Unity In Christ

Introduction

We are continuing in our study of Colossians. We have slowed slowed down in our journey to pay a more detailed attention to the list of vices and corresponding virtues that are listed in the first half of chapter 3.

Last week we talked about putting on a life of forgiveness as it is one of the benchmarks of what it truly means to be Christian. This is because the basis of our salvation is our forgiveness for our sins which has been bestowed upon us by the mercies of the Father through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross.

And because of the fact that we ourselves have experience and are experiencing forgiveness it must be in the nature of the redeem to forgive one another.

Today we will examine how the disciple of Jesus sees Christ everywhere and in everything. It is how we eat, drink, get alone with each other, how we see the rest of the world. It is what unites us in love, because it is all of use seeing all things through the same lens. That lens being, Jesus Himself.

We will explore the gospel of Jesus Christ as outlined in Colossians 3:9-11, 14. The focus of this passage is the call of God for us to shed our old selves, embrace and live-out our new identity in Christ. It also speaks of unity, renewal, and love as the foundation of our new life in Jesus.

Colossians 3:9–11 (LSB)

9 Do not lie to one another, since you put off the old man with its evil practices,

10 and have put on the new man who is being renewed to a full knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—

11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and freeman, but Christ is all and in all.

Colossians 3:14 (LSB)

14 Above all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. (PRAY)

1. Shedding the Old Self

This passage begins with with not lying to one another why? because deceit is part of our old composition and we are to reject any and all behaviors that are part of that old self.

Consider the person who struggles with gossip. Before Christ gossip was just part of their normal existence, part of their average conversation. However, after embracing the gospel they are called to abandon those practices and now instead speak words that edify and encourage.

We see this clearly in Scripture. There is an expectation that an encounter with Jesus will produce a change in being from what you were to what you are to become

When Jesus saved the woman caught in adultery from the mob that wanted to condemn her according to the law. After saving her, his words to her were, “go and sin no more” John 8:11. This teaching continues in throughout the NT

Ephesians 4:22–24 (LSB)

22 to lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

24 and to put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Romans 6:6 (LSB)

6 knowing this, that our old man 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;

1 John 3:9 (LSB)

9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

People who claim salvation while still remaining what they were before Christ are in a state of self delusion. Salvation brings about change. You have been changed unto something different than what you were.

James 1:22–25 (LSB)

22 But become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

24 for once he looked at himself and has gone away, he immediately forgot what kind of person he was.

25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.

2. Put on the New Self

Notice the type of language the Word uses in this matter. It is not an automatic instantaneous transformation

Colossians 3:10 (LSB)

10 and have put on the new man who is being renewed to a full knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—

This renewal process involves growing in understanding of God and allowing His truth to transform us. Our identity is not stagnant it is continuously on an upward move as our understanding of God’ word increases. It is a dynamic journey of becoming more like like Christ, our creator.

Consider someone who used to harbor bitterness and unforgiveness. As they grow in their knowledge of Christ they begin to release those grudges and extend grace to others, embodying thusly, the love of Christ.

This process is what the Scripture means when it says,

Romans 12:2 (LSB)

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:2 (LSB)

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Mind renewal takes place the more we spend time in His Word and the more we conform to that Word as we learn how to live in line with our new identity in Christ.

2 Peter 3:18 (LSB)

18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Not be, but grow which denotes a continuous upward movement. Growing in grace and knowledge… One more,

2 Corinthians 3:18 (LSB)

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

As you see here, the transformation is an on going process. Believers are being changed “from glory to glory”… ever-increasing, more and more.

And so according to our main passage the image of the new self in us is being renewed to a full knowledge according to the One who created that new self which is our Lord.

Now Paul moves on to explain the nature of the renewal which is unity in Christ.

3. Unity in Christ

The body of Christ most be free from any autoimmune disease. The Bible says that the new self is being renewed to a full knowledge according to the image of Christ

Colossians 3:11 (LSB)

11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, and freeman, but Christ is all and in all.

In autoimmune diseases, the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues as if they were foreign invaders.

This happens when members in church are in conflict with each other attacking one another instead of working together. Just as an autoimmune disease causes the body to harm itself, internal strife and disunity can cause a church to be ineffective and damaged from within like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.

This is why the Greek/jew, circumcised/uncircumcised, barbarian/Scythian, slave/free conflict cannot exist in the church.

1 Corinthians 12:12–14 (LSB)

12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

13 For also by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For also the body is not one member, but many.

1 Corinthians 12:27 (LSB)

27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.

God took representatives from all people groups and made of them one group of His own for Himself. Part of our affirmation here at the Bridge as church is this:

Though people often can be distinguished by different ethnicities and nationalities, they are ontological equals before God in both creation and REDEMPTION

Race is NOT a biblical category, but rather a social construct that often has been used to classify groups of people in terms of inferiority and superiority.

We reject any teachings that encourage racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims.

The worldly classifications of people and the concepts of intersectionality are not only foreign to the Scriptures but they are evil and destructive.

They do not contribute to the unity we are to have in Christ.

Christians should not segregate themselves into racial groups or regard racial identity above, or even equal to, their identity in Christ. How else can this happen?

Revelation 7:9–10 (LSB)

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;

10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Ephesians 2:14 (LSB)

14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition

But in our rebellion, we created more groups, more ways to be divided, and then brought that mess into the church as if Christ is divided.

How do we preserve the unity that we must have in Christ as one people?

4. The Centrality of Love

Colossians 3:14 (LSB)

14 Above all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

Above all of the virtues mentioned love is supreme. It is the binding virtue, it is the virtue that unifies all the others. It is the hallmark of the Christian life because it is the very core of the nature of God.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (LSB)

13 But now abide faith, hope, love—these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 John 4:7–8 (LSB)

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:20 (LSB)

20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Hatred: prejudiced hostility or animosity

Animosity: ill will or resentment toward active hostility; an antagonistic attitude

Antagonism: actively expressed opposition or hostility.

None of these attitudes have a place within the body of Christ.

The evil and damaging divisions of the world should not shape the mind of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

There is One Body, One Spirit, one Hope, one Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One Father, One God.

Do not bring your divisions in here. I will fight you.

Before orchestra and band concerts, the conductor will usually have the first chair play a note. That note is the note used by the rest of the body to tune their individual instruments. By doing so, the conductor makes sure everyone is in the same key so that the music produced will sound correct. Jesus’s presence brings harmony to the body; he is the tuning note to which everyone else orients their life.