Be What You Already Are
Colossians • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewssanctification - begins with free grace, is a community project, is learning to be a disciple of jesus, is all about christ, produces fruit of gratitude and joy.
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Transcript
Colossians 3:5-17 be “what you are already are “
What comes into your mind when you hear the word sanctification? I’ll give you a moment to think about your answer:
confusion? Never heard it. A word only pastors use. No real significance to your life Rules and regulationsSomething makes christianity no fun.
This past Thursday night at worship team rehearsal I posed the question to the team: what comes into your mind when you hear the word sanctification?
One response included the phrase “set apart”
Another talked for a moment about holiness.
Sanctification is a broad concept that refers to being set apart as sacred. It has to do with becoming godly.
Ultimately, sanctification is all about what God is doing with the people that belong to him.
But what does this idea actually mean, and what does it look like? Hear the words of christian writer David powlinson:
The word sanctification, saint, holy, and holiness frequently conjure up a variety of odd, hyper-spiritual images. But these words intend to communicate earthy, practical realities.
To be sanctified is to have your faith simplified, clarified, and deepened. You need God. You know God. You love God. You see life, God, yourself, others more truly. And to grow as a saint is to grow in actually loving people. How other people are doing matters increasingly to you.
It means you are becoming a wiser human being. You are learning how to deal well with your money, your sexuality, your job. You are becoming a better friend and family member. When you talk, your words communicate more good sense, more joy, more reality.
You are learning to pray honestly, bringing who God really is to the reality of human need.
It means you live in more clear minded hope. You know the purpose of your life, roll up your sleeves, and get about doing what needs doing. You are honestly thankful for good things. You honestly face disappointment and pain, illness and dying.
Sanctification, saint, holy, and holiness-- they speak of daily life. There is nothing more practical than to live with an ever-growing love, joy and purposefulness. There is nothing more eyes-open and helpful than to be maturing in wisdom, hope and faith.
David Powlison, How Does Sanctifcation Work?
Isn’t that so helpful!?
Not for a select few. For all of God’s children. For his “saints!”
A process that god is in the middle of with you, right now.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
our text for today, is one of the go-to passages of scripture when it comes to understanding sanctification. My prayer is that our church would grow in our understanding of what sanctification means.
Turn to Colossians 3:5-17. bible. Bulletin. screen.
read.
Title: be what you already are
Pray
I want to begin with following Paul’s train of thought.
It begins with what I will call gospel logic.
Before I think about what I must do, I must first consider what God has done
Verse 12 must be by starting point:
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved”
This is foundational: election drives sanctification.
God chose me.
He sought me out. Just like he chose Abram, a pagan who worshipped false Gods in the city of UR. and promised that he would make him a great nation.
Just like he chose, again and again, Israel to be his special people.
Just like he chose David to be king, a shepherd, and the youngest son of Jesse.
He chose Peter, a fisherman to be his primary preacher in the early church.
He chose Paul, a jewish man and the persecutor of his church to bring the gospel to the gentiles and wright most of the new testament.
The bible is filled from beginning to end with stories of God choosing people you might never expect. And he chooses people based on nothing but his good pleasure.
If you are a follower of Jesus, if you are in Christ, it is because God chose you. This is the first element of gospel logic. Gospel thinking.
Secondly, Paul says that you are also HOLY! Before you DO anything, you are already set apart for God. Consecrated.
Paul calls the christians in colossae 1:2 “the saints”
God lives in me. We are his dwelling place. His temple. His sanctuary.
The message of the gospel IS NOT: “you are not yet holy, work on it until you get there”
That’s man-made religion.
No the gospel message is: “you are holy, be what you already are in Christ”
Gospel logic point #3 YOU ARE BELOVED.
I am already dearly loved. God loves me. Right now. As is.
Gospel logic on full display in
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 7:6-8
We could sum up this verse: God loves you because he loves you.
chosen. holy. loved.
Sanctification begins with free grace.
this is the best news. And it must be internalized for the rest of chapter 3 to make any sense. Otherwise you will hear Paul’s instructions and you will think:
In order for god to accept me I have to stop doing bad things and start doing good things.
wrong. That’s not gospel. Paul is clear: you are already chosen, holy and loved. Now live like that is true.
Now its time for us to consider the commands:
“Put to death what is earthly in you” v. 5
“Put away anger wrath malice” v.8
“Put off the old self” v. 9
Do you remember the first school dance that you ever attended?
In 1997 my mother convinced me to go to the very last dance of the school year. Mom brought me shopping (Marshalls?) and I picked out a short-sleeve purple button down. Together with some pressed khakis and combed hair, I think I looked very nice.
We pulled up to the entrance of this catholic church, I was nervous and I got out of the car and as I walked towards the door, I began to sense that perhaps this wasn’t going to go well. You see I could hear loud music and lots of screaming, yelling kids. I walked into the darkened room, and within a few moments, a bunch of my friends saw me “Robbie’s here!” They rushed at me and I my mistake was obvious. They were are dripping with sweat and wearing shorts and t shirts. “What are you wearing?!” They messed up my hair, pulled my shirt out of my pants and after laughing at me, ran off to the corner of the room where the other 7th graders were. I was quite embarrassed. Why? I wasn’t dressed for the occasion.
Or another image…
Growing up I played soccer all over the state of Connecticut. My parents were devoted. I cant tell you how many times I’d have games in the rain, and then climb into my father’s green dodge ram. He’d have the heater going full blast. And I would begin the process of stripping off my cleats, soccer socks and my shinguards. Teenage boys don’t smell the greatest on the best of days. But there is something extra awful about the smell of sweaty shinguards peeled off legs.
My dad’s nose has always been extra sensitive. He would pull off to the side of the road and demand that I take all of it and throw it in the bed of the truck.
When it comes to sin, this is how we are to respond: a growing embarrassment “oh no I am not dressed right”
And then another element: ugh! Gross! This stuff has got to go!
So this is the clothing metaphor that Paul expands. Because you are in christ. Because your life is hidden with Christ in god. Because you are chosen, holy and dearly loved: strip off everything that doesn’t belong!
So has to go?
Sexual immorality. impurity. Passionate lust. Evil desires.
Paul writing in 62AD— nothing has changed with human behavior. You would have to be blind not to recognize that our culture has gone off the deep end when it comes to sex. It is the idol of our day.
I’ll say it clearly and simply. The only sexual relationship permitted by God is the one reserved for a husband and a wife. Any other sexual pursuit, outside of biblical marriage, is sinful. Paul says “put all of this to death”
Kill it. Take a sword and drive it through the heart of that sexual sin.
If you dont — it will destroy you.
The writer of proverbs paints a picture for us of what happens when chase the god of sexual immorality.
It will not go well for The man who pursues her:
With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life. . . Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths. . . for many a victim has she laid low, Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life. And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.
Lesson: kill the sexual sin in your life.
Remember who you are. (Child of God)
Remember that in Christ - you have experienced a death! A death to sin. A death to the old man. The old way of living.
Next Paul moves on from sin with the body, to sin with the mouth: “put away anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk…dont lie!”
Oh what damage we can do with out mouth! Some of the most difficult moments OF MY LIFE came when I was a teacher in Hartford. The never-ending barrage of profanity and hate and bullying and venom.
Paul says that this was the stuff that the Colossians “practiced” before they knew Jesus. This was who they used to be.
What we say matters, as Jesus made clear:
Jesus said in
But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.
Matthew 15:18
And James his half brother wrote
[T]he tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. . . no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
James 3:5-6,8-10
What I find so interesting is that, while it is true that sin destroys individuals, Paul’s emphasis here is on the church as a whole.
Sin is not just about you!
If its not dealt with, destroys communities.
In 1 corinthians Paul address a situation of sexual sin. The church is not dealing with the sin in their midst. Its unchecked. —-but the church isn’t doing anything about it. Paul says dont you remember that a little leaven, a little yeast, eventually makes its way into the entire loaf?
Its the same in colossae: there is such an emphasis in our text on community. This letter was to be read OUT LOUD.
Dont lie to one another.
Bear with one another.
Forgive one another.
Be patient with one another!
Teach and admonish one another.
Sanctification is a community project.
We must encourage one another. support. Pray for. Practice hospitality. In other words: one of the driving motivators for stripping off the filthy garments of sin is that of LOVE.
We see the impact in verse 11:
11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
I love that. A christian is a person who says first
JESUS IS EVERYTHING to me.
And second
2) Christ dwells in my brothers and sisters too
In other words— we have something in common. Or better yet: SOMEONE IN COMMON.
1 John 1
[T]hat which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. . . . But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
This is a description of divine fellowship that is stunning.
My fellowship is with the father and the son.
Your fellowship is with the father and the son.
Spirit of christ dwells in me. And you. WE are the dwelling place of God. Of course we must dress appropriately. Of course we must kill the sin that remains in us. Of course we must love one another. Do you see how this type of perspective changes everything?
Sanctification begins with free grace
Sanctification a community project.
Let’s look at Paul tells us to put on.
v.12-14
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
These are not exactly qualities that the world associates with success! In fact putting this clothing on, so to speak, may actually mean that we are unable to get ahead in the world because we refuse to stab others in the back, gossip, payback in kind what has been done to us!
Of course: what we are really doing is putting on Christ himself.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Galations 3:27
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 13:14
put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 3:24
I love that! ‘Created after the likeness of God’
This is exactly right.
Run down the list again:
Compassionate heart
Kindness
Humility
Meekness
Patience forgive
Is this not the description of God?
He had compassion on me before I showed any interest in trusting him.
He has been kind to me.
He has been gentle with me he has shown us divine meekness in Jesus Christ.
He has been patient with me again and again
God has forgiven me in Christ. What a noble pattern.
No wonder that god’s chosen people should react to others in exactly the same way!
Dont forget our gospel logic. Be what you already are.
The first instructions are: rid yourself of what doesn’t belong.
Now Paul says “clothe yourself” with Jesus Christ himself.
Dallas Willard: “As a disciple of Jesus I am with him, by choice and by grace, learning from him how to live in the kingdom of God. . . I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live my life if he were I. I am not necessarily learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner that he did all that he did.”
I love when a writer can say something in a way that I never heard before. He is simply saying: living like Jesus.
Sanctification is learning to be a disciple of Jesus.
This is important because it makes discipleship an everyday reality. Put away what doesn’t belong. Take off the old way of living and put on christ.
Start with free grace.
Community project.
Learning to be a disciple
Paul moves to some really practical application. At this point we shouldn’t be surprised to see that Christ is front and center: his PEACE, his WORD, his NAME.
Christ is the reality in which you must order my life.
Verses 15-17 (3 consecutive) help us
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.
Jesus promised to give us his peace:
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
John 14:27
Remember Jesus said these things the night he was betrayed! The night before his crucifixion. The night before he was to die for the sins of the world.
He doesn’t say “I’m going to make you feel a sense of peace” he says: I am going to give you MY peace. The peace that I have with my father.
The trust that I have in my father. His perfect sovereign wisdom. The love that I have for my father. I am giving it to you. Of course this is to be received BY FAITH.
The way that its written in the original: “And the peace of Christ, let it be acting as umpire in your hearts, into which also you were called in one body.
When I am tempted to despair. To be fearful. To lash out in anger. To lie — I will let Christ himself direct me towards him.
Secondly: verse 16.
“16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”
This past week Rebekah was talking with a friend in Pennsylvania. Opened school. Closed it. Election drama. She was sharing that the practice of memoizing scripture and reciting it as a family has been a wonderful anchor for them.
“The word of Christ, let it be continually at home in you in abundance;” Paul says in verse 10 “and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” The word of God changes us.
His peace is the umpire of my heart.
His word is at home in me
Finally, verse 17
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
When bible talks about name its talking about who the person is:
In other words: Paul says “I have found in Jesus someone worthy of worship. I have found my king. I have found the one whom my heart longs for. So now I want to please Christ. I want to reflect him. He is more valuable to me than anything else. And I want to live in such a way that honors Jesus. I want others to see how great he is too!
In other words:
Sanctification is all about Christ.
To do everything in his name means that my eyes are on Jesus, and not my filthy garments.
This goes back to setting my mind on things above.
The way to grow in holiness is to look at Jesus.
That sounds quite fuzzy. A little vague. really.
So how do I know if I am on the right path?
(First, ask those close to you)
But Paul gives us some clues to let us know if we are on the right track> I wonder if you can spot the clue?
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
A clear sign of God working in your life is singing & gratitude! Finding more and more reasons to praise God.
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
“sing and making melody to the Lord with your heart”
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord.
I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.
Sanctification produces the fruit of gratitude and joy.
This is what naturally grows our of the believer. It goes back to gospel logic. I’ve reflected on his goodness. I know he chose me.
I know he has declared me holy.
I know God loves me!
Questions to consider:
Do you need to make a wardrobe change?Have you made the community of Christ a priority in your life?Is your life producing the fruit of gratitude and joy?
We should not lose sight of the fact that Paul is specifically addressing Christians here. He was realistic enough about the continuing presence of indwelling sin and believers to speak honestly about the nature of the battle