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Col 3:5-11
Nothing weakens the church so much as the battle that Christians have with sin and guilt.
Behind the outward appearances, too many in churches today are repeating sins and feel trapped by them.
They live under a weight of guilt, and they feel like they have tried every avenue for victory.
They keep doing right things outwardly, but inside they feel helpless and confused.
They find themselves wondering, how can I do this when the Bible says that “old things have passed away, all things have become new.”
If I am a new man in Christ, how can I be doing these things?
While all Christians have probably faced these struggles and questions at one time or another, for some, they are a daily reality.
As we move into the application section of the letter to the Colossians, we will deal with some of the most personal and most important questions in the church today.
Why do Christians sin? Can I help it?
Am I an old fleshly man, or a new creature in Christ?
Or both?
How do I change?
Even in these 7 verses this letter will deal with what are probably the most problematic issues: sexual sins, anger, and the tongue.
I probably shouldn’t open this sermon this way, because it would takes weeks or months to adequately deal with all of these issues.
But Colossians 3 will give us some significant help, though of course it cannot exhaustively address these issues.
This will be a great start.
READ Col. 3:1-11
···* Understanding what is past and what is present in this text:*
! Past
v.9 you laid aside the old man (self) with its evil practices: this was death with Christ, which you claimed for yourself by faith at salvation
v.10 you put on the new man (self): this is resurrection with Christ, which you claimed for yourself by faith at salvation
! Present
v.5 put to death the members upon the earth to sin
v.8 throw aside your sin
vv.
10-11 your new man is being renovated in the image of Christ
This follows the pattern that we have already seen in Colossians several times: live in the reality of Christ; live in the reality of who you are.
We just saw it last week: since you are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, you should be seeking and setting your mind on things above.
Since you have died with Christ to the law, you shouldn’t subject yourself to the law any longer.
Since you have been made complete in Christ, don’t look to man’s wisdom for ideas about how to make life work.
You have everything you need in Christ.
This follows that same pattern.
There is heavenly reality, and we have to learn to live in light of that.
The heavenly reality is that your old man was laid aside, and you put on the new man through union with Christ.
Now live like it.
That’s the basic message of these verses.
··· *Question: if my old man died and I have a new man now, why do I struggle with sin?*
~*This is a very difficult question.
It raises lots of issues like, does the believers have one nature or two?
Is the believer a 100% new holy man?
II Cor.
5:17 in the KJV says “old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.”
Or is he 100% new and 100% old at the same time?
Or is he somewhere in between?
The NT is not that clear, and as a result the debates rage.
Here’s how I understand it.
Old man: defeated, but not yet gone; the new birth doesn’t get rid of indwelling sin, the corruption of the old nature still remains in us
· Rom.
6:6 “Our old self was crucified with Him.”
· Gal.
5:17 “the flesh [sinful nature] sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.”
New man: real, but not fully realized yet; we are genuinely new, but not yet fully new
· Eph.
4:24 “The new man in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
· Col. 3:10 “The new man is being renewed [renovated]”
You are positionally perfect; holy; sanctified; saved; absolutely 100% forever.
That is your position, but in practice you are still being changed.
And this will continue until you die or Christ returns.
Then you will be fully new; indwelling sin will be gone; the corruption of your old nature will be gone.
You will be 100% Christlike in practice and position.
SO, if my old man died and I have a new man now, why do I struggle with sin?
Because while your old man is defeated, it is not yet gone.
You are a still a sinner by nature.
Though you are really new, you are not completely new.
You are growing in Christlikeness, and this won’t be completed until you are glorified.
This might be a little bit disturbing to some of you, to be told that yu don’t have a perfectly holy new self in you.
You are thinking: “I thought that when I got saved I became a brand new person.”
But if you think about that, you know that isn’t completely true.
You look generally the same as before you were saved.
You have the same physical heart and the same brain.
You have the same personality.
Sins that you lived in before you were saved were still temptations to you after.
You know that when you got saved God didn’t get rid of you and substitute a new person!
Your substance didn’t actually change; you’re still you!
What has changed, then?
*New position:* because we have the righteousness of Christ on our account, we are 100% innocent; we have been declared righteous by God.
Before the court of the universe, God’s court, you are holy and sinless because of Christ.
You have been born again, so you have eternal life.
*New power:* Rom.
6:14 “sin shall not be master over you” 6:18 you are “freed from sin” 6:20 “you were slaves of sin” 6:22 “but now having been freed from sin”; the Spirit in us to empower us for obedience Gal.
5:16 “walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh….
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
You have access to divine ability to obey.
*New possibility:* To be like your creator.
You were created in God’s image to show off what God is like.
But sin terribly messed that up.
Now we lie about what God is like or we terribly distort it.
But salvation restores to us the opportunity to be Godlike, to be Christlike.
Col. 3:10-11 agrees with this when it tells us that our new man is changing.
It is being renewed (remade, renovated) in the image of Christ.
Christian living is all about knowing and becoming like Christ.
He is all and in all.
II Cor.
3:18 says that one degree at a time, from one level of glory to another, we are being shaped into the image of Christ.
That happens as we have a true knowledge of Him.
We love Him and rejoice in Him and meditate on Him.
*New passion:* new desires, new inclination, new disposition.
Rom.
8:5 “those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”
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