

Here’s the first warning, Colossians 2:16-17. Let me read that first. It says, “Therefore no one is to act as a judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, things which are a mere shadow of that which is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

Warning 1: Do Not Let Anyone Judge You

The first warning is in order to sever yourself from any deformed patterns of Christian living. We’re going to find that those patterns are legalism, pride, and the things that go along with those things.

But first of all, I want you to notice something. Remember in the book of Colossians, Paul is writing and identifying one particular Christian—quasi-Christian, claiming to be a Christian, but a false teacher. He’s a leader, and he says in verse 16, notice here’s the distinguishing mark of this certain false teacher.

The False Teacher as Judge

It says, therefore no one is to act as your judge. Now if the writer is focusing on this prominent leader who has incredible ability to teach and gather people around him to listen, the leader of this emerging faction sets himself up as a judge. A person who would take others to task by passing personal judgment on another person’s actions, and usually not to encourage them but to criticize them and to find fault in their life.

Now this sounds like a person who wanted to have control over those in his religious movement. Today we would refer to this kind of person as a cult leader.

And how are Christians to respond to this domineering, imposing leader? Well, verse 16 gives us the first command out of the two, and it says, “Therefore let no one, let no one, or no one is to act as your judge.”

So the strength of keeping this command is the knowledge that you and I have of the complete salvation we have in Jesus Christ. That’s what gives us the strength, that’s the foundation. But he wants to rob that from us.

So if what you believe is based on biblical doctrine from the word of God, then there is nothing to fear from those who desire to impose judgment on you. You have the confidence in Christ’s finished work on your behalf, and you have the Holy Spirit of God and the word of God, which will give us all discernment.

“If what you believe is based on biblical doctrine, there is nothing to fear from those who desire to impose judgment on you.”

What the Christian Life Actually Looks Like

When the question comes up as to how the Christian life is supposed to look, we Christians have a clear idea from the word of God. We have already learned in Colossians how the Christian walk is supposed to look and how we are to proceed.

If you look back at chapter one of Colossians, look at verses 10 and 11. Verse 10 of chapter 1 already told us this: “So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Verse 11 says, “Strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience.” And we do that joyously. Here is really what the Christian life is about.

I walk every day in a way that I learn how to please God, but it’s not by my own strength and your own strength. It’s by God’s strength that we do it. Then we become steadfast in what we believe, and we become patient in the process of God sanctifying us every single day. And we do that with the attitude of joy.

“We walk every day learning to please God — not by our own strength but by God’s strength — with steadfastness, patience, and joy.”

That’s what the Christian life produces. That’s what the spirit of God produces in our life. In the strength that God gives, we purpose in our hearts that we will not let anyone judge us.

Legalism: Dietary Rules and Holy Days

Nonetheless, this imposing judge has his own idea of how life and the life of a believer is to look and what they are to do. Now we look at verse 16 again. These are the features of the false teacher’s doctrine.

Notice what it says in verse 16. “Therefore let no one, no one is to act as your judge in regard to what? To food or drink, or in respect to a festival, a new moon, and a Sabbath.” Let’s unpack that a little bit this morning.

If you notice here, this is the legalism imposed upon believers by these false teachers using dietary rules and eating and not eating food, and keeping and not keeping certain holy days. Now this always looks like wisdom, this always looks like, yeah, this is the way it ought to be, but it is not the way it ought to be. In fact, that’s what this passage is about.

Because this teacher is imposing legalistic dietary regulations on the people that are listening to him. In other words, if you’re going to be, quote unquote, a believer, then you have to keep these food regulations, you have to do that.

“This legalism always looks like wisdom, but it is not the way it ought to be.”

So you can see very quickly the Jewish element in this false teacher’s doctrine, in which rules of piety and purity serve to set the Israelite diet apart wherever the Jew may live. Some animals, remember, were clean so they could be eaten, and others were unclean, in which they were restricted from eating. Like animals which part the hoof and chewed the cud, and then various kinds of birds and fish and insects, things they could eat, things they couldn’t eat.

Old Testament Dietary Laws in Context

Now just for some reference, let’s look very quickly back to Leviticus 11, just a few verses, verses 1 through 4. Because you find there, from this passage and in Deuteronomy, that God gave to Israel certain things that they could eat and they shouldn’t eat, and it set them apart from the nations.

Leviticus 11:1 says, “The Lord spoke again to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, these are the creatures which you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth. Whether whatever divides a hoof and making split hoofs, chews the cud, among the animals that you may eat.’”

Nevertheless, you are not to eat these among those which chew a cud or among those which divide the hoof. The camel, for though it chews the cud, it does not divide the hoof, and then it says it is unclean to you.

So here it is: the clean and unclean dietary regulations. The regulations also prohibited any food which was or has been contaminated by some contact with other cooking foods or water that was defiled by unclean carcasses, something that died in the water.

All these regulations were given to Israel to make them different and distinct from all the rest of the nations around them. Because they would be God’s people, and they were recognized as God’s people by what they ate and what they didn’t eat, and these other nations didn’t have those regulations.

So this was a distinctive mark for Israel.

“God’s people were recognized by what they ate and what they didn’t eat — a distinctive mark for Israel.”

Festivals, New Moons, and the Sabbath

But I want you to notice back in Colossians that not only did this false teacher impose these dietary regulations on people, but legalistic rituals he imposed upon them. Like it says in Colossians 2:16, or in respect to a festival.

Now a festival was an annual festival like Passover or Pentecost, and then a new moon was a monthly offering or a festival that was regulated by the lunar calendar, and then a Sabbath day, which was a weekly holiday, right? The Sabbath they were to keep every week.

Again, if you’re still in Numbers, you can look to Numbers 10:10, because it gives us a sense of what Israel was supposed to do to make themselves different than the other nations. And it says in Numbers 10:10, “Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feast and on the first day of your months, you shall blow the trumpet over your burnt offerings, over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, and they shall be a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”

And then other passages say the same thing, and it talks about doing something at the beginning of the month. And they were to offer drink offerings and burnt offerings each month throughout the year, like offering one male goat for a sin offering to the Lord, that shall be also offered with a drink offering in addition to a burnt offering.

So the Israelites had a lot of things they were given by God to do, to show themselves to be the covenant, Old Testament covenant people of God. So many things were required monthly, which led up to annual sacrifices and feasts. But they also had a weekly holiday, and that was the Sabbath, every single Saturday they were to rest.

Actually, the Jews had seven yearly feast sabbaths as well as a weekly six-day Sabbath of rest. However, none of these has been carried over and given to the church. None of them have.

“None of the Jewish feasts, sabbaths, or their day of rest has been carried over and given to the church.”

The saints in Christ are not under obligation to keep the Jewish feasts, sabbaths, or their day of rest of the weekly Sabbath. Now if we think about that, we’d also have to say, if those are under the shadow of truth who did not, these people did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit as believers do today. If they were commanded to keep one day as a special day for the Lord, how much less should we, how much less should we, the saints in this age, in the church age, keep the Lord’s day, the first day of the week, as a day of worship?

The Lord’s Day: The Christian Day of Worship

The Sabbath was not changed; it just was not given to the church. Sunday is the first day of the week, and it pictured a new age dawning in Christ after his death, burial, and resurrection. On the first day of the week, if we go through scripture, we find that Christ rose from the dead, and it became the Christian’s most important remembrance for everyone who was in Christ.

On the first day of the week, as we go through the gospels, we find Christ met with his disciples twice for the breaking of bread after his resurrection. That became an important thing for believers to do.

On the first day of the week, it was the Holy Spirit that came to the earth to indwell believers on the day of Pentecost. That was the first day of the week.

The disciples throughout the epistles and the book of Acts met on the first day of the week for preaching, for communion, for gathering together to fellowship and to worship, and for gathering offerings for the Lord’s work to be done in different regions.

With the example of Christ, the Spirit, and the apostles, this makes the first day of the week—the day of the Lord—the Christian day of worship, not Saturday.

“With the example of Christ, the Spirit, and the apostles, the first day of the week is the Christian day of worship.”

What others have said about food and dietary regulations after the resurrection and ascension of Christ becomes very clear in scripture. In fact, the apostle Paul wrote in Romans: “Therefore do not let what is in you a good thing be spoken evil of, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

All Foods Declared Clean

And then Jesus himself declared in Mark 7:19, when he was having this dialogue with the leaders of Israel about putting stuff into your body and what was unclean, the food or the heart. Jesus was focusing on the heart, and he said to them there, because it does not go into the heart but into the stomach and is eliminated, thus he declared all foods clean.

Jesus uses his authority right there as the resurrected Lord, and he says, listen, all these dietary regulations are null and void, all food is clean.

And then take your Bibles and turn to Acts 10, because this is where God enforced, and the apostle Peter, that all foods are clean. Now remember, the apostle Peter was a staunch disciple of the old regulations of keeping the food regulations, and God had to actually bring a vision to him three times before he would comply.

And I want you to notice in Acts 10:9-16. It says, on the next day as they were on their way in approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. But he became hungry and was desiring to eat, but while they were making preparations he fell into a trance.

And he saw the sky open and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground. And there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and creeping, crawling creatures of the earth, birds of the air. And a voice came to him, get up, Peter, kill and eat.

And what does Peter respond? In verse 14, Peter says, by no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.

But then notice in verse 15, again the voice came to him, actually three times it came to him. The voice came to him a second time, what God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.

Now God had to do this three times before Peter could be freed up from the dietary regulations, because he was no longer just part of Israel, he was now a new believer in Jesus Christ, and those regulations are null and void in Christ, because a new thing had come.

“Peter was no longer just part of Israel — he was now a new believer in Jesus Christ, and those dietary regulations are null and void in Christ.”

Now what is very interesting is, after the resurrection, these imposed dietary restrictions were considered by the apostle Paul as demonic. Well, to back that up, 1 Timothy 4:1-5 gives us the background for that.

If you like to turn there, but if not, listen what it says. It says in 1 Timothy 4:1, but the spirit explicitly says that in latter times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.

In verse 2, by means of the hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron. And notice verse 3, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.

For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude, for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

That’s pretty clear. If anybody is going to impose any dietary or festival regulations upon you, you just say, sorry, that doesn’t apply to me, that was taken care of already by Christ.

These false teachers judged his followers by their observance of these calendar and dietary regulations. However, Christians are not obligated to observe any calendar or any dietary observances.

In fact, even the Lord’s day is not a command, it’s a willful response with gratitude to the Lord. That I want to meet, I want to worship the Lord, I want to hear the word of God, I want to give you praise. See, it’s a willful desire to want to do it, God’s not dragging anybody if they don’t want to come.

Don’t let anyone take you to task. No keeping of laws and rules will earn salvation or cause you to grow spiritually, nothing. We don’t have to abstain from any food, we don’t have to keep holy days, we are free.

These have no spiritual or saving significance at all. Christians cannot grow measured by keeping or accomplishing certain things and keeping and not keeping man-made rules and regulations. These are done away with.

The Shadow and the Substance

These calendar festivals and dietary observances do have a purpose. They were a dim outline, a mere shadow of the reality of things in which they pointed to something that is going to come in the future.

Now take your Bibles and turn back to Colossians 2. Notice in verse 17, because the Bible explains this. What reality was intended by all these festivals and dietary observances?

Verse 17 says, “Things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” There’s a lot right there in that passage.

The shadow, the reflection, the silhouette of something of Old Testament teaching. It’s like a shade caused by the inception of light, or an image cast by an object and representing a form of that object. And prophetically, of the relationship of type and anti-type, the type that happens in the Old Testament and the anti-type that is a foreshadowing of the reality that will take place.

A dim outline—these rules and regulations were a dim outline or a sketch of an object in contrast to the object itself. The passage we read this morning talked about Moses and the pattern of the tabernacle and the things of the priesthood that were taking place. Moses was told by God, “Listen, do what I told you and make this tabernacle according to this pattern that was seen in heaven.”

But the tabernacle would just be a ghostly copy of not only the tabernacle itself but the earthly priesthood. Hebrews 8:5 says, “Who served the copy and the shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle. For he said, ‘See, that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.’”

In other words, the earthly priesthood, because it was only a sketch plan representing the real copy of that which was in heaven, was an inadequate shadow of the real priesthood. These could never lead people to the reality of God’s heavenly sanctuary or into the presence of God.

Only the real priest could do that. All these things were pointing to the real priest, and the real priest was Jesus Christ, who was not after the order of Aaron the priesthood, but after the order of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek is a very interesting character in scripture. He sounded very much like God himself when you read those things in Hebrews. In other words, if this could not provide entryway into the heavenly sanctuary and to the complete forgiveness of sins so a person could have access to the presence of God, well, who can?

Surely Jesus can. It is he who leads us right into the presence of God, and Jesus is the reality of the shadow and the types of the Old Testament sacrifices and the Old Testament dietary laws and the Old Testament festival days. He is the one who is the substance of those things.

“Jesus is the reality of the shadow — the substance of Old Testament sacrifices, dietary laws, and festival days.”

Jesus is the high priest who offers himself as a sacrifice for sinners. The priest had to offer a sacrifice for his own sin first, and then the sins of the people. Jesus has no sin, so he offers himself for the people, which makes him completely different than any other priest that has gone before him.

Christ Fulfills Every Shadow

And all that has gone before Christ came were mere shadowy indicators of what is to come—yearly and monthly and weekly festivals, dietary observances, and sacrifices.

Christians do not need anyone to set them straight on these matters, for they should know that the old system of Mosaic worship is now ended in Christ. All Jewish feasts and feast days were but a shadow of the person and work of the Savior. Until he came, the shadows were empty, and now that he has come, they are fulfilled by Christ.

In fact, this is what it says in Hebrews 10: “The law was only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things.” Who becomes the form and substance of things? Jesus Christ himself.

The Mosaic law was a mere shadow, and thus fleeting, with no value to save. It pointed all to Christ. That’s what the law did, right? It convicted us of sins and pointed us to the one who could save us, Jesus Christ.

Think of it like this. If you are standing next to a wall and there is a source of light behind you, your body is going to cast your shadow on the wall. But the shadow is not really you; it is only a reflection of you on the wall.

All these things—these types and shadows and sacrifices and regulations of the Old Testament—were all a shadow pointing on the wall. But remember, once the light source is gone or the light source moves to the other side, there’s no longer a shadow.

If you go back and look at Colossians 2:17, notice what it says: “Things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

A shadow only exists when light is cast upon something that actually has mass and has substance. Once the light moves from behind the reality to the other side, the shadow disappears.

What do we have? We have Christ coming into the world as the light of revelation. The light has shifted to the other side of the law, making regulations pointless. Jesus is the reality and Jesus is the light.

“The light has shifted to the other side of the law, making regulations pointless. Jesus is the reality and Jesus is the light.”

We come to the gospels and what do we see? Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Where there is a shadow there is also reality. The Old Testament mode of Jewish worship was a picture of the Son of God, who would be the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.

In Christ, everything is fulfilled. Before Christ came, godly men waited by faith. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that he might redeem those who were under the law, that they might receive the adoption as sons.”

They could no longer come into the family of God by the Old Testament regulations and sacrifices and feast days and dietary laws, but only through Christ. The whole book of Hebrews is about this: leave Judaism and leave everything behind and go follow Christ.

Whatever religious system you came from, where I came from, we need to leave it all behind and turn from that and follow Christ, and not drag all this baggage into our new Christian life.

Christ is the real thing. In other words, he is the substance. The substance belongs to Christ. The Passover points to Calvary, Christ’s death on the cross. The feast of first fruits points to Christ’s resurrection. The feast of trumpets points to Christ’s rapture and second coming.

The Sabbath, which is Saturday, is a blessed holy day. Israel had a shadow day in that Sabbath, yet it pointed forward to the substance, which was Messiah, which they have rejected. Now coming to know the Lord individually, but someday in the land they will come to see the Messiah as who he is, and no longer look at the shadow but look at the reality.

We look at the burnt offering—it points to Christ’s willing offering of himself. The meal offering points to Christ’s purity and sinlessness. The peace offering points to Christ’s accomplishment on the cross.

The sin offering points to Christ dealing with sin and its guilt. The trespass offering points to Christ dealing with sin’s injury upon humanity. Jesus has fulfilled everything, and he is our spiritual food and he is our light.

“Jesus has fulfilled everything. He is our spiritual food and he is our light.”

The first warning is pretty clear: don’t let anybody judge you. Why? Because of what scripture teaches, we’re warned by that.

Warning 2: Do Not Let Anyone Defraud You of Your Prize

But there is a second warning, back to Colossians 2. The second warning is to sever yourself from those who have a diminished view of Christ, in verses 18 and 19.

Here’s the second command in scripture in our text, and it says, “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize.” I don’t know about you, but if we have a prize, don’t let anybody take it away from you.

The term “keep defrauding” is an interesting term that comes from a split Greek word. The first part, kata, means against, and the second part means to be an umpire of the games. When you put them together, it meant to decide against someone as an umpire might do, with the result that they have robbed someone of the prize for which they were competing.

A strike comes over the plate and you’re at bat, or a ball comes over the plate and you’re right there, and the umpire calls it a strike. If you turn around and argue with the umpire, you’re going to get thrown out of the game, right?

So here, this false teacher again is deciding like an umpire in a game. For what reason? To rob someone of the prize that they were competing for, or depriving or cheating someone of their spiritual reward.

What’s the prize? The prize that the false teacher was trying to rob from the Colossians and us—the fullness of life in union with the incomparable Christ. That’s what he’s trying to rob.

“The prize the false teacher tried to rob from the Colossians: the fullness of life in union with the incomparable Christ.”

If Christians give in, they’re back to square one. The command is this: let no one act as your umpire against you, to get you to deny your claim to be a genuine believer. Don’t let anybody do that to you.

If the truth of scripture stands, you don’t have to let anybody do that to you. Now, saying that and keeping that command also means discerning how the false teachers are going to carry out their umpire judgment upon believers or against believers.

Self-Abasement and False Humility

Well, what’s the first thing he does? Look at verse 18. The first thing is what he does. It says, by delighting in self-mortification.

In other words, let no one keep defrauding you of your prize, how? By delighting in self-abasement. If you think of this for a moment, remember we’re supposed to do things out of joy. This is an enforced delighting, like you will delight in this or else.

So often in Jewish Christian writing, the term self-abasement is used in connection with fasting, saying that the ascetic practice is an entrance into the heavenly realm. You gain something when you are fasting, because fasting prepares you for heavenly visions. It brings you into a spiritual realm that you can only get to by obeying what the teacher says.

Not only about the regulations that he just is imposing upon the believers, but now abusing or keeping down your flesh. Now I don’t know about you, but fasting is a good thing and it is a Christian thing to do, but in this sense here it is not talking about a Christian thing to do. This is talking about fasting so you look good, and now you prepare yourselves for this higher knowledge that this teacher says that they have.

So their profession of humility was cloaked in this excessive pride, which seemed to be a false humility that brought attention to men, not to God. It’s probably when people keep the feast and the regulations of the false teachers, they’re looked upon as humble and obedient, right? They give an appearance of wisdom and piety.

Wow, look how those holy people practice their faith so methodically. Even as the Muslim believers put out their carpet every day and pray three times a day, they give an appearance of being right with God and being pleasing to God. But we all know from scripture that that’s not going to bring them anything spiritually profitable at all. It actually condemns them.

So the false teachers were imposing fasting and total abstinence on the body as a necessary factor in discovering the insights of the false teachers, especially the things that they were peddling.

Now if you look at Colossians 2:23, it says, “These are matters which have to be sure an appearance of wisdom and self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value against fleshly indulgences.”

True humility is viewing ourselves as we really are from God’s perspective. And who are we? We’re sinners saved by God’s grace, that’s who we are. And so once we know that, we act accordingly, and how do we do that? Because the scripture tells us how to do that.

“True humility is viewing ourselves as we really are from God’s perspective — sinners saved by God’s grace.”

So they were insisting upon their followers to delight in self-mortification. I wonder how that went. You read of people like Martin Luther and some of the saints of the past, before he became a believer. They used to treat their body horrible, sleep at night with no blankets and sometimes on beds of nails, because they thought in doing that they were putting down the flesh and exalting God and getting into a place where they get closer to God. But it has no profit at all.

And people are still doing it today. I mean, people today on holidays where we celebrate crucifixion actually get crucified, and they think that somehow pleasing God and getting close to God and how holy they are when they do that. What that is, it’s pride. That’s thinking you’re smarter than God, and that these practices are going to be beneficial for your spiritual growth, and they are not.

Angel Worship and False Mediation

But I want you to notice something else that leads into that. Verse 18 of that chapter—they not only insist that followers delight in self-mortification, but in verse 18, they impose angel worship on the people.

These false teachers viewed God as so lofty and removed from human affairs that he could only be approached and addressed through angelic mediators. The reason is because they viewed the body as evil, that it couldn’t have any relationship with God, could have no contact with the supremely spiritual unless they started with the less spiritual beings, as angels.

So you have to go through angels to get to God. Well, what’s that called? It’s called idolatry—worship of angels. If you worship anything but God, it is idolatry.

Exodus 20:3-5 says, “You shall have no other gods before me, and you shall not make for yourselves an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or in earth beneath or in the water underneath the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them.”

So now they lead the people into idolatry, but the people don’t think they’re engaged in idolatry. They think they’re led into a deeper realm of spiritual understanding and getting closer to God, which they are not.

Then you come through scripture, like 1 Timothy 2:5. There’s only one mediator between man and God. Doesn’t that say, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and man, the man Christ Jesus”?

So again, when scripture emphasizes these things, it’s because it’s for our good to know there is no other way, there’s no other mediator between me and God except Christ. That means they couldn’t even pray directly to God.

Some people even believe today that you have to pray to saints or Mary before you can get to Jesus. Well, that’s simply not true. You don’t need saints or Mary; you need Jesus, right?

1 Timothy 2:5: “There is one God and one mediator also between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. — 1 Timothy 2:5”

See, it will fundamentally deny people, rob people of the prize that they have of being freed up in truth. We don’t need any of those things; we don’t have to go back to any of those things.

Not only that, if you look in scripture, true angels refuse worship. Revelation 22 says there, “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things, and when I heard and saw, I fell down and worshiped at the feet of the angel who showed me these things.”

What did the angel say? Verse 9 says, “He said to them, ‘Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren the prophets, of those who heed the words of this book.’ And then he said, ‘Worship God.’” That’s how he ends it, Revelation 22:8-9.

So even true angels worship and will point you to Jesus. That means if angelic intermediaries were working in this, I think you can conclude something: Satan has his fingerprints all over religious systems, all over it. But he never will come out and say that, no.

Visions, Pride, and Secret Knowledge

But another thing, back to Colossians 2:18. The second part of that verse says this: not only did he insist the followers delight in self-mortification, not only did he impose on them angel worship because he had an incorrect view of God, but he also penetrated into those things which he has not seen.

Look at verse 18: “Taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.” In other words, through these aesthetic experiences, seeing visions, these experiences dominated his talks with others, and he believed it also authenticated his message, that he was right and everybody else was wrong.

These spiritual and supernatural experiences made him think high thoughts of himself, like, “I must be something special because I’m receiving these visions, and God’s not giving it to everyone else but it’s giving it to me.”

“These supernatural experiences made him think high thoughts of himself — ‘I must be something special because I’m receiving these visions.’”

Brethren, a lot of stuff is going on today where people are seeing visions, saying they were transported to heaven and writing books and making a lot of money. Do those things? That’s all a bunch of bunk. It means nothing. It’s nothing but pride, that’s all it is.

And because he had these special visions of secret things which were not open to the eyes of ordinary people, Satan has his fingerprints all over religious movements, because the nature of his perversions are seen.

Colossians already said it: chapter 2, verse 4, enticing words; chapter 2, verse 8, human philosophy and traditions of men; chapter 2, verses 16 and 17, legalism; and then chapter 2, verse 20, asceticism.

The two commands are not to listen to people who say to you, “If you don’t do these things you can’t be saved and grow in the Lord.” Don’t listen to them. Instead, know what you believe, that is based on scripture, and then nobody has to manipulate you, nobody has to try to convince you that you should be doing something you should not be doing.

Because in your mind and in this text and in scripture, Christ has done it all. He’s fulfilled everything. What I am required to do is follow him and love him with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength, and to do his will. That’s what we are required to do, and God gives us the strength to do that.

These false teachers say one must obtain secret knowledge in order to be saved and or perfected, and this knowledge was not available to everyone. Well, didn’t we just get done reading in the chapter before this, the beginning of this chapter, that Christ’s secret, that God’s secret is who Christ is, and he has been revealed to all, and we’re to preach the gospel to everyone we go, we’re to teach the word of God to everyone?

No one is excluded. There’s no such thing as obtaining a place where you have secret knowledge and nobody else has. No, we all have the word of God. We can all study the word of God, right?

The answer to these satanic perversions is that Christians are in the know because they know Christ. They have the Holy Spirit of God and they have the word of God. Again, chapter 2 tells us that we know who Jesus is, we know what Jesus has done for us, we know who we are in Christ, we know what to do for him, the instructions are clear.

That is what he does to keep people and rob them of their prize. But also, this is what he doesn’t do, and maybe this gives us more, substantiates more fully who’s behind him.

Not Holding Fast to the Head

Notice what it says in verse 19, the last part of the verse, kind of pulling back the curtain to see who’s pulling the puppet strings. Look what it says: this false teaching in verse 19 is not holding fast to the head, not holding fast to the head.

They’re not holding according to Christ. In other words, he and those who follow such teaching fail to hold fast to the head of the body, which is Jesus Christ. They fail to follow Christ and hold his words as the ultimate authority. They don’t give Christ his rightful place.

That’s why, anytime you look at any kind of cult, always look first at the doctrine of Christ. What do they say about Jesus? Anything aberrant about Jesus, run as fast as you can from that place, because it will lead you to bondage.

False teachers are under Christ’s feet as an enemy. Like it says in Ephesians, “He has put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

In verse 19, the last part of the verse, he gives this: these false teachers are not part of Christ’s body. That means they’re not part of the church. That means they have no connection to the head, which is Jesus.

If you have no connection to the head who is Jesus, you have no life. If you have no life, you have no communication with Jesus Christ. If you have no communication with Jesus Christ, you have no salvation, no matter how much you were deceived to think you do have it. You have none of it.

“Anytime you look at any kind of cult, always look first at the doctrine of Christ. Anything aberrant about Jesus — run as fast as you can.”

Growth Comes from Christ Through His Body

And then notice what he says in verse 19. He gives really the necessity for Christians to live in an active Christian community, for service to Christ and maturity as their goal.

Notice what it says. It says, “From whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with the growth which is from God.”

So in other words, the body of Christ, the church, derives its unity and its growth as we all together gather from Christ himself. That believers are banded together, ligaments and joints—what are they? Ligaments really hold joints together, don’t they, to hold bones together. When you blow a ligament out, you really feel it. It holds it together, it bonds it together, it binds it together. And that’s what the church does.

The gathered assembly is God’s means by which we gather together to hear the word of God, so we are bound together with each other. We feed each other as we fellowship with each other.

God’s growth does not come from a denial of certain foods or keeping festivals or fasting for spiritual benefit. The growth comes from God himself. He grows us with a growth which is from God.

“Growth does not come from a denial of certain foods or keeping festivals or fasting for spiritual benefit. The growth comes from God himself.”

All this comes from the Lord to us. We don’t need any of these other things. That’s why religions are so incredibly captivating and destructive—to rob people of what is true. Satan is behind religious systems. That’s what he’s behind, that’s where he works the best and the most.

Conclusion: Stand Firm in Christ

If God delivered you from those systems, one of those systems, thank the Lord for him and don’t look back. Keep going forward, but keep your discernment and your radar up.

When you hear things coming down the pike about how a Christian should look this way, dress this way, and do these ten things—and if you do those ten things, you’re going to look spiritual and be part of the body—throw it all out. It means nothing.

If you’re in Christ, you will be sanctified. You will grow in the knowledge and wisdom of Christ, and you will become like Jesus. You will have discernment to know what is true and what is not, what’s God’s way and every other way. Amen, that’s what will happen.

“If you’re in Christ, you will be sanctified, you will grow in the knowledge and wisdom of Christ, and you will have discernment to know what is true.”

I pray that for all of us. Let’s pray together.

Thank you, Lord, that we need nothing but you. Thank the Lord for the word of God that lays it out quite clearly, and what we’re to look out for, what we’re warned about. Because Lord, it’s still going on. There are new religious systems popping up all over the place, claiming this and claiming that, but somewhere down the line, Lord, they rob us of your grace. They take away from us the things that you’ve given to us freely.

I pray, Lord, that we would be very concerned, that we would see the difference, and that we would hold to Christ. Lord, we would fellowship with one another and be bound together, so we can be strong as your body in these days—strong in truth, in doctrine and practice, and that Christ would be exalted.

So men and women, boys and girls, can be drawn to him, and that your church can become healthy and stand on the truth of scripture. I pray this in Christ.
April 23, 2023
Complete in Christ’s Salvific Work
In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij examines Colossians 2:13-15 and Paul’s explanation of Christ’s salvation work made personal to believers so that they need no supplement to or substitute for Christ. Specifically, Paul presents three wondrous aspects of Christ’s salvific work:

1. Christ’s complete forgiveness of all our sins (v. 13b)
2. Christ’s complete obliteration of our I.O.U. (v. 14)
3. Christ’s complete conquest of our enemy (v. 15)

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

We are reminded of the gravity of sin and the magnificent work Christ accomplished to set us free from its penalty, power, and record. Colossians 2:13-15 reveals three wonders of Christ’s saving work: complete forgiveness, the obliteration of our debt before God, and total conquest over our spiritual enemy.

Key Lessons:
1. Sin is not merely a social problem but a theological one — we are born sinners, and every sin is recorded by God with perfect accuracy.
2. Christ completely canceled our certificate of debt — the legal record of our violations against God’s law — wiping it away so thoroughly that no evidence remains to condemn us.
3. Jesus nailed our IOU to the cross, paying a debt we could never pay ourselves, crediting us with his own righteousness before the Father.
4. At the resurrection, Christ publicly disarmed and triumphed over Satan and all spiritual rulers, stripping them of power over those who believe.
Application: We are called to resist Satan’s lies that the cross was insufficient and to meditate on what Christ has fully accomplished — forgiveness, removal of the written record against us, and victory over the enemy — so that we walk in assurance and joy rather than doubt or defeat.

Discussion Questions:
1. How does understanding sin as a theological reality (something we *are*) rather than a social one change the way you view your need for Christ?
2. When Satan tempts you to doubt your salvation or feel condemned, how can the truth of Colossians 2:14 serve as a specific, concrete answer?
3. What does it mean practically to “bask” in the truths of Christ’s completed work this week, and what might that look like in your daily life?
Scripture Focus: Colossians 2:13-15 — the central passage revealing Christ’s forgiveness, cancellation of our debt, and conquest of spiritual enemies; Revelation 20:12 — the Great White Throne judgment and the Book of Life, showing the stakes of sin and the security of those in Christ.

Outline
Introduction

Okay, this morning we’re taking our Bibles and we’re looking at Colossians 2.

But I also like to have you put your finger in Revelation 20, the passage that was read this morning. We’re going to be looking at it a little bit, but as you’re turning there, let me pray.

Lord, this morning we do want to rejoice in our Redeemer. We do want to lift your name up, Lord, especially because of what you accomplished on our behalf. Lord, we could have never done what you have done.

And Lord, we come this morning with thankful hearts, with grateful hearts, with hearts that are humbled, knowing that we would have never deserved what you’ve given us. It’s all your mercy and your compassion and your grace to us.

I pray those very things would be something we think about all the time, that they would even be used to transform us as your people into the people you want us to be. This morning, Lord, we lift up your name, open your word to us today, and bless us with it. In Christ’s name I pray, amen.

We’re looking at Colossians 2. We’re going to be looking at verse 13, the middle of verse 13, to verse 15.

The Problem of Sin

But before I get there, since the day sin entered into the world, everyone descended from Adam has been born sinful, including you and me. Sin has caused the problem. It causes guilt, and it causes a crooked twist in the fabric of human existence.

Man has taken what the creator has given to us as good and twisted it into something evil. The dilemma of uncertainty still exists about this subject of sin. The human race has always dealt with sin and evil inadequately.

Sin and evil are evident in all social classes, at all intellectual levels, and in every place humans call home. Historically, it has been proven that in the past, all approaches do not deal correctly with evil and sin, nor properly explain man’s predicament.

For example, if sin and evil are just a matter of ignorance, people would say, “Well, let’s just educate them.” Or if it’s just an unwholesome environment, let’s just change the environment. Or if only they need a role model, that’s supplied to them. But that’s not the solution.

“Sin is not a social concept, it is a theological concept.”

Sin Is a Theological Reality

Theologian James Packard said something very significant concerning how one looks at sin. He said, “Sin is not a social concept, it is a theological concept.” What he meant is that sin is not something that happens to us because of our surroundings and social settings. It is something we are.

All humans are born sinners and will sin no matter what surroundings or social settings they find themselves in. When humans sin, they are missing the mark of God’s righteous standard. At the same time, they are hitting something else, namely unrighteousness.

That’s why the Old Testament and the New Testament words include the idea of rebellion and wickedness and selfishness and disobedience and lawlessness when referring to the sin of man. Sin is a violation of a set standard and a violation against the one who set the standard. You and I have drastically fallen short of that standard every time, all the time.

It’s not that all humans are as bad as they could be, but that all humans have the potential for the worst of sin. Consequently, our sin-dominated life puts ourselves up against God. Man has a sinful nature, a bad heart, because of Adam’s sin, and he passed that down to us.

“Sin is a violation of a set standard and a violation against the one who set the standard.”

We now have a bad record because we will commit our own acts of sin. In fact, in the Old Testament, humans being sinful and sinning so often, there was actually a sacrifice that was to be offered by a person who didn’t realize they sinned initially but realized it sometime in the future.

It was a sacrifice made by someone who sometimes later realized they sinned unintentionally. In fact, it says in Leviticus 4:2, “Speak to the sons of Israel saying, if a person sins unintentionally in any of these things which the Lord has commanded not to be done and commits any sin.”

What were they supposed to do? The worshiper was to bring his animal to the entrance of the tent of meeting. The worshiper was to lay their hands on the head of the animal, and then the worshiper stated at that point why they brought the sacrifice—in other words, what sin they committed. Then the worshiper would kill it, and the priest would make atonement for him.

How many unintentional sins do we have in our life, or sins that we simply forgot we did? Is God going to overlook those? Does it ever get into his diary?

We commonly have a wrong idea of sin. We would readily agree that a robber or a murderer or a gangster or an adulterer or a drug user or a drunkard, to name a few, are sinners. But since most of us are respectable citizens, in our heart of hearts we think that sin has not very much to do with us.

Generally we do not take sin as seriously as we should. Yet sin is what separates us from God. It will keep us from his holy presence, and if not forgiven and removed by God himself, it will send us to the Lake of Fire.

“Sin is what separates us from God. It will keep us from his holy presence.”

God’s Perfect Record of Sin

Now with that in mind, let’s look quickly at Revelation 20, because it gives us a vivid picture of God’s evaluation and judgment on sin and sinners. You and I are not very good record keepers when it comes to our sins of words, of thoughts, of deeds and actions.

But there is someone who does impeccable record-keeping. Who may that be? That may be our Lord God himself. All people will be judged according to the perfect record of God’s.

In this passage of scripture there are two record books mentioned. Divine records of people’s life history will be available for inspection. This means that the record of each human being has been kept in God’s books.

If you notice in verse 12, it says: “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds.”

“And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every one of them, according to their deeds.”

The Books of Revelation 20

So there are two kinds of books. The first book is the book of man’s works. This record book contains the deeds of people who have died in their sins—they did not die in Christ, they died in their sins.

It’s a record of the people’s deeds that God has kept: memories, forgotten violations of the conscience, sin acts, motives, character, thoughts, and words. Scripture makes consistent reference to a register of human actions.

Like we see in Psalm 56, it says, “You have taken account of my wanderings.” And then in Psalm 56 it says, “Record my lament, list my tears on your scroll. Are they not in your record?” And then Matthew 12:37 says, “By your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.”

So in Revelation 20:12, God will reach back into a person’s life to retrieve buried memories and forgotten desires, and will bring these to an accurate and utterly faithful assessment at the bar of divine justice. The works of people are all written down. Secret sins are brought to judgment, and God knows your secret sins. He’s not blind to them.

“God will retrieve buried memories and bring them to an accurate and utterly faithful assessment at the bar of divine justice.”

All of them are recorded and will one day be read openly. Your skeletons will come out of your closets. Also uncommitted sins—sins that never got to be committed but were thought of—so there will be sins of the heart that will be brought to judgment.

God knows what is perfectly in the heart, and according to written evidence, the sentence upon each rests upon written evidence. It has been said that every person who goes to the Lake of Fire makes his own way and pays their own ticket. They are only receiving the proper wages, getting what is their due, for the wages of sin is death. You get paid for sin.

“Every person who goes to the Lake of Fire makes his own way — they are only receiving the proper wages of sin.”

Now I’ll come back to the second book at the end. But why did I actually look at this passage in Revelation? Turn back to Colossians.

Because in this next passage in Colossians, highlights are given of aspects of Christ’s salvific work on our behalf, which is quite personal to us, to each one of us. The reason why is because sin is personal. It belongs to us, it’s connected to us, and it is recorded in God’s books.

Now what do I mean? Well, we all have a large debt, and the large debt has accumulated because of our many, many, many sins: sins remembered, sins ignored, sins forgotten. And sin will cost people more than they want or are able to pay.

The entire human race has sold out to the devil in spiritual bankruptcy, and we have nothing to pay except in eternity in the Lake of Fire. Now I don’t know about you, but that’s a dismal report, isn’t it? If I said amen and we all went home, it won’t be going so well this week.

“Sin will cost people more than they want or are able to pay.”

Three Wonders of Christ’s Saving Work

But thank the Lord, that’s not it in our passage this morning. Our passage this morning is actually the wonder of God that our minds can bask in this week.

Three aspects of Christ’s salvific work.

Wonder 1: Complete Forgiveness of All Our Sins

And the first aspect is this, which I’ll just mention briefly: Christ’s complete forgiveness of all our sins. I want to say that this includes all our sins—past, present, and even sins that we are yet to commit. Notice what it says in Colossians 2:13.

It says, “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.” Back in chapter 1, verse 14, it tells us there: “In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.”

This theme of forgiveness has been an important one theologically and for the Christian, because redemption and forgiveness go hand in hand. The word translated forgiveness really does mean to send away or to cancel a debt.

The heavenly Father through Christ not only set us free and transferred us into a new kingdom, but he also canceled every sin debt so that we cannot be enslaved by them again.

“The heavenly Father through Christ canceled every sin debt so that we cannot be enslaved by them again.”

Satan can’t make any indictments against us anymore. The next couple of passages actually flesh this out and show what forgiveness really is.

Our Condition Before Christ

You and me once walked around in the condition of deadness because we were without Christ. Ultimately, dead means to be ignorant of God, that people don’t know God. That’s why they’re dead.

The Gospel of John 17:3 says, “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ who you have sent.” Not to know God is actually death. It was Martin Lloyd Jones who says, “Life that is non-Christian is living death.”

Several words are used to show our deadness. The word transgression is used and the word sin. Paul speaks of sin as a power that holds humanity under its sway and leads them unto death.

But this word transgression, or trespass, means to slip or fall. If anybody ever read—and if you didn’t you should—the message by Jonathan Edwards, an old message called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” his text was Deuteronomy 32:35. The theme is about slipping.

Deuteronomy 32:35 says, “Vengeance is mine and retribution, in due time their foot will slip, for the day of their calamity is near and the impending things are hastening upon them.” You and me can’t walk through this world without slipping, and that means sinning, transgressing against God.

That’s what we kept doing, and we’re going to keep doing it, less now because we’re Christians. We keep falling away from the true and the right path.

In our passage it says, “the uncircumcision of your flesh.” From last time, that means a sinner is still in their sin without Christ. Sin again is from the word hamartia, which is a shooting word and an archery word. It literally means to miss.

A person shoots an arrow at the target and the arrow misses. They never get it into the bullseye. Sin is a failure to hit the target of God’s standard of righteousness.

Who has hit that target perfectly? No one, not you, not me. Only Christ has perfectly met the standard of God’s righteousness.

“Only Christ has perfectly met the standard of God’s righteousness.”

Wonder 2: Christ Obliterates Our IOU

Yes, if Christ is Lord and savior, he has forgiven you completely, all every one of your sins. Secondly, the second wonder to bask in is that Christ completely obliterates your IOU.

Now look at Colossians 2:14. It says, “Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.”

This passage of scripture is loaded with good stuff. An IOU is a document that acknowledges the existence of a debt. An IOU is often viewed as an informal written agreement rather than a legal binding commitment, and an IOU is always signed by the debtor.

Now let’s just say you and I met at a diner, a New Jersey diner, which I know you’d like to eat at. I do too, that’s why I don’t like going to other states—they have no diners. Where are the diners? I like diners, I do.

We met at a diner and I went there for the purpose of borrowing money from you. So I took a napkin and I wrote on it the amount that I owed you, would owe you, and signed it. Now that can be a legitimate IOU.

So if I invite you to a diner, maybe that’s what’s going to happen. But I’m not going to do that. The sense is that I am a slave to you until the debt is paid in full.

“The sense is that I am a slave to you until the debt is paid in full.”

The Certificate of Debt

However, the certificate of debt in our passage of scripture is a legally binding debt. The reason why is because it’s connected to the law of God. It’s the Apostle Paul who uses this term consisting of decrees, which are legal demands.

Decrees are legal demands—in other words, a commandment or regulation that is posted. He uses this noun in one other place and refers it to the Mosaic law. Now in Colossians 2:14, notice it says decrees are against us; it’s hostile to us.

Now that doesn’t sound very good, but it is what happens when we break God’s law. The record of charges for breaking God’s law is put up against us as hostile toward us. The good function of the law rightly reveals our just condemnation before God.

The handwriting—and I’m stressing the handwriting—that is against us is the debt of sin that serves to convict us before God. We have an IOU that we owe to God. Every sin we ever committed has to be paid for.

Now concerning sin, people are at different places. You and I have probably fallen into one of these categories. Some are out and out in sin, meaning they’re sold completely to the devil. Whatever vice enslaved them, they were happy to give themselves to it.

Others are up and out, for they are self-righteous and they think they are fine. They have no need of someone to save them, no need of a savior. Some are in and out—in and out of churches but outside of Christ—hoping that their religion and good works will ensure they will be all right with God.

Still others are downing up, meaning they have turned over a new leaf in their life. They have joined a recovery group and believe in a higher power and feel they are doing better than they ever have. Yet they are still without Christ, still under the condemnation of all their sins of commission and omission.

Maybe they even say, “Now I’m reformed”—not reformed theologian, reformed in their sin. But they still have an IOU unpaid. They have a legal demand to pay that is against them. To say “I will reform” will not remove the debt.

No debtor dares to tell his creditor, “Hey, listen, forget about that. Forget the debt. I’ll do better in the future.” A debt gives the creditor power over the debtor, just like Proverbs tells us: the rich rules over the poor and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.

But thanks be to God, the law of God also functions to do something else—not just to show us we’re sinners. It prepares us for the good news of the cross and points us to the Savior Jesus Christ. That is why he is the only way to God.

“The law of God prepares us for the good news of the cross and points us to the Savior Jesus Christ.”

Jesus Canceled the Debt

Because I want you to notice in our text how Jesus obliterates our IOU, which we could have never paid. And what’s the first thing we see in verse 14? The first thing is that Jesus canceled out our certificate of debt.

It says, “having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us.” See, this word here, “canceled out,” is the word that means to wipe away a written record or to erase it. The word basically meant to expunge something by erasing or scraping off or washing it with water.

In ancient times, scribes would use wax writing tablets to record debts owed. When the debt was paid in full, the writing tablet was smoothed out and the record was blotted out forever. You paid the debt, I don’t see anything, you don’t owe anything.

Now if you want to take your Bibles, I recommend you do. There are a few passages in Isaiah that show this concept and principle has always been in the fabric of God’s people. Look at Isaiah 43:25 and Isaiah 44:22.

But I want you to notice the subject of these verses is God himself. It says in Isaiah 43:25, “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions.” And why does he do it? For his own namesake he does it.

And then it says, “and I will not remember your sins.” Isn’t that a good thing, that God will not remember your sins? That means it was smoothed out, you don’t see anything anymore, because of what he has done.

Isaiah 43:25: “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions… and I will not remember your sins.”

Then over to Isaiah 44:22, it says, “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud, and your sins like a heavy mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” In other words, as God removes the cloudiness and the inability to see something and moves it away, we realize that God is the one who wipes away sin. He’s the one who could take care of it.

And then the same kind of thought comes to the New Testament in Acts 3:19. Remember, Acts is that historical book where the gospels come to people and people are getting saved. And what does he say to the Jews who understand and have heard this passage before?

What does he say to them when they realize that Jesus Christ died on the cross and they’re the ones who nailed him there? Look what it says in Acts 3:19: “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

So in other words, Jesus cancels and wipes out sin debts. The record of your sin has been smoothed out for those who know Christ. Thank you, what I owe God has been paid in full.

Jesus Removed the Record Against Us

If you’re still unconvinced about what the Lord has done, look back at Colossians 2:14. Because it is loaded with the second thing: Jesus not only canceled out the certificate of our debt, but also he removed the written record against us. The emphasis being on that which the Lord has done, he removes it.

And notice what it says: he has taken it out of the way. That’s what it should say in your Bible. Actually, the term used in the phrase “out of the way” is actually the phrase “out of the middle”—that’s the accurate way, that’s from the Greek.

In other words, the certificate of debt that stood in the middle between us and God, this barrier, has been taken out of the way. Jesus set it aside. And scripture uses a perfect tense and tells us that the action completed in the past has a settled condition now in the present.

That this written record that stood against us, that was hostile to us, that came between you and God, Jesus removed that. So those in Christ, right now, presently, the record of your sins have been canceled and removed.

And this further means that the record of our failures against the law of God is erased, wiped clean, so that no evidence of its previous existence can be tracked down in order to be brought up against us for condemnation.

“The record of our failures against the law of God is erased so that no evidence can be tracked down to bring up against us for condemnation.”

It’s not there anymore. So you and me now are in a state of not being condemned. We are in a state of being made clean, and we are in a state now of having the righteousness of Christ on our account.

Our clean slate has been wiped clean, and everything there, the written, documented against us, that was hostile to us, has now been settled. The IOU is paid for. And what does God the Father see? He sees the righteousness of Christ on our account.

Jesus Nailed It to the Cross

Now you say, well okay, how does he do it? Look back at verse 14 of chapter 2, because we see clearly the means by which Jesus accomplished such a wonderful act on behalf of his children. It says this: having nailed it to the cross.

See, the third thing is that Jesus nailed it to the cross for us. He canceled our debt and certificate of debt, removed the written record against us, and nailed it to the cross.

He nailed it forever to the cross, that the cross of Calvary in which he won the victory. That all the failure of keeping the law of Moses was taken away from the Old Testament godly by the death of Christ on the cross. Even all the sin of the New Testament saints is also nailed to the cross.

That Jesus paid our debt. The nails that pierced his hands and feet and fastened him to the cross were the nails whereby God also used to nail our sins, and your sins and my sins, to that cross. So we Christians are set free from the debt of sin that really served to convict us before God. It’s no longer there, it’s gone.

“The nails that pierced his hands and feet were the nails God used to nail our sins to that cross.”

So when sinners are acted upon by the power of God and see that they are lost and under God’s wrath and in trouble with God, only then will they see their need of the cross. And only then will they desire to receive Jesus as their own Lord and savior.

They will no longer settle on their own righteousness but another’s righteousness, that is the righteousness that comes to them from the perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ.

That the penalty for our sins were accounted to him, and Christ’s perfect righteousness was credited to us, so that we become, as it says in Corinthians, the righteousness of God in him. So our victory over sin, over evil, over evil spirits and death, come from Jesus, who suffered injustice for our salvation.

That Jesus satisfied the justice of the Father and was vindicated by his resurrection, in that the Father accepted that offering that Jesus gave for sin, for the unjust, the just for the unjust. And that means that we are vindicated by God and we are on the victory side of things.

That means therefore, when a Christian is being persecuted for their faith in Christ alone, or for their obedience of doing what is right, or for their refusal to participate in the sins of others and society, we can find comfort and contentment in the middle of our troubled days. Reflecting thoughtfully on the ultimate vindication and victory that we have in the finished, final, complete work of Christ.

Satan’s Tactics Against the Gospel

That Jesus’ sacrifice was so perfect, so final, so sufficient, that it gave to all who believe a permanent justification and a continuous position before God that will be enjoyed now and forever. But remember the context of Colossians, and what is that? There’s an enemy against us.

The enemy uses false teaching and false teachers that desire to confuse Christians on this very point, and get them to think that somehow the cross of Christ was not enough, it was not sufficient, and that there are things that we need to do in order to help God save us and to help God keep us saved.

That’s why this is what it says next in Colossians, which I’m not going to cover this morning, but I do want to read it. Look at Colossians 2:20, because it exposes Satan’s tactics.

Notice what it says in verse 20: “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees?” There’s that word, decrees. All right, that’s Satan’s decrees, such as do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.

Verse 22 says, “which all refer to things destined to perish with their use, in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men.” These are matters which have, to be sure, an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value against fleshly indulgences.

That’s how Satan works. He convinces you it’s not enough, the cross, that Jesus didn’t pay it all for you, that you should go on doubting whether you’re really saved. That’s what he does.

When he does, he tries to enslave you again. He tries to bring you back, and the Bible is saying to the Colossians and to us, don’t let them do that. Why? Because of what I just told you about Jesus, that his salvation to us is so complete there’s nothing to see anymore on your account.

“Satan convinces you the cross wasn’t enough — that Jesus didn’t pay it all, that you should doubt whether you’re really saved.”

It’s clean, it’s washed away, it’s wiped away, it’s smoothed out, it’s clean. Don’t let him re-populate that tablet.

Wonder 3: Christ’s Complete Conquest of Our Enemy

Now you say, well, what has Christ done for us concerning this enemy? Well, look back at Colossians 2:15. Here’s the third thing: Christ’s complete conquest of our enemy.

That’s what he did, he defeated him completely. That Satan’s dark domain is mentioned from the standpoint of the victor, Jesus Christ, who stripped him of the victory at the resurrection. Look at verse 15: when he had disarmed the rulers and authorities.

What a disarmed ruler is, is a defeated ruler. In the Garden of Eden, God promised that the devil would bruise the savior’s heel, and this he did when Jesus died. But prophecy also tells us that the savior would bruise the enemy’s head, and this is what Christ accomplished when he rose from the grave.

And Satan realized he lost. Because of the resurrection, it declared that Jesus is the victor and proved he is God. That Satan at that point lost everything.

“Christ bruised the enemy’s head when he rose from the grave. Satan realized he lost.”

The Defeat and Public Humiliation of Satan

And then notice in Colossians 2:15, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him. That Jesus made a public triumph over the forces of evil and stripped the devil of his power over the souls of the saints.

There is no need for us to be defeated in sin or by sin. Sin is no longer able to threaten those who believe in Christ. He has nothing to say, he’s been shut up by God, he’s been shut out by God, and he’s just under God’s condemnation now.

The Bible says he has a short time before the end comes for him. In other words, you are no longer his possession, he has no right to you at all. Christ has all rights to you, you are his possession and protected by him, and have eternal security because of him.

Just as conquerors in olden times would take the prisoners and chain them to the chariot, and the chariot was made to go through the streets, and the person who lost the battle would run alongside in public humiliation. So Christ doomed the devil to the Lake of Fire, where he will be in the lowest department under God’s wrath forever.

“You are no longer his possession. Christ has all rights to you — you are protected by him and have eternal security.”

The Book of Life

I said I would come back to the second book at the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20. Those who trust Christ alone for eternal salvation escape the wages of sin. They get instead the gift of eternal life.

Remember, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The other book that will be opened in the judgment is the Book of Life. This is the final humiliation, the final condemnation, the final blow for every sinner at that terrible judgment before Jesus on the great white throne.

What is the purpose of this book? The second book is God’s final answer to every plea of a sinner. When the Book of Life is closed, the mercy of God is gone forever concerning those being judged.

In Revelation 20:12, the middle of the verse, it says this: “Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.” The Book of Life is not a record of the deeds of people. The Book of Life is the record of the names of people.

The Book of Life only comes into discussion to show that the names of these dead are not written there. It contains the names of all who have true spiritual life. It is a book that uniquely belongs to the Lamb of God and is related to his death.

As it says in Revelation 13:8, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain.”

Your name must be written in this book in order for you to enter the heavenly city. Revelation 21:27 says this:

Revelation 21:27: “Nothing unclean shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”

In the ancient world it was built really on the roll of citizens. You couldn’t come into the city unless your name was on the roll. If your name wasn’t on the roll, you would come in possibly as a visitor and then would have to leave again.

Those who are written in it are citizens of heaven, God’s special people. Rejoice today in the wonder of what God has done, because your name is on the right roll, because you are joyfully assured of your salvation.

Like it says in Luke, “Nevertheless, don’t rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” Why are they recorded there? Because you have no IOU.

Jesus made it smooth and wiped out your debt and removed it out of the way. Now you have access to God. He did that by nailing it to a cross, which he will never have to do again, because it was an eternal sacrifice done once for all, as it says in Hebrews.

Never again. Sins forgiven, your name written down in heaven. What a thought.

“Your name is recorded in heaven because you have no IOU. Jesus wiped out your debt and removed it out of the way.”

Conclusion: Walk in Victory

That is a possessor of eternal life, a partaker of the divine nature, born of God, passed out of condemnation into everlasting life. What a blessed state, to be saved, to be delivered from the wrath of God. And I pray your salvation would never be commonplace, but every time you think of how God saved you, you would experience fullness of joy.

Let your mind this week bask on these truths, let them come to your mind often. Satan is not done with you in the sense of tempting you and distracting you and trying to delude you, trying to get you to sin again like you once did. He will bring old people into your life that you thought were forever gone, and now they’re there with the same vices. They haven’t changed one bit.

They’re not saved, they won’t listen to your message of salvation, but they want to drag you down. He has got all kinds of employees to drag us down. But you cannot listen to them.

Why? The truth. You have Colossians to go back to, to say, “This is what my Lord has done on my behalf. He’s accomplished it for me.” Go talk to him. He doesn’t want to talk to him, so I pray this week you take these truths, think about them, and let them encourage your heart.

“Every time you think of how God saved you, you would experience fullness of joy.”

Let’s pray. Today, Lord, thank you this morning for the goodness of your word, the clarity of the word of God. Thank you, Lord, that we know in the word of God what you have done, and I pray, Lord, that we would listen to nobody else, that no one can convince us otherwise.

And Lord, that we cannot be tempted to think that somehow your sacrifice on the cross was not complete, that something has to be added to it and included with it. I pray, Lord, that we this week would think about and meditate upon these truths.

That, Lord, you have completely forgiven us, you have completely removed the written debt against us, you have completely destroyed our enemies. And we know, Lord, your plan is not done yet concerning him. But Lord, I pray as we live each day, you would allow us to walk in the victory of knowing Christ as our Lord and savior.

And I pray this in Christ’s name, amen. Let’s stand together.
April 16, 2023
Complete in Christ, Part 2
In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij examines Colossians 2:11-13 and the three pictures of believers’ completeness of salvation in Christ so that believers need no addition or substitute.

1. We are in union with Christ in his death (v. 11)
2. We are in union with Christ in his burial (v. 12a)
3. We are in union with Christ in his resurrection (v. 12b-13)

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

We are reminded that complete salvation in Christ requires nothing to be added and nothing can be taken away. Through Colossians 2, we see that all world religions offer a works-based path to God, but biblical Christianity stands alone in offering salvation by grace — not because of what we have done, but in spite of it. We are called to understand that God performs a spiritual surgery on the heart, uniting believers with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection.

Key Lessons:
1. Every man-made religion relies on works, but biblical Christianity teaches salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone — we get to heaven not because of what we have done, but in spite of it.
2. Spiritual circumcision of the heart is not a ritual but a divine operation — God himself cuts away the old sinful nature and gives believers a new heart with a genuine desire to love, serve, and follow Christ.
3. Union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection is the foundation of complete salvation — believers are buried with Christ to the old self and raised to walk in newness of life.
4. The evidence of true salvation is transformation: a new affection for God, sensitivity to sin, desire for the Word, and an unwillingness to return to former patterns of sin.
Application: We are called to examine our hearts honestly — not measuring salvation by religious activity or mere profession, but by whether God has done a genuine work of transformation. If that desire for Christ is present and growing, we are to walk in confidence of our complete salvation and say no to sin by the power God has already placed within us.

Discussion Questions:
1. In what ways might religious activity or good works subtly become a source of confidence before God rather than faith in Christ alone?
2. What does it look like practically to ‘consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus’ in your daily life?
3. How has God’s spiritual surgery on your heart changed your desires, and where do you still sense the ongoing struggle with the old nature?
Scripture Focus: Colossians 2:11-15 is the central passage, teaching that believers are spiritually circumcised, buried, and raised with Christ. Romans 4 confirms Abraham was justified by faith before circumcision. Deuteronomy 10 and 30 show that heart circumcision is God’s work, not man’s. Philippians 3 illustrates that all religious credentials are worthless apart from Christ.

Outline
Introduction

Let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to Colossians 2.

As you’re turning there, let’s bow together in prayer. Thank you, Lord, for showing us that you’re a holy God, and you say in the word of God that you want us to be a holy people. Lord, the word of God enables us and works on us so we can be a holy people.

I just pray, Lord, that the desire in our heart would be that we want to be holy, and as we do, Lord, I pray that we would receive the engrafted word that has been given to us. May it be welded upon our heart and mind so it would be exactly what we do every day.

And in doing that, Lord, we would learn how to please you in all things. So Lord, teach us this morning about your complete salvation, and I pray this in Christ’s name, amen.

Works-Based Religion vs. Grace

I’ve been saying that all modern religious counterparts contrasted with true biblical Christianity are hollow and they’re deceptive, yet they appeal to many kinds of people. But when religions are examined more closely, the common result of an investigation will be they hold a very low view of Christ.

Any deluded promotion of a person of Christ that demeans him means that man has made it into some works-based religious system. Now, if you say you are a good and moral and religious person and God should accept me based on what I can offer him by way of good works, well, be aware of this: the gospel of God’s grace has always denounced reliance upon works.

If you’re trying to justify yourself by good works, you are walking straight into condemnation. Every religion invented by men, according to D. James Kennedy, followed a set of rules, and if you do it well enough, then you may be accepted into Nirvana or Paradise or heaven or wherever it is you’re trying to go.

Don’t do this, don’t do that, you will perhaps earn your way to heaven. If you notice, though, in Colossians 2, he is writing this section of scripture so we do not go there.

If you notice in verse 16, he says, “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. These things are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

And then notice down in verse 20, “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, which all refer to things destined to perish with their use, in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?”

In other words, these false teachers were imposing upon the people a works-based system: do these things and you will be all right. All religions of the world are the same, and yes, they are the same. No matter what form they take, it is always what a person can do to earn their salvation. That’s the religion of works.

But biblical Christianity is not the same as others. No, it stands in a category all by itself. Christianity teaches the very opposite of all other religions. It is a message of grace, and grace is a wonderful thing.

There is nothing like it in the world. There is nothing like it in the universe. Every other religion teaches that we will get to heaven because of what we have done. Christianity, on the contrary, teaches that we will get to heaven in spite of what we have done.

“Every other religion teaches we get to heaven because of what we have done. Christianity teaches we get to heaven in spite of what we have done.”

We hear all the time in the media that human beings deserve everything, every good thing. But what we really deserve is just condemnation, the just condemnation of God, because we’re all guilty of sin in the presence of a holy God.

The amazing thing is what Christ offers us is not what we deserve, but the very opposite of what we deserve. He offers us free, sovereign, unconditional grace, the free gift of eternal life, paid for by his own son, paid for at an infinite cost, to all those who will simply turn from their sin and trust in Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Complete Salvation in Christ

It is a very strange thing indeed that God would do it that way, but I’m sure glad he did it that way. Complete salvation: nothing needs to be added to it, nothing can be taken away from it.

Once a Christian understands the wealth and the riches that they have in Jesus Christ, they will be stubbornly unwilling to exchange Christ for any other thing, any other would-be man-made substitute religious system. There’s nothing anyone else can do for a man than Christ has already done.

“He offers us free, sovereign, unconditional grace — the free gift of eternal life, paid for at an infinite cost.”

Anyone who truly comes to faith in Christ is made complete in Christ. The phrase that we have seen already in scripture, “in him,” is significant, not only because it expresses Christ’s supremacy, but it also teaches us about our complete salvation.

In him, in our Lord, all things were created. In our Lord, in him all things hold together. In our Lord, in him all divine fullness dwells, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form in Christ.

The phrase “in him” also points to our union with Christ. Because of who Jesus Christ is and what he has done on behalf of his children, we benefit greatly in him. The Bible says we have been made complete in Colossians 2:10.

In him we were circumcised (Colossians 2:11). You were buried and raised with him (verse 12). You were made alive together with him (verse 13). And in verse 15 of chapter 2, all demonic powers have been defeated in him.

Therefore, no one, once you are a believer, has any claim or authority over you. Every Christian is filled full. God sees the believer only in Christ and never outside of him.

We are seen as being in union with Christ, and in Christ, Christians find their spiritual needs fully met. These passages this morning really capture the picture for us of complete salvation, amen.

“Every Christian is filled full. God sees the believer only in Christ and never outside of him.”

The First Picture: Union with Christ in His Death

And what is the first picture that is given to us, that it really has to be explained this morning? In Colossians 2:11, notice what it says: “In him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.” That’s the first one.

In other words, the first picture is that we are in union with Christ in his death. Circumcision, giving some background, was a sign given to Abraham and to his descendants. When God called Abraham and promised to make him a great nation, he gave him a sign to separate his descendants from all the other heathen people of the world.

This sign was a physical operation of circumcision, administered to every male child eight days after birth, as an institution or as an initiation ceremony, showing that they belong to the chosen race of Israel. It had nothing to do with spiritual salvation, for all the Jews certainly were not godly persons.

Just think for a moment. Ask yourself: when did Abraham receive the sign of circumcision? Was it before Abraham was saved by faith, or was it after? Was it in circumcision, or was it while he was in uncircumcision?

Now we have to go to the Bible to answer, and I’d like you to take your Bibles quickly and turn to Romans 4, because the Bible actually answers that question, and it becomes an important question for us as believers.

It says in Romans 4, notice in verse 9: “Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” That’s a salvation verse.

Verse 10: “How then was it credited?” In other words, when did Abraham actually become a believer? And then notice the next verse, number 10: “While he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.”

Verse 11: “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited, or put on the account of them who actually believe later on, like us.”

Abraham actually believed by faith in God’s plan of salvation before he was given the sign of circumcision. Now, why is that important?

Romans 4:11: “He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised.”

Circumcision of the Heart in the Old Testament

It is important because there is another circumcision more important than the physical sign of circumcision. It is referring to something that was always held in high regard in the Old Testament. What do I mean by that? I mean the circumcision of the heart—a spiritual circumcision that takes place in the heart.

Now, we’re going to use our Bibles this morning. I want you to look at Deuteronomy. There are two passages of scripture there that talk about this in the spiritual realm of things.

It says in Deuteronomy 10:12: “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways and love him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Verse 13: “And to keep the Lord’s commandments and his statutes which I am commanding you today for your good. Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.”

Verse 15: “Yet on your fathers did the Lord set his affection to love them, and he chose their descendants after them, even you, before all peoples, as it is this day.”

And then in verse 16: “So circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer.” But the question is, can a person who has a stiff neck—and that means to be disobedient to the Lord—actually circumcise their heart?

The answer to that question is no. But I want you to look at Deuteronomy 30:6, because it kind of answers that people couldn’t do it themselves.

Deuteronomy 30:6 says this: “Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants.” And what will he circumcise their heart to do? “To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.” That’s what he will do, and that’s something you cannot do on your own.

Deuteronomy 30:6: “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart… to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.”

See, the problem with the people back then, as well as people ever since and today, is that we have a bad, sinful, rebellious heart that produces evil in our thoughts, in our words, and in our deeds. So we cannot have this kind of heart.

Even Jeremiah says to the people, “Circumcise yourself to the Lord and remove the foreskin of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

The Gentile Question and Spiritual Circumcision

See, that’s our problem. The problem we have is that we have an evil heart, we have an uncircumcised heart, same thing. So even though Christians have not been given the sign of circumcision, many of the Christian Jews, if you’re reading through the book of Acts, you’ll find still thought that Gentile converts had to become Jews if they were to be counted as Christians.

This is what it says in some of the passages in Acts 15:1: “Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” So they were again putting the emphasis on the physical sign of circumcision.

And then in verse 5 of that same chapter, it says, “But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, it is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the law of Moses.”

And then it goes on to say Paul and Peter were discussing these things. Peter specifically, and he says, wait a minute, the Gentiles heard the gospel and they believed, and God, who knows their heart, testified to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just like he gave us, and he made no distinction between us and them.

And then he says this: “Cleansing their heart by faith.” Now, what is that? That is spiritual heart circumcision. That’s what the Lord did.

And what happens? This is what he concluded: “Therefore, in my judgment,” Peter says, “do not trouble those who are turning to God from the Gentiles, but write to them and say, listen, just do these things: abstain from being contaminated by idols, abstain from fornication, abstain from what is strangled and from blood.”

That’s it. You’re free to do anything else you need to do, because now you have been made complete in Christ. And it’s not about the physical part of it, it is about the spiritual circumcision of the heart.

“Cleansing their heart by faith — that is spiritual heart circumcision. You are made complete in Christ.”

God’s Surgical Work on the Heart

We come back to Colossians, and here in Colossians, the rite of circumcision is used as an illustration of a spiritual truth. Notice how this contrasts with the physical operation which was given to Abraham and performed with human hands, preceded by “hands,” one “made without hands,” where it says this in our passage.

Now, to be clear, our passage has nothing to do with physical circumcision but spiritual circumcision. Circumcision does not mean having a certain operation carried out on a man’s flesh, but having a change affected in one’s life. Something has changed.

Circumcision is a picture of God’s spiritual surgery.

Now, look back at Colossians 2:11, and notice what it says again: “And in him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.”

That means salvation is the operation of God upon the heart. The passive voice points to God as the active agent. That spiritual circumcision is a circumcision made without hands. It is accomplished by Christ’s physical death on the cross.

When Christ died on the cross, the cross became a scalpel to cut away the sinful old man. Notice in verse 11, it says “the removal of the body of the flesh.” This does not refer to the physical flesh but to the sinful nature.

By Christ’s death, by the circumcision of Christ—that is his death—Christ’s death completely strips away the old unregenerate life. That is, one who comes to faith in Christ, who believes in Christ, that work has been done on their heart by God himself.

A complete putting off of the fleshly nature, a crucifixion of the old Adamic nature, has been done by God upon our hearts. In other words, we have been given a new nature, a nature that actually can love God, serve God, desire to follow God.

“We have been given a new nature — a nature that actually can love God, serve God, desire to follow God.”

For instance, why does a dog do what he does? A dog behaves like a dog because he has a dog’s nature. Now, if someone could transplant into a dog the nature of a cat, well, then he would be radically changed, maybe greatly disappointed too in that change. For all you cat lovers, forgive me for that.

Why does the sinner behave like a sinner? Because he has the nature of Adam, the nature of a sinner, the sinful nature the Bible calls the flesh. Notice in our passage, it says there’s going to be a removal of that.

It says, “In the removal of the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ.” That removal—actually the word means stripping off. It was used of people stripping off their clothes. Figuratively, it is also used of believers being set free from their sinful nature through union with Christ.

Believers are circumcised by Christ’s own circumcision, and that is his death. Christ’s circumcision involves the sacrifice of his whole body, with his complete sacrifice. What has been demanded in the Old Testament has now been accomplished in Christ and in Christ alone.

Remember, it has nothing to do with physical things. This heart circumcision is a reality, not a rite. It’s the removal of sin, not the removal of the flesh.

That means the operation of God is a transformation of the whole person. Why is that? Because God’s surgical scalpel has been applied to our heart. When that happens, when there’s the removal of this sin nature—in the sense that we are now obeying God and not obeying that—we still have that struggle, though, until we have complete salvation in the presence of God.

But I do want you to notice that it brings us into a new sphere. The operation of God is a transformation of the whole person. Because of God’s surgical work on the cross, believers become part of what Philippians said.

Philippians says it this way, in Philippians 3:3: “You can become part of the true circumcision.” What happens when somebody is truly saved? This is what it says in Philippians 3:3: “Those who worship in the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”

Philippians 3:3: “Those who worship in the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”

Paul’s Religious Credentials Are Worthless

Now, the false teachers here in Colossians still were putting confidence in the flesh, which I just read when I first started. But I do want you to notice something, and why don’t we just turn to Philippians and pick this up.

Because Paul, if anybody could have said, “Listen, I’m a believer, I’m right with God because I’m a child of Abraham,” it’s got to be Paul, right? Paul had everything going for him. If anybody could be saved, the Apostle Paul could have, and that’s what he says in Philippians 3:3 onwards.

In Philippians 3:1-3, it says, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of false circumcision, for we are the new circumcision, who worship in the spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”

But notice in the next verse, in verse 4: “Although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more.” And what does he say?

Here’s his confidence: “Circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness which is in the law, found blameless.”

Amen, you’re a believer. Well, what Paul didn’t have was a circumcised heart. He was still religious, and he was at the top of being religious. He had all the qualifications. Go to the head of the class, Paul, you got it all, you don’t need anything.

But then look what he says in verse 7: “But whatever things were gained to me, those things I count as loss for the sake of Christ.” What is it? It was just a bunch of dung. It had no salvific value at all.

I heard from this one person one day, and they said, “Well, I go to church every day. I mean, you walk to church, you go to church every day? I go to church every day and I light a candle and I do all these things.” And I said, “Wow, that’s devotion, that’s dedication.”

But the problem is the person who does that thinks that is going to please God and earn them salvation somehow. It will not. You can go to church 20 times a day, every day, for the rest of your life and not be saved.

See, that’s religion, and that’s what religion does. It keeps us away from the truth, away from the word of God, and that’s a damning thing. And that’s what Paul says: I was damned in my religiosity, in my confidence in the flesh, what I could do to earn God, what I could do to please God.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

It’s only God who can cast away your evil nature. Only God can cut that out of your heart. That’s why we read this morning, when it is cut out of our heart, what are we to do?

Then it says, “Even so, consider yourself as dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Think on that for a moment.

The content of Romans 6, which we read in our scripture reading this morning, has to do with the tyrannical reign of the principle of sin, not its symptom. In Romans 6:12 it says, “Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lust.”

How can we do that unless God works on our heart and gives us the desire and the authority and power to do that? See, self has to be crucified, and the only place self can be crucified is at Calvary’s cross.

So that it may be rendered powerless to enslave us again. We Christians should not have to serve sin anymore or to live under the tyranny of the indwelling principle of sin any longer.

“Self has to be crucified, and the only place self can be crucified is at Calvary’s cross.”

When we are in Christ, we can actually say no to sin and have the authority and the ability to put off sin, because God has given us that. I wish we would use it more.

And the reason for that is because we have been crucified with Christ on the cross. We have a complete salvation.

The Second Picture: Union with Christ in His Burial

A second thing in Colossians 2 is this: a second principle or picture of a complete salvation is found in verse 12, the first part of it. We are in union with Christ in his burial.

It says in verse 12, “Having been buried with him in baptism.” This does not refer to water baptism here. It is a picture of being buried together with someone, and that someone is Christ.

Baptism is a picture of the reality of death. We ordinarily bury the dead in order to be rid of them because of the decaying process. But it is different for the believer, because they are in union with Christ.

Spiritual baptism is not only through faith in Christ, but it is because we are in union with Christ. And you are not Christians unless you are connected or joined to Christ.

While you live in your trespasses and sins along with the rest of humanity, you are disconnected from Christ. But now we have a circumcised heart, a heart that has believed, a heart of faith. We are in union with Christ.

“You are not a Christian unless you are connected or joined to Christ.”

What Baptism Proclaims

And we think about baptism: it really carries the meaning of identification, the concept of being made one with Jesus. That baptism really symbolizes union with Christ in his death and his burial, also his resurrection.

When somebody gets baptized, even in water, what is the picture there? The picture is that the Christian is making a public announcement of a bona fide inward change that took place. It’s this symbolic proclamation of what happened to the person at salvation.

It’s the evidence of a circumcised heart that now wants to love and worship God and follow Jesus. That’s why somebody who just makes a profession of faith but has no interest in the word of God, has no interest in following Christ, they’re just adding Jesus on to the list of everything else they have to make, to hedge the bets and make it safe for them. “Oh yeah, I believed in Jesus, I believe in Jesus.” No, that’s not it.

Because somebody who truly believes in Jesus, God does a surgical work on your heart and gives you a desire to live for him and serve him. Without that desire, there is no salvation.

It’s like Jonathan Edwards, in his book “Religious Affections.” He writes this book because he’s saying, listen, the only proof that there is that anyone is saved is that they have an affection for God they’ve never had before, they couldn’t have before. They have a new one now.

Romans 6 is not specifically talking about water baptism again, but speaking of the spiritual symbolism behind the physical act of water baptism, and the identity that we have now in Christ.

In his death, believers are identified with Christ’s atonement for sin and placed in the atoning work. And in his burial, they are dying to self. They are making this proclamation that the new believer is freed up to live and to serve the Lord.

Everything is cut away from the person’s life, anything that could keep them from being God’s obedient child is removed. And the believer is now dead to Satan’s family and they’re now alive to God’s family. That’s what they are. They’re alive to God’s family.

“The believer is now dead to Satan’s family and alive to God’s family.”

Do you see yourself like that? Do you see yourself with that desire in your heart, that Christ is first beyond anything else, and that you actually order your life putting Christ first? Because if it’s not there, then there is no life, there’s no spiritual life, there is no spiritual operation on the heart that’s been done by God if that’s not there.

The Third Picture: Union with Christ in His Resurrection

This leads me to a third picture this morning. I want you to notice here that we are in union with Christ in his resurrection.

Notice again back in Colossians 2:12. It says in the middle of the passage, “In which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

We were raised together with Christ. We died with Christ on the cross, our flesh was crucified there on the cross with Christ, we were buried with Christ, we were raised up to walk in newness of life because of Christ.

In other words, we were raised up together with someone else, and that someone else is Christ. This co-resurrection with Christ is in view as an accomplished fact.

Colossians 3:1 even says there that this fact looks finished and done. It says in verse 1, “Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking those things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” You have been raised up, you have been made alive.

Colossians 3:1: “If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking those things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”

Yet Romans 6:5 views it as a future event. It says there, “If we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection.”

Paul speaks of it in the present: I’m saved. But he also speaks of it in the future: I’m being saved, I will be saved. There will be a salvation accomplished.

In the present, it’s a real, actual salvation with the down payment of the Holy Spirit. In the future, what is it? It’s being raised. Yet the fullness of receiving our new bodies awaits the return of Christ.

The spiritual reality is that we are in union with Christ in his death, his burial, and now have life because of his resurrection.

Our Condition Without Christ

But then notice in verse 13, because it says here’s the spiritual reality we all had without Christ. Notice what it says: “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh.” Spiritually dead to God, with no ability in the sinful nature.

That means we’re guilty in our individual acts of sin. That’s our transgressions, that’s another word for sins, sinfulness in a pre-conversion state. That’s the way God found us. That’s the way God found every single one of us.

When the gospel came, what were you doing? When the gospel came, what were you doing? Smoking some, duty dancing, fulfilling the lust of your flesh, doing what you wanted to do, and you were doing it all with no real thought of God.

You and I were guilty of that. We all had pre-conversion acts of sins. But it also says here that it’s not only your transgressions but the uncircumcision of your flesh, meaning that we were all alienated, outside of God’s covenant.

It was not the physical flesh that was the problem. The problem was our sin, which arose out of an old, unredeemed, uncircumcised nature.

How was the old man? You really don’t have to explain sin to people, they get it, because they know. However, whatever facade they give you, they know in their heart, they understand sin, they know what it is.

The man of flesh, or the person of flesh, is the unsaved self, the unregenerate self. This is the old, wretched, depraved, sinful self, and this is the capacity of all people who have to serve self, with no desire to serve and to please the true and living God.

Without God, without his Spirit, without his word in one’s life, one’s life is always driven by all kinds of sinful cravings and passions, leading to all kinds of self-centered and sinful pursuits that do not please God, even though a person may think they please God.

“Without God, without his Spirit, without his word, life is always driven by sinful cravings that do not please God.”

That’s how we all were without Christ. That may be you today. Maybe I pray it’s not you today, because if you’re in that condition today, you’re outside of Christ. You don’t have a heart to serve Christ, Christ is not first in your life, you don’t organize your schedule and your life and your week with God as part of that agenda.

Made Alive Together with Christ

But then notice in verse 13, here’s the spiritual transformation of those in union with Christ. In verse 13, it says, “He made you alive together with him, having forgiven all our transgressions.”

Believers were made alive. That’s the same thing it says in Ephesians: “Even when we were dead in our transgressions, he made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved.”

The very fact that you and I are believers at all is solely because of a demonstration of God’s might, of his power. Many things had to be overcome and conquered by the strength of God in order for you and me to become a believer.

Our flesh had to be overcome, the world system in our thinking had to be overcome, the power of Satan had to be overcome for you and I to be saved. How could you do that on your own? How could anybody do that on their own?

No religious system could do that. They cannot replace what God is the only one who could do.

Believers have power working in them. If it were not for the power of God working in believers, we would not have a desire to read the word of God, we would not have a desire to pray, we would not have the strength to put off sin and put on righteousness, we would not be strong in the Lord to battle against the ongoing struggle that we will have as a Christian.

As Philippians tells us, “For it is God who is at work in you to will and to work his good pleasure.” That’s what the Lord does once we are truly believers.

Philippians 2:13: “It is God who is at work in you to will and to work his good pleasure.”

When you come to Jesus Christ, there is a transformation that starts and continues to take place until the day we drop off these filthy coats of remaining humanness. Until that day, we need Christ.

The unsaved person has only one capacity. The unsaved person has only one course of action: to serve sin and self while leaving God out of his life. That’s all we had, nothing else.

You throw religion in there, it’s still self-serving, it’s still me trying to do something. That is what is so in the face of real biblical Christianity.

On the other hand, believers have an option. A believer may serve God as long as that believer is in the human body. But we will struggle with the flesh, we will struggle with the desires, the remaining desires that we had in our life.

But we will not want to leave God out, we will not want to go back to our former lusts and passions, we will not want to go back to the slavery we were once in, we will not want to go that way. That is what is so powerful about the gospel.

The Marks of True Salvation

I find it troubling when people will say, “Yeah, I’m born again,” but when you ask them what their life is like, where they go to church, what they’re studying in the Bible, what they’re praying about, they say, “Well, I think that’s a personal thing. I don’t really do that. I don’t really have a church. My church is my own private worship.”

That person just told you they’re not a believer, no matter how spiritual they think they are.

They’re not a believer because when I come to scripture, I cannot fit that person into the Bible. The only person I see in the Bible is somebody who has been made alive.

Some people grow faster and quicker than others. Some people take a lot longer time to understand things and learn things. But there is a change, there is transformation, there is a new heart, there is a desire for the word of God.

There is a worship that they now have in their heart for God. Their mind exalts God, their mind honors God, their mind bows before God, and they feel very offended when somebody takes God’s name in vain.

But unfortunately, I have met a lot of people who think that way and they think they’re Christians and they’re not. That’s self-deception, and that’s the power of a dead heart, who can deceive to the last minute.

“There is a change, there is transformation, there is a new heart, there is a desire for the word of God.”

Complete Salvation: Nothing to Add

What I’m talking about this morning is the work of God. The work of God, putting this all together, gives us a picture of what takes place when one is saved by the operation of God, when one is forgiven as the passage says, he’s made spiritually alive as the passage says, and then we are in union with Christ from that day forward.

We have complete salvation. Nothing needs to be added to it, nothing needs to be taken from it. It’s all given to us freely by God. That’s the marvelous message of the gospel of Christ.

Some people will say, “Pastor, that’s just too simple. Turn from your sin and believe in Jesus, that’s just too simple.” That’s another obstacle too, because people really do think, “I got to do this and I got to do this and I got to do that,” and they kind of soothe the guilt in their conscience as they do those things. They don’t realize, no, you need to just come in repentance and faith and believe in Jesus. That’s it.

Then you live your life for him. You don’t go back to the old way, you don’t go back to the way you used to live. It is all new, because God has rescued us. He has performed spiritual surgery on your heart, and he has put in your heart a desire to want to bring glory to God.

Though imperfectly, our desire to bring glory to God—is that not true? That is true, right? And that is something that is very encouraging to our hearts.

When it comes to being a believer, a believer is very sensitive to their sin, right? Nobody really has to come up to a believer who’s doing formative church discipline on themselves every time they hear the word of God.

What they’re doing is this: every time you hear the word of God, every time I read the word of God, it’s like the word of God makes me feel, “What, I need to confess that sin right now. I don’t want to have my sin be an obstacle to how God can use you.”

But do you struggle with those things? Are you tempted by things from the past? Does Satan in a very powerful way come and try to get you to go back to the old? Oh yes, he does, and he will, and he’ll not stop. As a matter of fact, the stronger you get, maybe the stronger his temptations will be.

But you have the victory. You can say no. I don’t have to say yes. And when you do that, you’re almost amazed by it. What, I’m not committing the sins I used to commit when I was unconverted? I don’t even desire to do it, I don’t even think about it anymore. How can that happen unless God makes us alive?

The false teachers right here in Colossians kept the ceremonial law going: to be saved and sanctified, you have to do something. Yet there are dead works. They have no salvific or eternal value. They’re just a pile of dung.

No rituals or rites of any church can help to save you or safeguard your salvation. God must do that. Just like Titus says, “He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Lord.” See, that’s salvation.

Titus 3:5: “He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration.”

I prayed this morning, if you don’t see yourself like that, you may need to talk to somebody about how to really be saved. If you do see that God has been working on your heart and that you have these desires and they’re growing, you’re growing in those desires, and the possibility of your salvation is probably pretty real.

We who are believers have a complete salvation, because we are in union with Christ in his death, in his resurrection, and his burial. This is again putting it right to the face of the false teachers, because he’s using himself in humanity as a man to say to them, this is how God saves, this is how one has complete salvation.

There is nothing that needs to be added to it. There’s nothing that you can do to make it better. It is complete, and that’s the encouraging thing for believers.

Let’s pray. Lord, again I thank you for the word of God. I pray, Lord, that this morning if there is one person that has not believed in you as Lord and Savior, I pray, Lord, today would be the day that they no longer put it off, no longer ignore it, and they would look at themselves realistically as to where they stand with you.

I pray, Lord, that they would come in repentance and faith and believe in you, and they will receive all the benefits that the word of God teaches us that are ours as believers.

But Lord, for those who are in Christ, Lord, please encourage them by the word of God to just strengthen their faith. When they are confronted with sin they know what to do, they can say no to sin, they can consider that in their mind that they’re dead to it, because you did the operation on our heart already.

You’ve given us a desire that we never had really before to serve you and love you with all our heart and mind, soul and strength. I pray, Lord, that you will make this church and this generation, you would raise up a strong breed of Christians for what’s coming next, to be able to stand against the onslaught of false teachers and false information and the manipulation of powers greater than us, at least, Lord, as human beings.

I pray, Lord, that we would be faithful to stand in this battle, and I pray this in Christ’s name, amen.

Amen. Okay, this morning we do have the Lord’s.
April 2, 2023
Complete in Christ, Part 1
In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij examines Colossians 2:8-10 and explains how believers are to walk faithfully based on whom they have received. Pastor Babij walks through the passage using three headings:

1. The Command (2:8a)
2. The Warning (2:8b)
3. The Completeness (2:9-10)

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

We are reminded that all religious systems, when examined against Scripture, prove hollow and deceptive—offering complexity and bondage where Christ offers completeness and freedom. Colossians 2:8–10 calls us to walk faithfully in Christ while staying vigilant against the spiritual forces and false teachers that seek to lead us captive.

Key Lessons:
1. Every believer carries a responsibility to actively watch and resist false teaching—the two imperatives of discipleship are to walk in Christ and to see that no one misleads us.
2. False teaching always diminishes Christ by adding human tradition, secret knowledge, or man-made regulations to the finished work of the cross—yet Christ’s sacrifice accomplished everything needed for salvation.
3. Satan uses philosophy, empty deception, and the power of tradition as tools to keep people spiritually captive, but believers are no longer under his dominion—greater is He who is in us.
4. In Christ, believers have been made completely full—possessing all the fullness of life because Christ himself is fully God and fully man, the head over all rule and authority.
Application: We are called to hold firmly to the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ, refusing to let cultural traditions, religious systems, or complex man-made rules replace the straightforward gospel: Christ alone saves, justification is by faith alone, and we are complete in him.

Discussion Questions:
1. What traditions—religious, cultural, or personal—might subtly be competing with or diluting your devotion to Christ in your own life?
2. How does understanding that you are “complete in Christ” change the way you respond to religious systems or teachings that claim something more is needed for salvation?
3. In what practical ways can you apply the two imperatives of discipleship—walking in Christ and watching for deception—in your daily life this week?
Scripture Focus: Colossians 2:8–10 is the central passage, teaching that false philosophy, human tradition, and worldly principles stand in contrast to the fullness of deity dwelling in Christ bodily, and that believers are made complete in him who is head over all authority. Supporting passages include Matthew 19:21, Matthew 24:4–5, Mark 7:2–13, 2 Corinthians 2:11, 2 Corinthians 11:3, and 2 Corinthians 1:12.

Outline
Introduction

Okay, let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to Colossians 2.

We’ll be looking at verses 8 through 10 of Colossians 2.

Let’s pray first. Lord, this morning as we meet together around your word in a time of worship, a time of thinking of the great salvation you bestowed upon us, I pray Lord that would always be on our mind.

I pray Lord that you would remove from our mind the thoughts of the work of the week and what we’re anticipating for next week. I pray Lord that we would rest in this moment, focus our full attention upon your word and what it has for us today.

I pray that as we do that, Lord, you may make us disciples of Christ who know exactly what we ought to do and how we ought to live. I pray this in Christ’s name, amen.

The Emptiness of Religion vs. Completeness in Christ

King Colossians 2. As I’ve been going through Colossians, we need to consider that all modern religious counterparts contrasted with true biblical Christianity are really hollow and deceptive, and yet they appeal to many people.

I remember when I was growing up, I was pretty religious. My father and I were always involved somehow with the church, and at the same time as I was growing up, there was always this gnawing emptiness inside of me.

I was always wondering and had these questions that I didn’t seem to be getting answered. I felt like I was always wrestling inside of myself. I wasn’t necessarily looking for God, because I thought I was all right, I thought everything was fine, well and dandy, and I wasn’t really looking.

Then the Lord had to take me out of the state into another country, and all the distractions that I had were gone. At that point the Lord began to deal with me in a very specific way.

But I was still wrestling, I still felt empty. When I heard the gospel and I believed the gospel, one of the things I recognized going on inside me for the first time is that my wrestling stopped, my emptiness was gone, I felt complete, and I never felt that way before.

It just continued. The more I understood and studied the word of God and followed the Lord, the more settled I was in my heart than I ever have been in my life until this day.

I think that happens to all believers. We have this sense that we’re settled, we’re resting in Christ, and that is a good place to be. But when it comes to religious systems, they don’t offer that.

When religions are examined more closely, the common result of investigation will always be they hold too low a view of Christ. They can mention Christ, they can talk about Jesus, but somehow it’s Jesus plus something else.

Somehow Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross did not accomplish everything. There were some things still undone that we had to try to figure out and help God do.

Anything that deludes the promotion of the person of Christ—should it be called philosophical piracy? Because they’re trying to rob something. Once the Christian understands the wealth and riches they have in Christ, they are unwilling to exchange Christ for any other would-be man-made substitute.

“Once the Christian understands the wealth and riches they have in Christ, they are unwilling to exchange Christ for any other would-be man-made substitute.”

We cannot let anyone persuade us to believe that Jesus is anything less than the totality and comprehensively the perfect God-man. There is only one image of the invisible God: Jesus Christ the Lord, the only unique one.

We ought then to keep believing in him, to keep growing in your knowledge of him, to keep understanding him, and keep on holding to Christ, and keep on obeying him. As we love him, we learn to obey him.

Armed for Spiritual Conflict

Now, we all have already been armed in the scripture in Colossians for the conflict that we’re in, because we’re holding on to truth. We’re holding out the truth by our unifying love, that’s a weapon that we have, victory in warfare.

We’re keeping the treasure of truth about Christ, that’s a sharp weapon. We’re keeping firm on our faith in Christ, that’s another weapon for victory.

We’re thinking and we’re keeping, like last time, thankful. We have thankfulness, an overflowing thankfulness in the end of verse 7, because of what we understand we have in Christ, and we’re not willing at that point to let go of anything, any of our treasure.

Again, when we understand what has been done in Christ and how much God has done on our behalf, along with a validation of the transformational results of life carried out in Christ, that he’s making us new, we’re dropping off the old, we’re putting on the new. All one can do is overflow with thankfulness once they understand that.

“When we understand what has been done in Christ and how much God has done on our behalf, all one can do is overflow with thankfulness.”

What’s next after that? Well, in verse 6, if you notice in chapter 2, it says therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. This is what’s next: we’re called to a faithful Christian walk.

Jesus, through the transformation of truth, has made us new, so now we are to continue to walk in that truth. While we walk, there are commands to heed, there are warnings in order to avoid going the wrong way or listening to the wrong people, and there’s also more understanding of our complete salvation as we grow.

The Two Imperatives of Discipleship

So I want you to notice first of all this morning the command that is given in verse eight. It says this: “See to it that no one takes you captive.” Stop right there, that’s the command.

Now, the first imperative was found in verse seven, and the command is “walk in him.” That means to conduct one’s daily life in a behavior and a lifestyle that honors God, and this leads a Christian to a continued walk in the faith, the body of truth, doctrines that have been given to us in the Christian faith.

As we Christians walk this way, transformational changes happen in our life. It happens to our character, it happens in our obedience, it happens in our love, it happens in our maturity, it happens in our stability, and it becomes evident in our everyday life and the sphere in which the Christian life is carried out.

Walk in him, and this includes obedient cooperation with the truth of God’s word and a constant dependence on God. That’s where we walk as Christians.

“Walking in Christ includes obedient cooperation with the truth of God’s word and a constant dependence on God.”

The believers are to conduct their lives in accord with the apostles’ doctrine, not in accord with the enticing words of false teachers. Christians are to continue in the truth as it is in Jesus, and not be turned aside to novelties or any kind of things, moving from teaching this way or that way into falsehoods and by false teachers. We’re to watch out for that.

As we walk in Christ, that’s the first imperative, that’s the first command. But the second command goes with it in verse eight: “See to it.”

The imperatives put responsibility in the lap of those who have received the truth. We just don’t sit back on our laurels and do nothing. God says no, you’re responsible now. You are to cooperate with the spirit of God in your Christian walk. You are responsible.

The first imperative goes along with the second imperative to see, and that is to see that no one misleads you. Now these two imperatives have been called the imperatives of discipleship.

We find in the gospels a similar pattern. Just take your Bibles and turn over to Matthew 19.

Matthew 19 is when Jesus was dealing with the rich young ruler. I want you to notice what Jesus says to him here after he has this discussion with the rich young ruler.

The rich young ruler pretty much says, “I have kept these commandments.” And Jesus says to him in Matthew 19:21.

Jesus says to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.” So to walk in Christ is also the command to follow Christ, same thing.

Yet this rich young ruler was not complete, Jesus said, because his real treasure was on earth in his great possessions. That’s where his heart was, that’s what he loved. He did not love God, so his treasure was not in heaven.

He didn’t follow Christ. It’s a real genuine believers follow Christ whatever the cost. This rich young ruler was deceived by the earthly riches.

Do earthly riches have power to deceive you? Better believe they do, and they’re still very much on the top of the list of deceiving people. Because the rich ruler never followed Christ, he never saw the danger around him.

Now if you turn over to Matthew 24:4 and 5, Jesus also says something that is similar to Colossians. These are prophetic passages about living in the end time.

And Jesus said to them in verse 4 of Matthew 24: “See to it that no one misleads you.” That’s exactly the same thing as it says in Colossians.

And verse 5: “For many will come in my name saying I am the Christ, and will mislead many.” So this atmosphere in which people live, and even in the religious world, there is a great potential not to follow Christ and be deceived, and there’s also a potential not to see, and so therefore you get misled.

Walking and Watching: Commands for Every Believer

For the believer, walking and following is to be continuous, so is the seeing and the watching. No Christian is exempt from these two commands. We’re always doing this. This is a daily pattern that we have.

Every day we are walking in Christ and we are watching that we don’t get misled. Now why is that? Because we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death where there are many enemies.

“No Christian is exempt from these two commands. Every day we are walking in Christ and watching that we don’t get misled.”

We Christians are urged to walk in Christ and keep our eyes open so that we will not have a black hood pulled over our heads and pushed through into an unmarked van by hoodlums and whisked away to a dark unclosed location by the evil motives of our captors.

The Warning: Being Taken Captive

See that first, these first two imperatives, this command is to be lived out. But it leads to the warning, and I want you to notice in verse 8 there is a warning that goes along with those commands.

And if you notice it says see to it that no one takes you captive. Now as you read that, you find that the word captive means for somebody to carry you off, or it also can mean to carry off the spoils or captives off from a conflict in battle.

That when somebody went into a country and they won the battle, what do they do? They take the spoils and take them back home, right? Well, this is the picture here, that someone is coming into your life that will victimize you, to brainwash you into some kind of religious error, and then to take control of you and lead you astray.

In other words, they prey on you. Some have used this term in a sense of to kidnap someone away from the truth into error.

Now that doesn’t look like the enemy has good motives for us, so that’s why we have to be watching. We have to be watching.

“Someone is coming into your life that will kidnap you away from the truth into error—that’s why we have to be watching.”

As we stand and learn truth, it is like pirates who unsuspectingly move in on a friendly vessel in order to board and loot the treasure that is on board. See, treasure attracts pirates like honey attracts flies.

A Christian’s treasure is Christ, and when someone knows Christ, the enemy wants to diminish Christ in their lives and steal what they have.

The Tool of Empty Philosophy

Now how do these enemies actually try to capture its victims? Well, notice in verse eight of Colossians 2:8.

It says, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy.” That is really the search and love for wisdom, but this is not philosophy proper or good philosophy. This is philosophy that’s mixed with current human thought and pagan religious practices.

For the Colossians, there was this philosophical mindset that saw things in two contrasting principles. Because of these false teachers, on one side things were good, which was associated with the spiritual and the immaterial. But on the other side, things were evil, which was also always associated with the material universe.

In other words, matter was evil, your body was evil, anything you could touch was evil, and anything spiritual was good. They thought that God himself was perfectly good spiritually and totally disassociated from the material world.

So again, they had a wrong view of God. Because of that, they believed God did not create the material universe. He would not pollute himself by any such contact with material things, because material things were evil.

For them, the idea that God would become a man, God in human flesh, was unthinkable. That was heresy for them.

But the biblical teaching is still true in Colossians: Christ in you the hope of glory. That did not ring good with these philosophers.

These Gnostic philosophers saw the human being as trapped but having a spark of divine. For them, salvation meant release from bondage to all that was material, including one’s own body. So bodily resurrection would be a horrible thought to them, not at all desirable.

Colossians 1:27: “Christ in you the hope of glory.”

But all of that flies right into the true theology, right into biblical theology. So that’s what they did.

The Tool of Empty Deception

But then notice in verse 8, there’s another thing that actually goes along with that, and that is empty deception. The noun actually expands on the meaning of the first to mean hollow and deceptive philosophy. In other words, a philosophy that amounts to empty foolishness with no spiritually sound purpose.

One can light as many candles as they want to light. They can go into the church building as much as they want, the mosque, the temple, every day throughout their lives, and go through all the steps of belonging to a particular religious group. And all they do to earn favor with God amounts to nothing, no matter how sincere they are in carrying out their religious workout.

They cannot make themselves complete, they cannot wipe away their own sin, they cannot make themselves right with God, no matter how much they believe that they are able to do so. See, they are captives to a philosophical system that is battling for the mind of a person, because when all this is examined with biblical truth, they’re all found to be hollow and deceptive.

“They cannot make themselves complete, they cannot wipe away their own sin, they cannot make themselves right with God.”

Actually, this wisdom is demonic wisdom. It’s earthly, like James says, it’s earthly. But I want you to notice this is empty deception.

Notice the device that the false teacher uses. The device the false teacher uses in order to take advantage of someone is the device of deceit, empty deception.

If we search through scriptures, we get an eyeful and an earful of the evil nature of deceit. For example, in Psalm 119:118, it says you have rejected all those who wander from your statutes, for their deceitfulness is useless.

Where does deceitfulness come out? What’s the instrument of the deceitfulness? The instrument of deceitfulness is the tongue, it has to be. That’s why these false teachers are very skilled with language, they’re very skilled at getting to people.

What does it say in Romans 3:13? “Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips.”

This deceit comes from the heart. In Mark 7, it says from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murderers, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit.

How does God look at these things in scripture? He abhors it. Psalm 5:6 says you destroy those who speak falsehood, the Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

Now again, look back to Second Corinthians for a moment, and you see that false teachers are workers of deceit. In Second Corinthians 11:13, the Bible records this: “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as the apostles of Christ.”

You see that this tool in their toolbox is very, very effective, and they don’t come out and say well I’m being deceitful right now. We who have to decide and understand when we hear deceit.

Because in the end, like Second John tells us, who is going to be the main characteristic of the deceiver? It’s going to be the antichrist. Listen what it says: “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, this is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

So now we see who is behind the twisted doctrine of Christ. It’s Satan himself. Ephesians brings it out more clearly.

Paul is dealing with these false teachers, and he’s turning what they believe on its head. After Paul gets done with them, they really don’t know what to do, because the beliefs—we have to say well we can’t believe that anymore.

See, deceit seduces with promises of great reward but leads to hollow disappointments. That’s what the deceiver always does.

“Deceit seduces with promises of great reward but leads to hollow disappointments.”

The Colossian heresy taught that for salvation one needed to combine faith in Christ with secret knowledge and man-made regulations concerning such physical and external practices as circumcision, eating and drinking rules, harsh treatment of the body, and strict observance of the religious festivals.

These are some of the ways people are taken captive and held in spiritual bondage today. Religious systems are a manual, they are manufactured by the enemy himself to keep people in bondage, and they all do it sincerely. They all think they’re doing the right thing, but they’re actually being kept captive, and they’re kept there by deceit.

Satan’s Strategy and His Limits

But they don’t see the deceit. Don’t you get the sense that there is someone using these false teachers, whether they know it or not? Their strings are being pulled by the enemy, which is Satan himself.

What is Satan’s mission anyway? His goal is to destroy us because we bear the image of God. His goal is to overthrow the kingdom of God, to regain control of what he still possesses, and regain his lost territory in those that came to Christ.

His travelers and strategies are to entice us to sin, to hinder our spiritual disciplines, to misrepresent God and truth, and to keep us away from it. He’s also in opposition to our sanctification. He doesn’t want to see that we’re growing in Christ.

So he’s always reminding us of our past sin. “You filthy dirty rotten person, you’re not changed, you’re all the same corrupt person you’ve always been.”

You ever hear him speaking like that to you? For a moment you believe it, and then you have to run back to the cross. And you say, “You’re right, I am that, but I have Jesus Christ who died in my place.”

His devices use the same strategy but different particular tools in his toolbox. The Bible tells us in Second Corinthians 2:11, “So that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

That is the key: not to be ignorant of what he’s doing, of the thoughts and actions involved in deceiving someone. The church has to really know its enemy and not be ignorant of the unseen spiritual realm.

Remember, Satan is not all-knowing. He cannot be present anywhere. Satan is stronger than we are and is a formidable enemy, but he is not God, nor is he equivalent with God.

He is a created being over which God has full authority. God has him on a long leash. Scripture tells us, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

1 John 4:4: “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

Satan, in looking upon his various plans to carry out his dominion in the world, has his sights on anything and anyone who gets in his way. He targets anyone who honors God the most and is serious about serving him. Satan will struggle very unsympathetically with that person.

In other words, Satan views God’s people as hindrances in his reign. He contrives methods by which he may remove them out of his way or get them to work on his behalf.

He and his whole host of inferior spirits under his control are trying to get the faithful to fail. Therefore, all the servants of God will more or less come under the direct or indirect assaults of the enemy sometime in their Christian walk.

So what are Christians to do? According to First Peter, we are to resist him in the truth, in the body of truth that’s been given to us. We ought to be growing in that truth and becoming more skillful to use the sword of the spirit to resist his attempts to get you and me to doubt God’s word.

Don’t ever forget: believers are no longer under the dominion of Satan. He has no authority over us at all whatsoever. We are in Christ. You can’t touch us.

“Believers are no longer under the dominion of Satan. He has no authority over us at all whatsoever. We are in Christ.”

He hates that. He wants his treasure back, but he can’t have it because God has us. But the battle is still going on, and that’s the point of Colossians.

The Tool of Human Tradition

Here is another method that he uses to capture us. In Colossians 2:8, not only was the first one that of you and I being deceived by empty philosophy, but here a second one would be the false teacher’s manipulation according to the traditions of men.

As I came to this passage of scripture, I asked myself, how powerful is tradition? Family traditions, cultural traditions, what about religious traditions?

They are probably one of the most enslaving things that we could ever have going on in our life. Because when I became a Christian, I was the first Christian in my family on my mother’s side and my father’s side. My whole family exploded against me.

And for what reason? You’re leaving the tradition of our religion. That was the main reason, and they were furious. I endured that for many, many years.

I found back then that tradition is very powerful, and it is definitely a tool in Satan’s toolbox. I thought to myself, is there any place in scripture that talks about tradition? Yes, there is. I’d like you to turn there, Mark 7:2-13.

Jesus Confronts Tradition in Mark 7

Here’s a controversy that surrounded the disciples of Christ when confronted by the scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes and the Pharisees were the religious leaders of the day, and they were very steeped in tradition.

The religious leaders brought a charge against Jesus’ disciples. This delegation of religious leaders came to accuse Jesus. We’re going to look at verse two of chapter seven in a minute, and it didn’t take very long for them to find something.

The first cause of confronting Jesus is a very serious violation of the traditions of the elders. They caught certain of Jesus’ disciples eating with common hands that were unwashed.

However, they were not interested at all in hygiene and hygienic purity. They were actually interested in ceremonial cleanliness. Notice in Mark 7:2, it says, “And had seen some of his disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is unwashed.”

“For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders.” In verse 4, “And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves, and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as washings of cups and pitchers and copper pots.”

Now there was a sense in the minds of the people that unless you are clean you cannot be in the presence of a perfect and holy God. What they did not grasp, though, was the source of the defilement and uncleanness.

It wasn’t washing their hands. The source of the defilement, as we read further on in Matthew 7, was their own heart. That’s what was polluted.

Notice in verse three again, just to highlight this. It says, “For the Pharisees and for all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders.” Jesus and his disciples did not perform this ritual.

Keep in mind that the Pharisees and scribes believed not to do this was considered to be unclean in the sight of God. The Pharisees and the scribes were so adamant about this that they personally held Jesus responsible for not teaching his disciples the tradition of the elders or the ancients.

If you look at their impassioned question in Mark 7:5, it says, “The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?”

They were actually accusing Jesus’ disciples of being defiled because of unwashed hands, and therefore unclean in the sight of God. Now there’s one important thing that escaped the Pharisees and scribes’ attention.

The levitical law required no such washing. This is the tradition of men. They were spending so much time trying to build a fence around Scripture so they would not break it, it actually moved them farther away from the word of God, which in turn led them into the sin of hypocrisy and false worship.

“Building a fence around Scripture to avoid breaking it actually moved them farther from God’s word, leading to hypocrisy and false worship.”

Jesus quickly assessed and identified the real spiritual state of these legalistic-minded Pharisees and scribes. Jesus turned the tables on this delegation and responded to their question by saying this to them in Mark 7:6.

“Hey, Isaiah the prophet spoke about you guys. This is what he said.” He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you,” citing Isaiah 29:13.

“Because this people draw near with their words and honor me with their lip service, but they removed their hearts far from me, and their reverence for me consists of tradition learned by rote.”

Did he put his finger on the problem? Isaiah the prophet was describing the shallow religious lives of the eighth century Jewish people, and they were just going through the motions by rote. That’s what the deception is about—tradition.

It is rote. It’s passed on from one family to the next family, whether it’s religious or not. The families depend on you to keep the traditions.

Lip Service Without Heart

What does Jesus do? He counter charges them, and he says you guys are wrong on two occasions. He says in verse 6, you give me lip service without heart. That’s hypocrisy.

Their lips give the external impression of devotion, but their hearts and lives are a great distance from God. In other words, the basic meaning of the hypocrite is someone who answers to a set conversation, an actor, a stage person, somebody who has a script.

It’s great to say stuff when you’re watching a movie and they said, “Man, that guy really was a good saying,” but it’s all scripted, right? They wrote it out before and you just said it.

Well, life’s not scripted. It’s not scripted. So they have lip service without heart. That’s religion.

See, the moment the heart keeps far from God, it also does something else. It leaves God’s word. And if you notice in Mark 7:7-8, Jesus accuses them secondly of worship without the word of God.

Notice what it says in verse 7: “But in vain they do worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men, neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

So tradition is a very powerful thing that Satan uses to keep people captive. I got rescued from it, many of you got rescued from it. We cannot go back to it. We cannot go back that way.

“Tradition is a very powerful thing that Satan uses to keep people captive. We got rescued from it—we cannot go back.”

When somebody gets rescued, the whole book of Hebrews is about rescuing Jews from Judaism and coming all the way over to Christ. And once they get there, don’t go back, don’t look back, don’t trample underfoot the Son of God, because judgment is next. Don’t do that.

So I can’t go back to what I did before. They were substituting men’s rules, human ingenuity, for God’s laws. In the end, they are not listening to God or accepting his word or following his voice.

Tradition Invalidates God’s Word

Notice verse 13 of Mark 7. Jesus exposes the damage done by such self-invented human tradition. A particular term is used in verse 13, and notice what it says: “thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down, and you do many things such as that.”

The Greek word for invalidating really means to make null, to cancel. Actually, it means to leave without authority. Jesus is saying you guys have abolished the authority of not only the fifth commandment—and the fifth commandment is to obey your parents because of the context before that—but you abandon the authority of the word of God by your traditions.

You invalidate the word of God. True religion can never be the product of man’s mind. True religion should not be mistaken for mere outward observance and religious acts, as if that is what God wants in our life.

“True religion can never be the product of man’s mind. The real deception is making man-made rules appear to be teaching from God’s word.”

The real deception is making man-made rules appear to be teaching from God’s word. That’s the deception of tradition.

Does Satan still use that today? You better believe he uses it. He’s behind and works in most religious systems—I would say in all of them.

Not the aberrant ones, the ones that everybody will say, “Oh, that’s a cult, that’s a given.” I’m talking about the ones who are saying they believe these things, but they do not really believe these things because it’s replaced by a bunch of men’s stuff.

The Elementary Principles of the World

And then go back to Colossians, and I want you to notice there is in this false manipulation by the false teachers, there’s another thing that is used. The first one is according to man’s traditions in verse eight.

But also in the latter part of verse eight, it says according to the elementary principles of the world. I believe these elementary principles really are connected to these false teachers’ use of the worship of angels.

That most likely this is spiritual forces that have significant influence over the affairs of day-to-day experiences and existence of people. Demons are very much active in that way.

In other words, the false teachers are saying to them, listen, you should practice the way of life laid out by these teachers which have special knowledge. And what ways were there?

The way of a life stress that stress asceticism and rigid regulations and abstinence and self-punishment, and liberation from evil and fleshly, the fleshly body by whatever you want to do with it. And then angelic intermediaries were honored by ritual and worship.

This was the way that they said to live, but it is the way of not only empty deception, but it is the way of the elementary principles of the world, just ritualistic. It insisted that the Colossians should observe religious days and seasons.

It was also worldly philosophy, and in the sense it was mystical. The cult of angel worship indulged the praise of visions only understood by a prolonged thought process by the false teachers, they had this super knowledge. And it was also ascetic, rigid regulations of abstinence and self-punishment.

So the problem, what tradition and what Satan uses with the elementary principles of the world, trying to control people, is this: that it cannot control the most basic desires we have. In other words, it cannot stop people from sinning.

If you notice in Colossians 2:23, it says this: are matters which have to be sure the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value against fleshly indulgences.

Colossians 2:23: “They are of no value against fleshly indulgences.”

So in other words, when somebody came to Christ, one of the things they noticed is they were having victory over their sin. They were dropping off their sins, their thoughts were changing to become more holy and godly, and they were realizing their sins more and they were leaving them and following Christ.

But these false teachers, there was just sin multiplying within these people, because they had no power at all whatsoever over the flesh.

See, we should always be warned against things like astrology, which is on the rise in the United States, or horoscopes, which is also on the rise, tarot cards, Ouija boards, spiritual spear tests, psychic readers, and even yoga that has been introduced to a large portion of Christianity.

That has been something that is subtle and no big deal, but all those yoga moves are worshiping gods, and people don’t realize that. We can’t have any of that.

Exercising is one thing, but when you’re connected with something that has a history of things that are connected to false worship, we have to stay away from stuff like that.

So whether if a person is religious in practice, religious in attitude, religious in speech, religious in precept, religious in ceremony, they can be all those things, and they can all give an appearance of, wow, that person is religious and that person is wise. But the problem is, they’re alien from the grace of God.

False Teaching vs. the Simplicity of the Gospel

Only a Christian knows the grace of God. False teachers spiritually and drastically distort true biblical doctrine and the Christian way of living. Specifically, it was rooted in the doctrine that robbed Jesus of his central place.

What is the gross error of false teachers? Waltz mentioned back in 2 Corinthians 2:8. Notice what it says at the end of the verse: it says they do all these things rather than according to Christ. There it is.

They carry out their teachings according to humanly engineered traditions and the basic worldly, man-made principles of the world. Here’s the huge mistake: rather than according to Christ.

Many religious systems and cultic systems are very complicated. Try asking somebody to give you in a nutshell what the main premise of their religion is—they can’t do it. Why? It is so complicated.

These systems are always very complicated. When you put them alongside the gospel, I can tell somebody in just a minute why I believe what I believe.

There’s much more that goes into it, but here’s why: I can’t save myself. Christ saved me. Christ granted me faith and repentance to believe in him. I am saved and forgiven because of what he did, not what I’ve done.

He’s given me eternal life and he’s made me right with him. That’s it. That’s the premise that we have. That’s what we stand upon.

The old message of the gospel has never changed and will never change. The only way to be saved and forgiven is to believe the message, to believe on the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Justification is by faith only. Our works will never save us. All our good deeds are not enough to save us. They never will be enough.

We must be saved and we must live our life as it says in our text, according to Christ. False teaching is complex and often morphs and changes.

We believe that last year, we don’t believe that this year. Why? Because the culture is dictating what they believe in many cases.

True sound biblical teaching does not change. When learned and followed, it leads to simplicity, godliness, godly sincerity, and devotion in Christ. That’s what it leads to. That’s how you’re following the truth.

“True sound biblical teaching does not change—when learned and followed it leads to simplicity, godliness, and devotion in Christ.”

Are there any scriptures that back that up? Yes, there are two, and I’d like to turn there: 2 Corinthians 1:12.

In Corinthians here, we see that Paul is saying to them in 2 Corinthians 1:12: “For our proud confidence is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially towards you.” So holiness and godly sincerity in that passage.

And then 2 Corinthians 11:3, he says this: “But I am afraid, I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

See, that’s what Satan is trying to do. He’s trying to pull you away from the end results of walking with Christ, and that’s simply simplicity. It’s a simple Christian life. God wants us to live a simple life with sincerity and devotion to Christ, and that’s where it all leads.

Three Reasons to Resist False Teachers

That’s what real doctrine leads to. We must beware of these false teachers and their teaching for three reasons, and then we’re done this morning.

Reason 1: The Fullness of Deity in Christ

Look back at Colossians 2:9. This shows us it leads to the commands, leads to walking properly in Christ, leads to the warning, which leads to us understanding more of the completeness not only of Christ but of our life.

Notice what it says in verse nine: “For in him all the fullness of deity dwells. And notice, in bodily form.”

Why do you think he put that there? Because he’s rubbing it right in the face of the false teachers, saying no, Christ, God came in bodily form in the flesh, so you’re wrong.

Colossians 2:9: “In him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.”

Jesus shares fully in the divine essence along with the Father and the Holy Spirit as one true God. That’s what the scriptures teach us.

In fact, what’s the proof of Jesus’ humanity? Jesus began life as a baby, he grew up and developed. Jesus had emotions, a normal appetite, grew tired and weary, he looked like a Jewish man.

Jesus suffered and died, he rose from the dead in his human glorified body. He is seated at the right hand of the Father in his glorified body, and he is coming again in his glorified body.

His feet are going to touch the Mount of Olives, and he is going to come to this earth and rule and reign. So his humanity was not just a covering for his deity; he was fully man, but he’s also full of God.

The Old Testament tells us that he’s the Messiah in his divine personage. Christ has the attributes of deity: he has eternality, he has omniscience, he has omnipresence, he has omnipotence, he has immutability.

Christ has the office of deity: he’s the creator and he’s the upholder of that creation. That’s Colossians 1. And Christ has the prerogatives of deity: he is able to forgive sins and to raise the dead and to execute judgment.

You remember what happened in the New Testament when Jesus forgave sins? What do they want to do to him? Stone him to death. Why? Because they knew that was a claim to deity.

He has and is absolute and perfect God. So what is the first reason that we’re to be aware of the false teachers? Because of what is true in Christ: that he is the God-man.

Reason 2: The Believer’s Completeness in Christ

Secondly, because of what is true of the followers of Christ, that means the completeness, the Christian’s completeness in Christ. If you notice back to Colossians 2:10, it says something very important for you and me.

It says, “In him you have been made complete.” You have been made complete.

So it follows logically that if Christ has all the fullness of deity and Christians have Christ in them, then they possess fullness of life. Because believers have been filled in him, they have full salvific acceptance that goes with all the benefits that come afterwards.

“You have been made complete. If Christ has all the fullness of deity and Christians have Christ in them, they possess fullness of life.”

Reason 3: The Supreme Authority of Christ

Being a Christian, we’re really privileged to be believers, we really are. And then one last thing, a third reason not to believe these false teachers.

It’s verse number 10. It says because of the comprehensive, comprehensive authority of Christ. He is the head over all rule and authority.

In other words, if you just made a mistake and think Jesus was just a man, and you didn’t get that he was man and God, and somehow mixed that up, no, let me just remind you that he is the head over all rule and authority. That’s in all the universe, that’s who he is, and make no mistake, he’s our God.

So you realize that Satan has no hold on us. We have nothing to fear, nothing else needs to be done. Christ has done it all. We are complete in Christ, and if that doesn’t give you assurance as a believer, I can’t help you, but it sure does to me, and I thank the Lord for it, amen.

“Satan has no hold on us, we have nothing to fear, nothing else needs to be done. Christ has done it all. We are complete in Christ.”

Let’s pray. Lord, thank you this morning for your word. It again solidifies our faith, gives us confidence in the work that you have accomplished, helps us to follow you more definitely, helps us to be watchful of all the things that are flying around us that have to do with spiritual things and religious things.

Lord, you give us the ability to stand on the truth of God’s word, firm, fully armed, knowing that you are complete in yourself, and because we’re in you we are complete. Nobody, no one, no power, no demon can take that from us. I thank you for it, and I pray in Christ’s name, amen.

Let’s stand together.
March 26, 2023
Laboring for Christ’s Supremacy: The Conflict, Part 3
In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij examines and preaches through Colossians 2:4-7.

Auto Transcript

Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

We are reminded that Christianity stands apart from every other religion because salvation is not earned but freely given through Christ alone. This passage from Colossians 2:4-7 calls us to stand firm against deception, walk faithfully in Christ, and overflow with gratitude as the natural fruit of a healthy, rooted faith.

Key Lessons:
1. Christianity is uniquely distinct from all other religions: every other system says ‘do,’ but God’s Word says ‘done’ — salvation is accomplished by Christ, not earned by us.
2. Unity in love, the treasure of truth in Christ, and firmness in faith are our three primary weapons against false teaching and spiritual deception.
3. A maturing Christian life is pictured in three metaphors: a deeply rooted plant, a building on a solid foundation, and a legally confirmed faith — all growing ‘in him.’
4. Overflowing thankfulness is not optional sentiment but a measurable sign of spiritual health; ingratitude and grumbling are signs of false teaching’s influence or spiritual drift.
Application: We are called to walk daily in Christ — rooted deeply in him, growing strong in doctrine, and overflowing with thanksgiving so visibly that it opens doors to share the gospel with those around us.

Discussion Questions:
1. In what areas of your life are you most tempted to drift from sound doctrine, and what ‘weapons’ from this passage can you use to stand firm?
2. How does understanding what you have in Christ — his wisdom, knowledge, and complete salvation — produce genuine thankfulness rather than grumbling?
3. If overflowing gratitude is a sign of spiritual health, what does your current level of thankfulness reveal about your walk with Christ?
Scripture Focus: Colossians 2:4-7 — Paul’s warning against deceptive arguments and his call to walk in Christ, rooted, built up, established, and overflowing with gratitude. Supporting passages include Genesis 3:1-4 (Satan’s twisting of truth), Ephesians 2:19-20 (foundation of the apostles and Christ), and multiple thanksgiving passages throughout Colossians.

Outline
Introduction

Well, I do appreciate all the work people put in to make Sunday happen, not only the praise teams, but people doing the nursery, the sound booth, the greeters, and everyone else. The food is a real blessing that people help out to provide.

I just want to thank all the workers that serve the Lord. It’s a great honor to me to see that all work out.

This morning, let’s turn to Colossians 2. We’re still looking at laboring for the supremacy of Christ and looking at the conflict. As you turn there, let me have a word of prayer.

Lord, this morning I thank you for the word of God. I thank you, Lord, that once we understand what you have done and what we have, the only thing we could do is thank you. That’s it—not complain, not grumble, but just be thankful.

I pray this passage of scripture will help us to understand that this morning, and that your honor and glory and the name of Christ will be exalted to his supreme place where he belongs, because that’s where scripture puts him.

Lord, I pray that we would humble ourselves under his mighty hand, that you may use us when you see fit to do your will and work. I pray this in Christ’s name, amen.

Christianity Is Uniquely Different

It has been said that all religions are the same and only seemingly different. In truth, Christianity is profoundly different from every other religion, because every other religion basically says you can save yourself.

However else they go about it, that’s really what they all conclude. Do enough good deeds, please a God or gods or a force or yourself, and you can earn salvation.

The Bible, though, emphatically teaches the opposite. No one can earn salvation, because God’s standard is perfection. Even our good works are saturated with our sin.

Our motives and our thoughts are not perfectly pure and exalting God. In fact, Isaiah says they’re filthy rags before a holy God. Every person has fallen short of God’s standard of perfection.

Also, we cannot fathom the holiness, justice, and infinite nature of God we have sinned against. We really can’t comprehend the seriousness of our sin.

For example, if you lie to a child, there are little consequences. If you lie to your spouse, the consequences increase. If you lie to the government, jail awaits.

Same sin, different consequences, because of whom the sin is committed against. Like Adam and Eve, just one sin justifies our separation from a perfect God who won’t tolerate sin at all in his holy presence.

All other religions are man trying to grasp that truth and salvation. However, Jesus says, “I am the way and I am the truth and I am the life. No one goes to the Father but through me.”

Jesus, the last Adam, lived a perfect life and died on the cross to pay a perfect, infinite sacrifice that we could have never paid. In doing so, he defeated Satan and death and rose from the grave.

No other religion has an empty tomb. None. Christianity isn’t like other religions. Man’s word and religion say do. God’s word says done.

“No other religion has an empty tomb. None. Man’s word says do. God’s word says done.”

In Christ, there are really only two religions in the world, if you want to categorize it like that. There’s the religion of works—I do this to earn my salvation—and then there’s the religion of free grace, what God has done to save me.

I believe that by faith, trusting and repenting of my sin, and trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

The Conflict Christians Face

We will experience conflict as Christians because we are Christians. This conflict will be in the area of doctrine and practice. Doctrine and practice go together; you can’t have one without the other.

In real salvation, we will learn what is true and what is not true. The Lord wants you to have assurance that Christ is God and he is sufficient to completely save.

“The Lord wants you to have assurance that Christ is sufficient to completely save.”

He wants you to have assurance of your salvation in Christ. He wants you to be assured that Jesus will completely and totally take care of you now and forever.

He wants you to know the road map to a stable, healthy, and thankful Christian life.

Review: Warfare, Welfare, and Wealth in Christ

Now, so far in our text in chapter 2, we have looked at the warfare. If you notice in verse 1, it says, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face.”

The Apostle Paul is sharing with us the struggle that he had within his own heart for people he never met. But these Jews and Gentiles converts are now in Christ, so he struggled for them in prayer, so that they would be firm in their faith.

What was he wrestling with? He was wrestling with things that will hinder reaching the goal to be firmly established in the faith and to remain steadfast the whole of one’s Christian life.

Already we know that the most effective antidote to any heresy is the proclamation of Christ himself, the cogent proof of Christ’s absolute supremacy and exclusivity. There’s no other way. Truth is worth fighting for, no matter what cost or how much it would make us unpopular.

“The most effective antidote to any heresy is the proclamation of Christ himself and his absolute supremacy.”

The Apostle Paul first of all is deeply concerned with these people that he is writing to. Secondly, we saw the welfare that Paul had for them.

It says in verse 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love. This encouragement will not come naturally from within them, but must come outside of themselves.

Here the encouragement is coming from the Apostle Paul along with his writing ministry, that will encourage them. The Holy Spirit of God now that indwells them will encourage them further in the faith.

This knitting together is the sphere of love. It says further in verse 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love.

The church body is interlocked like a knitted blanket. How does that happen? Because God brings together the most divided people groups from the most diverse backgrounds and world views, and brings them into the church and makes them one united body.

Why? Because all ethnic groups from all tribes and nations become one person when they come to Christ in repentance and faith.

The Colossians and the Laodicean congregations, comprised of Jews and Gentiles, had already been demonstrating Christian love, which is very unusual for people so completely different.

That’s why Papyrus writes back, or tells Paul in his report, listen, these people right there that got saved and believed the gospel. He informed them that there had been love in the spirit, there was love abounding in those congregations.

Love is always an overwhelming adoration for the Lord Jesus Christ, and it always produces a genuine well-being of others, and gives real evidence of a real conversion.

It is worth fighting for the unity of believers, which is knit together in love, because love is a weapon for victory that we may be strong together in warfare.

This love and the goals of being rooted and grounded in the faith is also keeping what we have, not giving it away.

Verse 2 says, “and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding.” Scripture is not referring to physical material wealth, it is referring to the wealth and riches we have as believers in Christ.

This consists of conviction of the assured understanding and knowledge of God’s mystery. What is that mystery that was kept mystery in the past but now unveiled?

Well, we already saw it. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ alone is the source of every conceivable bit of spiritual knowledge worth keeping and living for.

Having that, all the barriers are down. Whether you come from a Jewish background or a gentile, saints alike are fellow heirs now in Christ, and because the spirit of God is in them.

Verse 2 and 3 further says, “in whom are hidden all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge.” It is in Christ that all the treasure of divine wisdom and knowledge have been stored up, in hiding formally, but now displayed to those who have come to know Christ Jesus.

Christ alone is the source of scriptural knowledge worth having and fighting to keep. This knowledge is the greatest wealth that we’ll ever obtain or have on this side of eternity.

I said last time, that’s a christological high point. No one could take that away from us, but in some way we can walk away from it or give it away.

Christ is our treasure, and anyone who comes to know Jesus Christ by faith can draw from his store of wisdom and knowledge that has been given to us. It is worth fighting for the treasure of truth, because the truth about Christ is a sharp weapon for victory. Holding to it will make us mighty in warfare.

“It is worth fighting for the treasure of truth, because the truth about Christ is a sharp weapon for victory.”

Our Weapons for Battle

What do we have? We have unity, unifying love, as a weapon for victory in warfare. We have keeping the treasure of truth about Christ, which is also a weapon for victory. And they also give us discernment, which gives us protection.

Protection from what? From false teaching.

So now we are armed for battle. Once we are confident we have this treasure in Christ, once we have this high Christology, the benefits of wisdom and knowledge have a direct practical purpose for us.

And what is that? That’s where we’re looking at today, in verses 4 to 7.

The Warning: Don’t Be Deceived

Verse number four, the warning. The unity of doctrine, the unity of love, the treasure of Christ as our possessions will keep you and me from being deceived.

Here’s an exhortative warning. Notice in verse 4, I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.

All that went before so you and I can stand strong. We’re ready for warfare. Now bring it on, because I know the truth, I know who my savior is, I know the wealth I have, and I’m not giving that away for no one.

“I know the truth, I know who my savior is, I know the wealth I have, and I’m not giving that away.”

The word here, delude, in this context has the meaning of twisting the truth or enticing into error, to deceive by false reasoning or drawing erroneous conclusions. Arguments that sound reasonable, or even popular rhetoric, get people to accept conclusions about religion and spiritual truth that are absolutely wrong, because they have nothing to test it with. They have to test it with the word of God.

There are many places today where falsehood and disinformation are being disseminated. You have all kinds of media outlets: YouTube, Twitter, podcasts, Facebook, multimedia presentations, news networks, and yes, even churches.

Satan’s Method: Twisting the Truth

See, Satan’s arguments sound plausible, just what he presented to Eve. They convince someone against what has already been said and revealed by God.

Satan’s old method is this: “Has God really said that?” That’s his twist of truth. In fact, that’s what it says in Genesis 3:1.

Listen to what it says: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden?’”

Now what’s amazing about that is the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but from the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God says you shall not eat from it or touch it or you will die.”

She had it right. But then it says this in verse 4: “And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will surely not die.’”

What is he doing? He’s casting doubt on what truth. That’s all it takes—just a little twist, a little bit of truth with some deception and lies, and that’s it.

If you mix deception with truth, it’s no longer truth. It just takes a small twist of the truth in order to distort what God had said and deceive someone.

“If you mix deception with truth, it’s no longer truth. It just takes a small twist to distort what God has said.”

False Teaching in Colossae

False teachers’ main flaw was their failure to rightly exalt Christ and submit him as the only savior and Lord. The false teacher here in the Colossian church and the Laodicean church was eloquent and persuasive, with an outward form of humility and an overdose of confused doctrine.

As summarized in Colossians already, what was that doctrine? That Christ is just one of a long line of angelic mediators, that all matter is evil, that human wisdom is exalted, Judaism is carried over with its regulations and its rules, angelic powers are revered above or equal to Christ, and there is a contempt for the physical body, and then liberty to do what you want with your body anytime you want to do it.

However, there can be no compromise with error in doctrine or in practice, which is what scripture opposes. This kind of hypnotic persuasive rhetoric is used to talk someone into something.

“There can be no compromise with error in doctrine or in practice.”

Have you ever had somebody talk you into something that you really didn’t want? I think we all have, right? Those people who can really put sentences together and just get you in and then boom, close the deal.

This oratory is used by skeptics and false teachers to deceive and to divide. Unity, division, and discouragement are always fertile ground for deception.

Paul was concerned that the gospel seed sown would not be smothered by weeds of doubt in the congregation, or quarreling, or people’s philosophies. It becomes necessary for Christians to pull out the weeds of human intellectualism in order to protect the faith of the saints.

It was Paul telling young Timothy, where he warns him in 1 Timothy 1:3-4: “As I urge you upon my departure to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus, so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.”

Magnetic personalities, excellent logic, fluent oratory, hypnotic persuasion, and fine speech might be all good in and of themselves, but they become the devil’s tools when they are used by the ignorant and the skeptic and the false teacher.

But I know this: when you’re growing strong in your heart about truth, settled in Christ, confident about Christ and your salvation, firm in Christ, then what are you going to do next? You keep walking. You keep walking in Christ.

That brings me to the fourth thing after warning, which is going to take some time to develop in our passage as we go on. That is walking. In other words, take what you now know and live it every day in your life. That’s what we’re to do.

You can never separate doctrine from what you do, what you say, what you think. It all goes together, because these things are going to change you and make you different, make you more like the Lord.

Rejoicing in Their Faithful Walk

What does he do? He gives an exhortative rejoicing because of their walking. Notice what it says in verse 5: “For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit.”

He says this for this reason: he was with them in the struggle of their Christian experience. Through the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul is so bound to these believers—the Colossian and Laodicean congregations—that he gives them a warning as though he was with them.

His concern was that he was with them. But what does he say to them after all he has said? There is a ground for rejoicing.

Why is there ground for rejoicing? Look what it says in verse 5: “Rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.”

Why did he say that? Because the believers had not succumbed to the onslaught of error. They did not listen to the false teacher. These saints did not exchange Christ for a false teacher’s worthless error. That’s grounds for rejoicing.

“These saints did not exchange Christ for a false teacher’s worthless error. That’s grounds for rejoicing.”

When somebody is walking in the faith, they’re faithful in the faith, they’re growing in their knowledge of their conversion to Christ. The faith that these believers here were fortified in advance against the persistence of the errorists.

Standing Firm Like Soldiers

The victory in a fight worth fighting is displayed how? Notice what it says: in their good discipline. In other words, they’re orderly faith. The picture here is a line of soldiers who have not broken rank. That means their strength and unity.

There is a front of believers that are not moving. Throw anything at us as a group of believers and we’re not moving. Why? We know the truth, that’s why.

He rejoices also in their firm faith. He says by their stability and steadfastness and firmness—in the truth that produces faith. In other words, they understood the wealth and riches they had in Jesus Christ and were unwilling to exchange a real diamond, Christ, for a substitute fake cubic zirconia.

A cubic zirconia appears like a diamond, but it is very different in its mineral structure. A vast amount of jewelry is actually man-made in a lab. In other words, a fake diamond.

We can’t let anybody persuade us to believe that Jesus is anything less than the totally and comprehensively perfect God-man. There is only one image of the invisible God: Jesus Christ, the Lord and only unique one.

“We can’t let anybody persuade us to believe that Jesus is anything less than the totally perfect God-man.”

Knowing that, we have to keep believing in him, keep growing in your knowledge and understanding of him, keep holding onto Christ, and keep obeying him in the good works that he has ordained for you.

It is worth fighting for, keeping firm and stable in our faith in Christ, because our firmness will be another weapon for strength and victory. Unifying love is a weapon in victory in warfare. Keeping the treasure of truth about Christ is a sharp weapon for victory in warfare. Firmness in our faith in Christ is a weapon for victory.

“Firmness in our faith in Christ is a weapon for victory. Unifying love is a weapon. The treasure of truth is a weapon.”

Walking in Christ: The Command

All right, we have our weapons to fight. Now what are we to do? We’re to continually walk faithfully in Christ. And that’s what he says in verse 6.

Look what it says, Colossians 2:6: “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus, so walk in him.” You got that? So walk in him.

The “therefore” signals a logical connection to what was just said and builds on it and moves it forward. In view of their good discipline and stability, he is rejoicing that they did not get duped by the false teachers. They’re standing strong in truth, they are standing in doctrine.

When did that start? You received Jesus through the transmission of truth. It has to start in real conversion. You have to know that you’re really saved, that you really receive this, that it’s yours.

But you also have to know something else. Because you receive Jesus Christ and the Spirit’s in you, you are changing. God is changing you.

If you notice something else in our passage, it says, “Therefore as you have received Jesus Christ, Jesus the Lord.” It’s really one of the only times it’s mentioned like that in Scripture, because it mentions Jesus or Christ being the Messiah.

Jesus is his personal name, which means Savior, and Lord is his station and supremacy as Lord. All of those are a reality to real believers. This unique expression really is never fashioned again in this way in the New Testament. It stresses the uniqueness and supremacy of Christ.

Also, if you notice in verse 6, it says, “So walk in him.” That is the first imperative in our text. That’s a command, meaning how one conducts one’s daily life in behavior and lifestyle.

The believers are to conduct their lives in accord with apostolic doctrine, not in accord with the enticing words of false teachers. There’s no new teaching.

“Believers are to conduct their lives in accord with apostolic doctrine, not the enticing words of false teachers.”

If you go look for something, you’ll find something, but it’s not new. God has not added or taken away from the word of God. We have the full revelation of God in our hands, special revelation. We can’t add to it, we can’t take away from it.

In fact, three times in the Bible it warns people: don’t add anything to it, don’t take anything away from it. It is dangerous to do that.

Christians are to continue in the truth as it is in Jesus and not to be turned aside by novelties, new things popping up, new theories popping up, and by falsehoods or by even false teachers with a slick tongue.

Notice also the sphere in which the Christian life is to be carried out. It says that we are to walk in him. That is a term and phrase that is used often already in Colossians. It includes obedient cooperation with the truth of God’s word and a constant dependence upon God.

The Significance of ‘In Him’

Just let me mention to you that this phrase, “in him,” is so significant in the book of Colossians. It says in Colossians 1:16, “In him all things were created.” Verse 17, “In him all things hold together.” Verse 19, “In him all divine fullness dwells.”

In chapter 2, verse 10, it then says this: “In him you have been made complete.” In verse 11, “In him you were circumcised,” and we’re going to deal with that next time. Verse 12, “You were buried and raised with him, you were made alive together with him.”

And then in verse 15 of chapter 2, all demonic powers have been defeated in him. That’s where we’ll live. We’re to live in Christ, in the sphere of Christ.

This Christo-centric orientation of life is now available to all Christians, and the Christian is now able and now responsible to live it.

“All demonic powers have been defeated in him. That’s where we’ll live — in the sphere of Christ.”

Four Pictures of a Developing Christian Life

We are not only called to live a faithful Christian walk, we are also called to have a healthy and thankful Christian walk. If you notice in verse 7, this is where he gives us four pictures he uses to modify the imperative walk. It’s a picture of a developing Christian life.

Rooted: The Horticultural Metaphor

And here’s the first picture in Colossians 2:7. It says, “having been firmly rooted.” That’s a horticultural metaphor. It’s talking about a spiritual plant, where the rooting of faith meant an organic union with Christ, because Christ is the life of the plant.

These roots of your salvation have gone down deep and are now receiving from the soil all the spiritual nutrients vital for spiritual life and health.

What is so interesting in verse seven is that these roots have been sent down deep, and it’s used in the passive voice. That means God is the active agent. He’s the one causing this to happen in our life.

So in other words, if you’re really a believer, it will happen. If you are a professed believer but you’re not concerned about anything else past that, and nothing happens in your life, there’s no change in your life, then God’s not causing you to grow.

Like a plant that has deep roots in the ground, when a plant has deep roots and it’s getting nourishment from that ground, what’s going to happen to that plant? It’s going to be healthy. It’s going to be giving fruit, whatever that plant is. It’s going to have nice leaves. It’s going to be giving everything that is needed.

That’s the same thing with you and me. If our roots go down deep in our salvation with Christ and we are walking in him, we will become like Christ.

“If our roots go down deep in our salvation with Christ and we are walking in him, we will become like Christ.”

Ephesians uses this word “rooted” in a different way, but a similar metaphor. He says, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you being rooted and grounded in love,” and there it comes up again, “and that you may comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

There it is—this whole view of being filled up, having all you need to grow. So we have a rooted plant that is growing. That’s the first metaphor picture of the Christian developing life.

Built Up: The Architectural Metaphor

And the second one is in verse 7 too. It says, “Having been firmly rooted, and now being built up in him.” There it is, in him again.

This building is pictured with a firm and solid foundation. Remember this: a building’s most important part of the structure is the foundation. This indicates that the Christian life is durable and has stability and can withstand the stresses and strains of life itself.

Here is this picture again of the believer—they’re a growing building. But what is the foundation that has been laid to give our building durability?

Well, Ephesians tells us this. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:19: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the cornerstone.”

That’s what we are building upon. Christ is the binding force of the building. Paul uses a present tense, meaning the picture is an ongoing construction project.

Isn’t your life an ongoing construction project? That’s what a believer is. You’re growing, you’re growing, you’re growing. Your roots are going deep, your building becomes stable and strong.

“Paul uses a present tense — the picture is an ongoing construction project. A believer is always growing.”

I often think about this building we’re sitting in right now. One hundred sixty-eight years ago this Victorian structure was built. It’s a good example of a sound structure.

It was not only founded when they found the church—when the Dutch Reformed Church were actually preaching the gospel—they built this church upon a spiritual foundation. Thank the Lord, at 168 years later, we’re still preaching the gospel.

I don’t know if that was happening all the time, but we are doing it today. The Lord must be answering prayers from saints who prayed in this place many years ago.

Spiritually, because it was founded upon the gospel of Christ and the authority of the word of God, we are still here. But structurally, when those who built this building not only laid the best foundation they knew about at that time, it also sits on a vein of shale.

That’s why our water table is so high. It just rains a few days and the water’s coming out everywhere because it has nowhere to go.

Just think about the canal that is out there, dug by immigrants by hand. It was nothing but shale. I don’t think they lived very long.

There are virtually very few cracks after many years in the original structure. It is because the foundation was carefully laid and has been found to have endured the stresses and strains of its environment, and proved to be durable and reliable. It’s strong and firm.

So our faith is not only to be rooted and growing, it is to be strong and firm.

“Our faith is not only to be rooted and growing, it is to be strong and firm.”

Established: The Legal Metaphor

But the third metaphor in verse 7 is this. It says, “established in your faith, just as you were instructed.” Established in your faith. This is a legal metaphor.

The last one was an architectural metaphor, a picture actually. It’s something that confirms or validates something. That Christians are validated in the faith, in the faith that is the doctrines of the Christian faith.

How? By their transformational change in character, in obedience, in love, in maturity, in stability. So God actually confirms to the believer themselves and to others around them that they were truly in the faith.

Why? How does someone truly stay in the faith? They’re stable and mature, they’re strong and firm, they’re growing deep roots. That’s how. You can’t just push them over, they’re too strong, they know too much. That’s what we ought to be, that’s what we want to be.

“God confirms to the believer and to others that they are truly in the faith through transformational change in character and maturity.”

And notice the little phrase in verse 7, “just as you were instructed,” meaning that they were not only taught doctrines, they were also taught how it looks to walk in those doctrines. They were taught both things, and so are we when we come to scripture.

Now just think of that for a minute. All these things that have been said so far in the text of scripture, from verse 1 to verse 7, where would all that lead to? Where would all that lead to if we’re really tracking with it correctly? How would that change us? What would it do in our life?

Overflowing with Gratitude

Well, I want you to see what it does in verse 7. Notice, I’m going to read the whole passage. Verse 7: “Having been firmly rooted and being now built up in him, established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing in what? Gratitude.”

Here’s the result. This is the result of you and I having deep roots in Christ, being strong and firm in our faith, stable and maturing in our faith. This is what it leads to. It does not lead to grumbling or complaining or doubting. It leads to an overflowing fountain of thankfulness.

Do you find that happening in your life? Do you find when you get up in the morning that you are overflowing with that?

Overflowing is a picture of conditions that is always developing and always advancing. It is overflowing the cup.

When one understands what one has in Christ, how much God has done on their behalf, along with the validation of the transformational results of life carried out in Christ, there’s only one thing you could do. You can only be thankful.

“When one understands what one has in Christ and how much God has done, there’s only one thing you could do — be thankful.”

Thankfulness is another weapon against error, because I know why I’m thankful. I don’t think the word, the thought thankful can be not connected to something you’re thankful for. There’s got to be a substitute or substance to your thankfulness.

Overflowing thankfulness is a validation that you are walking in spiritual health and being faithful to what you have been taught. Have you ever thought of that?

But I tell you what, if you’re not thankful, there’s a real spiritual problem.

How important is thankfulness in the thought of being thankful in Colossians? Well, let me just give you a few passages.

Colossians 1:3: “We give thanks to God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.”

Colossians 1:12: “Giving thanks to the father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”

Colossians 3:15-17: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, in which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks through him to God the father.”

Colossians 4:2: “Devote yourself to prayer, keep alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.”

Thankfulness as a Weapon and Witness

Our growth is derived from God, to whom true thankfulness is ours alone to give. Do you think that God is not pleased when his children thank him?

But not just thank him where everybody knows you’re thanking him. Thank him when you’re driving in your car, thank him when you’re faced with a huge difficulty and problem, thank him when you get a bad report about your health, thank him at night, thank him in the morning, thank him in the afternoon.

That you’re just a container of overflowing thankfulness. Do you think that would affect people when you go into work?

How come you’re so bubbly? What do you do here to be thankful for? People are going to say that to you.

But what if they see that in you? You think it’s not going to open up an opportunity?

Let me tell you why I’m thankful. You tell them everything Colossians just told you. I have a savior who went to the cross for me, who died in my place, who rose again for me to give me eternal life. I believed in him and he’s given me his spirit and he’s made me new. That’s why I’m thankful. You want to know any more about that?

We should never forget that in any case, theology is for doxology. The truest expression of trust in a great God will always be worship. It will always be proper worship to praise God for being far greater than we could know and far more loving toward his children than we often realize.

“Theology is for doxology. The truest expression of trust in a great God will always be worship.”

In the church of Jesus Christ, there should always be an atmosphere of thanksgiving. When we sing praises and sing hymns, we should blow this roof off.

But if you’re not ready to do that, sometimes you need to get yourself ready. We need to walk in here, and sometimes we’re down in the dumps, sometimes life is weighing down on us, beating us down.

We come to the church and we see other believers, and all of a sudden I get lifted back up. I need to be around you, I really do.

I’m gone a few days not being around believers, and I’m starting to, my shoulders are sagging, started walking around like ho-hum, all the problems seem bigger than ever. I come into the church, I go home and I’m on cloud nine, whatever that means.

Don’t forget this: discontentment and ingratitude are often results of false teaching and a fleshly, worldly understanding of spiritual reality.

If you find yourself grumbling and moaning and groaning too often, you need to drop to your knees and be reminded of what God has done for you, and then be thankful.

Amen. Maybe we sing that song again, Joe.

Let’s have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you this morning for your kindness to us, your patience towards us, your long-suffering with us, Lord.

I pray that these truths would not only bring rejoicing to us because we are standing firm in the faith, but also, Lord, because the result of doctrine and practice is thankfulness.

Thankfulness, Lord, is a validation that we’re growing healthy in truth and practice, living in the sphere of Christ, giving you praise and glory.

When you catch us, or we catch ourselves grumbling and moaning and complaining, Lord, convict us quickly, that we repent of that sin and then start being thankful again.

I pray, Lord, that our list of thankfulness would just keep getting longer and longer. I pray this in Christ’s name, amen.

Let’s stand together.
March 19, 2023