Living An Unfragmented Life- Colossians 3:1-11

I think one of the worst situations we're facing

in the church today is the reality of dualistic

Christians. And you might be wondering, well

what is a dualistic Christian? It's someone who

proclaims to be a Christian and acts like a Christian

when he's at church. But then as soon as he leaves

these doors, and goes home, he's someone entirely

different. Have you encountered something like

this before? You might call them dualistic Christians.

You might call them part -time Christians. You

could also just call them hypocrites because

that's ultimately what that's describing there.

There's a well -known pastor who's pretty well

known in the independent fundamentalist Baptist

Church. He's kind of famous. And he has a lot

of clips on YouTube and people sharing his stuff.

And people really love him if you're in that

camp. And they look to him and his church loves

him especially. They eat up everything he says.

They admire him. They revere him. They thought,

here is the man of God. Here's someone that we

can trust. Here's someone that we can seek to

emulate in our own lives. Here's someone who

is clearly walking with the Lord. And we should

follow him as he is following Jesus. But it recently

came out within the past few months, thanks to

interviews with his children, that this man was

living a completely different life. Now, he appeared

to be one way while he was at church, and he

was someone entirely different when he got home.

According to his children, he was physically,

verbally, and emotionally abusing his wife and

kids. His kids said that their dad used to whip

their mom with a belt sometimes across the face.

He would then throw dishes and glasses against

the walls and windows to shatter them. He would

even throw bar stools at their mother and at

them, which would result in having to go to the

ER. This is what happens when you live a fragmented

Christian life. This is what happens when you're

one person around the church and you're someone

else around your work and when you get home.

This is what happens when you try to compartmentalize

your faith and make Jesus just part of your life.

You say, well, I'll be the gentle, nice, mild

-mannered Christian on Sundays and Wednesdays.

I'll pray and I'll read my Bible on Sundays and

Wednesdays. I'll care about the loss and the

things of God on Sundays and Wednesdays. But

the rest of the week, those are my days, God.

That is my time. and I'm gonna do what I want

on those days, I'm gonna act however I want on

those days, and I will live however I want on

those days, but don't worry, on Sundays and Wednesdays,

I'll be a good Christian boy or girl. This is

not what the Bible says a Christian should be.

The Bible never recognizes the existence of people

who are Christians just two days a week. Who

you are at the church should be exactly who you

are when you walk out of these doors, because

at the end of the day, if God has brought you

out of death and into life, then you can't keep

living like a dead person anymore. You actually

have to embrace the new life that God has given

us in Christ. And no, listen now, God knows that

you're not going to be perfect. We all know that,

right? Nobody in here is perfect. God knows you're

not going to be perfect, but he does expect us

to be consistent. He expects us to have a level

of consistency in our lives that says the person

I am here is going to be the person I am out

there. I think the point that the Bible is making

here is because God has raised us up with Christ,

we must live out our faith in Christ at all times.

Because God has raised us up with Christ, we

must live out our faith in Christ at all times.

So notice how the Bible is kind of playing on

these directions here. You've been raised up,

now it's time to live it out. So because God's

raised you up, you must now live out your faith

in Jesus. And really, the simplest question is,

well, pastor, what does that look like? What

does it look like to be a consistent Christian?

What does it look like to live an unfragmented

Christian life? What does it look like to actually

live out our faith in Jesus at all times? Well,

the Bible is going to address that in these verses

if you'll start with me look at verse 1 The Bible

says then if then you have been raised with Christ

seek the things that are above where Christ is

Seated at the right hand of God Set your mind

on things that are above not on the things that

are on the earth For you have died and your life

is hidden with Christ in God When Christ, who

is your life, appears, then you also will appear

with Him in glory. Now, here's what Paul does

with his letters. If you're a careful reader

of Scripture, you've probably noticed it before.

Paul typically spends the first half of his letters

explaining heavy doctrine. Paul says, all right,

you're gonna sit there, and I'm gonna teach you,

and this is gonna be a lecture. Here's all the

heavy doctrine, all right? And that's what he's

done with Colossians. Here's the supremacy of

Christ. Here's the sovereignty of Christ in all

things. Here's how Jesus holds all things together.

Here's how he made peace between you and God.

Here's the reconciliation Jesus has brought about

by the blood of his cross. Here's the atonement

of Jesus. Here's salvation in Jesus. Here's doctrine.

And then as soon as he starts the second half

of his letter, he goes, all right, now this is

why this matters on Monday. Pay attention. So

here's what you need to know. And here's how

you're going to live it out. Here's what you

need to know. Here's why this matters. And that's

exactly what he does here. He's saying, in light

of all that I've said to you in the first two

chapters, here's what it's going to look like

to live this out in your day -to -day lives.

And he gives us two commands here. He says we

need to seek the things that are above and set

our minds. on the things that are above. You've

probably heard an old saying that says, a person

is too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.

Y 'all heard that one before? I don't like that.

It's just patently not true, okay? I think the

opposite is true. I think the more heavenly minded

someone is, the more earthly good a person is

gonna be. Like if you care about the things that

Jesus cares about, if you pursue the things that

Jesus pursues, Well, then you're going to bring

about a whole bunch of good on the earth more

so than people who don't care about Christ and

his kingdom at all. And so here's what's really

interesting is that the Bible is saying here,

here's this thing that's good for you. Seek the

things that are above. Set your mind on the things

above. This is what you should focus on. This

is what's good for you. Pursue these things.

And you know what our problem is? We get distracted.

A lot. And we get distracted by trivial things

and things that do not matter at all and they

take our attention away from pursuing the things

of God. That actually kind of reminds me of one

of our dogs, Roscoe. God bless his heart. That

dog. I love Luna. Roscoe, we let him live with

us. Roscoe is a he's half Bernie's Mountain Dog

and he is half golden retriever but let me tell

you the golden retriever in him is strong okay

it overtakes anything else if you give Roscoe

a a ball or a stick that is his only focus nothing

else matters at that point you can say here Roscoe

I've got a steak and I've got a stick and he's

focused on the stick okay that's his attention

span so I we have this problem right Before I

built a new pen for our dogs, we had the smaller

pen and Hurricane Helene kind of damaged that

severely so it was not a very stable pen. And

so every time I'd go out to feed the dogs or

water them, I would get to the gate and both

dogs were sitting right at the gate. And if I

opened it even a little bit, they squeeze their

ginormous bodies through the smallest crack,

cartoon style. Just squeeze right through, and

they take off running. Because that's what they

wanted. They wanted freedom, they wanted to be

able to run around. And so I was trying to get

in, and they would squeeze out, and now I've

got to chase a Bernie's Mountain Dog across a

70 -acre property for the next hour and a half,

and that's fun. But that was my problem. Every

time I went to this gate, if I opened it a little

bit, they're going to squeeze right through.

And I thought, I've got to do something about

this. So here's what I did every time I'd go

to the gate to give them food I just pick up

a random stick and Roscoe went from I want out

of this I want out of this to oh you've got a

stick and I would take that stick and I throw

it and there goes Roscoe and he chases it and

I open the gate and I get in and Luna doesn't

get out because she's a good girl as every dog

should be But anyways, so I start doing this

process right and I did this for months and months

and months and I thought to myself one day surely

to goodness There is enough intelligence in this

dog where he is going to realize that every time

I come to this gate, I'm gonna pick up a stick,

I'm gonna throw it, and as soon as I throw it

and he walks away, I'm going to open the gate

and he's not gonna be able to get out. I thought

surely he's gonna figure this out. Do you think

he did? Did you guess no? Because you'd be right.

He did not figure it out. There was something

that he wanted that was good for him, but then

he was easily distracted by something that was

very trivial and did not matter. And I really

thought about that situation with my dog as I

was studying this passage, because I thought,

that's kind of like how we are with God. God

says, here's this good thing. I want you to seek

the things above. I want you to set your mind

on the things above. But like Rosca, we get distracted.

And for us, it's not a stick or a ball, at least

I hope not, if it is for you, that's embarrassing,

I will laugh at you. But it's not, it's not a

stick or a ball, but it's all sorts of other

things in our lives. I mean, we encounter things

all the time that take up our attention and take

our mind away from things that are ultimately

good for us, do they not? I mean, just think

about the fact that in our world today, we've

got people who are completely consumed by sports.

Whether they're playing sports or watching sports,

sports consumes their lives, their schedules,

their money, their focus, their energy. We've

got other people who are entirely focused on

their jobs. And all they want to do is just rise

through the ranks of their jobs so they can make

more money. And we've got people who are consumed

with their stuff. They love their stuff. It's

their stuff. And you know what? They want more

stuff. Give me a new car. Give me a bigger house.

Give me the newest smartphone. Give me the newest

gaming system. Give me the every single streaming

service ever made on earth, even though you can

never watch them all at the same time. I love

stuff, and I just want more stuff. And so stuff

consumes them. And here's my thing with this.

None of these things in and of themselves are

bad, but they become a problem when they take

our attention and focus away from Christ and

his kingdom. Do we see that? Because here's my

question, everything that I just mentioned, whether

it's sports or your job or money or leisure or

stuff, are these heavenly things or are they

earthly things? They're earthly, right? Here's

what that means. It means that it's not going

to matter in eternity at all. I mean, this could

be encouraging for you or it might break your

heart, but when we get to heaven, God is not

going to check our bank accounts, folks. Praise

the Lord. Amen. For most of us in here, we're

saying, praise God for that. That's not a barrier

to entrance. God's not gonna check your bank

account and go, all right, how much money did

you make on earth? When we get to heaven, God's

not gonna see how many touchdowns we scored.

He's not gonna see how many free throws we made.

And God's not gonna check what our batting average

was. You wanna know why? God doesn't care. Doesn't

matter in eternity. He's not gonna ask which

neighborhood we lived in or what kind of car

we drove. Because none of these things, are going

to matter one iota in eternity and yet how sad

is it that we give our lives to them to these

things that don't ultimately matter you see the

point that i think the first few verses are making

here is that you can't pursue jesus and something

else at the same time You have to seek the things

above, set your mind on the things above, not

on the things of earth. Why? Because you can't

pursue Jesus and something else at the same time.

The Bible says no man can serve two masters.

You're either going to love one, you're going

to hate the other, you're going to love the other,

you're going to hate the one. So you can't actually

serve God and sports. You can't serve God and

money. You can't serve God and leisure. And here's

what the Bible would say. The Bible would say

that whatever consumes our hearts is going to

consume our minds. And whatever consumes our

hearts and our minds, it's going to consume our

lives. You can tell what someone actually loves

by the way they live. And here's what I think

everybody knows. The Bible says that as Christians

we are to be in the world, but not what? But

not... the world right Christians are supposed

to be distinct from the rest of the world now

if that is true and it's true yes church yeah

okay so if that is true then why is it that the

lives of so many Christians look exactly like

the lives of those who do not love Jesus if we're

called to be different if we're called to be

distinct then why do our lives look just like

the lives of those who don't even believe in

God? I mean, if it looks like a dog and acts

like a dog and barks like a dog, it's probably

a dog. And if it looks like the world, if it

acts like the world, thinks like the world, and

lives like the world, it's probably a citizen

of the world and not a citizen of heaven. You

see, Jesus doesn't just want part of your life.

Jesus doesn't just want some of your life. He

doesn't just want you to think about Him occasionally.

He doesn't just want your 10%. He doesn't just

want your love and attention on Sundays. Listen

to me church, Jesus wants it all. He wants everything.

That's why the Bible says here, Jesus is all

and He is in all. God wants all of it. As Christians,

our lives are meant to be Christo -centric, meaning

centered on Christ, consumed with Christ, all

about Christ. Because here's the only alternative.

If our lives are not Christo -centric, they're

going to be ego -centric. And I'm only going

to think about myself and what I want, what makes

me happy, what makes me comfortable, what I want

to agree with. And here's the problem. If I'm

living for myself, then I'm gonna miss out on

all the heavenly opportunities that God gives

me. I had a seminary professor, he was my evangelism

professor in seminary, and he told us a story

about how he missed out on one of these opportunities

one time. He had just finished giving a lecture,

he said it went. terribly. So he was very upset

about that. Gets in the car. As soon as he gets

in the car, his wife starts telling him about

how bad his lecture was. So then they get in

a fight, and he's feeling bad about the lecture,

and then they're fighting about him doing bad

at the lecture. So it just ends up being this

big fight. And he was tired and just wanted to

go home. So he stops at a gas station to get

gas. And he goes inside to buy snacks while he's

pumping gas. He said as soon as he walked into

that gas station, he felt the Holy Spirit urging

him. to share the gospel with a cashier. And

my professor said, no, I don't want to. I don't

feel like it right now. God, I'm upset about

how the lecture went. I've got to go back to

the car to a pointless fight with my wife. I'm

tired. I just want to go home. So no, God, you

can find someone else. I do not feel like sharing

the gospel right now. And so he bought his snacks,

went back to his car. As he's pumping, he sees

a biker pull up. And the guy looks like a typical

biker covered in tattoos, piercings, everything.

He goes into the gas station and my professor

started feeling even more convicted. He's like,

man, I really should have shared the gospel with

that guy. And so he said, I'm gonna go back in

after the biker leaves. He admitted that the

biker made him nervous so he didn't want to go

in there while the biker was in there. And so

the biker leaves and my professor goes back in

and he goes up to the cashier and he goes, hey,

This might be weird for you, but I just want

to tell you my name is Tim I'm a follower of

Jesus, and I'd love the opportunity to just talk

to you about Jesus and the cashier looked at

him and said well Tim you're a little too late

Because that biker who just left told me all

about Jesus, and I just gave my life to him My

professor said that that experience taught him

never to be so focused on himself and on trivial

matters that he does not get to take part in

the work that God allows us to take part in.

He said it also taught him that God's work is

going to be done, and we have the opportunity

to be invited into it. But make no mistake, God's

work is not dependent on us. God will accomplish

His will, but He has invited you to take part

in it. You see, I want the same thing for us,

church. I know that it's easy for us to get tired

and distracted, and I know the things of the

world consume us, but I don't ever want this

church to be so focused on earthly issues that

don't matter that we miss out on all the heavenly

opportunities God gives us. Don't waste your

life giving yourself to things that aren't going

to matter one lick in eternity. Because here's

the thing, church, if you're not living for Jesus

now, then you have no reason to believe that

you're going to be living with Jesus later. If

you're not living for Him now, you're not going

to be living with Him later. And He doesn't want

us to live these fragmented lives with divided

hearts and loyalties. He wants us to pursue the

things above, which means we have to kill the

desires of the flesh. Look at verse five. He

says, Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil

desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. On account

of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these

you too once walked when you were living in them.

Now here's the thing about this list. We read

this list. Let's all get in agreement. Everything

on this list is sin. Yes? Yes. Everything on

this list is bad. Yes? Okay, the fact that we've

got 7 % of our church saying that right now.

I mean, I can make a whole sermon on this verse.

I can do that. Okay, thank you. We know these

things are bad. The problem is that we are living

in a world that constantly redefines sin. We're

living in a world that constantly redefines sin

and repackages sin and then represents it to

us. and makes it something nice and palatable.

For instance, I saw an article this week as I

was writing this sermon and it said, a new study

shows that inviting a third person into your

marriage bed might actually be beneficial for

some couples. I read that headline and I literally

said to myself, well good job article, you literally

just went five for five on the Bible's list here.

You managed to hit them all, because if you followed

the advice of the study, you'd be guilty of sexual

immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and

covetousness. The Bible calls it sin, but our

world wants to redefine it and give it a new

name to make it more palatable. Those who reject

monogamy, they're now to be called polyamorous.

Polyamorous just means multiple loves or many

loves. Now the Bible would call them adulterers,

but polyamorous sounds nicer. And so it entices

people more. You see it with practically every

sin. It used to be if an adult was attracted

to children and wanted to engage with them sexually,

we used to call them pedophiles. But now the

world has said we have to refer to these people

as minor attracted persons. Now here's the thing

about that. You can give it a new name all you

want. But simply by putting a new label on sin,

you understand that that doesn't actually make

the sin any less dangerous or heinous, right?

We all get that, yes? I mean there's a famous

story of a pastor who was preaching on sin one

time. I mean he was coming down hard on sin.

And he had some church members come up to him

after the sermon. And they said, Pastor, we don't

want you to preach like that anymore. They said,

you can't call it sin. You mentioned too many

things by name. If you continue to preach on

sin like that, you're going to hurt people's

feelings. And they're going to be offended. And

they might not come back here. And we want this

church to grow. So we can't afford to offend

people. So call it something else in the future,

but you've got to stop calling it sin. And the

pastor, who is wiser than I am, had anticipated

that something like this would happen. And so

he pulled out a little vial from his jacket pocket

and it said poison on it. And he said to his

church members, I see what you want me to do.

You would like me to remove this hurtful mean

label and replace it with something nicer, maybe

essence of lilac or something like that. And

he said, do you not understand that if I were

to do that, this bottle of poison has just become

even more dangerous than it was before. You see,

you can try to redefine sin, relabel sin, re

-present sin all you want. It doesn't change

the fact that it is sin and sin will kill you.

That's why the Bible is calling on us to do something

here. The Bible is saying you can't be light

on sin. You can't play around with sin. If you

play with the fire of sin, church, you're going

to get burned. And so the Bible says what we

need to do, if we don't put sin to death, sin

will put us to death. Those are your only two

options right there. If we don't put sin to death,

sin will put us to death. It's just as the great

theologian, and my favorite theologian of all

time, John Owen once said, or sin will be killing

you. Sin is like a disease that slowly eats away

at you. It slowly corrupts your soul. And if

we all know this, then here's my question to

you, church. If we all know that sin will kill

us, if we all know that sin will damn our souls,

then why would we continue to allow it to be

part of our lives? Why would we not just be done

with it and put the desires of the flesh to death.

And the reason I think so many people don't do

this, and the reason they see no problem with

this, is because they say, Pastor, I'm good on

sin. Well, what do you mean by that? I'm good

on the big sins. I don't cheat on my wife. I

don't do drugs. I've never murdered anyone. So

I'm good. And because people think they're good

on the quote unquote big sins, that somehow gives

them a right to overlook the small sins in their

life. And so they say, well, a little gossip's

not that bad. Never hurt anyone. I'm not really

gossiping. I'm just trying to tell my friend

about something that happened today. That's not

gossip, that's just sharing a story. So it's

not really that bad. Or a little gluttony, we

say, a little gluttony's not that bad, right?

eat a little bit more than I should have. I mean,

even though the Bible says that we're temples

of the living God, that we should care for our

bodies, that we should be good stewards of the

bodies, that God has given us, that we should

actually take care of them. The Bible also says

that we're to be self -controlled and self -disciplined.

And so even if you lack self -control with regard

to food, turns out that's still sin. But we won't

look at that. We won't talk about that. It's

just a little gluttony, pastor. I didn't kill

anybody. It's not that big of a deal. A little

bit of sloth, a little bit of judgment. A little

resentment, a little grudge, refusing to forgive

people, a little white lie here and there. No

big deal, pastor, right? These are little sins

in the grand scheme of things. Have you ever

noticed how little sins have a way of piling

up in your life? And here's the thing about Christians.

We're all on guard against the big ones, right?

We say, no matter what, I will never cheat on

my spouse. I will never murder someone. I'm on

guard against that. And because you're on guard

against that, you tend to let your guard down

with the little ones. And something I want to

tell you this morning, church, that you need

to understand is that the enemy will not waste

his time killing you with a big sin when he knows

a few little ones will do the trick just as nicely.

He doesn't need to get you to murder someone

if he can get you to hold a grudge and refuse

to forgive someone in your heart. A few little

ones will do the trick just as nicely. as a big

one. That's why the Bible is saying that Jesus,

He's never going to settle for just being part

of your life. He's never going to be satisfied

with just having you be good on the big sins.

Listen to me, church, God wants more for you

than that. Don't you think there's more for the

Christian life than to just not murder someone?

I hope so. I mean, if that's our end goal, it's

like, hey, when I get to heaven, at least I'll

be able to say that. Obviously, God wants more

for you than that. God wants you to be good on

the big sins and the little sins. He wants your

life free of all sins. That's why he is imploring

you as a father, a good father, put sin to death

now. Stop playing around with it. Be done with

it. Because if you don't put it to death, it

is going to put you to death. I want to remind

you that the only reason we are even able to

live These new lives in the first place is because

of the work of God in Christ whereby He made

us new creations in Christ. Notice what these

final verses say here in verse 8. Now you must

put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander

and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie

to one another seeing that you have put off the

old self with its practices and have put on the

new self Which is being renewed in knowledge

after the image of its creator Here there's not

Greek and Jews circumcised and uncircumcised

barbarian Scythian slave free but Christ is all

and in all Now you've probably at some point

heard the phrase the best offense is a good Defense.

I think the reverse is also true. The best defense

is often a good offense. And I want you to notice

how the Bible's making this pivot here. Because

the Bible has been saying you need to be on your

guard. Put up a defensive front. You need to

be defensive against all these sins that are

present in the world that used to be part of

your life. Be on your guard against them. But

now the Bible says we need to take an offensive

approach as well. Put off the old self. and put

on the new self and start living for Christ.

So it's an offensive measure that needs to be

done here. So rather than just constantly defending

against all these sins that are vying for our

love and attention, actually the best way you

can fight against sin is by actively pursuing

the things of God. It's significantly better

that way. I want you to think about it like this.

Let's say there's a man who He's addicted to

alcohol. And he says, God, I know it's a sin.

I don't want to be a drunk anymore. Help me with

this. And so he says, I want to put it to death.

I'm going to stop drinking alcohol. And so he's

on his guard against it, right? And let's imagine,

this is what this man's day looks like. He wakes

up in the morning. From the time he wakes up,

he says, I will not drink alcohol today. I will

not drink alcohol today. I will not drink alcohol

today. He does it all day. Looks at his watch

and he goes, oh, praise the Lord. It's bedtime.

I can go to bed. I made it through another day.

He's going to wake up tomorrow and he's going

to do the exact same thing. He's going to sit

around all day trying his best not to grab a

bottle. He's going to live a pretty miserable

life, is he not? Because all he's doing is trying

to resist something. But what if he were to take

an active offensive approach, right? What if

instead, what if every single time he felt the

urge to drink alcohol, he prayed? What if every

single time throughout the day where he normally

would be drinking, he was reading his Bible instead?

What if instead of sitting alone at his house,

completely in isolation, trying his best not

to do this thing, what if he actually got involved

in the ministries of the church and distracted

himself with the works of God? Do you think his

life would look different? Yeah, of course it

would, right? Because it's about not just resisting

something bad, it's about pursuing something

greater. It's about investing in something more.

It's about taking your next steps with Christ

and going deeper into your relationship with

Jesus. That's what God wants for His people.

I mean, I heard a story this past week of a little

boy who fell out of bed in the middle of the

night. His mom had come and tucked him into bed,

and at some point in the middle of the night,

he fell out of bed, hit his head, started crying.

And so his mom came up to his room, picked him

up, held him for a moment. And she asked him,

she said, what happened? Why did you fall? And

he said, well, I think I just stayed a little

too close to where I got in at. And I heard that

story and I thought, man, that sounds like so

many Christians I know. We've stepped into God's

kingdom. We've stepped into new life in Christ.

We've stepped into salvation. And we've stayed

there right on the threshold of the kingdom.

Never moving any further, never going any deeper,

keeping everything entirely surface level and

superficial. We stayed too close to where we

got in at. And you know, the problem about that

is that we can still see our old lives from the

threshold. We can still hear all our old sins

calling to us. We can still see all our old affiliations

begging us to come back. What you need to do

is move further. You've got to take deeper steps

into the kingdom. You've got to take deeper steps

in your walk with Christ. You can't just stay

at the threshold forever. You've got to move.

God doesn't just invite you into his kingdom

just so you can live life at the threshold of

the kingdom. God wants more for you than that,

church. So the point that he's making here in

these final few verses is that if we're going

to claim to have new life, then we actually have

to live new lives. If we're going to claim to

have new life, we actually have to live new lives.

Does every Christian in here understand that

this morning? You can't go around telling people

you love Jesus and you follow Jesus if you don't

actually live like it. I mean, think about when

Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, right?

There was something different about Lazarus.

Yes, he was dead. Jesus said, Lazarus, come out

of there. Lazarus came forward and he was dead,

but now he's alive. You know what Lazarus couldn't

do at that point? He couldn't turn around and

go back into the grave. He had to leave the grave

behind. And in the same way, church, when Jesus

calls us out of death and into new life in Christ,

we can't go back in the grave. We can't go back

to the tombs. We can't keep living like a dead

person. We actually have to live a new life for

Jesus. And when you do that, the important thing

to understand is that none of our old affiliations

have any bearing on us anymore. That's one of

the most beautiful things about becoming a Christian,

is that when you come to faith in Christ, when

he's called you out of death and into life, guess

what? None of your old affiliations, none of

your old identities, they have no bearing on

you anymore. So in fact, even if someone knows

you from your past, and they're like, oh, I know

who you are. You're the person who used to do

this in high school. I know who you are. The

whole town knows about what you used to get up

to. Or I know you. I've heard stories about you.

I've heard about the things you've done. None

of those things matter anymore. None of those

things identify me anymore. Why? Because that's

who I was when I was a dead person. But the Bible

says I'm alive in Christ. That old name doesn't

describe me anymore. The only identity that matters

for me is that I am a child of God through faith

in Christ. Which is exactly why the Bible says

here there is not Greek, Jew, circumcised, uncircumcised,

barbarian, Scythian, slave, free. You could add

to that list educated, uneducated, rich, poor.

None of it matters. The only thing that matters

is Jesus. That's why the Bible says Christ is

all and Christ is in all. It's always only ever

about Jesus. So because He's raised us up with

Christ, we need to actually live out our faith

in Christ at all times. So here's what I would

love our church to do this morning. And everybody

in here, even if you're visiting, here's what

I would love for you to do. If you would call

yourself a Christian this morning, I would love

for us to commit today to stop trying to pursue

Jesus and something else at the same time. I

would love for us to commit ourselves to pursuing

Christ and Christ alone. I would love to see

us commit today to put sin to death in our lives

before it puts us to death. And here's the thing

about sin, folks. It will always find you out.

God will bring every sin to light. And I would

love to see us today commit ourselves to embracing

the new life that we have in Christ and living

out that faith in Christ. Because here's the

thing you're not going to hear in a lot of other

churches. God actually does want you to enjoy

Life in Christ. Jesus has set you free. You have

new life in Him. God wants you to embrace it

and enjoy it and live your life for the glory

of God. And you'll get to enjoy Him forever.

There is nothing greater than that. So the Bible

says earlier, whom have I in heaven but you?

And on earth, there's nothing I desire. When

God is your greatest desire, you will have the

greatest joy you've ever known. And it is all

because of what Jesus has done for us. That's

what I want the testimony of this church to be.

Always only Jesus. Amen? Let's pray.