Put Away

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is an honor to bring the Word of God to this assembly.

Today we are entering the highly practical section of the book of Colossians. We know that All Scripture is breathe dout by God and profitable for teaching, correction, rebuke, and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Thus far the book of Colossians has been highly theological and didactic. Paul, writing to the Christians in Colossae who are dealing with a slew of false teachers and distractions, gives the Christians there a clear picture of the greatness of Jesus and good reason to reject the false teachings that were surrounding the group. Then, as we saw last week, we saw how being restored to God thorugh faith in Jesus Christ is a gift that gives us a vision for living, assurance of salvation, and hope for eternal glory. Today we are going to be exposed to direct action and reaction in our life that is to be had in response to being saved through faith in Christ.

In this Christmas season, let it be known that the best gift you could ever receive, is the gift of faith to know, understand, follow, and love Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life. There is no other source of spiritual satisfaction and completion than Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. From the moment of faith, the Christian is called to actively live in response to the grace they have been shown. Today we are going to be given some instruction on how to do that.

But before we look at that we need to understand what is happening here. You see, too many people treat God like a cosmic Santa Claus. We think he has this naughty and nice list. If we can be a good boy or a good girl, we’re nice to people, we don’t lie, we hold the door open for the person behind us, we do all this stuff so that we can earn good points and make the nice list and then we will get what ask for. You might nod your head and think, “Of course, that’s how the world works! Do something good and get something better back!” But let me ask you, in this Santa God theology, who is ultimately being served? I can tell you this, its not God! Santa God Theology is all about the individual. It is self serving. I can understand the appeal to this, who doesn’t like to be served and given the things that we want? But truth be told, it is our of sync with reality! We can’t be good enough to convince God to do our bidding! The heaven’s do not declare our glory! Some from every tribe, tongue, and nation will not be bowing to us crying Holy Holy Holy is the Brad Almighty. God is not Santa Claus, He will not be manipulated for our benefit. The glorious truth is that God is so much better than that. He does not need us nor our good works, He does not owe us anything, our existence is completely owed to Him. Yet, in all His infinite greatness, God personally knows us, saves us, and enables us to live FOR Him. Any good we do is not to earn His favor, but comes from receiving His favor!

With this in mind, open your Bibles to Colossians chapter 3.

These are actions for us to apply, more specifically, today we will see things to avoid. But we do not understand this list as a way of manipulating the Cosmic Santa God. We see these actions as our calling to serve the Infinite God of salvation. The Christian who has been humbled by the goodness of God does not act in order to receive a prize, but acts for God’s glory because they have already received the przine in Christ Jesus!

Read with me verse 5.

Colossians 3:5 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Before we get to the list of things in this verse. Let us first stop at the first half of the sentence. “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you.”

One word is the key to tie us to the introduction of our sermon this morning. Therefore. This word forces us to look backward at the text preceeding this moment. If you were to look back at verse 1-4 of Chapter 3, you will see that through Christ Jesus, Christians are given a new life in Him. They have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life. Their vision and goals are shaped by His glory. Their salvation is secure in Him. He is their eternal hope.

THEREFORE, BECAUSE Christ has given you new life, put to death what is earthly in you. Do you see how this is juxtaposed to Santa God Theology? Do you see how this is opposed to legalism or any other mancentric view of religion? Everything that follows in our text this morning is profitable instruction that should be followed. But it comes as a response to what Christ has done for us, not to earn our own reward!

THEREFORE, Because you have been raised with Christ, put to death what is earthly in you. Now if we were to dwell upon what is being said here, the connection between the end of chapter two, the first verse of chapter 3, and here in verse 5, may seem odd. Chapter 2 verse 20 says we have died to the world with Christ, chapter 3 verse 1 says we have been raised with Christ these are past tense realities for rhe Christian. You have died to the world and you have been raised with Christ. Those are final truths. But here in verse 5 we are told to put to death in a present, active sense. It’s like saying Continue to be putting these things to death. Haven’t we already died to such things? Why do we need to continue to put them to death?

For those who have faith in Christ, it is a fact that you have died to the elemental spirits of the world and have been raised with Christ, sealed for glory. However, that eternal, positional reality must be worked out and lived out in your practical living. One theologian noted, “There can be no holiness or maturity in a life where sin runs unchecked. We have died to sin’s penalty, but sin’s power still can be strong and our flesh is weak.” The one who has been raised with Christ realizes this tension that exists between the renewed spirit and the weak flesh. They are sealed for glory, yet walking through ugly. They are rescued and restored, yet prone to wander prone to leave the God they love.

Despite the Christian’s glorious positional reality, they are still in a battle against sin until Christ comes and makes it no more. It has been said, “Sin is like a deposed monarch who no longer reigns, no has the ability to condemn, but works hard to debiliate and devestate all his former subjects.” Redeemed Christian, be on gaurd for you are still in a battle with sin and the flesh. Our calling is to fight it off and reject the destructive sin that attacks us! Here in verse 5 we see some of the specific sins that attempt to rear their ugly heads in our lives, “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

All of these are battles that occur within the mind. They are personal sins relating to our feelings. Let’s walk through how each of these personal sins attack our minds. Sexual immorality. This is any sort of sexual activity outside of marriage between a man and a woman. This includes physical acts that take place outside of that God ordained structure with another person, but it also includes your private thoughts and actions. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, You Shall Not Commit Adultry, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultry with her in his heart.” This means that even our thoughts directed in ways that operate outside of and violate the God ordained marital union of a male and female are sinful! This idea is strengthen with the mentioning of impurity. Christians are to fight off and actively distance themselves from impurity, impure thoughts, impure actions. Deviency outside of God’s proper design. Then next in this list we see passion and evil desires. These two words are similar in meaning and call the Christian to control themselves. Both terms are used together in 1 Thessalonians 4:5. There the instruction is given that each believer controls their own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust, like those who do not know God. Then we see covetousness which is equated to idolatry. Coveting is the insatiable desire for more. Its seeing other people’s things and desiring it for yourself. In the ten commandments we see the broad nature of coveting, It was instructed not to covet your neighbor’s house, nor his wife, or the servants, or the livestock, or anything that is anyone elses! In Colossians this is connected to idolatry because it is placing either some “thing” or even your self on a pedestal that belongs to God.

I know I rushed through each of those listed items, but I hope that you can see how they work in conjuction with one another and stem from a desire for personal exaltation. These sins attack our lives by looking really appealing. Most of them start in private but as we allow them to stick around, fester, and grow, they eventually effect our actions and come with dire consequences. But, If we were to be comepletely honest, in our weak flesh, sin appeals to us! It is enticing!

This week I was able to go deer hunting. I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea so I wont go into all the details, but I got up in the morning, the weather was beautiful, not too cold, the sun had just started to rise, and I see an absolute monster buck walking through the woods towards my blind. I don’t waste any time. Line up my shot and take it. It’s a hit. I’m fired up. My father in law hunting in the next field over texts me, “was that you?” I reply, “you betcha!” He says how big was he? I say Had to be a ten pointer! I wait a little bit then go to track down my prize. As I start to approach the buck I notice that he doesn’t have 5 points on each side. He only has 4. That’s okay an 8 pointer ain’t too bad! Then I get closer and I notice that he doesn’t have bottom tines. That takes out another point on each side. Ugh! Only a 6 pointer! Then I finally get right up on the deer and I notice that his right antler was a nice big three points. But the left side, the side I couldn’t see at all until I got there, was deformed and only had 2 measly little points. In less than three minutes, my 10 pointer monster turned into a 5 pointer miniature.

This is how it is with sin! It looks so good! It looks like a slam dunk. It looks like it is going to fulfil our desires but the closer we get to it, the more sin festers in our lives the more deformed we find it to be. Now fortunately I could still harvest this deer and put it to good use. But their is no good use for sin. The personal sins we looked at in this verse destroy marriages. They promote self-centeredness. These sins stifle your maturity and dishonor your God! We must actively reject these things! How do we battle with such seemingly natural desires? By being content with what God has given us. A contented person will not desire to violate another person sexually, nor will they covet anything another person owns. Contendedness is being confident that God has given you all that you need in this moment. If you are single, be content and reject sexual promiscuity. You can still pursue a God-honoring relationship without acting outside of the boundaries He has provided. If you are maried, be content and reject unfaithfulness. If you struggle with desiring other people’s things, be content and count your blessings. Being content is understanding this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. May our contentedness replace our covetousness. When temptation arises seek the Lord diligently! Cry out to Him. Know that He does not allow temptation beyond what you can bear. Know that He is God and He is worthy to be honored by righteous living rather than sinful indulgence.

We often think that sin is not that big of a deal. We think who am I hurting with my perverse thoughts? Who cares what I do alone in the bedroom? If you ever need to be reminded of the seriousness of sin take a look at next verse:

Colossians 3:6 ESV

On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

Because of the personal sins we just looked at, the wrath of God is coming. Some manuscripts state the the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.

The reality is that Sin is juxtaposed to the holiness of God and it WILL incur His wrath.

When you were a child you may have tried to come up with great theological conumdrums like “Can God make a burrito so spicy He cannot eat it? Or a boulder so heavy He cannot lift it?” Well those are paradoxical questions that make good conversation at the lunch table. I’ll let you figure out your own answers to those. But I will tell you something without a doubt that God cannot do. He cannot tolerate sin. Sin violates His holiness. And He will bring wrath upon it. AW Pink wrote that God’s wrath is His eternal detestation of all unrighteousness. It is the displeasure and indignation of Divine equity against evil. It is the holiness of God stirred into activity against sin.”

Let it never be forgotten that sin incurs the wrath of God. We are shown in Romans 2:5 that unbelievers are quite literally storing up wrath for themselves as they continue on in sin and rejection of God. There is coming a day in which that wrath will be released, judgment will be handed down, and God’s righteousness will be on full display.

To anyone able to hear this message, you must know that God’s wrath is coming. And if you do not possess saving faith in Jesus Christ, you will experience the full expression of that wrath. The wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. I don’t tell you this to be the hellfire and brimstone preacher from the mountains. I tell you this because it is true and if you do not know Jesus than your positional reality is that of being on the recieving side of God’s wrath! What must you do to be saved from the wrath of God? Repent and believe in Christ. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe to the core of your being that He arose from the grave declaring victory over the pangs of death and sharing that victory with all who believe. If you are able to hear this message, it is not too late to repent and believe. The Holy Spirit may very well be using this message to draw you to Christ. Make that known today when we have a time of response.

While verse should should most definitely be a wake up call to the unbeliever, we must also keep in mind that Paul was not writing this letter to the unbelievers. He was writing it to the church. These are regenerate Christians who have been saved by the grace of God. Through their faith in Christ they are no longer sons of disobedience. They are not going to experience this outpouring of the wrath of God. What is the point of this statement then?

It is a reminder of the seriousness of sin. Sin brings wrath not blessing. You will never find true satisfaction in sin. It cannot exist there. It is a poisoned well when we’ve been given fresh springs.

As believers in Jesus Christ, there is nothing we can do to change our positional reality as the redeemed. The sin of our flesh cannot remove our name from the rollcall of glory. If you truly repent and believe, you need not worry about incurring the eternal wrath of God. But Paul doesn’t write this verse to make you worry about losing your salvation. The point of this verse is to show us that because we love Christ, our redeemer, and because we have been united with Him through faith in Him, and because He has shown us the great beauty there is in His righteousness, then we would certainly not actively desire to participate in the sins, the thoughts, the behaviors, that are detestable to Him and bring His wrath. One theologian noted, “The children of God would certainly not want to behave like the children of wrath.”

I want to point out two more things about wrath before we move on to our final verse for this morning.

First, Redeemed Christian, understand the seriousness of God’s wrath. It is real and it is coming. This should encourage us to evangelize! If we saw someone barreling towards the edge of a cliff, who among us would not attempt to flag them down and stop them! It may very well be true that because of their reckless driving and complete disdain for the laws of the road that they deserve the fate that would receive should they not stop before the edge. But we would still with every fiber of our being and ability try to let them know of their impending doom! God’s wrath is very real and very serious. We know that it is serious because dear, redeemed Christian, in His death, Jesus Christ took the wrath owed for the all the sins of all those who would ever believe in Him upon Himself. Four times throughout the New Testament you will see verses about Jesus being the “propitiation” for our sins. That is a fancy word to say that Jesus took our wrath upon Himself. God is Just. He always executes perfect justice. When we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, our record of sin did not just evaporate into nothing. It was transferred to the spotless lamb, the unblemished sacrifice, Jesus Christ. He paid what we could not pay. What a grace of God it is that He would pay what we could not pay. So if we say that we know Christ as our Savior, should we just continue on in sin because it feels good to us and we know He’s going to foot the bill? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! God Forbid! Through Christ we have died to the shackles of sin and have been raised to walk in newness of life.

A second note to understand about God’s wrath towards sin is this: Believers in Christ are delivered from God’s ultimate wrath. However we must still realize that there will be temporal judgment, discipline, and correction for sin. God will react against sin. Sin always bring suffering. “The unbeliever will experience His eternal wrath, and the believer His loving chastening.”

When we understand the seriousness of sin and the love of God to deliver us from it, sin should not sit well for us. We battle it off and fight and fight, but it should never be our desire to live in the world of sin any longer.

Look with me at verse 7.

Colossians 3:7 ESV

In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

We should understand the seriousness of sin and fight against it every time it rears its ugly head in our lives because sin is against God and brings His wrath, but also because sin defined us before we knew Christ, BUT NO LONGER DOES. in verse 7 Paul is, “saying in effect, ‘You know to some degree how it was to live in sin. You hated it and that is why you came to Christ—to be delivered from your manner of life.”

When someone truly receives faith in Christ it is the most humbling experience in existence. It is finally realizing that you do not have the power to bring satisfaction and spiritual completeness in your life. It is understanding that you are stuck in your sin and brokeness completely unable to dig yourself out. It is mourning the sin that covers your life and defines your being, and then in turn finding that Christ did what you could not do. That through faith in Him you are complete and restored to God. He provides you with a glorious purpose. So after you have found all of that, why would you want to go back to the way it was before!

When I was in college I lived in the same dorm room for my first two years. My third year I was in a new building. One time in my Junior year after eating at the caf, muscle memory took over and I ended up walking to my old dorm room from my first two years on campus. Right before I walked in the room, it hit me. I can’t go in there! Some other guys live there now! If I go in there and start playin xbox, they’re gonna look at me like I’m crazy! I don’t live there any more. Furthermore, I’m now in an upperclassman dorm. My place now is so much better than this. Why would I even want to go in there. Even though I used to live there, that’s no longer my place!

You see before we came to Christ, we were living in the world. When it came time to make decisions and life choices, we made worldly decisions. But when we turn our lives to christ, WE DONT LIVE THERE ANY MORE. I don’t go there anymore! I don’t do those kinds of things anymore! I’m not saying that I don’t have the feelings to do the things I used to, but I don’t live there anymore.

I’m not saying we’re never gonna have ungodly desires, but that when we have to remember that by the goodness of God, we don’t live there anymore! The life filled with sin is full of sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires, and idolatrous covetousness. In those things we too once walked when we were living in them, but you know what? If you you have faith in Jesus Christ YOU DON’T LIVE THERE ANYMORE!

Because of Jesus Christ, We have been reconciled to God and given the ability to live beyond the pitfalls of this world.

Three Circles Graphic.