Sermon Tone Analysis

Chapter 3

The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Colossians and his Study guide.

Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

Living the Risen Life (3:1-4)

Practical Paul now moves to the practical aspects of Holiness

— He wants us to think of our heavenly realities and that we don’t belong to this world (John 18:36)

— We have overcome the world (1 John 5:4-5)

— We are citizens of Heaven ( Eph 2:6; Phil 3:20)

The Reminder

(3:1) If then you were raised with Christ

— “If” is better translated as “Since” (NIV)

— It is an accomplished act

Same teaching Paul teaches the same thing in Gal 2:20 and Rom 6:3-4

— I have been crucified with Christ; 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 for me.

( Gal 2:20 )

— “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” ( Rom 6:3-5 )

— Rom 6:3-4 is a dry verse (as is 1 Peter 3:21)

New Life The new life is powerful

— But so is SIN; it can still over power us

— We need to “work out our new life”

— Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ( Phil 2:12 )

— Live out the reality of our union with Christ

The Responsibility

(3:1b) seek those things which are above

Seek ζητέω (zēteō).

vb. to seek.

To seek what is lost, what is due.

— Keep seeking, continuous preoccupation with the eternal realities that are ours in Christ

— Be preoccupied with Heaven

— View the world from His eyes with an eternal perspective

— Set your mind on things above

— In contrast to the evil man who (Pr 6:14) devises evil continually, He sows discord

— Or men whose thoughts are futile (Ro 1:21) and have a debased mind (Ro 1:28)

Our Resource

(3:1c) where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God

Right Hand A place of honor

— An exalted position

— The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

( Ps 110:1 )

— Jesus told his accusers that He would be seated at the Father’s right hand

— “Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.” ( Luke 22:69 )

— Stephen saw Jesus at the right hand of the father (Acts 7:56)

— and said, “Look!

I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” ( Acts 7:56 )

— Writer of Hebrews says Jesus is in the place of honor

— who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ( Heb 1:3 )

(3:2) Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth

Q: How does a person set their mind or heart on “things above” (3:2)?

— Set your mind; “think” or more thoroughly, “have this inner disposition”

Lightfoot Lightfoot paraphrases it, “You must not only seek heaven, you must also think heaven”

MacArthur — “The believers whole disposition should orient itself toward heaven, where Christ is, just as a needle

orientates itself north.”

The Reason

(3:3) For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

We Died We died to the world

— Our life is hidden with Christ

Died ἀποθνῄσκω (apothnēskō) You have died, past tense

— Took place at the time of our salvation (2 Cor 5:17)

— Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

( 2 Cor 5:17 )

Q: In what sense has the believer died?

Penalty Paid The penalty for our sin has been paid

— The wages of sin is death, we must die

— Because of our union with Christ we have died in Him

— Died in the sense of paying sin’s penalty

— We have not died to the presence and power of sin but it no longer can condemn us

(3:3) your life is hidden with Christ in God

Q: How is your life “hidden with Christ in God”?

(1) We have a common life with the Father and the Son

— by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

( 2 Pet 1:4 )

(2) The world cannot see who we really are.

—Our new life is concealed from the world

— Our true manifestation of the sons of God is yet to come ( 1 Cor 2:14; Ro 8:19; 1 John 3:2 )

— But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

( 1 Cor 2:14 )

(3) We are eternally secure

— We are protected from spiritual foes ( John 10:28, 1 Pet 1:4; Heb 7:25; Ro 8:31-39 )

— And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

( Jn 10:28 )

(3:4) When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

The Revelation

Not Recognized The world doesn’t recognize those “hidden in Christ”

— One day it will!

— We will be revealed at Christ’s second coming (Rev 19:11-13; Rev 19:15-16; 2 Tim 2:19)

— Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

( 2 Tim 2:19 )

Our Life Paul adds that “Christ is our life”

— He doesn’t merely give life; He is life (Gal 2:20; 2 Cor 4:10)

— For me to live is Christ (Phil 1:21)

Putting Sin to Death (3:5-9a)

( 3:5-9 ) Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.

8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,

Positional Reality There is a positional reality that our sin was put to death

— knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

( Ro 6:6 )

— We died to the penalty but not the presence or the power of sin