The Truth About The Christian (Part 2)
Notes
Transcript
Handout
In Our Personal Life (3:5-14)
Before we can really dive into this section, we must first go back and remember what Paul has said at the beginning of the chapter. If we miss the context of what HAS been said, we will miss the fullness of what IS being said.
Last week, we saw that Paul is calling us into focus. He asks his readers to focus onthings above.
He called his readers to seek those things which were above. We were called to explore the heavens and learn of God.
He called us to set our minds of things above. We are called to establish heaven in our hearts.
He called his readers to enjoy heaven on earth. After we have explored the heavenlies with Christ and established Christ in our hearts, we are then able to enjoy Christ here on earth. Our life is hidden in Him.
Why are we to do these things? Because we have died and been reborn in Christ.
Now! We are to take this mindset into what we are about to read. If we do this, it will help us to unpack exactly what Paul is teaching us.
The Old Man (3:5-9)
The Old Mans Ruin (3:5-7)
The Reality of this Ruin (3:5)
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
The KJV uses the word “Mortify”. The word mortify means to put to death, so when we come to the NKJV, we see it say, “put to death” your members.
If we keep in remembrance the context of what Paul is teaching us, we will remember that we are to continuously “Look up”. So when we come to this section of “put to death”, we need to realize that this is a continuous action as well.
Paul said it like this in 1 Corinthians 15:31,
I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
Paul is teaching us a valuable lesson. When we are born again, we take on a new nature. The contrast between the old nature and the new nature is what Paul is teaching us here in this particular text.
Just because we take on a new nature, does not mean that the old nature simply goes away.
Exploring Colossians & Philemon: An Expository Commentary (a) The Reality of This Ruin (3:5)
The old Adamic nature seizes every opportunity to express itself, taking advantage of those moments when we fail to reckon it dead. All too often, it gets its chance to express its sinful disposition, desires, and deeds. So God calls upon us to act upon the fact, to mortify our members so that the “old man” might be proved to be dead.
This is a decision that we must make every day. Some of you may wonder why we teach so often, “Start your day with heart-felt prayer. Be sure to pray and read your Bibles first thing in the morning. Make sure to start your day with God and then also to end your day with God.”
We say this because every single morning we wake up, we must choose to “Mortify” the members of the flesh.
To mortify the members of the flesh is to flip the switch. It means that you are choosing every day to be the new man. It means that you are choosing every day to leave the old man dead.
That is easy to say, but much harder to actually accomplish. Nevertheless, that is the calling of the Christian. Paul says we are called to remove the weight of sin that so easily besets us and push forward toward the high calling of being ambassadors for Christ.
Peter says it like this:
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Paul goes on to list some of those things which are becoming of the old man, but he sums them all up with a particular word: idolatry.
Anything we fail to put to death, anything worldly we allow to stay in our lives becomes a barrier between us and God. It becomes idolatrous unto us.
The first commandment of Christ mimics this:
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
This is the first and great commandment.
May we all heed the warnings of Paul and truly put to death the old man that plagues us.
The Roots of this Ruin (3:6-7)
The Attitude of God: Righteous Displeasure (3:6a)
The Attitude of Man: Racial Disobedience (3:6b)
The Attitude of Believers: Real Discernment (3:7)
Salvation is not a one time choice, it is a life-long commitment.
The Old Man’s Rags (3:8-9)
His Evil Whims (3:8a-c)
The Feeling of Ill Will (3:8a)
The Flash of Ill Will (3:8b)
The Fostering of Ill Will (3:8c)
His Evil Words (3:8d-9a)
Speaking To Defame (3:8e)
Speaking To Defile (3:8f)
Speaking To Defraud (3:9a)
His Evil Ways (3:9b)
The New Man (3:10-14)
The New Man’s Righteousness (3:10-11)
The Creation of the New Man (3:10)
The Character of the New Man (3:11)
The New Man’s Robes (3:12-14)
Goodness (3:12)
Graciousness (3:13)
God-likeness (3:14)
In Our Church Life (3:15-17)
What type or Church would we have if everyone lived as you do?
Prayer
Bible Study
Service
Evangelism
Discipleship
Supported
The Principle Element (3:15)
The Enthronement of Christ’s Peace
The Enlargement of Christ’s Peace
The Enjoyment of Christ’s Peace
The Parallel Element (3:16)
The Word Abiding In Us
The Word Abounding In Us
The Practical Element (3:17)
Doing Things Proportionately
Doing Things Properly
Doing Things Prayerfully
In Our Domestic Life (3:18-21)
Our Role As Partners (3:18-19)
God’s Order In The Home (3:18)
God’s Orders To The Husband (3:19)
Our Role As Parents (3:20-21)
The Principle of Parental Rule (3:20)
The Principle of Parental Responsibility (3:21)
In Our Business Life (3:22-4:1)
Men and Their Tasks (3:22-25)
The Measure of Their Service (3:22a)
The Manner of Their Service (3:22b-23)
The Motive of Their Service (3:24-25)
Masters and Their Trusts (4:1)
As A Man of Authority
As A Man Under Authority
In Our Secular Life (4:2-6)
We Must Be Prayerful In Character (4:2-4)
Prayer: The Great Habit of Life (4:2a)
Prayer: The Guarded Habit of Life (4:2b)
Prayer: The Grateful Habit of Life (4:2c)
Prayer: The Grandest Habit of Life (4:2d)
We Must Be Prudent In Conduct (4:5)
Guarding Our Testimony
Guarding Our Time
We Must Be Pungent In Conversation (4:6)
Adding Sweetness To Our Conversation
Adding Seasoning To Our Conversation
Adding Spirit To Our Conversation