Sermon Tone Analysis

Paul has two major goals in his letter to the Colossians.

Number one, Paul wants to encourage these believers that they might grow in their relationship with God IN CHRIST.

Number two, Paul does not want these believers to be deluded by a man made system of artificial spiritual growth.

And so with these goals in mind Paul gave two commands to the Colossian believers back in chapter two that he has been expounding ever since.

Paul commanded these believers to be on the look out so that no one takes them captive through empty deceptive philosophy.

Don’t be deceived into trying to attain spiritual growth through anything that is not centered on Christ.

Paul, also positively commanded these believers to instead seek to grow spiritual through the same dependent faith that enabled them to receive Christ as their Lord- with that same kind of faith IN CHRIST walk in Christ- live your life with a faith in Christ is is rooted and built up IN HIM and established in the faith and abounding in thanksgiving.

Last week we began a discussion of exactly how we do that.

How do we practically walk in Christ?

How do we grow spiritual through a dependent faith in Christ?

What does that look like in our life?

I.

You must reorient your heart and your mind IN CHRIST (3:1-4)

What do we mean by that?

First of all we are to SEEK the things that are above.

If you have been raised with Christ- if you have participated in the power of the resurrection of Christ- and you have been enabled by the power of God to walk in newness of life- then seek after heavenly realities.

Just like the needle on a compass reorients itself to point north, so must our hearts reorient themselves so that they point toward Christ.

Christ, and the things above must be the treasure of our hearts.

And our whole life is now guided by our love and a desire to seek after Christ rather than old earthly things.

Second, we are to set our minds on Christ.

The things that are above, not earthly things, are now to be what delight our thinking.

We are to set our whole minds IN CHRIST- our pattern of though, what delights our minds, should now be reoriented toward Christ.

Why should we so drastically alter the course of our hearts and our minds?

Paul tells us why- because:

You are dead in Christ

Your life is hidden with Christ

You will appear with Christ, and it will be glory!

This morning we want to look at answer #2 How do we practically walk in Christ?

How do we grow spiritual through a dependent faith in Christ?

What does that look like in our life?

II.

You must kill everything that is mundane and carnal in your being (3:5-9)

A. Become what you are (v.

5a)

There is an extremely important connecting word in the first part of v.5 that is easy to glance over, but we would do damage to Paul’s teaching if we neglected it.

Paul states, “Mortify therefore- you members which are upon the earth.”

This conjunction is a post-positive which means that we should actually translate it first is sentence order- Therefore, mortify or put to death your members.

In other words the command to mortify or to put to death your earthly members is tied into the concept of vv.

1-4.

I believe it is tied into our identity in Christ.

What has Paul stated about our identity?

If ye then be risen with Christ

For ye are dead

your life is hid with Christ in God

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory

Therefore, because of our identity or our position in Christ- IN CHRIST I AM DEAD TO SIN- therefore, become dead to sin in the realities of everyday life.

Now there are two very important truths that I want you to get here.

1.

Our position IN CHRIST demands that we put to death sin in our lives

Because we are dead to sin IN CHRIST- we are commanded to put to death sin in our everyday lives.

2. Our position IN CHRIST empowers and effects us so that it actually becomes possible to put to death sin in our lives

Ultimately, then, the imperative “put to death” in this verse must be viewed as a call to respond to, and cooperate with, the transformative power that is already operative within us.

I think this is exactly right.

If the command to put sin to death in our life does not operate within the transformative power of our relationship IN CHRIST, then what Paul is telling these believers would be no different than what the false teachers were pushing in their empty deceptive philosophy.

What was the false teacher’s philosophy?

Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch- these were their regulations- and Paul said that it had the appearance of wisdom, the man-centered religion with its ascetic practices and the severe measures that they would subject their body to, Paul said it appears as if it is successful, but ultimately it is of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Now if Paul simply told these believers- just go ahead and kill what is earthly in you, how is that any different to what the false teachers were pushing.

But Paul began Col. 3 with the concept of seeking after Christ, and setting our mind on Christ, Paul reminded us of our position in Christ.

And it is out of this position- it is out of our relationship IN CHRIST- that we find the actual transformative power to put to death the power of our flesh.

Become what you already are IN CHRIST.

B. Be changed from within (v. 5, 8-9)

Paul commands these believer, because of your position in Christ, you are to mortify or put to death or kill your members upon the earth.

You are to kill your members (the parts of your body) that are relating to this earth.

Now some folks get really confused by all this- they take this literally.

Do you remember what Jesus said concerning this idea- Jesus said,

And Jesus said the same thing about the hand, if your right hand offend you- what?

Cut it off.

Some people have actually plucked out their eyes and cut off their hand because they misunderstood what Jesus and what Paul were talking about.

The problem is if you actually do kill the physical parts of your body, that does not stop your heart from sinning.

If you pluck out your eye, does that stop your heart from lusting after things that are evil?

No it doesn’t.

Paul is making a case that real growth changes not just the external, but also the internal.

So what does Paul mean when he tells us to kill the members of our body associated with the earth?

There is a real connection between the sins that we commit and the physical parts of our body.

When a child is sassing his mother, sometimes you will hear the mother say to the child, “stop giving me so much lip.”

What does she mean by that?

She is using the physical member- the lip- to represent the sin of disrespectful speech coming from the child’s mouth.

And I think that is what Paul is doing here.

He is making the connection that the sin of our heart is connected with the members of our body.

But he goes deeper- I believe that Paul argues for a change not just at an outward level, but a change that goes all the way to our heart.

Here in v.5 and again in v.8 Paul gives us two lists- that help us to understand what he means by killing our members on the earth.

These are not complete lists of the sins that we struggle with, but a sampling of some of the major ones that can only be changed from the inside out.

I want you to notice the progression that takes place in these lists of sins.

Look at v. 5

Notice this first list progresses from the external physical act of sin, to the internal heart cause of sin.

1. Fornication- fornication (sexual immorality- unlawful sexual acts- πορνεία / pornography).

This is the physical external act of sin.

2. Uncleanness- immorality (vileness, inward filth or refuse- c.f. Mt 23.27; Ro 1.24; Eph 4.19)

The outward act of fornication comes from the inward heart that is unclean or immoral.

3. Inordinate affection- passion (strong desire, Ro 1.26- disgraceful passions)

There is nothing wrong with being passionate, but this is an inordinate or a vile passion.

I am very passionate in my love toward by wife, but if I love my sons the same way I love my wife- then that passion is inordinate its vile.

This is strongly connected with the next word.

4. Evil concupiscence- evil lusts (a desire for something forbidden or inordinate)

Fornication, stems from an inward uncleaness, and this inward uncleanness is a result of vile passions and evil lusts.

Where do these vile passions and evil lusts come from?

5. Covetousness- the state of desiring to have more than one’s due, or it is the desire to have something that is forbidden.

You not only want something that you don’t have, but what you want is something that you cannot have, something that God says is forbidden.

This is closely tied to number 6. Covetousness which is what?

Idolatry.

6. Idolatry- worshiping or loving something else other than God.

Most of the time when we replace God with something else, when we worship or love something else or someone else what or who is that?