Colossians 3:5-9

I decided to change a bit what I will cover specifically this morning, and this being verses 5-9.

Because there are just way too many implications to pull out of this, to rush right past it.

Many of you who attend here regularly know that I've said before to you that my notes for approximately a 45-minute sermon are usually about 5 pages.

And you'll appreciate my decision to do this by knowing that I copy and pasted three pages worth out in the trimming down of verse 10 and 11 this morning.

So, I believe it's wise for us to proceed in this manner.

And you just have to stick with me.

Try to follow my logic and my reason as we look at verses 5-17, today being part 1.

And then we'll develop upon it in the coming weeks.

I appreciate Ash reading already to us verses 5-17.

Let me remind you that this is God's Word to us.

It has meaning and bearing for us today and that we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

The primary exhortation of the text this morning, I believe, is found in the last part of verse 9 and the first part of verse 10.

Seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self.

So there are two driving points here.

Firstly, that we are to put off the old self.

Stated in the negative.

Do not do these things.

Do not do sins of commission.

Those things that we are told not to do.

Stated in the positive, the other major point of verses 5-17 is that we ought to put on the new self.

Instead of doing these things, rather live in this way.

And this morning we're going to talk about putting off the old self and in the coming weeks what it looks like,

what it means to put on the new self.

So you have essentially this morning a single point for part one and that is put off the old self.

We see it there in the last part of verse 9.

Also stated in verse 5, Paul says,

Put to death, therefore what is earthly in you.

And he doesn't mean this literally, but rather figuratively.

There have been men throughout history who have misunderstood this and misunderstood the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5, 29-30.

Where he said,

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.

For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.

For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

We have seen Paul's warning.

Kyle did a wonderful job of speaking to us about the pointlessness of asceticism,

of disciplining ourselves in the external.

And they have no real value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

But Jesus isn't speaking literally in Matthew 5, 29-30.

And neither is Paul in verse 5 here of chapter 3.

I'm thankful for verse 8.

He gives us some help and some clearer understanding as he says,

But you now must put them all away.

He helps us to understand that this is not a literal putting to death,

killing our bodies, but rather figuratively killing that sin that so easily ensnares.

Paul wrote in Romans 8, 13,

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.

But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Not the actual body, but rather the deeds of the body we are meant to put to death.

And Paul in our text gives us two lists of sins that are to be put off or to be killed in us.

And these are certainly not exhaustive lists of all sins that ever needed to be put to death.

But he gives us these two lists and he gives them to us categorically.

Firstly, we see a set of sins that are sins of unrighteous love.

Sins of unrighteous love or misplaced or perverted love, if you prefer.

And these are sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

The phrase here in the Greek for sexual immorality is the word that we get our English word for pornography from.

It's a very broad word.

It includes any form of illicit sex.

Sex is given to us as a good gift when it's exercised in its proper context.

In case anybody has any doubt about what context that is,

sex is a good and a perfect gift that should be done with joy

in a committed relationship with a single person of the opposite sex bound together in covenant marriage.

This is when it's a good and perfect and beautiful and wonderful gift.

Any other form of it, any other form of it is not.

It's sexual immorality.

It's an offense to God and His good design in the world.

Paul then says we're to put off impurity.

And the word means filthiness or uncleanliness.

It's a broader term than sexual immorality in that it includes thoughts and intentions.

So not simply the acts, but also the thinking about or the intentions of our hearts.

Jesus refers to this sin in Matthew 5.28 when He says,

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent

has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

And to further compound Paul's exhortation here to put off these types of sin,

he talks about passion and evil desire.

There's not a great distinction in these original terms from the previous two.

And I wrestled and turned them over and tried to figure out why specifically Paul listed them out in this way.

I think he's just driving his point.

He's giving us a slightly different flavor to the way in which they would have read these words.

We do the very same thing when we preach on Sunday morning.

We give you multiple definitions.

We give you multiple words to help you wrap your mind around and understand.

As an example, I said to you that the first list of sins are sins of unrighteous love.

And I said, or misplaced or perverted love.

So he's piling up the descriptors to help us understand how it is we're meant to not live.

Passion means sexual passion set loose.

And somebody's passions being acted out upon.

And then the evil desire in this context, meaning the sexual lust created in the mind.

Paul goes really hard against these types of sins.

And these are sins that are running rampant in our world.

They always have, certainly to be true.

But today, they are certainly running rampant.

Not just outside the borders of our church, but within as well.

Spend a little bit of time with the men in our church and you know that this is true.

And this should not be so.

Paul also says that we're to put off covetousness, which is related.

The insatiable desire to have more or to have what is forbidden.

To have things that don't belong to us.

The final and tenth commandment that was given to Moses.

This covetousness is idolatry.

And it's idolatry because it places selfish desire above obedience to God.

We worship the thing created when we covet it, rather than the one who creates all things.

To speak of covetousness is to speak of a very broad sin.

We could put many things, lump many more specific sins underneath this sin of covetousness.

William Barclay, who is a 20th century Scottish theologian that I would commend to you,

wrote, covetousness is a sin with a very wide range.

If it is the desire for money, it leads to theft.

If it is the desire for prestige, it leads to evil ambition.

If it is the desire for power, it leads to sadistic tyranny.

If it is the desire for a person, it leads to sexual sin.

And clearly what's being said here is not just the thing it leads to is sin,

but the desire for it is sin itself.

And we should have nothing to do with these things as Christian people.

Secondly, Paul gives us a list of sins of unrighteous hate.

Or wicked hate, if you prefer.

There are certainly things that we should, as Christian people, hate.

My own sin is a thing that I should despise.

This would be a righteous hatred.

Paul here is listing for us things that are of an unrighteous or wicked nature.

Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk, and lying.

Anger is this idea in the Greek of a deep, smoldering, resentful bitterness.

Those of you who have camped, I hope all of you have,

and seen a fire when you wake up in the morning and it's still burning down in the deep in the embers

and all it takes is stirring them and laying a little bit of wood back on top

and it bursts right back into flame.

This is kind of the picture going on here.

This is the anger that's being spoken of.

This is the kind of anger that characterizes an angry person.

Provocation of this person is not what causes the anger.

It's merely the thing that gives vent to the anger that already exists.

This is a state of being that Paul's talking about here.

James 1.19-20 says,

Know this, my beloved brothers,

let every person be quick to hear,

slow to speak,

slow to anger,

for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

And this is that term.

This is what he's trying to communicate to us.

That we ought not be people that smolder in this way.

And all that it takes is somebody to give us a little fan

and we burst into flame.

That is what wrath means.

The next thing that he warns us against.

The next thing he tells us to put off.

Wrath in the Greek is the sudden outburst of anger.

It's that little handful of leaves you throw on the fire

that bursts into flame immediately.

Bursts up and then goes out.

The two are very closely related.

Anger and wrath.

Anger lying below the surface.

Wrath its vent.

Thirdly, Paul tells us to put off malice.

And this is just a general term

for moral evil aimed at another person.

Malice.

Evil intent toward other people.

In this context,

it likely refers to harmful speech.

Speech that's aimed at causing hurt to other people.

And we can see the very next thing he tells us to put off

as slander.

It's the Greek word blasphemia,

which we get our term blasphemy from.

In relation to God,

it's translated in our Scriptures as blasphemy.

In relation to man,

slander is the word that English translators have chosen to use.

And hear this, beloved,

to slander an individual created in the image of God

is to blaspheme God,

the one who created the individual.

For blasphemy is to speak irreverently about God or sacred things,

those things that he created,

which are good and bear his image.

James 3, again,

James writing verses 9 and 10,

speaking of our tongue,

with it we bless our Lord and Father,

and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.

My brothers,

these things ought not be so.

Paul goes on in his list,

fifthly,

to speak of obscene talk,

which is foul-mouthed abuse of another person,

which is in so many places expressly forbidden in the Scriptures.

Ephesians 5.4

As an example,

let there be no filthiness,

nor foolish talk,

nor crude joking,

which are out of place,

but instead,

let there be thanksgiving.

Jesus warns us in Matthew 12.36,

I tell you,

on the day of judgment,

people will give an account for every careless word they speak.

And lastly in this list,

Paul says to us we are to put off lying or deceit.

He says do not lie to one another.

Lying characterizes Satan.

John 8.44

Jesus speaking of Satan says

he was a murderer from the beginning,

and does not stand in the truth,

because there is no truth in him.

When he lies,

he speaks out of his own character,

for he is a liar and the father of lies.

And just before this,

he has accused the Pharisees of being of their father.

If we are not of Satan,

then we ought not lie to one another.

Truth characterizes God.

And as people of God,

we should tell the truth.

Titus 1.2

Here Paul refers to God

who never lies.

And Paul gives us in our text,

as he's telling us to put off these things,

to put these sins to death in our lives,

he gives us two reasons

why we should do so.

You'll find these in verse 6 and verse 7.

Firstly, sin brings God's judgment.

Sin brings God's judgment.

Verse 6.

Paul writes,

On account of these,

the wrath of God is coming.

The wrath of God is coming

because of these sins

that should be put to death

in the life of a believer.

A.W. Pink described God's wrath

and the attributes of God like this.

His eternal detestation of all unrighteousness.

It is the displeasure of God

stirred into activity against sin.

What a frightening thing.

The unbeliever's life

invites the wrath of God.

The unbeliever stands in defiance of God.

Shakes its fist at God

and says,

I hate you.

It invites the wrath of God.

Romans 2.5, Paul says,

But because of your hard

and impetent heart,

you are storing up wrath for yourself

on the day of wrath

when God's righteous judgment

will be revealed.

This is the thing

that those who are enemies of God

deserve.

That is,

the wrath of God.

Because of these sins,

because of this offense

to who God is,

the way in which He's revealed Himself to us,

and the way in which we ought to live

to glorify Him,

God's wrath is coming.

Now, Paul is not warning believers

that if we sin,

we will feel the wrath of God.

This is not what he's saying at all.

Those of us who are found in Christ

have had our sins struck clean.

God has poured out His wrath

justly to be fully just

for our sin in Jesus Christ.

This is why we need the perfect sacrifice of Jesus.

That perfect life that He led.

All of His stored up righteousness

so that He could bear the eternal wrath

that was due us on the cross.

This is the glorious thing

about the cross, beloved.

That we are giving away to Jesus

our sin

and we are taking on His righteousness.

So this is not what Paul is saying to us.

Right?

In 1 Thessalonians 1, 9 and 10,

he says this,

For they themselves report concerning us

the kind of reception we had among you

and how you turn to God from idols

to serve the living and true God.

So here's a report

that these people have put aside idols

and they now serve the true and living God.

And then in verse 10 he says,

And to wait for His Son from heaven

whom He raised from the dead,

Jesus,

who delivers us from the wrath to come.

So Paul's being consistent

in his theology here.

He's not saying that as believers

we're going to incur wrath if we sin.

Jesus has bore the wrath for those sins

in His person on the cross.

But rather, Paul is saying

that those who profess faith in Jesus Christ

who have been delivered from the wrath to come

should want no part in the activity

which calls down God's wrath.

We should recognize the great thing

that we've been delivered from.

This sin that is such a deep offense to Him

and He will one day punish and judge.

We should now want nothing to do with it any longer.

We should want to avoid altogether

those things that incur God's wrath on the world.

The children of God

should not behave as the children of wrath.

We should look differently.

So Paul gives us these reasons.

Firstly, that sin brings God's judgment.

Secondly, that sin is part of a believer's past.

Verse 7 says,

in these you too once walked

when you were living in them.

When you were this pre-God honoring version of yourself,

you walked in these things.

This was who you were.

But no longer.

The last part of verse 9

which I read to you earlier says,

seeing that you have put off the old self

with its practices

because you have been delivered

from the wrath to come

because your heart has been changed.

You've put these things away.

You've put them off.

Therefore, continue to do this very thing.

You have changed positionally.

Not in degree.

You hear me say this all the time.

We haven't gotten a little better

when we place our faith in Jesus Christ.

We have changed entirely.

We were once children of wrath.

We were once enemies of God.

We once incurred His judgment.

But now, if we've believed in Christ,

we're different entirely.

We're now children of God.

We now incur His blessing

instead of His wrath.

This is part of our past.

Verse 5 of chapter 3 in Colossians

in the New American Standard Version,

which just at times really edges out the ESV,

which most of us use,

says it this way,

Therefore, consider the members

of your earthly body as dead.

Rather than saying,

put to death therefore,

NASB says,

therefore, consider yourself already dead

to these things.

And this is the truth

that Paul is trying to communicate to us.

Because of who we are,

we no longer live in such and such way.

We have been saved.

We have been set free from sin.

It's an accomplished work done by Christ.

We have had our image-bearing potential

restored in us.

Why would we ever go on sinning?

Why do we proceed to do the very thing

that we've been delivered from?

We just so easily forget the Gospel,

I think sometimes,

that death was ours.

It had already been purchased by our sin.

eternal damnation.

We've been delivered from this thing.

Why would we go back and do it once again?

2 Corinthians 5.17,

Paul says,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation.

The old has passed away.

Behold, the new has come.

Charles Spurgeon,

in a book called Evening by Evening,

wrote this.

I want to do my best to read it well to you.

Christian,

what hast thou to do with sin?

Hath it not cost thee enough already?

Burnt child,

wilt thou play with the fire?

What,

when thou hast already been

between the jaws of the lion,

wilt thou step a second time

into his den?

Hast thou not had enough

of the old serpent?

Did he not poison

all thy veins at once?

And wilt thou play upon

the hole of the asp?

And put thy hand

upon the cockatrice's den

a second time?

A cockatrice is a mythical creature

that's like a dragon

with the head of a chicken.

I had to look it up.

I didn't just know that.

Oh, be not so mad,

so foolish.

Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure?

Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it?

If so,

go back to thine old drudgery

and wear the chain again

if it delight thee.

But inasmuch as sin did never give thee

what it promised to bestow,

but deluded thee with lies,

be not a second time

snared by the old fowler.

Be free,

and let the remembrance

of thy ancient bondage

forbid thee to enter the net again.

I hope his language

sticks in your head

as I try to read it to you.

Sin was never good for us,

and we know this to be true.

Why do we once again

return to it?

So then,

we're to put off the old self.

We're to put to death

what is earthly in us.

We're to put them all away

because we have put off the old self

with its practices

if we have faith in Christ.

John Owen,

the 17th century English pastor

and theologian wrote

of the mortification of sin

and believers,

which I would encourage you to read.

And mortify means

to subdue or to put to death.

He says,

Do you mortify?

Do you make it your daily work?

Be always at it whilst you live.

Cease not a day from this work.

Be killing sin,

or it will be killing you.

If you go on to read

the rest of John Owen's writing,

you'll know that he's not suggesting

that if we're not actively

putting to death sin,

that that means that sin

actually has some killing effect on us

in an eternal way.

What he means is that sin

will be constantly making us miserable.

It will be constantly like a dog

going back to its vomit

and getting sick over and over

and over again.

And we must engage in the work

of mortifying our flesh,

of putting to death sin.

But how are we to do this?

How are we to do this?

We have answered what we are to put off,

at least in some part,

with some brief explanation.

What we are to put off

and why we are to do so.

Does Paul tell us how

here in the book of Colossians?

He does,

but we have to back up

just a little bit.

So back up, if you will,

to Colossians 3, 1-4.

John Hoffman did a good job

of divulging to us last week.

It says,

If then,

you have been raised with Christ,

if you are found in Him,

if you are a Christian,

seek the things that are above,

where Christ is,

seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things

that are above,

not on things that are on earth.

For you have died,

and your life is hidden

with Christ and God.

When Christ who is your life appears,

then you also will appear

with Him in glory.

And then the rest that follows,

what we're into now,

what we will be into

until the end of the book,

is a treatise on Paul's part

on what that should look like.

What is it supposed to look like

if we set our minds

on things that are above

and not on things

that are on earth?

Now join me a little bit

backing up just a bit more

to Colossians 2-6.

Paul here writes,

Therefore,

as you received Christ Jesus,

the Lord,

so walk in Him.

What does he mean

when he says,

therefore?

As they've received,

because they've received,

in this particular way,

Christ Jesus,

the Lord,

so walk in Him.

So, what does he mean by that?

A few more verses.

Back up.

Chapter 2.

Verses 2-3.

Paul prays that the Colossian believers

will reach all the riches

of full assurance

of understanding

and the knowledge

of God's mystery,

which is Christ,

in whom are hidden

all the treasures

of wisdom

and knowledge.

Verse 8.

Chapter 2.

Paul warns the Colossian believers

not to be taken captive

by philosophy

and empty deceit.

So, what he's saying

is he says,

therefore,

verse 6,

as you receive Christ Jesus,

so walk in Him.

He's saying,

you have received Christ,

the teaching of Jesus,

and have settled convictions

about His deity

and His sufficiency,

which is what he's been driving

and teaching

in the entire book so far,

correcting some type of heresy

that was happening

in the church of Colossae.

You have these settled convictions

about His deity

and His sufficiency.

This is working

our lives

in good order.

This is what's happening

because of the things

you believe,

the way in which

you've engaged your mind

with who Jesus Christ is

and what He's accomplished

on your behalf.

Don't stop.

Continue to walk.

Continue to do this thing

referring to our daily conduct

and all these things

that He's listing off.

Now, all of this

putting off

of these sins

is a result of

who we believe

Jesus Christ is.

Continue to believe

the truth

concerning Christ.

Have an unwavering

Christology.

Believe that Jesus

is the Christ.

Let's back up even further

in Colossians.

It's going to drive the point

which I haven't quite made yet,

but I will.

I promise.

Chapter 1,

verse 9 and 10.

And so,

from the day we heard,

Lord, we have not ceased

to pray for you,

asking that you may be

filled with the knowledge

of His will

in all spiritual wisdom

and understanding,

so as to walk

in a manner worthy

of the Lord,

fully pleasing to Him,

bearing fruit

in every good work

and increasing

in the knowledge

of God.

Have you heard

how many times now,

just in the book

of Colossians,

Paul has talked about

knowledge,

understanding,

and wisdom?

Have you seen this?

These are all activities

of our minds.

Beginning of chapter 3,

set your minds

on things

that are above.

There's far too much

in American Christianity

what's called mysticism.

This divorce of our minds

from our hearts.

Lots of talk about feeling.

And feelings are real.

And we experience them.

The book of Psalms

is a book of feelings.

But properly corralled

by the mind.

Read the book of Psalms

from front to back.

I challenge you to do so.

And see the anguish

and the joy

and the bitterness.

All of the emotion

that runs through that book

and see how it's corrected.

By remembering

who God is.

The promises that He's made.

The obedience

that He's required of us.

by taking the mind

and filtering out

the mess

that our emotions

can cause.

We're often

far too emotional.

And hear me beloved,

I know that if I err,

I err on the side

of ration.

I just,

ration isn't even a word,

of being too rational.

Right?

I know that about myself.

I know that that's my error.

But too many people

err in the opposite direction.

Right?

Directed by every little

feeling that they have.

As if the Lord

is confusing to us.

As if He hasn't

written us a book

that tells us

exactly who He is

and exactly how

we're meant to live

to please Him.

That's why this exists.

You know that the word

Bible

is simply a word

that means

any work

that is the authority

on a particular subject.

So,

growing up,

I used to have,

I've been a rock climber

for a bunch of years,

a book called

The Climber's Bible.

And I always felt

a little sacrilegious

having it.

But it was

the definitive source.

It had a lot of

fantastic information in it

and I came to find out

that that was a perfectly

acceptable title

for it.

That's why

this book

is most often called

The Holy Bible.

Because it's the

source,

the direction,

the instruction

sufficient for

holy living.

It tells us about

our holy God

and how we're meant

to live

in light

of His holiness.

So our minds

are so key

to this very thing.

And you're seeing

this pattern emerge,

I hope.

Beloved,

theology is not

just for the high-minded.

It's not just

for the high-minded.

The reason I did

the Tyndale story,

which I think the kids

totally lost the point of,

but just the same,

is that he saw this

to be true.

At the great risk

of his life,

he knew that the people

needed the Word of God

in their hands.

That the Word of God

was not just for

the high-minded,

those who could speak

Latin.

It is for the Christian

to learn about God

and to understand Him

and His requirements

for us.

Every Christian doctrine,

every one of them,

every truth contained

within the Scriptures,

rightly understood

and exercised,

gives way to proper living.

There's a whole category

of Christian study

called practical theology,

which I just find

so frustrating

because all theology

is practical.

If you're learning

about things

that are highly philosophical

and have no real point

in bearing in today

or tomorrow

or the next,

then why are you studying it?

What a waste of time.

All theology

is practical

and important

and all of us

are meant to be

about the work

of doing theology,

understanding God,

getting it.

That's why I say to you,

this is the Word of God

written for us,

right?

That we can understand

this thing

by the illumination

of the Spirit

that we might rightly apply it.

We can believe

its promises,

obey its commands.

It's good for us

to do so.

God wrote us a book

to help us with this.

Condescended.

Came down off a throne

to the minds of men

to write a book for us,

beloved.

We should know

this book.

Charles Spurgeon said,

good works

are not the root of faith,

but they are its fruit.

And faith is not blind.

It is if it's not saving faith,

right?

If it's blind faith,

if it's Indiana Jones

stepping into the gap

not knowing what's going

to catch in faith,

then it's not saving faith.

For the object of our faith

is of the utmost importance.

What we believe in

matters massively.

And the evidence

of that faith

should always be

carefully measured

and tested.

It's of eternal weight,

beloved,

that you say

that you're a believer

to constantly check

and say,

does my life

give the evidence

of that?

I am an apple tree.

I should produce apples.

I should be checking

for that kind of thing.

Again,

in the book of James.

I want you to turn here

with me.

James chapter 2.

James 2 · chapter mention

Speaking about works

as evidence

of our salvation

does not negate

that our salvation

comes by faith alone.

And we are justified

by our faith.

And I'm always so scared

to make you think

that works are

the salvific thing.

They're not.

As Charles Bergen said,

I just read it to you,

good works

are not the root of faith,

but they are its fruit.

And James says that

very well here.

Of interesting historical note,

Martin Luther did not want

the book of James

to be canonized.

You know that?

Because he was so fighting

this battle

with the Catholic Church

against justification

by works

and he thought

it was too easy

to understand James' writing

to be saying that.

But follow it along with me

beginning in verse 14

of James 2.

What good is it,

my brothers,

if someone says

he has faith

but does not have works?

Someone just says,

I'm a Christian,

but there's no real evidence

in their lives.

Can that faith save him?

If a brother or sister

is poorly clothed

and lacking in daily food

and one of you says to them,

go in peace,

be warmed and filled

without giving them

the things needed

for the body,

what good is that?

Just saying it

doesn't mean anything

for those people.

So also,

faith by itself,

if it does not have works,

is dead.

It's non-existent.

But someone will say,

you have faith

and I have works.

Show me your faith

apart from your works

and I will show you

my faith by my works.

And I will show you

that I believe

that Jesus is the Christ

because I live

as Jesus is the Christ.

You believe that God

is one,

you do well.

Even the demons believe

and shudder.

Do you want to be shown,

you foolish person,

that faith apart from works

is useless?

And then as all good preachers do,

he begins to access

the Scriptures.

Verse 21,

Was not Abraham our father

justified by works

when he offered up

his son Isaac on the altar?

You see,

that faith was active

along with his works

and faith was completed

by his works.

And the Scripture

was fulfilled

that says,

Abraham believed

and it was counted to him

as righteousness.

And he was called

a friend of God.

The evidence of his faith,

he believed God

and in so doing,

almost sacrificed

his son.

Verse 24,

You see that a person

is justified by works

and not by faith alone.

And in the same way

was not also Rahab,

the prostitute,

justified by works

when she received

the messengers

and sent them out

by another way?

For as the body

apart from the Spirit

is dead,

so also faith

apart from works

is dead.

So you're tracking

what he's saying here.

Right?

That the works themselves

give evidence

to the faith

that does save us.

We must be so careful

at this point.

We must be so careful

to see

that the faith

produces the works.

We're told in the Scriptures

to test ourselves.

We're told in the Scriptures

to be careful

lest we're led astray.

And we live in a culture

of easy-believe-ism

that makes the Gospel

just so simple.

Right?

It's about an activity.

It's about walking an aisle.

It's about repeating a prayer.

This simple little

formulaic thing.

It's about making sure

that you go on

at least a summer

mission trip a year.

You'll feel so good

about yourself

on your way to hell

if this is what you base

your salvation in.

We're justified by faith

and it yields results.

We will be about the work,

the continuing work

to the day we die

of constantly putting to death

sin in our lives.

Be killing sin

in your life.

Let me show you again

another place.

Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

So we have to be careful.

We have to engage our minds.

We have to see the commands

given to us in the Scriptures.

Like, am I walking

in the way of God?

Do I believe the truth?

And therefore,

it's evidenced in my life.

Am I engaging my mind

around that?

I hope you're seeing

the need for that.

Just in case you're not,

Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8:1–11

verses 1-11.

Listen to the language.

There is therefore now

no condemnation

for those who are

in Christ Jesus.

We have been set free

from the just punishment

of sin.

No condemnation

for those who are

in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit

of life has set you free

in Christ Jesus

from the law

of sin and death.

For God has done

what the law

weakened by the flesh

could not do

by sending his own Son

in the likeness

of sinful flesh

and for sin

he condemned sin

in the flesh

in order that

the righteous requirement

of the law

might be fulfilled in us

who walk not according

to the flesh

but according to the Spirit.

Okay.

Right?

Sent his Son

who lived a perfect

righteous life

he punished sin

in him.

Right?

So that we

by faith in Christ

can fulfill

the requirement of the law.

Right?

Because Jesus was righteous

and he gave us

his righteousness.

Verse 5

For those who live

according to the flesh

set their minds

on the things

of the flesh

but those who live

according to the Spirit

set their minds

on the things

of the Spirit

for to set the mind

on the flesh

is death

but to set the mind

on the Spirit

is life

and peace

for the mind

that is set

on the flesh

is hostile

toward God

for it does not

submit to God's law

indeed

it cannot.

Those who are

in the flesh

cannot

please God.

So you start to get this

it's like understanding

we're just taught

this one scripture

we're supposed to walk

by the Spirit

in order to put off

these things

to put to death

sin in us

to put off

these desires

of the flesh

for to walk

in the Spirit

how do you do that?

Hold hands

with the Spirit

what does that look like?

And a lot of people

have resorted

to this idea

of feeling

I feel this way

I'm compulsed

one way or the other

by this Spirit

that lives within me

but Paul has driven

the point

that we're to set

our minds

on the things

of the Spirit

which are

the Word of God

those things revealed

by the Spirit

verse 9

you however

are not in the flesh

but in the Spirit

if in fact

the Spirit of God

dwells in you

anyone who does not

have the Spirit of Christ

does not belong

to him

but if Christ is in you

although the body

is dead because of sin

the Spirit is life

because of righteousness

if the Spirit of him

who raised Jesus

from the dead

dwells in you

he who raised

Christ Jesus

from the dead

will also give life

to your mortal bodies

through his Spirit

who dwells in you

how?

through the working

of our minds

beloved

understand

the truth

and live

in accordance

with it

you ready for another one?

Philippians chapter 4

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

I've only got

three more

they're really short

I'm laughing

because they're really short

I know it's getting late

and it's getting hot in here

Philippians chapter 4

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 4

rejoice in the Lord always

again I will say

rejoice

what do we rejoice in?

the truth of God

let your reasonableness

be known to everyone

your reasonableness

with your mind

the Lord is at hand

there are whole denominations

that are extremely unreasonable

have you met some of these people?

they don't even make sense

their minds aren't engaged at all

on the things of God

the Lord is at hand

do not be anxious about anything

but in everything

by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving

let your requests

be made known to God

and the peace of God

which surpasses all understanding

will guard your hearts

and your minds

in Christ Jesus

and I think that we're really familiar

with those verses

and I think we're really familiar

with verse 8

but often apart from one another

so what does Paul go on to say?

finally brothers

whatever is true

whatever is honorable

whatever is just

whatever is pure

whatever is lovely

whatever is commendable

if there is any excellence

if there is anything

worthy of praise

think about these things

meditate on these things

and you will put to death

the deeds of the flesh

another example

you don't have to turn

first part of Romans 12

2

do not be conformed

to this world

but be transformed

by the renewal

of your mind

and then finally

back in Colossians

verse 16

the beginning part

says

let the word

of Christ

dwell

in you richly

you see

the thread

you see the pattern

through

and the reason

that I jumped you

to different places

is because I don't want you

to think

that this is just

found here

but it's found

across

the scriptures

the inspired

word of God

not just with Paul

but with others

as well

so we must

put to death

the sin in our lives

because it is not

fitting that those

who have been

delivered from sin

should go on sinning

and we do so

by the power

of the spirit of God

in the renewal

of our minds

this is the way

this comes

to pass

and to make our

theology

practical

how do we put to death

the deeds of the flesh

we get in our Bibles

and we study them

and we meditate

upon them

we allow it to

influence and affect

every part

of our thinking

we allow it to

cause us

as Christian people

to stand firm

in the midst

of ways

we

so know it

that we can

contend

for the truth

and that has

meaning for us

as individuals

as well

I have to contend

for the truth

in my own life

all the time

my sin

is always

deceiving me

my emotions

betray me

constantly

I have to

preach to myself

the truth

of God

we have to

preach the truth

to one another

I don't need

your counsel

if it's not

biblical counsel

you tell me

what the scriptures

say

I want that

I'm hungry

for that

when I'm dealing

with the problems

of life

I want you to

tell me

what almighty

God says

in his

inerrant

sufficient scripture

concerning the

matter

it has

everything in it

that we need

to hear

and know

for our

well being

if you just

got some

trite piece

of advice

just keep

your mouth

shut

I want to

know what

the scriptures

say

you have to

learn the

scriptures

to be able

to do that

and be able

to stand

firm

and to put

off

these types

of deeds

and beloved

it should be

our great

desire to

do so

because we

have a great

deliverer

that we

should want

to exalt

in the way

that we

live

let's pray

together

let's종