Note: the following is the manuscript for the message and will not match exactly the recorded message above.
Colossians 3:1-17 – A Mature Church
1–4 – Holiness and Renewal
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Last week holiness – The church is set apart by God to represent his character to the world.
Holiness is about devotion. It’s about the desires of our heart. What we meditate on, long for, dream about.
What are the forces at work in our world that are trying to convince us of our need for them? What is pulling your devotion away from God?
Because of the promise of eternal life, the hope of glory, look to that which has eternal value. Notice it says the same thing twice, but referring to the heart and then the mind. Set your hearts and your minds on things above.
The literal translation for the first statement is seek things above. The word heart is added in the NIV as an interpretation of what Paul means when he says to seek.
When you set your heart on something, one of two outcomes is likely. You will either pursue it until it is yours, or you will be heartbroken after discovering it is impossible to acquire.
Children do this all the time. We adults do it as well.
Paul is saying, set your heart on eternal things. He is also saying, set your mind on eternal things. This is about the way we think about things, but also what we value.
While the heart is a passionate motivator, the mind is a reasonable motivator. With our minds we assess what is good and evil, right and wrong, beneficial or useless, interesting or boring.
Our minds discern, while our hearts pursue. Both need to be oriented toward eternity. Why?
Because, Paul says, our nature has been transformed. Remember, last week we looked at the idea of holiness, of being set apart to bless others as we take on the character of God.
The desire of God is for us to be like him to be close to him, to enjoy the benefits of being his people. He also wants us to show others who he is, not just by talking about him, but by thinking like him, by pursuing what he delights in, by extending his blessings.
The only way this is possible is because Jesus has made us holy through his death and resurrection. It is now possible for us to actually pursue God with our whole heart, and to have the mind of Christ, which results in a more complete and joyful life. But, this still takes discipline and sacrifice.
Someone who truly understands who he or she is in Christ is further along the road to genuine holiness than someone who, in confusion, anxiously imagines that the new life is the result, rather than the starting-point, of the daily battle with temptation.
The motivating force of the mind and heart find their expression in behaviour. Therefore, there is a relationship between our behaviours and our mind and heart. But, never forget that the new life, the resurrected life, is where this journey begins rather than the reward of an obedient life.
5–8 – characteristics of the earthly nature
Paul gives us the benefit of explicitly stating the difference between a person who sets the mind and heart on eternal things versus earthly things.
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other…
This is not an exhaustive list, but a representative list. The overall message is to point us away from autonomy and toward dependence on God.
Keep in mind the idea of holiness. We are set apart as God’s people, and are different than the rest of the world because of where we get our hope.
When we forget about the promise of eternal life, we start searching for ways to satisfy our cravings, our longings, our desires in unholy things. That is our nature.
Paul says, put them to death.
This means, cut off that which gives them life. Examine the behaviours that are contrary to holiness. What is feeding those behaviours? Cut them off.
This is a point at which I want to be really clear and helpful. Because this is the point at which Christianity often causes more harm than good. It is where the enemy loves to take a hold of God’s Word and twist it.
It is really tempting to focus our attention on these behaviours in ourselves and in others and then pass judgment.
We see this single sentence, because of these, the wrath of God is coming, and it starts to create doubt and guilt as though we’re not good enough. We are afraid of God’s anger against us. Or, we look at someone else with condemnation.
What was helpful for me as I was studying this, is to actually compare the word translated as wrath in verse 6, and the word translated as rage in the NIV in verse 8.
Both of those words are commonly translated as wrath or anger throughout the New Testament and the Greek version of the Old Testament.
The one in verse 6 normally refers to the wrath which breaks forth. The one in verse 8 normally refers to the wrath which boils up. They both are used to refer to God’s wrath or anger and a person’s wrath or anger. Neither is more holy than the other in and of themselves.
They are both used in a single sentence in Deut 9:19: For I was afraid that the anger that the Lord bore against you was so fierce that he would destroy you.
The context here is Moses preparing the nation of Israel to enter the promised land. He is reminding them of all that God had done for them.
This sentence in particular is referring to when Israel started worshipping a golden calf while Moses was up on the mountain receiving instructions from God.
The anger of the Lord there is the wrath which boils up. Moses was afraid that God was looking upon the Israelites and anger was boiling up within him.
The word destroy is the translation of the wrath which breaks forth. This anger is the result of holiness meeting unholiness.
In the Colossians passage, Paul uses the one word to refer to God’s ultimate wrath on those who decide to depend on themselves rather than on him.
This is not an emotional, vengeful wrath. It is not a wrath in which God is wringing his hands, waiting to pounce on a guilty person.
It is the necessary reaction of true holiness to unholiness. In the case of the Israelites worshipping an false god, they were spared because God said that he would bring them to the land promised to Abraham.
The salvation of Israel was not based on their obedience, but on God’s promises.
Yet, God gave them this warning in Deut 11:16-17 – Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.
The word anger in this passage is the same word used by Paul in Colossians, referring to the wrath of God.
In the end, those who have been made holy will be passed over the wrath of God and those who refuse God’s holiness will not be passed over.
How does someone refuse his holiness? By constantly looking elsewhere for salvation.
We are made in God’s image, and through Jesus, that image will be completely restored. But, those who consciously and continually choose sin instead of God become more and more corrupt and less and less human.
If the corruption isn’t taken care of, the image is destroyed. This the wrath of God. It cannot be stopped, except by the purification of the corruption through Jesus. Allowing Jesus to renew us, to restore us, is the only way to avoid the inevitable wrath of God.
The second use of the word, in Paul’s list of vices, which refers to the boiling up of anger, is how we would describe an inner rage or festering anger toward someone.
Paul is saying, don’t let anger boil up within you. This is different than the wrath of God mentioned earlier. It is unholy because it is self-seeking, not gracious. Treating others in this way does not demonstrate the gracious and compassionate character of God.
So, we move on to the next list, a list of behaviours that do demonstrate the character of God.
9–14 – characteristics of the Christ-like nature
…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.
Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.Once again, we see a list that is not exhaustive, but representative. The point here is to live in a such a way that shows what holiness looks like.
We are being renewed in the image of the one who created us.
Being renewed means that we actually start looking like proper image-bearers of God. Rather than trying to make something of ourselves, we take on the image that we were intended to look like.
Tim Keller sermon on how to change:
It is gradual. You can hardly see it or feel it as it’s happening, but when you look back, you will see how things have changed.
It is inevitable. When you trust Jesus to renew you, it will happen. But, be careful to not trust the fruit of renewal. Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, unity. These are not what saves you. They are the result of being saved.
It is internal. Renewal will affect the external, but the real transformation occurs internally as your desires and passions begin to turn toward God and what he delights in. If you are trying to force the renewal by behaving in a certain way, you will quickly become discouraged and overwhelmed by a sense of guilt and despair. Why? Because it is the work of Christ in you, not your efforts, that brings the renewal.
It is symmetrical. The transformation does not happen through the building of one godly characteristic on top of another. You don’t master compassion and then move on to kindness.
In other words, if you are not seeing growth and renewal in all areas of your life, it is likely not real renewal, rather it is efforts on your part to be more kind or compassionate.
This is challenging because we say, well, what do I actually do? This is the problem. It’s the wrong question.
Take a look at the final section in this passage…
15–17 – how renewal is sustainable
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Notice how renewal works:
Let the peace of Christ rule…
Let the message of Christ dwell…
This is passive language. It’s actually saying, the peace of Christ rules over you. The message of Christ dwells within you. It is a reality. You have what you need.
And then the statement about doing. The question we all ask. Finally! What is the answer to our question about doing?
Whatever you do…
Paul is paying no attention to what you are doing specifically. He is saying, all that you do must be renewed because no matter what you spend your time on, you are representing Jesus.
Being a Christian is not about doing Christian things. It’s about doing everything in a way that demonstrates the renewal that is happening within you.
Christians can do everything we do, whether it be manual work, political activity, raising a family, writing, playing sports, training animals… whatever, in the name of Jesus and with his renewal transforming the way you do your work.
So, what is the point of all our Christian activity? Why do we have a church service, small groups, outreach events?
As Paul says, the message of Christ dwells in us through one another. The events themselves are not the point. The point is to be constantly reminding one another about what is true and to foster our appetite for more.
Going back to Timothy Keller, he says,
A gardener doesn’t make the things grow. The gardener just creates the conditions through which the power of the seed is released. You cannot make yourself loving and joyful and peaceful. You can’t just say, “I’m going to. I’m going to.” No! You have to crucify. That means you have to look at the things you lust after too much, and you have to learn to lust for Jesus.
When we gather together and remind each other about these things, when we read the Bible, sing songs of praise, learn from one another, we are creating the conditions that will encourage renewal.
I will not be able to cover the entire passage in detail, but here is a brief overview of the passage if you want to dig into it a bit more at home.
First, in verses 6-7, we see a concise summary of the message of the entire letter. Paul states in a single sentence the centrality of Christ that he was trying to communicate up until this point of the letter.
Then, in 8-12, we see the warning against false teaching that I spoke about in the introduction to this series. Paul says, don’t let anyone deceive you into thinking you have to observe certain practices in order to be holy. You are complete in Christ.
Next, in 13-15, we see how this truth relates to the situation for the Colossians and for us as Gentiles. We are completely free from bondage to sin and death. The sacrifice of Christ was enough for all people to be made holy.
In 16-19, Paul is emphasizing that no one can take away the status of those who are made complete in Christ. We can reject those ones who make a spectacle of religious practices. They are lost because they are disconnected from Christ.
Finally, in 20-23, we see a warning against various means of attaining holiness, which is a fruitless effort because Christ has already done the work on our behalf.
Paul is describing in this passage what sets the church apart; what makes it different.
That is, in essence, what holiness is: it means to be separated, set apart.
I imagine it in terms of gathering food from a garden or butchering an animal. An initial step is to separate what is useful from what is not useful. The potatoes are kept, the plant is thrown away.
So, the church is meant to be separated. From what? From anything that is not looking to God as the source of life. In other words, the church is wholly devoted to God.
What sets the church apart is that we are not searching or working for holiness, for completeness, for eternal life. It’s already ours. We look upon our God and we have hope.
We are all looking for purpose, for meaning, and for satisfaction in life.
Every religion or faith claims to have the answer. We are all trying to gain some form of justification for our existence and why we deserve a better afterlife.
For those who trust Jesus, we have nothing to prove, nothing to earn, nothing we can do to get more than what we’ve already received. We are already citizens of heaven.
So, what I want to explore today is this idea of holiness and how Paul is describing the uniqueness of the church.
We will do this by looking at the whole narrative of Scripture and how holiness is described in Israel, in Jesus, and in the Church.
The Nation of Israel as Holy
Lev 11:44-45 – I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
19:1-2 – The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.’
What follows is a list of commands that will set them apart from the other nations: not making idols out of metal, leaving some of the harvest in the field for the poor and foreigner, not seeking revenge, and being pure in all areas of life…
20:24-26 – “You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations. “ ‘You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean animals and between unclean and clean birds. Do not defile yourselves by any animal or bird or anything that moves along the ground—those that I have set apart as unclean for you. You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
The book of Leviticus ends with instructions on giving:
27:30, 32 – “ ‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord.’”
The message is this: holiness will be demonstrated by how the Israelites lived. God has declared this nation to be his special possession, therefore, they must behave differently than the other nations.
Their holiness is based on God’s selection of them as his people. But, they could not be holy unless they behaved in the way God was telling them to behave.
As you will know if you have read stories from the Old Testament, this didn’t go well…
Jesus as Holy
All of the commands given to the nation of Israel were an impossible requirement for fallen humans to obey. So, God established a way for their guilt to be removed through a sacrificial system.
Paul wrote in 2:9-10, “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.”
When Jesus came, he lived perfectly obedient God’s standard for holiness. Then, he offered himself as a sacrifice to become an eternal source of purification.
The book of Hebrews provides an overview of how this works.
Heb 7:23-27 – Death prevented the priests from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
The Church as Holy
Seeing that Jesus has made an eternally secure sacrifice for our sins, how do we respond? Do we stop caring about the laws in Leviticus? The ten commandments? The practices that set God’s people apart?
An important difference between Israel and the church is that we are no longer a distinct nation or people group. God’s people now includes people of all nations, languages, and cultural traditions.
So, we cannot govern ourselves in the same way that Israel did. We have a different understanding of holiness than what is described in Leviticus.
Israel’s holiness was demonstrated when they faithfully obeyed God’s commands. It was this issue that Paul was concerned about when writing to the Colossians.
He warned them about being deceived by “elemental spiritual forces of this world.” This is a somewhat confusing phrase.
Jesus said the same thing in a different way:
Mark 7:1-8 – The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed… So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…
They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
He went on to explain this to his disciples:
Mark 7:20-23 – “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
The point Jesus was trying to make, and what Paul is talking about in Colossians, is that our holiness is not about following rules. Rules only expose sin. They are useful for maintaining order and for providing boundaries.
But, holiness is about devotion. It’s about the desires of our heart. What we meditate on, long for, dream about.
The way the phrase that Paul uses in Colossians “elemental spiritual forces of this world” relates to us is this:
What are the forces at work in our world that are trying to convince us of our need for them? What is pulling your devotion away from God?
Whatever it is, consider what Paul goes on to say further down: these are a shadow of Christ, a fake, an imitation. They seem good, but they are empty. They are lifeless and will only decrease your desire for God.
A transformation of the heart is required. This is the work of Christ in us and will flow out of us in all areas of our life. Let’s consider this idea using the example of giving to the church. A topic that I believe is important we not shy away from.
Just to be fair, this has been an area of conviction and growth in my life over the years. So, when I say this, I’m saying it to myself as well as to you. If you are asking yourself, “How much am I supposed to give? Is it a tenth? Do I have to give it to the church? What do I have to do to be good with God?” That question is not arisen from a heart devoted to God. A holy heart doesn’t ask, “How much do I have to do?”
If you’re totally devoted, you ask, “How much can I do?” Not just the bare minimum, not just what the law required of Israel. What are the desires of God’s heart?
It’s the delights of the heart of God that you’re really after. Not, “Well, what do I have to do to stay on your good side? What are the commands? What are the duties?” A holy person doesn’t care about those things.
C.S. Lewis stated it this way:
“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small.”
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (HarperCollins, 2001), 86.
The point is, if we are asking ourselves what is the acceptable level of giving in order to be right with God, we are missing the point. We are already right with God. Forget about trying to earn his approval. That will only hold you back from true holiness.
Instead, ask, what is the character of God? He is abundantly generous, giving up even his own life for our benefit. You might think, well it was easy for Jesus, he knew that after he was killed he would be raised from the dead and given eternal glory.
The same is true for us! That is the beauty of Christianity. We have in store for us the same inheritance that Christ received upon his resurrection.
This means, when we suffer for the sake of Christ, when we give up our comfort and our safety for the benefit of others, we are imitating him. This is the highest calling as the church. To imitate Christ in how we give of ourselves for the benefit of others.
Listen to Peter:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed…
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:3-7, 13-16 (NIV