"Everyday Gospel Living"

How we should function in life according to Gospel Life.

Colossians 3:18-25

Bible Passage

Colossians 3:18-25 (CSB - Christian Standard Bible)

18Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

19Husbands, love your wives and don’t be bitter toward them.

20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

21Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they won’t become discouraged.

22Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.

23Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,

24knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.

25For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.

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HOOK (Grab Attention)

Illustration

LOVE is the Centerpiece of Gospel Living.

So many times we find ourselves trying to do a list of "do's and don'ts" so we can have our own assessment of how "well" we are living the Christian life.

"How well did you love according to the nature of Jesus", will be the litmus test of how "well" you obeyed.

Are you "apprenticing" Jesus in these areas we will go over today?

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BOOK

Bible Passage

Colossians 3:18-19 (CSB - Christian Standard Bible)

18Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

19Husbands, love your wives and don’t be bitter toward them.

Explanation

"Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord."

"Submit" = Subordinate

This does NOT mean that the husband is a dictator or that the wife has no "say so"

Yes, there is a MUTUAL submission to one another, as other Scriptures tell us.

That is still true.

Love prefers and considers the other person and how it will affect them FIRST.

It DOES mean that wives are to defer to the husband's leading

It is proper or "fitting" in the Lord for a woman to follow her husband, as long as it is not into sin.

It's not a "better than" thing

the keyword or main thought here is "responsibility"

The husband has been given RESPONSIBILITY for the the family and the results thereof

In the garden of Eden, who did God go to asking questions about what happened?

Adam.

Eve ate the fruit, but Adam was responsible for what happened.

Part of the curse is the fact that women will desire to "rule over" the men

to have the authority given to men

The tendency is to desire the leading role, but very rarely do they desire the RESPONSIBILITY

"Responsibility" has to give an account; an answer

So, Adam is RESPONSIBLE and will have to give an answer to Jesus for the family.

In the same way, every husband will do the same.

"Husbands, love your wives and don't be bitter towards them."

This is NOT something to be skimmed over

"Oh, I TELL her I love her all the time"

That's great, but ACTION has to be done.

Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the Church and gave Himself for her.

That is sacrificial love

That is LISTENING 

to what she is telling you in everything, ESPECIALLY during those vulnerable moments

That is caring

That is thinking of her good beforehand

That is thinking before you speak

It is quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.

"don't be bitter"

ESV uses "harsh" which I believe captures the heartbeat a little clearer.

it literally means to not be "ill tempered" or "provoking"

many men and women alike can be "polite" when they are out and about

...but when they are alone, they are ill-tempered, provoking and bitter towards each other at home

That's NO GOOD.

Who you are when no one else is around but you and Jesus is the true status of maturity

as a person

spiritually

Your projections of "maturity" and "posing" in front of others is nothing more that hypocrisy "mask-wearing"

you many say, "Pastor Matt, you just want us to be ugly in front of everyone??"

Nope.  I want you to stop being ugly to one another AT ALL.

Genuinely love one another as you love yourself

Bible Passage

Colossians 3:20-21 (CSB - Christian Standard Bible)

20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

21Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they won’t become discouraged.

Explanation

"Children"

Does this mean that you are to obey your parents ALL OF YOUR LIFE, because you are always their child?

"Teknon"

These are children, mainly up to teen years, but it is implied by the culture of the time into the 20s or until the child is capable of and responsible enough to take up the family business.

"Obey"

to hear under (as a subordinate), that is, to listen attentively

"for this pleases the Lord"

"Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they won't become discouraged."

"exaperate" = irritate

constant "fault-finding"

Poking at them for no reason.  Just to beat them down.

That in and of itself becomes discouraging

There is a balance between these two verses though

If children are obeying their parents, the Lord is pleased and there is no reason for a parent to "ride them"

if the children never "listen" as the word "obey" implies, then the disobedient children are reaping what they have sown with their corrections.

Parents who do not correct their children do not love them.

for a parent to not correct their children is for them to continue on in ignorance

this will eventually become a "shame" to the parents in the behavior of how the adult "child" lives a life of continual turmoil and trouble in life.

Children who are "discouraged" because of their own disobedience and not listening, is their own fault.

Godly obedience to Godly rules and standards will be pleasing to the Lord and will bring joy to the child and the parents.

CONSISTENCY is the keyword here.

Bible Passage

Colossians 3:22 (CSB - Christian Standard Bible)

22Slaves, obey your human masters in everything. Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.

Explanation

"Slaves"

"doulos" = slave, bondman, servant

This is not in the sense of what we have had here in America and abroad with human trafficking.

Now, that has always been present, even back to Egypt, but this nature is not to be among believers.

As those who are believers the premise was always to be good to those under your CARE.

The heartbeat of the Gospel is that we are equally God's children as born again believers and we are to treat one another accordingly, no matter social standing.  

Justice is to be done as children of the Most High God.

Today, we are more along the lines of the second definition as "bondmen" and "women"

We offer ourselves to a "master" for a bond agreement.

I will do this work that you need for this payment in return.

"Obey your human masters in everything"

The same as the "obey" for the children

"to hear under (as a subordinate), that is, to listen attentively"

"Don't work only while being watched, as people pleasers"

Ever know these people??

Laziness.

"Work wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord."

be a hard worker

You will give an account to Jesus on how you represented Him in your work.

You are a steward of everything you have been given, including your work.

Bible Passage

Colossians 3:23-25 (CSB - Christian Standard Bible)

23Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,

24knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.

25For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.

3

LOOK

Application

What does this whole passage mean for us?

So what??

The nature of Jesus by the gospel affects and changes every aspect of our lives.

The measure of our love for God and for those around us will be evident in how we carry ourselves in the areas listed here.

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TOOK

Challenge Application