In Christ Alone
Colossians • Sermon • Submitted
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· 60 viewsIn Colossians 2:8-12, Paul provides us with 3 reasons to refuse spiritual captivity: Jesus came! Jesus reigns! And Jesus saves!
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ARE YOU CONFIDENT IN CHRIST?
ARE YOU CONFIDENT IN CHRIST?
Are you confident in Christ? That’s the main question I want to pose today… Are you confident in Christ? What are some common reasons we lack confidence in Christ?
One reason is because we don’t know our Bibles well enough, right? It can be hard to believe in Christ when it seems like you can’t find objective information about who He is.
Another reason is because what the world says seems more believable. We want to believe what we can see, don’t we? We want our five senses to be engaged in order to even consider something can have a claim at being true. The problem is that believing in Christ has nothing to do with the five senses! It’s only rooted in faith.
A third reason, if we’re honest, is because we’re not 100% sure He is who He says He is. Is He really God? Did He really come back from the dead? And if He’s coming back soon, why exactly hasn’t He dropped any hints yet? How am I supposed to put all of my trust in Him when I don’t think He’s earned it yet?
I’ve been there before, and it’s not a pretty place to be. The only reason I got to that point, and why anyone in general gets there, is because we have a defective view of who Jesus is… A defective view of who Jesus is.
When we have a defective view of who Jesus is, what do we do correct it? Where do we go to refine our thinking? Like always, and like everything else, the answers are in the pages of Scripture.
Tonight, my hope is that all of us would leave with a deepened, heightened, and widened knowledge of not just the reality that we should have confidence in Christ, but why we should have confidence in Christ.
We’re back in , and we’ll be picking up where we left off in verse 8, but this time we’re going to be looking at verses 8-12. Here, Paul In , Paul provides us with 3 reasons to refuse spiritual captivity and run to spiritual freedom: Jesus came! Jesus reigns! And Jesus saves!
CONTEXT
CONTEXT
Where have we been so far in Colossians? We’ve seen Paul greet the Colossian believers at the outset of chapter 1 before reminding them of the wisdom of the true gospel from verses 3-23.
Then, Paul switched gears in 1:24, where he began to draw a contrast by revealing to the Colossians the folly of a false gospel. And from 1:24-2:7, Paul established that the true gospel is preached by true shepherds.
Verse 8, as we will see, is the hinge to the next part of Paul’s argument in the rest of chapter 2. He’s now moving on to his next topic in : the futility of false gospels and the false teachers who peddle them. First, he warns the Colossians to be on guard against spiritual slave traders in verse 8. Then, in 9-12, he gives them the reason why they should be on guard: they already have the best Master they could ever have in Christ.
Essentially, Paul’s main point in writing was to exhort the Colossians to be on guard against the threat of spiritual slavery because they already belonged to the perfect Master, the Lord Jesus Christ.
With that in mind, follow along as I read .
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
JESUS CAME! ()
JESUS CAME! ()
The first reason to reject spiritual captivity is that Jesus came!… Jesus came. Look at verses 8-9.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
Last week, we took some time to take an extensive look at what this spiritual captivity looks like, and it’s not pretty. Paul is warning the Colossians to diligent in sniffing out spiritual slave traders, who are actively on the prowl, seeking for weak souls to devour.
Their weapons of choice happen to be philosophy and empty deceit, because their aim is to make you believe that what they say is true. However, their doctrines and beliefs are far from it! This is because they operate by the practices of sinful man and by the elementary stages of a sinful world.
And, the most important reason their words are irrelevant is because they aren’t “according to Christ.” But in contrast, look at verse 9:
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
Now, compare what the false teachers are teaching to what Paul is teaching. The main difference is this: According to the false teachers, man is able to reconcile himself with God. “Just do what we tell you,” they say, “and maybe you’ll make it to heaven!” But according to Paul, only God can reconcile man with God.
Therefore, if God wanted to reconcile Himself with man, then He needed to do it Himself! But how? How could He pay the debt for the sins of His people against Him and still be their Judge? Through His Son, Jesus Christ.
But Jesus isn’t just any created “son of God”. Hardly! In Him, “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form...” Paul is saying this: the full measure of the essence of God dwells in Jesus Christ Himself, in the flesh.
19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 10:30
30 “I and the Father are one.”
There are so many reasons for believers to have confidence in Christ that it’s hard to keep track of them all. But we’d be foolish to forget the most obvious one: He is God incarnate!
The Colossians were being tempted to doubt if Jesus really was who He says He is. What they didn’t realize was that losing confidence in the deity of Jesus is the first step to spiritual captivity!
If there’s one area where we cannot compromise, where we cannot budge even for a moment, it is on the deity of Christ. is clear - God is One! But at the same time, He is three Persons - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Distinct but one! again - “I and the Father are one.”
A lot of times, it’s the simple truths in Scripture that we’re prone to forgetting. One of the biggest hindrances to my growth in Christ is my tendency to feel like I’ve “graduated” from the foundational truths in Scripture.
I like to think to myself, “Oh, I’m in seminary now, I need to focus on the presence of the article in the original Greek manuscripts of , who really cares about “love your neighbor as yourself”? I got that down last-year so whatever.”
That kind of pride and arrogance is exactly what causes us, best case scenario, to fail miserably in our walk with Christ or, worst case scenario, what opens us up for a crippling attack on our spiritual freedom by the spiritual slave traders from verse 8.
We never graduate from the simple truths of the Bible! Why? Just think about how hard it is to truly love your neighbor as yourself. What does that actually look like? How difficult is it to really love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and might? How are we doing in that area of our lives? Things become quite different, don’t they? So whenever you’re tempted to think you’re too mature for the foundational truths of Scripture, repent of self-righteousness, pray to the Lord for humility, and strive to walk in obedience to the exact foundational commands you had initially chafed at.
JESUS REIGNS! ()
JESUS REIGNS! ()
The first reason to reject spiritual captivity was because Jesus cares! The second reason is because Jesus reigns!… Jesus reigns. Look at verse 10.
10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
Not only does all the fullness of Deity dwell in Christ, but in Him, believers have been made complete!
Think of “to make full, or fill up” here when you see “have been made complete”.
This verb here is not just any regular verb: It’s in the passive voice! And, it’s in the perfect tense! And, on top of that, Paul isn’t just talking about one person or a random animal, he’s talking about the Colossians! The believers! You and me. This is an action that was accomplished long ago and the fallout from it is massive. Jesus reigns! Over what? Everything! So, because He is fully divine, He has filled His disciples with what they lacked spiritually in salvation.
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.
16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
31 so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Think about just how mind-boggling this is. The fullness of “Godness”, or the “essence of being God”, dwells in Jesus in His human body. And that fullness has been given to all who believe in Him.
Jesus reigns because He is God! What did we establish earlier? No one can reconcile God and man but God. So how did God take care of our sin problem? By handling it Himself.
You see, Paul wanted the Colossians to understand this reality: that they already had everything they could ever need for their spiritual lives. They had no need to even entertain the ideas and teachings of false teachers. Why? Because Christ is the King, and as Sovereign King, He has already made them complete.
Sometimes, it doesn’t feel like we’re complete though, does it? We still struggle with sin daily! We still spend too much time on worldly things, don’t we? And we still don’t change as fast as we like, or as much as we’d like, do we?
Be encouraged by this - that this “completion” here in verse 10 is a positional completion that is progressively completed. I’ll say that again. This “completion” here in verse 10 is a positional completion that is progressively completed. Let me explain that a bit further.
Positionally, every believer has been declared righteous before the King of Heaven and that cannot be reversed, altered, or changed because the King has declared it so! Listen to Jesus’ words in :
27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
Progressively, every believer spends the days of their human lives growing in righteousness over time and that process cannot be reversed, altered, or changed because the King makes sure of it! Hear what Paul says in :
12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Phil. 2:12-13
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and again and again: the Christian life is about direction, not perfection. We won’t get to perfection until we get to the other side of glory. But in the meantime, let’s strive together to be holy! Not because we have the ability to in of ourselves, but because God is holy, and His grace is what is at work in us.
16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
The reason we can trust Christ’s rule over everything is because He is the head of every single power and authority that exists, whether earthly or heavenly. Look at again.
10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
Not just “some” rule and authority, but all! Everything!
This clause may seem out of place in the context of the passage, but that’s not the case at all! The false teachers in Colossae weren’t just adding new rules and regulations to the gospel. They were subtracting Christ’s saving work from the equation by beginning to plant seeds of doubt in the Colossians’ minds about whether Christ really is the Head of all, or just a leader among angels in heaven.
But Paul is shutting that notion down plainly here. Christ is simply the Ruler of rulers and the Authority of all authorities. Submit to His rule!
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
JESUS SAVES! ()
JESUS SAVES! ()
So far, we’ve seen 2 reasons to remain in Christ: The first was because Jesus came. The second was because Jesus reigns. The third is because Jesus reigns!… Jesus reigns. Look at verses 11-12.
11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
There’s a lot going on in these two verses, so let’s walk through it.
“In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands...”
In Christ, not only does all the fullness of Deity dwells in His human body, and not only we have been made full by that fullness, but also we have removed our sinful flesh in Him.
6 “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.
And what is the realm of this spiritual circumcision? Look at the next part of verse 11.
“in the stripping off of the body of flesh...”
This is where the false teachers in Colossae, the Roman Catholic system, the Mormons, the Buddhists, and any other religious system have it all wrong. There is not one part of salvation that man has a part in. If we are to be set apart and become holy before a holy God, then we can’t have any part in it! Otherwise it would never be sufficient because we aren’t holy ourselves. If we were, then why even bother with appeasing God anyway? You see, when we turn to legalism and add requirements to the gospel that Scripture doesn’t make, or when we turn to liberalism and take away requirements from the gospel that Scripture does make, we reduce God to an idol of our making. Our Lord remains the same, and He will not change.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
How did God accomplish this removal of our fleshly bodies though? Because God the Son gave up His own flesh at the cross for the sins of His people.
“in the circumcision of Christ...”
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
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20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
This was the “true” circumcision of Christ. By laying aside His flesh at the cross for a people who hated Him, He accomplished the means by which we would be made complete, and by which we would be saved from our sins. Truly, what can compare to the sovereign grace and unending love of our God?
Paul doesn’t just leave it there though. Look at :
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
What exactly is this baptism Paul is referring to, anyway? Basically, Paul is saying here that in God the Son, believers have been made full and stripped of their sinful flesh through death and resurrection with Christ.
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
13 For 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.
21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Think about this: As believers, we have died to our flesh! Our former selves! We are not who we used to be! We are a new creation in Christ!
Beloved, understand this: if you know Christ, then you are no longer enslaved to your sinful ways. That goes for me. That goes for you. That goes for anyone who is a believer in this room! A new creation in Christ.
So why do we go back to our sin as believers? Out of choice. Understand that as a believer, you are no longer enslaved to your sinful ways, so when we do sin, we are consciously choosing to go back to bondage after Christ has already freed us in Him.
That’s so sobering to think about. On a daily basis, I think to myself, how often do I go back to the chains that Christ has redeemed me from? Any sin I commit, whether large or little in consequence, is cosmic treason against the God of the Universe, King Jesus. The saddest part about it is that Jesus has saved me from my sins! For no reason at all except for His own purposes!
When I’m confronted by God’s Word from passages like these, it’s so good for my flesh because I’m so proud in my heart! I need these rebukes from the Lord! For all of us, if we want to live a life that is growing in Christlikeness, then we have to not just be sensitive to reproof from Scripture, but be seekers of reproof from the Word, so that by holiness, we too may see the Lord. Listen to :
14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
Now look at again. The sweetest thing about this baptism with Christ isn’t that we have been stripped of our sinful flesh. It’s that we have been raised with Him!
Paul caps off the passage in perfect style. Here, at the close of verse 12, Paul is telling the Colossians that they have been buried and raised with Christ by the power of the same God who raised Christ from the dead.
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
BE CONFIDENT IN CHRIST
BE CONFIDENT IN CHRIST
Hopefully, this passage has been as much of an encouragement for your hearts as it has been for me. We’ve looked at 3 reasons to run from spiritual captivity and run to spiritual freedom. The first, from verses 8-9, was that Jesus came. The second, from verse 10, was that Jesus reigns. The third, from 11-12, was that Jesus saves.
Now before you leave tonight, I want to leave you with 3 practical ways to apply this newfound confidence in Christ, 3 practical ways.
1) BE CONFIDENT IN EVANGELISM.
1) BE CONFIDENT IN EVANGELISM.
… be confident in evangelism. Always keep in mind!
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
If you don’t think you know enough of your Bible to share the gospel with the lost souls that are in your social circle, then find someone in the ministry who does and learn from them! We can have confidence in evangelism because we can be confident of what Christ has done in us: He has made us complete and has set us apart spiritually because He is the Son of God. His words are all that we need to rely on to change the hearts of lost souls.
2) BE CONFIDENT IN DISCIPLESHIP.
2) BE CONFIDENT IN DISCIPLESHIP.
2) BE CONFIDENT IN DISCIPLESHIP.
2) BE CONFIDENT IN DISCIPLESHIP.
… be confident in discipleship. What is discipleship? Simply when believers teach other believers how to live like Christ. So if you’re not in the flow of discipleship in the church, then get into it! There should never be a moment where you are not either getting discipled or discipling others in the body.
Did you know it’s actually sin to avoid discipleship? Jesus commands us to make disciples and to be disciples! Listen to what He says in :
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
So if you haven’t been in discipleship yet, don’t wallow in self-pity! Do something about it. Go find somebody who lives like Christ better than you do and tell them to teach you how to do that too. It will be of eternal benefit to your heart and to theirs.
3) BE CONFIDENT IN BODY LIFE.
3) BE CONFIDENT IN BODY LIFE.
… be confident in body life. Have confidence in the local church because the local church is the body of Christ! If you are in Him, then you are in the local church. There is no such thing as a church-less Christian.
The Word of God has the power to unite all kinds of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. It also has the power to unite all kinds of people from every background, preference, and age group. Sometimes, it’s easier to believe the former than the latter. So, let’s fight back against our flesh, be on guard against the spiritual slave traders, and rejoice that we believers get to have the most perfect Master we could ever have. All we need is truly in Christ alone, amen? Let’s pray.