Good morning to you all. We continue in our study of Colossians and we now come to the third chapter of this very interesting letter. Here the first four verses serve as an important connective between Paul's warning which was in chapter two and Paul's exhortation on holy living which follows right after. Colossian believers are to live out their Christian calling based on the correct understanding of who Jesus is and what he has done for them, rather than on the false teaching which we now know as 'Colossian Heresy.'

Now we know that Paul mentions the language of 'dying' several times in Colossians. A quick look at some of the verses shows that Paul means differently in each cas.

In 2:13 he says 'When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ,'

In 2:20 he says 'Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules?'

Again in 3:3, Paul goes on to say 'For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.'

In all cases, the verb is in the past tense (you died or you were dead). But they do not refer to the same event. Now what is then the difference?

Dead in sin means dead to God

By 'dead in sin' Paul refers to our life before we came to Jesus. We were lost in the power of sin and were controlled by the sinful nature. Hence, we were totally unable to sense the presence of God and the things of God. We were spiritually dead --- dead in sin, dead to God

The miracle of all is that when we were dead in sin, God made us alive with Christ (see also Rom 5:8).

In other words, we were dead to God before. We could not figure out God's ways or who He was like — all because of our sin and sinful nature. Our mind was even 'hostile' to God (Rom 8:7). But now, things are different. We KNOW what God wants. We KNOW what He is like because we are led by the Spirit (Rom 8:9). And therefore, we know how we should live. We now have a new dimension in life: the spiritual. We can communicate with God.

Died with Christ means alive to God

Often there is a misunderstanding concerning this phrase in the Bible. 'Died with Christ' or just 'died' does not mean 'dead to sin.' Sometimes, we hear people say, 'well, we have died with Christ, and therefore, we are dead to sin. As Christians we no longer fall under the power or influence of sin. Since we are totally dead to sin and therefore immune from any sort of temptations.'

Taking this idea too far, we may be led to believe that if we are really a sincere believer, then we should not be tempted by petty things of the world. Some Christians no doubt strive for perfectionism since we have all died with Christ. Taken in this way, the fact that we are still tempted in many ways means then that there is something defective about our spiritual life, and that we have not yet mastered the fundamental living of being 'dead with Christ and dead to sin.'

But wait. Let us look back carefully at what has really happened. When we became a Christian, we had a legal victory. We became 'dead to sin' in the sense of dead to the PENALTY of sin (Rom 6:2). Christ our defender defended us in the 'courtroom' and we were declared 'not guilty.' Our sins were pardoned and we received a new life. That is a legal victory.

However, the legal victory does not automatically guarantee a moral victory. It must follow. The new believers do not have to live an unethical life as we used to. No, day by day Jesus helps us to live a holy life. We must now count ourselves 'dead to sin' (Rom 6:11), meaning that we ought to be dead to the POWER of sin in our lives. We must give our lives over to the leading of the Spirit so that we will not be gripped by the tenacious holding of sin. Therefore the moral victory comes after our legal victory as we ask the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us against the onslaught of sinful life. That is what Paul wants to convey in this chapter, that the Colossian brothers started with Jesus and they now must continue with Jesus.

Paul's Instruction to Colossians
The key idea here is that our life is now bound up with Jesus Christ. We identify with him in his death and resurrection. Therefore, we now ought to live a life that resembles his life. How?

1.. Put to death (erase from you mind)
You may say, 'have we not been dead?' Yes, we died with Christ. But our sinful nature has not. Our will said 'yes' to Christ, but our fallen body still says 'no' to him.

Here is, then, an important principle: don't be surprised if you see an ugly side of you still popping up in your Christian life. We still need to 'put to death' the sinful longings of our nature.

Sometimes we get discouraged at such a lack of progress in our spiritual life and in the lives of others. Paul lists five things that 'belong to our earthly nature' in vs. 5.

Sexual immorality (fornication)
Impurity
Lust
Evil desires
Greed

The second list in vs. 8 also contains five things:
Anger
Rage
Malice
Slander
Filthy language

Notice the important progression of thought from inward to outward. The first five items are inward, expressing first in one's own life. Then, in the second set we know that it has to do with how we relate to one another, outward.

We have no choice but to put to death these tendencies in us. They really do not belong to the Christian life. We need to ask God to help us if we are having a serious problem with anyone of these areas. Again, do not aim for perfectionism in the sense that we must be perfect NOW.

Several years ago, George Verwer, the founder of Operation Mobilization, was one of the keynote speakers at a major missions conference. He wanted to relay the message to young college students that he, too, struggled with impure thoughts just like anybody else. While taking a walk in the woods, he spotted a copy of the Playboy magazine. What did he do? Did this godly man smash the magazine against a rock and then rip the pages apart? No, he was tempted, just like many of us would be, and he opened the pages and allowed himself to be tempted by the pictures. Here, the man who founded Operation Mobilization was heavily immobilized in the work of God. Shortly after, his senses caught up with him and he repented. That story, coming from a very godly man, was so realistic and helpful to many college students at the missions conference as it was helpful to me. They could resonate with this man that, yes, temptation is real and we fall into it from time to time. George Verwer walked away defeated, but not dammed, for he had been saved from the POWER of sin before. On this day he needed to be saved from the POWER of sin but sin got hold of him.

What George Verwere communicated was strong: we all fall into temptation because we are not robots. We all have feelings. However, the one who lives by the Spirit, picks up the pieces right away and pursues the road to holiness. As Chuck Swindoll once said, 'Two steps backward, three steps forward.'

2. Put on (clothe yourselves with)
The list of vice is to be replaced by five positive values in vs. 12:

Compassion
Kindness
Humility
Gentleness
Patience

He reinforces them with further commands in vv. 13-14:

Bear one another
Forgive one another
Love one another

A student of mine shared an amazing story of forgiveness. A few years ago he went to Japan to work and to provide for his family. Faithfully he sent money back to the Philippines. The family was able to purchase a house and a car and even have some good savings in the bank. But his wife began having an affair. Shortly after, my student was totally betrayed by his wife and lost everything he had worked for. Even his two children were now living with their wife and wife's boyfriend. By God's grace, my student came to know the LORD in Japan and now he is back here studying at ATS. He wants to put all things behind him and prepare to become a missionary to Japan.

From legal victory to moral victory, it is now question of rehabilitation, restoring the image of God in our lives and replacing the bad with the good. My student allowed the Spirit of God to take complete control over this situation and forgave his wife in the name of Jesus Christ.

God's Chosen People
God's chosen people must be different. We must shine in this world as people of integrity and holiness. Wherever we go, we must be known as people who spread peace and love. We are not perfect, nor are we trying to be perfectionistic. But we try to please the LORD at all times. We recognize that we have died with Christ and we have also risen with the LORD. All this took place at a level we do not fully comprehend. However, we also recognize that there are parts of the earthly nature in us that continue to make their presence felt. Sometimes, they discourage us deeply. Other times, they give the false hope that we have overcome all the problems. No, we do not take these lightly. They are real. Temptation is real. But as God's chosen people, we live each day in his grace and grip. Thanks be to God!