Colossians 3:5-11

God intends for you to be sanctified, do not be surprised dear brothers at the fiery trials when they come upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you – 1 Peter 4:12

2:23– so what DOES have value in the battle against the flesh?

Be What You Are - Identity obsessed culture

2:20 3:1

“You’re a Zeringue, act like it” - Identity - This is WHO YOU ARE NOW

Romans 6 - Leash - Many Christians are living as if they are still leashed . . .

Be What You Are. You are in Christ. You are a Son. You are Free from Sin.

What does that look like in practice? Paul gets practical here . . .

3:5-11

Put to Death

You Died to Sin, so put your sin where it has already been placed, put it in the grave with your old man, you have been set free from it, IT HAS DIED, bury it. - SLOW

Hyperbolic Language – Gouge out your eye

Do whatever it takes! Whatever it takes to kill sin! Nothing is too drastic!

Whatever the sin!

Sexual immorality? Greed? Covetousness? Despair due to comparison? Gossip? Lying? Deceit? Pride? KILL IT!

Stop watching that show, cut the cable, turn wifi off your phone, avoid talking to her or him altogether, cut friends out of your life, change jobs, change schools, move neighborhoods, move cities, get off of social media, stop being alone with him or her ever, make everything you own and do completely transparent to people who will hold you accountable and not just laugh with you at your sin, spend more time with friends who take sin seriously, and less time with those who do not . . . The main opposition in your life is YOUR sin

Romans 13:14 – MAKE NO PROVISION FOR THE FLESH . . . don’t let it keep eating, don’t let it keep breathing, suffocate it! Stop giving your sin just enough to stay alive. Not MAKE YOUR SIN SICK - - - KILL IT.

See the connection here again – PUT ON THE LORD JESUS . . .

Colossians 3:6-7 – You need motivation, on account of these things the Wrath of God is coming – and YOU KNOW BETTER

In Romans he makes this you know better argument as well, saying YOU KNOW WHAT SIN GOT YOU BEFORE! What do you think is going to happen this time?

When you lived a self-centered life, self-driven life as opposed to Christ-centered, were things better? Were you closer to God? Were you more at peace and less anxious? Were you stronger then? Were you more anchored then? Were you more joyful? Were you a better friend, father, daughter? Were you less selfish? - YOU WERE A SLAVE!

Definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over . . .

Romans 8:12-15 – To Christians – if you live by the flesh you will die

This connection is constant – put the sin to death, because you’re a son now! You’ve been adopted now! You are free from that sin now! Stop living like you are still chained to it, stop living like you still have no power over sin, stop living like you don’t have THAT JESUS IN you

Its as if you were a child to evil parents that stole for your food and cheated people out of money and made you a part of all of it, you were miserable and felt abused, and then that entire family was imprisoned, and you were adopted into a new home, and not just a new home, the home of the King, the family of the King, and now all the inheritance is yours, all the kingdom is yours, you no longer have to do those evil things, that is gone, and you are now a member of the house of the King. Here, you have power you never had before. But you keep finding yourself in old patterns, as if you still had to steal…

Let’s look briefly at these lists and then see the conclusion, there are 2 lists, with different focuses. The first focuses on you personally, and specifically with your sexual immorality and the idolatry that it comes from. Most scholars see a chain or pyramid… when Paul wanted to talk about killing the flesh, these are the things he decided to list.

Sexual Immorality

Any Unlawful sexual act

Let me make it simple: Theres only one kind of lawful sexual act . . . Everything else is sin

Impurity– Uncleanness

Mark 7:20-21 – what comes out of a person defiles him

The problem is not just sexual immorality, the primary problem is not outside of us, it is inside of us

Wrong sexual behavior is the result of wrong thoughts – control your minds and you’ll control your behavior

He just said – Set your minds on things above, where Christ is

Passions– Evil Desires (Underneath impure thoughts)

James 4:1-4

Greed– Covetousness (Even deeper)

Desire to have more of something than you are entitled to

Opposite of contentment

Underneath all sin – Satan’s Sin

Anything that you have no right to that you want is a test of who you worship

Idolatry

Worshipping self

God no longer the determiner of your life

Seek first the Kingdom of God, it is the opposite of that, seek first what you want

Your ability to kill the flesh, to live the Christian life is based ultimately on your view of God and yourself. Who is on the Throne?

Your ability to win the battle with your lust, for instance, has very little with me showing you the statistics about the detriment to your soul, mind, marriage that is pornography, and has everything to do with your view of God and your position underneath Him.

In the moment of temptation, you knowing something is bad for you is not going to be enough, you must think of GOD, and what you do when you think of GOD is everything about you

This next list is directed at how you behave toward Others. – “I just want Jesus, I don’t need all the rest,” THAT IS ENTIRELY FOREIGN TO THE BIBLE, These Christians couldn’t even make sense of that, just as crucial as your personal life is your life with others, especially other Christians.

Especially aimed at your speech, the speech itself and that which motivates it (anger, wrath), probably a similar chain in mind here

This sort of speaking has no place in the life of the Christian.

YOU SHOULD SPEAK DIFFERENTLY THAN EVERYONE ELSE AROUND YOU SPEAKS. When the world around you is quick to anger and quick to spout off and quick to post, the Christian is slow to all. When the world around you is quick to be offended, the Christian is slow to be offended.

This being offended is also connected with idolatry, putting self at the center. Stop thinking about yourself so much.

Spurgeon paraphrase, “Whenever someone thinks ill of you, rejoice, because they don’t know the half of it, you’re far worse than they think you are.”

Ephesians 4:29 - “well that’s nice,” NO LISTEN TO THIS CHARGE, LISTEN TO THIS COMMAND, FEEL THE WEIGHT, as if God Himself spoke out of heaven and said these words to you (which is about what is happening here btw)

Our section and sermon this morning concludes with two big statements.

1. Seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

You have died, and you have been raised, and your new self is being SANCTIFIED, made Holy

It is important you see that the charge is not to sanctify yourself, to renew yourself, the promise is you are being renewed, OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE WHAT GOD IS DOING IN YOU, AND THE POWER THAT YOU NOW HAVE WITH HIM IN YOU OVER SIN

Christ has bought your freedom, stop living as if you are still a slave!

2. Here there is not Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian or Scythian, slave or free, BUT CHRIST ISALL, AND IN ALL.

CHRIST IS ALL – Body Head – UNIFIED WITH THAT JESUS

IN ALL – Not only you in Him judicially, but Him in you FULLY NOW HERE

Sin Defeated FOR you, and Sin IS being defeated IN you

This IS NOT God saying, pick up your boot straps, and I’m going to sit back and see if you can do it. It is Christ making you a part of Himself, who has already done it, it is Christ entering you, to work in you to live in light of what hes done.

Your only hope is to be in Christ and to have Christ in you - if you are and if He is, there is no reason to fear, he is working and will finish it.

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