Dealing with Sin - Colossians 3:1-14

So, Colossians chapter 3, reading from verse 1 to verse 14.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

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, since you have taken off your old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which has been renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator.

Here, there is neither 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.

Let's pray before Alex comes to speak from the word.

Lord, we are blessed by the reading of your word, Lord Jesus.

We thank you for the evident truth that it has.

Whether we are a believer or not, Father, its truthfulness and its honesty and its helpfulness shines through.

And Lord, we thank you now for Alex, who you have blessed with many gifts.

And we thank you that he is able to come and teach us now from your word, to preach your word, to speak into our hearts the word of God.

Be gracious to him.

Lord, help us to listen well through the power of the Spirit.

Amen.

Well, good morning, everyone.

As Ralph said, our summer series is based on the Christian life.

And so today, we will mainly, but not totally, be dealing with the issue of dealing with sin.

I want to make this as simple as possible for us all.

So that we can go out and put it into practice straight away.

We will look at three main points.

Some in more depth than others.

So if you're taking notes, these are the three main points.

Spoiler alert.

The main points are, when dealing with sin, we need to look up, we need to put off, and we need to put on.

Just before I continue, everybody at the back and the front, can you hear me okay?

I haven't got a microphone.

Good.

So first, look up.

Let's read chapter 3 again, verse 1 to 3.

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 and God.

Set your minds on things above, it says.

By looking up, or setting our minds on things above, we will think, meditate, and wrestle with the things of God.

As we think about sin, we will meditate on Christ's saving work on the cross on our behalf.

Let's try and understand first what sin is and what its consequences are.

Kevin DeYoung, the author and theologian, describes sin like this.

He says that the Bible makes it clear that sin is both a condition, inherited from Adam, and an action, manifesting itself in thought, word, and deed.

That when fully grown, gives birth to death.

Very simply, sin is lawlessness.

It means that we've broken God's commands and have fallen short of his glory.

But it actually goes much deeper than just missing the mark.

Sin is idolatry.

Look again at verse 5.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature.

Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

Sin is worshipping false gods or idols.

Whether these gods are overt and physical, like actions,

or whether they're more subtle and internal, like thoughts or attitudes.

Idols aren't necessarily bad things as such.

Idols can very often be good things, which we have made to be ultimate things.

Sin can also be considered adultery, which is seeking for other sources of satisfaction and meaning other than God.

As we trace sin through the Bible, from Adam to Abraham, from Lot to Laban, from Joseph to Judah,

I didn't get as far as dead.

We see that sin is a big problem.

And human beings are clearly not the solution.

Kevin de Jong again puts it like this.

Every sin, no matter how private or quiet,

is an affront to the holiness, goodness, and kindness of God.

This is what David meant in Psalm 51, verse 4,

Psalms 51:4

when, after he committed adultery and murder,

and tried to cover both of them up,

he confessed to God.

He says,

Against you, you only have I sinned.

God is ultimately the one we have offended.

When we sin.

As a result, sin cannot be without consequences.

God is a God of justice.

And in the end, every sin and sinner must face consequences.

God would be less than God,

and sin would be something less than sin,

if the Lord allowed our treacherous disobedience to go unnoticed and unchecked.

It is clear that sin must be paid for.

The good news is that Jesus deals with our sin by becoming sin for us.

He conquers the God-defiant wretchedness of sin by divine satisfaction through divine self-substitution.

The truth is that we are sinful.

And no matter how hard we try not to be,

we are still sinners.

And as a result, the punishment for sin is death.

God has seen our desperate state and the state of our heart,

and has decided to do something about it.

Sin is so serious,

that only death can satisfy or pay the cost.

That's why verse 6,

or that's what verse 6 means when it says that the wrath of God is coming.

The wrath of God is defined as the divine attribute by which God intensely hates sin,

and is poised and ready to punish it fully.

For forgiveness,

leading to salvation from God's wrath to occur,

his anger must be satisfied.

So Jesus took the wrath of God on himself,

on the cross,

and as a result,

Christians will never face the wrath of God.

But if you don't believe,

you will experience God's fury in eternal judgment and punishment.

So our sin is our thoughts,

our words,

or our deeds,

that separate us from full union with God.

And Christ's death on the cross

is what brings us back

to God.

Once we have realised what we have been saved from,

God's wrath,

it is easier then to see what we have been saved for.

Look with me at verse 3 and 4.

For you died,

for you died,

and your life is now hidden with Christ and God.

When Christ,

who is your life,

appears,

then you also will appear with him in glory.

It is easier to see what we have been saved for.

To be hidden with Christ in God,

to appear with him in glory.

This is what we are to set our minds on.

To set our minds on things above

is to think about what we have been saved from

and what we have been saved for.

How can we think about these things

or meditate on them

if we neglect to go to the source of them?

We know these things

because the Bible tells us about them.

To meditate on things above

is the original mindfulness.

Filling our minds with good things

and good truth.

It is filling our minds with God's truth

and the good news of saving faith

through Jesus Christ.

Similarly,

as we set our hearts

on things above,

our hearts will yearn

for the things of God

and not for ourselves.

If we love our jobs,

or see our identity

in what we do,

or if we love our spouse,

or we love our children,

or we yearn for a relationship more

than we love God,

then our hearts

are not set on things above.

If we pride ourselves

in self-sufficiency

and never need to ask for help,

then we are not

setting our minds

on things above,

because it robs people

of the opportunity

to serve us.

If our hearts

are more inclined

towards personal comfort

and rest

than fellowship

with other believers,

then our hearts

are not set

on things above.

to have our hearts

set on things above

where Christ is seated

is to be doing

our everyday life

in our jobs,

in our relationships,

in our trials,

in our struggles,

with our eyes fixed

on Christ,

sitting at the right hand

of God.

The image comes

from Psalm 110,

a famous psalm

where David says,

The Lord says to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

a footstool

under your feet.

The image is of Jesus

sitting next to the Father

and speaks of

the promise of glory,

a glory which we,

as believers,

will also enjoy.

And that's picked up

in verse 4

of Colossians 3 again.

When Christ,

who is your life,

appears,

then you also

will appear

with him in glory.

People often say

about someone

that they are

too heavenly minded

to be of any

earthly good.

Well, in actual fact,

what Paul is saying here

is that to be

of any earthly good,

we should be

more heavenly minded.

For example,

when we are

tired or weary,

instead of

vegging out

on Facebook

or YouTube

or in front

of the telly,

we could turn

our minds

to things above.

And God's word

tells us in

Matthew 11,

Come to me,

all you who are

weary and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

Or suppose we are

anxious about the future

or about our finances.

Well, we could worry

about them

or we could set

our minds

on things above

and read

Matthew chapter 6,

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

which tells us

of the uselessness

of storing up

treasures on earth

where moth and rust

destroy,

but to seek first

his kingdom

and his righteousness.

Or suppose we are

discouraged

by taking a stand

for Christ publicly

or continually doing

the right thing,

we are still discouraged

because we don't

think it makes

any difference.

Well, we could just

give up doing

the right thing.

Or, as Matthew

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 says

in verse 11,

Blessed are you

when people insult you,

persecute you,

and falsely say

all kinds of evil

against you

because of me.

Rejoice and be glad

because great is

your reward in heaven.

For in the same way

they persecuted

the prophets

who were before you.

Even when we are

tempted to sin,

having a heavenly

outlook will help us.

For example,

in Psalm 139,

David says,

Search me, O God,

and know my heart.

Test me and know

my anxious thoughts.

See if there is

any offensive way

in me and lead me

in the way everlasting.

Our help in times

of trouble comes

when we have

a heavenly mindset.

It's like when

training for a marathon.

The average runner

will run close to

500 miles over 16 weeks

leading up to the big day.

There will be

early mornings,

there will be

long runs,

there will be

rainy runs,

there will be

hilly runs,

there will be

really hot

and sticky runs,

there will be

blisters on your feet

and even nastier things

which I won't go into now.

But once you set

your mind

on running

and finishing

that run

on that one day,

that is what gets

you up early

in the morning

for the runs

and drives you

through the pain

of blisters,

setting your mind

on the goal,

the glory

that awaits

for you

on this finish line.

set your hearts

and minds

on things above.

Look up.

Secondly,

put off.

With the benefit

of looking up,

we are now equipped

to put off.

Verse 5.

Put to death,

therefore,

whatever belongs

to your earthly nature.

Sexual immorality,

impurity,

lust,

evil desires

and greed,

which is idolatry.

When it comes

to our response

to sin,

the Bible is stark

and clear.

We are to put it

to death.

Put to death

whatever belongs

to your earthly nature.

What's our earthly nature?

Well,

things that feel good

and natural

and normal

and things that we are told

are normal

and natural

and good.

That's our sinful nature.

That's our earthly nature.

Well,

as we know,

not all things

that feel natural

are good.

Paul says

that as Christians

we no longer

need to take

the bait of sin.

of what feels natural

or our sinful nature.

We are freed

from that compulsion

to sin.

Believers can reject

all those behaviours

that alienate them

from each other

and from God.

Because

when we died

in Christ

we died

to the power

of sin

over us

and that power

was replaced

with the power

of the Holy Spirit

which enables us

to reject

sinful behaviour.

Verse 5 says

to 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 those ways

in these ways

in the life

you once lived

but now

you must read yourself

of all such things

as these

anger

rage

malice

slander

filthy language

from your lips.

When we look

at a list like this

we can be tempted

to start counting up

well

one and a half

out of five

in the first list

and

two out of five

in the second list

well that's not too bad

really is it?

That's nearly a pass.

Well that's not the point

though.

Let's look at

the first list.

Verse five again

sexual immorality

impurity

lust

evil desires

and greed

it's no accident

that these are listed

in order of

most visible

to the least visible.

So Paul begins

with

public

sexual immorality.

which was rampant

in the ancient

pagan world.

He moves

from

behaviours

to

attitudes

including

greed

which focuses

on satisfying

physical desires.

He concludes

by saying

that if we

trace back

from the behaviour

to the motivation

behind it

we find

idolatry

at the core.

By focusing

inwardly

on satisfying

our physical

passions

well that

amounts to

placing ourselves

at the centre

instead of God.

Therefore

if we want

to bring about

change in the

public behavioural

level

of our lives

we have to

ultimately kill

that which led

to it all

in the first place

which is

idolatry.

as with

weeds

in the

garden

simply

snapping

off the

shoots

will not

make

permanent

changes.

The gardener

must dig

out the

roots

for any

lasting

results.

So I

ask you

this morning

what's

your

idol?

The

second list

starts

with

anger.

anger.

The

public

demonstration

of which

is

rage.

And he

goes on

to the

more

subtle

forms

of

anger

such

as

slander.

Well in

each case

what comes

from a

person's

mouth

dishonours

or pollutes

them.

As new

creations

the

Colossians

are to

rid

themselves

or to

put off

their

old

repulsive

habits

including

evil

speech.

Anger

and rage

destroy

harmony

in human

relationships.

Malice

is a

general

term

describing

an evil

force

that

wrecks

fellowship.

Slander

in this

passage

means the

insulting

of human

character.

Filthy

language

ought to

be

stopped

before

it

even

comes

out

of

their

mouths.

In

light of

this

what

comes

out

of

our

mouths

is

important

and so

there

is

no

place

for

lying.

If we

are

Christ's

image

bearers

well then

we must

be truthful.

so this

morning

if you

are

a

Christian

you

probably

at one

time

praised

the

prayer

of

repentance

and

asked

Jesus

to

forgive

you

of

your

sins.

Well

this

is

good.

I

give

thanks

that

many

of

you

have

reached

that

point.

But

the

Christian

life

is

not

a

one

off

decision

to

repent

of

your

sins

and

carry

on

life

as

normal.

Our

daily

lives

are

changed

after

we

have

encountered

Jesus.

We

cannot

live

like

we

did

before.

As

followers

of

Jesus

we

have

received

a

new

heart

because

like

in

Colossians

Colossians 3:3

3

verse

3

it

says

you

died

and

your

life

is

now

hidden

with

Christ

in

God.

Or

back

in

chapter

2

verse

12

we

have

died

with

Christ

or

been

buried

with

him

in

baptism

and

raised

with

him

through

your

faith

in

the

power

of

God

who

raised

him

from

the

dead.

Paul

puts it

another way

in chapter

1

verse 21

when he

says

once you

were

alienated

from

God

and were

enemies

in your

minds

two

two

two

things

are clear

from

these

passages

one

if we

were

dead

and

now

we

are

alive

or

we

can't

live

like

we

used

to

we

can't

live

like

dead

people

if

we

are

alive

if

we

were

separated

or

alienated

from

God

because

of

how

we

were

living

we

cannot

continue

to

live

like

that

now

we

are

different

people

brothers

and

sisters

and

friends

there

are

no

half

measures

here

if

there

is

sin

in

your

life

if

you

have

idols

which

are

not

God

if

there

are

good

things

even

good

biblical

things

in

your

life

that

have

become

ultimate

things

then

put

them

to

death

put

off

what

belongs

to

your

earthly

nature

someone

close

to

me

was

admitted

to a

rehabilitation

centre

a while

back

they

entered

into

the

program

because

they

felt

they

were

overly

dependent

on

alcohol

once

in

there

they

were

told

that

to

beat

it

they

must

never

drink

alcohol

again

they

must

put

it

to

death

the

problem

was

that

they

didn't

believe

they

had

a

problem

they

just

had

a

temporary

or

an

over

dependency

on

it

a

little

night

cap

to help

them

unwind

and

to

sleep

by

the

time

they

left

the

centre

they

hadn't

had a

drink

in a

month

and so

they

didn't

feel like

they

needed

to

drink

again

which

was

great

for a

while

when

they

were

offered

a

drink

at a

party

they

could

easily

say

no

fast

forward

a year

and for

whatever

reason

they're

drinking

again

the

idol

or the

sin

of

pride

or

self

regulation

had

stopped

them

initially

calling

themselves

an

alcoholic

sin

had

blinded

them

to

their

weakness

to

the

earthly

nature

or

the

flesh

as

we

might

know

it

I

have

sat

through

addiction

lectures

counselling

sessions

support

group

meetings

I

have

seen

the

devastation

that

addiction

causes

to

families

and

to

relationships

the

first

three

steps

of

the

addiction

12

step

programme

are

these

but

I

have

changed

the

substance

of

choice

to

the

word

sin

as

I

don't

believe

there

is

a

difference

step

one

we

admitted

that

we

were

powerless

over

sin

that

our

lives

had

become

unmanageable

step

two

we

came

to

believe

that

a

power

greater

than

ourselves

could

restore

us

step

three

we

made

a

decision

to

turn

our

will

and

our

lives

over

to

the

care

of

God

as

we

understood

him

sin

is

not

something

that

we

get

a

handle

on

or

learn

how

to

manage

sin

is

something

we

must

die

to

we

must

put

to

death

we

if

we

are

Christians

daily

need

to

admit

that

we

are

powerless

over

sin

that

Jesus

can

restore

us

and

I

would

add

bring

us

into

glory

and

that

daily

we

need

to

turn

our

lives

over

to

the

care

of

God

by

acknowledging

our

weakness

and

our

need

of

help

we

often

open

ourselves

up for

the

spirit

of

God

to

work

in

us

when

we

are

weak

he

is

strong

and

moves

in

and

takes

up

residence

in

us

it

is

when

the

spirit

is

at

work

that

we

are

able

to

look

up

and

set

our

minds

on

things

above

when

the

spirit

is

at

work

in

us

we

are

able

to

say

no

to

sin

and

put

off

or

put

to

death

that

which

is

our

sinful

earthly

nature

look

up

put

off

and

put

on

in

contrast

to

the

list

the

two

list

of

vices

that

we

read

in

verses

5

to

10

here

we

have

a

list

of

five

virtues

in

verse

12

read

it

with

me

therefore

as

God's

chosen

people

holy

and

dearly

loved

clothe

yourself

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

now

if

all

we

did

was

to

take

everything

off

in

our

lives

and

chastise

ourselves

all

the

time

and

criticise

ourselves

well

then

we

would

be

left

naked

so to

speak

we've

taken

everything

off

and are

left

bare

and

naked

but

thankfully

Paul

doesn't

leave it

there

I was

planning

on just

speaking

about

dealing

with

sin

this

morning

and

the

importance

of

taking

off

or

putting

to

death

sin

but

of

course

I

couldn't

just

leave

it

there

because

we'd

all

go home

naked

and

that

would

be

awkward

you can

laugh

if you

like

thanks

it

would

be

awkward

well

thankfully

Paul

doesn't

leave us

naked

and cold

and feeling

vulnerable

he tells

us to

clothe

ourselves

to put

on

look at

the passage

again

therefore

as God's

chosen

people

holy

and

dearly

loved

clothe

yourselves

with

compassion

kindness

humility

gentleness

and

patience

do you

see that

opening

line

as God's

chosen

people

as God's

chosen

people

we are

chosen

we are

holy

and we

are

dearly

loved

they are

special

titles

which

were used

of Israel

as God's

own

possession

in the

Old Testament

and they

are titles

that are

used

for Jesus

in the

New Testament

they are

used to

show how

similar

we as

Christians

are to

Christ

it is

Jesus

who is

the chosen

one

and so

it is

an

incredible

privilege

to be

addressed

in the

same

way

as

Christ

what

more

motivation

do we

need

to behave

in a

Christlike

way

these

virtues

or these

graces

which we

are to be

closed with

are seen

elsewhere

as

characteristics

of God

or Christ

and they

show us

how we

should behave

in our

dealings

with others

particularly

other

believers

three of

these

kindness

gentleness

and patience

are listed

in Galatians

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

as

fruits of

the spirit

in fact

all of

them are

characteristics

that we

show towards

other people

they're all

things that

we do

towards

other people

Paul is

showing us

how we

should be

relating to

each other

he has

just been

writing

so he's

been talking

about in

verse 11

here there

is no

gentile

or jew

circumcised

or uncircumcised

barbarian

slave

or free

but Christ

is all

and is

in all

so Paul

is showing

us how

we should

be

relating

to each

other

he's

just been

writing

about the

social

racial

and ethnic

differences

that should

not divide

the people

of God

he's been

saying that

lying can

affect the

whole community

of believers

and here we

are with

these five

graces

which also

tell us

that we

are to

clothe

ourselves

with those

things

which are

Christ-like

and important

for the unity

of Christian

community

Paul was

thinking of

the whole

body of

Christ

and the

importance

of its

unity

bear with

each other

and forgive

whatever

grievances

you have

with

each other

and then

comes the

sucker

punch

the ground

and the

motive

for

forgiving

is

just as

Christ

forgave

you

our sin

put Christ

on a cross

where he

died

and when

he was

there

he said

father

forgive

them

they don't

know what

they're

doing

if we have

a disagreement

with someone

in the church

we need to

forgive them

because Jesus

forgave us

but also

because we

need each

other to

hold us

up when

we fall

and when

we stumble

one major

step in

overcoming

addiction

is meeting

regularly

with other

addicts

through

anonymous

meetings

or through

sponsoring

programs

the sponsoring

program is

like having

an accountability

partner

someone you

can ring

in times

of weakness

or craving

someone who

knows what

you're going

through because

they have

been there

too

someone who

has benefited

from the

encouragement

of another

both of

these methods

of ongoing

accountability

are vital

for the

continuing

health

of the

addict

I hope

by now

you've seen

the correlation

to deal

with sin

effectively

we must

put it

to death

there can

be no

half measures

but we

must also

put on

the clothing

that has

been offered

to us

surround

ourselves

with the

fellowship

of other

believers

as we

navigate

life

after

repentance

turning

away

from sin

we

say it

time and

time again

that God

speaks

primarily

these

days

through

his

words

his

spirit

and through

his

people

the

church

of God

is a

vital

method

of

communicating

the

good

news

of

Jesus

to

the

world

and so

we

as the

church

of God

are tasked

with representing

it well

to do

this we

need to

be quick

to deal