Untitled Sermon

Change into a Life of Christ

Colossians 3: 5-14

How can believers live out the changed life we have in Christ?

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As Paul writes to the Colossians, he speaks to them about the fact that since Christ has given them new life, it’s time for a change! That is, since we as believers have new life in Christ, we should determine to learn how to live the changed life that is ours. Paul mentions in this passage two determinations every Christian should make.

1. There are some things we must determine to deal with - vs. 5-9

A. Sin - vs. 5-8

Paul says that we must not be content with victory over obvious sins, but that we must continue to deal with the other sins in our life that might not be so readily obvious as well.

Now, while God’s people can certainly have trouble with the sins listed in verse 5, it seems to me that the second list in verse 8 more often can be our undoing. The reason being that it is far more difficult to justify sins like greed, lust, and immorality, than it is to justify sins like anger, rage, or slander. Sometimes we even justify sins like slander in the name of “sharing a prayer request”! Oh, how we need to see our sin as God sees it; and get serious about dealing with sin in our life!

“If we confess our sins - 1 John 1:9

What a wonderful promise this is! But we need to understand what it means to confess sin. The Greek word translated “confess” here is “homologeo,”which means “to say the same.” That means we face the darkness of our sin in light of the holiness of God. That we do not make excuses for our sin or color code our sin or justify our sin or blame someone else for our sin. We see it as God sees it and acknowledge it as the evil and wicked thing it is.

I call it an accident; but God calls it an abomination;

I call it a blunder; but God calls it blindness;

I call it a defect; but God calls it a disaster;

I call it chance; but God calls it a choice;

I call it an infirmity; but God calls it iniquity;

I call it a liberty; but God calls it lawlessness;

I call it a trifle; but God calls it a tragedy;

I call it a mistake; but God calls it madness.

Take a look at these sins in v.5-8. Which one of these are dominant in your life? Which one of these sins are you making excuses for in your life? Remember, it’s not about what you think about these sins or what I say about them. It’s about what God’s Word says about them, our opinion doesn’t matter.

B. Hypocrisy - v. 9

The Greek word translated “hypocrite” is “hypokritai,” and originally referred to stage actors. It referred to someone who was a pretender. So, what is hypocrisy? It is pretending to be what you are not. So hypocrisy is lying to others, as Paul describes here.

A hypocrite wants to impress others with an external façade of religious knowledge and beliefs, whereas on the inside they are a completely different person and only wanting what is best for himself, and not thinking of no one else.

Maybe you come to church, can quote passages from the Bible from cover to cover, but when you get home you’re right back into your life of sin. When others see you, they cannot tell whether you are a Christian or not, even though you say you are. There is no difference and you are not bearing any fruit. Or maybe no one knows whether you are a Christian because you never witness, you never say anything about your faith, so to others you are one of them.

And try as hard as one might, inevitably, your hypocrisy will be exposed! You cannot fool yourself or others forever! If it isn’t exposed in this life, it will be exposed before God’s throne.

The best policy is to live in the open with both God and man; and deal with any hypocrisy that God reveals to us in our lives.

2. There are some things we must determine to develop - vs. 10-14

A. We must develop our knowledge of God - v. 10

What helps us deal with sin and hypocrisy?

Growing in our knowledge of God! And one of the primary ways in which I grow in my knowledge of God is through His Word.

James 1:21-24

Too many Christians approach the Word of God, looking for what they can agree with in it. Instead, we need to approach the Word of God, looking for what it might disagree with in me. If I approach the Bible with this spirit, two things will result:

1) The Word of God will convict me of my sin and hypocrisy.

2) The Word of God will correct my sin and hypocrisy.

- 2 Timothy 3:16-17

God’s Word shows us when and where we’ve gotten off the right path. But it also shows how to get back on the right path and avoid getting off the right path again! And what will be the primary result of God’s Word being allowed to work fully in our lives? Love for others.

B. We must develop our love for each other - vs. 11-14

We do this by recognizing that . . .

1) None of us is better than the other - v. 11

A) There is no racial superiority or inferiority - “no Greek or Jew”

B) There is no religious superiority or inferiority - “no . . . circumcised or uncircumcised”

C) There is no cultural superiority or inferiority - “no . . . Barbarian or Scythian”

D) There is no social superiority or inferiority - “no . . . slave or free”

2) None of us is to be inconsiderate of the other - v. 12

- Philippians 2:3-4

A our world today that is so self-centered Christians should really stand out from the crowd in the way we consider others before ourselves.

3) None of us can afford to not forgive the other - v. 13, also found in John 20:23, Luke 6:36, and Matthew 6: 14-15

Everywhere we go in life, there are things about others that can “bug us.” And Paul tells us when that happens in the church, we are to put up with each other’s idiosyncrasies; and should they become offences, we are to forgive. And we are to forgive as Christ forgave us.

How are we to forgive?

A) Completely -

“Love . . . Keeps no record of wrongs” - 1 Corinthians 13:5d

B) Redemptively -

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

Why do we bear with one another and forgive one another? We do so with the goal in mind of bringing out the best in one another.

4) None of us can love one another without promoting unity - v. 14

A. Christian unity isn’t uniformity - everyone acting alike.

B. Christian unity isn’t unanimity - everyone thinking alike.

C. Christian unity is loving God and one another alike.

That’s why our primary concern in every meeting, in every gathering, in every decision, must be to find together the answer to the question, “What does God want?” Once we discern that, we can each work together, each of us making our unique contribution to the work of the church. Only then, does the church grow as God wants it to grow.

We spoke about at the beginning of the sermon, do we really want things to go back to the way they were before COVID?

Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us to put off the old self and put on the new man. The normal is not working for us, it’s okay to change and when we do let’s make sure it is according to God in true righteousness and holiness.