Talk 2 Colossians 3:5-11

Talk 2 Colossians 3:5-11 The Old Self In the last talk we were challenged to think about where our heats and minds are, and if they were focusing on Christ or not. We looked at how we have been raised with Christ 1, and he has our life hidden away safe in heaven for us 2, and he is in fact our life 3. After that bit Paul goes on to look at how we should be behaving in Christ. First he looks at not doing the negative things that we once did, and then he looks at the positive things we are to do. This talk is going to be looking at what we are to stop doing and the next talk is going to look at what we are to do. So lets look at the passage. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed. Theses things we are to kill. Now Paul continues his argument based off the passage from the last talk. He says in verse 5: therefore. Therefore, because we are in Christ we are to set our hearts and minds on Him. We are to kill our earthly nature. We are not to think of earthy things anymore. It doesn t make much sense if our life is hidden with Christ in heaven, why should we worry about earthly things down here? Remember, we have died with Christ and to this world, so we shouldn t live like we are for this world 4. And just incase we don t know what Paul is talking about when he says the earthly nature, he give a pretty good list of what it is: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Kill, Kill, Kill 1 Col 3:1: Since, then, you have been raised with Christ 2 Col 3:3: For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 3 Col 3:4: When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 4 Col 2:20: 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

We are to kill this list of things from our nature. The language is quite hard but we are to put it to death. No half measures. We are to stop doing the things of our earthly nature, as if it is now dead to us. Like a pet animal that has now died. We might have enjoyed it, but now that it is dead, it is not coming back. We too should stop been sexually immoral, impure, lust after things or to be greedy and take our focus off God. We are to stop doing all that because we have died 5 and are raised in Christ 6. Our life is IN Christ, so we shouldn t worry about things of this world. We are a new person that been renewed 7. We are no longer living for this world. This isn t about setting self imposed restrictions in order to become a better person. True change comes from within, not from self restrictions. In Colossians 2, the chapter before this passage, Paul says that worldly restrictions lack value and are destined to fail 8. Instead we are to submit to God and let him work in us to change our hearts and minds 9. Sex Looking back over this list it may be fairly apparent that they are all kinda related to sex. I read somewhere 10 that links the list as the flow of sexual sin. Follow the list as I read this bit. It said that: Sexual immorality, which usually refers to [sex] outside of marriage is the byproduct of evil desires, which is natural sexual desire corrupted by sin, which... is lust. This process from lust to sexual immorality has its source in greed, which literally means "to crave more" In Jewish teaching greed is often combined with idolatry, because whatever is the object of greed, in this case, more sex, has replaced God at the center of one's life There is no doubt about it that wrong sex screws up people s lives. It can make people feel abused and unloved and can leave them felling empty and numb. It messes up relationships; there is no doubt about it. I know people that have been messed up by sex and it is not good. At the time they didn t have a care in the world, but afterward there is the worry of been pregnant, the fear of getting an STD. After the partner leaves there is the feeling of been used or taken advantage of the feelings of being dirty, ashamed and unloved. 5 Col 2:20: Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world 6 Col 3:1: Since, then, you have been raised with Christ 7 Col 3:9-10: since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 8 Col 2:22-23: These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. 9 Col 3:15-16: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly 10 IVP New Testament Commentaries

But we are told to stop that. To kill sexual immoral behavior. I think sexual purity in teenage Christians, is strong evidence of their fellowship with God and their knowledge about Gods original intentions for creation. Now you have probably heard this all before. Yes, we know sex outside of marriage is wrong. We know! And here we have the main problem that I feel I am faced with. You guys I m sure have heard this before, and also the next bit that I am going to say about not talking badly about others and lying. But the thing is, if we know this, then do we do it? If not why is that? Do we just not care? Do we not understand why we shouldn t do it? As Christians we are not to let sin reign in our bodies. As Christians we have died with Christ and we are also raised with Him. Christ died to sin, and so have we. Christ is raised to be with God, and so have we. We are done with sinning. We are to stop it, to kill the old earthy nature. 11 We need to set our heart and mind on Christ and not think about such earthy things. Don t look at porn. Don t sleep with your partner. Don t make rude jokes. Don t lust after people. For what does that show about our heart and minds? Where is it looking? We are to focus on Christ because he is our life, and Christ will equip us to be more like him, and he will transform our lives. God s Wrath The passage then goes on to say in verse 7: Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. Because of our earthly nature, God s wrath is coming, and he will come and judge the world 12. This could be a scary prospect. God is angry with how we ignore him in our lives and how we do not seek him and his perfect plan. Instead of seeking Him we seek our own lusts and our own earthly desires. We are not to lose focus off Christ. We are like a program running out of control, doing what we are not meant to be doing. Sooner or later the person who made the program will stop it. We are to change from our old self to our new self. Like getting an upgrade to our program, so it doesn t run out of control. The passage continues in verse 7 that You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. The people in Colosse used to look at earthly things; and were under God s 11 Rom 6: We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?... For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus 12 2 Ti 4:1: Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead

wrath. But they are to kill the sin that they once were doing, and so are we. Now as Christians, with our life in Christ, we are to remove our old earthly nature, we are kill it. What did you say? But now in verse 8 Paul tells us to rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Paul is saying, in no uncertain terms to stop living like you shouldn t. To stop doing what you once were doing. We are to watch what we say and how we treat each other. Christianity is not an individual cult. We are to live in right relationships with each other and to stop getting angry with each other, to stop talking about others behind their backs and to stop talking dirty. We are to keep whole and unbroken relationships with each other. Everything that is listed in verse 8 causes broken relationships. We are called to consider others better than ourselves 13, to love others 14 and to forgive others 15. So how are we going? Do we do this? What we talk about comes from what we think about. The way we speak to each other and the content of what we say shows what s on our mind. If someone was to listen to what you say, what could they tell about you? If someone was to observe how we act towards each other will they be able to tell that we are Christians? Will they be able to see God grace in your youth group? Is not good evidence for a gospel of peace if Christians are angry with each other. Christians that talk about other Christians behind their backs is not convincing proof to a non-christian that Gods grace has any impact on their lives. Christians that say they love God and then lie and cheat is not showing evidence of a loving God. This is why I think the passage then comes down hard on lying to each other. It says: Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. We are not to lie to each other in what we say and how we behave. We have put away our old nature and put on a new one. We are a new creation that is been renewed back to its original purpose. We are not to say that we are a Christian and then not show that our lives are been transformed. You can t wear that The passage, explains the putting off the old self and putting on the new self in a big clothing analogy. It says that we are to put away the old life like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes. We are now dressed in a new wardrobe, and everything in it has God s label on it. 13 Php 2:3-4: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 14 1 Jn 3:11: This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another 15 Cor 3:13: Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Sometimes we get told that we are not allowed to wear some stuff because it wouldn t be appropriate. I figured the after I moved out of home people would stop telling me that I can t wear some clothes. But a while ago in the space of a week I got told twice that I couldn t wear what I was wearing. Once because I was going out to dinner, and the other time because I was visiting the Hyatt. Two weeks before that event I was also at a fancy dress party and everyone dressed up, except for two of my old beach mission buddies. They felt really out of place at the party. Sometimes, some clothes that we wear are inappropriate. And that is like sin. Sin in our lives is now inappropriate. We have to put away our old self and its desires, like throwing away some dirty, ill fitting clothes. We are not to put it on again. Instead we are to dress in the new clothes that God has given us. The new clothes show Gods transforming power of His grace over sin for those who are in Christ. Appropriate dress So how do people see you? Are you dressed appropriately? Can others see that you have put away the old ways such as gossip, filthy language and lying? Can someone tell what clothing label your character is now dressed with? Paul says we are to stop lying to each other. We need to be open and honest to others. Some people lie because they can make themselves seem better than others. But we are not to focus on ourselves and seek our own glory. We are to focus on Christ and his glory, and we are to live peacefully with each other. But our new self is not based on our own efforts. In verse 10 it says the new self is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. We are been renewed. The Christian life is a journey or a process. We are to constantly work at it, but God is also on our side. He is helping us to be transformed into the image of what we once were created to be. In the beginning man and God were in a perfect relationship with each other. And that is what we are been renewed to be like. We are to let God take control of our life so we can be in a perfect relationship with Him. Even though we stuff up, we have Christ who has stepped in to help us come back to God. Because of Jesus we can now have the correct relationship with God. So how do people see your character? Is it earthy and just after attention? Is it at the expense of others, and do you lie and swear and gossip? Or is it changing? Are you been slowly transformed? Is it letting God put on a new character that seeks to serve Christ and others? So what are you wearing? What country, condition or circumstance? But the passage doesn t stop there. It continues on to say: Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all,

and is in all. There is now no difference between people. It doesn t matter what country or condition or circumstance you are in, but Christ is Lord over everyone. This list includes Jew, Greeks, Gentiles, Scythians (who were like to most remote and savage people), slave and free men and puts them all together shoulder to shoulder and put them with Christ. Christ doesn t show favoritism, we are all to put off the old self and to put on the new self. No one is exempted. If you are in year 7 or year 12, heck even if you are an adult, this message is for us all. We all can be transformed by Gods grace. We are all equal and Christ died for all and is for all of us. Because we are all equal we are to stop causing divisions between each other. We are not to get angry with each other, we are not to lie to each other and we are to not look down on anyone, because Christ is in all and is for all people. We are to kill our earthy nature and focus on Christ.