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[0:00] So as was read, we're in the book of Colossians. We're going to be in chapter 3, and as we have worked through this book, what we've been focusing on is what Paul focuses on, which is one thing, and it's this, the splendor of Jesus Christ. That is what this book is about. From start to finish, even from the first words to the last words, Paul's concern is that the Colossae, the city church of Colossae, would know the splendor of Jesus in all things. So we've seen a lot. We've seen some theology of Jesus being creator of all things, that all things being created through him. We've seen some theology of Jesus being the satisfaction that we were always intended to find. We've seen some theology even of what it looks like to live out our faith and to not fall into legalism and practices of the law, but in the law of Christ. We've seen a lot of great things, but again, the focus has always been on Christ. And so, this morning, guess what the focus is going to be on?

[1:07] Christ. And this is why we're in Colossians. It's just all about Jesus. So I want to start out just by recognizing something. There was a Puritan theologian. His name is John Owen, and he is well respected in many theological circles because of his grave view of sin and the seriousness with which he approached the seriousness of sin in the church. And here's one thing he said in one of his most famous sermons.

[1:40] Be killing sin or it will be killing you. Now, like a good Puritan theologian and pastor, John Owen took this line and preached an entire message on what it means to kill sin actively as a Christian. And here's the great part of this.

[2:06] Every time you hear a pastor preach on the killing of sin, or you hear read a book that talks about how we live holy lives unto God, I think we would be remiss to miss Colossians 3, 1 to 11.

[2:23] So we have an entire sermon, entire message devoted to this topic. How in the world do we kill sin as Christians and live holy lives? That is what Paul is going to spend his time on. So what we're going to do is we're going to look at the text and we're going to pull out two things that I want us to keep in mind as we go through these 11 verses. First is the idea of an indicative. Now I'm going to talk about these in a second. Second is going to be the idea of an imperative. Now you're like, what in the world is he talking about? Think of it this way. An indicative is something that is true, a statement of truth in the Bible. We call them indicatives on in the Greek side of things and in the grammar side of things, but there's also something called an imperative. An imperative is a what to do. So in scripture there's a lot of what to do's. Be this, be that, do not do this, do that.

[3:15] That's an imperative in scripture. And what you're going to see is we're going to have a massive shift in terms of tone and direction of thought by Paul in chapter three. Now we've spent two entire chapters where Paul is essentially dropping indicatives. Here's what's true of Jesus. Here's what's true of the church. Here's what's true of false teaching. Here's what's true of true teaching. Here's what's true. That's what Paul has done for two chapters and he's had very few commands or imperatives thus far.

[3:46] But now we're going to see in chapter three the following imperatives. So I want you to go through these with me and again we're going to go through them together, but I want to just drop them off the top here as we work through the text. So let's look at verse two. Here's imperative number one for Paul.

[4:01] He's going to change his entire tone. Now I'm going to tell you what to do, Colossians. Here's the first one, number two, verse two. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. There's command number one, imperative number one. Let's move on to the next one.

[4:15] Skip down with me to verse five. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you, sexual morality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. There's number two. Let's go to number three. Go to verse eight with me. Here's imperative number three. But now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. And then finally imperative number four, which is verse nine. The next verse. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices. So this is the point of the book for Paul, where he, I mean, this is what I'm imagining is he's writing the one letter of Colossae that he would have wrote all in one sitting.

[5:01] After chapter two, he finishes his thought about false teaching and not falling into that, and don't let anybody judge you because you're in Christ. That's all you need. Okay, shake the hand out, take the quill out, right? This is what I get the vision over Paul. Here we go. Do this. Put on this.

[5:17] Don't do that. Avoid this. Live in Christ. Go to the, he just starts writing all that he wants the Colossians to do in faith. That's what you're going to see from chapter three to chapter four.

[5:28] The rest of the sermons are going to reflect that in that we're going to see some really practical instruction on how to live a Christian life out as a church. But here's what I want us to get. If we get nothing else, I would rather you get what I'm about to say than even the practical directives on how to live because it's so important. Paul recognizes that in order to do, we must know what is true.

[5:59] In order to do well in this life for Christ as Christians, we have to know what is true. This is where the indicatives come in. In other words, the statements of truth in Scripture.

[6:13] If you're still confused, maybe on the indicative piece, let me just give a couple examples. Scripture does this throughout the entirety of the text. From Genesis to Revelation, what you're going to see is a lot of commands. Do this, be that. Again, a lot of commands from Scripture. But every time you see commands in Scripture, they're always coupled with statements of truth. And the reason is because truth is what grounds us. Knowing the truth is what allows us to pursue being all that we're called to be. So here's a couple examples from Scripture. The Lord says to Moses at the scene of the burning bush, go to Egypt. You're going to free my people. But what does he say that accompanies that?

[6:57] I am that I am. I will be with you as you go. That is the truth that empowers the command to go.

[7:09] To free my people. How about the book of Joshua? Joshua, you're going to go into the land. You're going to conquer the land. For me, you're going to bring the promises that were due to Abraham into fruition by literally conquering the land that I have set out for my people. But what is the indicative that accompanies that imperative? Here it is. Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. See, here's what the Lord knows about us, the people he's created. If he sends us out to do something without empowering us to do it, we will fall. We will fail. This is true even of parenthood, isn't it? For you parents out there that have children, go live a life that's full of joy. Go find a spouse. Go make good decisions. Make good friends and live a full life in Christ. You can say in your kid out with that message as they turn 18 go out the door. But if you never gave them the truths that undergird all of that,

[8:17] I think the reality is our kids are going to walk out saying, I don't know what to believe and I'd love to do these things, but I don't know what to do. Because truth is what gives our commands meat.

[8:31] So here's, here's the point in the message of Paul. A new life does away with old things in the victorious power of Christ.

[8:42] A new life does away with old things in the victorious power of Christ. The truth about who we are guides us to what we are to do. Or, in other words, our identity informs our duty.

[8:55] That's what we need to get from this passage. So, each and every imperative we just read in the book of Colossians, all are attached back to an identity that the Lord gives us. So, let's read through this. We're going to look at two sections. Verse 1 to 4, and then we'll do 5 to 11.

[9:12] So let's look at verse 1 to 4. I'm going to read this whole section again. If then, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above. Where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

[9:25] 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 in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.

[9:44] What's the indicative, the truth, that is to guide every imperative we see? Here it is. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

[10:01] Can you think of anything more beautiful than that? Your life is hidden with Christ.

[10:14] In God. In other words, what Paul is saying here is that through the gospel, the old me has died, has been done away with.

[10:27] And instead of that life that I used to live, that was headed towards death and destruction, God has taken and redeemed and renewed. And he did that by taking us and hiding us away in his son, Jesus Christ.

[10:45] God has taken the precious treasure that is your life and has hidden it away in the most secure place, the most glorious place, the most appropriate place, Jesus Christ.

[10:58] we know that from scripture that when the Lord made man and woman, that he made them in his image. And in seeing that picture being made in his image, we get this idea that our lives have immense value.

[11:14] that God took it upon himself to say, we will make them in our image. And they will be our bearers in all of the world.

[11:25] That God has a heart for his children whom he has created and he loves them dearly. But we also know from the early parts of the scripture that we in our pride looked to that loving God that gave us life, that gave us value, and said we can do this on our own, we'd rather go our own way.

[11:43] But here's what we see in the gospel that Paul's putting on display in the beginning of chapter 3, that through the gospel, our lives are redeemed. That we're brought back into that kingdom of light that he talked about earlier in Colossians.

[11:57] And in so doing, what the Lord has done is he's taken us, that beautiful valued gem that is our life according to God and he has hidden it once more in the most secure place.

[12:08] The place that death will never touch us again, that is Christ himself. Now you may say, well, how does that work? Our lives being hidden away in Jesus, how does that secure me from death and destruction?

[12:22] Well, Paul has an answer for that. Look at verse 1. If you have been raised with Christ, and then he says again down in verse 4, when Christ who is your life appears, in other words, in being hidden with Christ, we share in the same life as Christ.

[12:40] And in sharing in the same life as Christ, we share in the same crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Christ. That for Paul to be hidden away in Christ is to put ourselves in the very rhythms of Jesus' own life.

[12:59] meaning, that if you are a Christian, you have been resurrected unto newness of life today, now.

[13:13] That if death could not stop Christ, that if Jesus himself conquers the very power of death that held us down, we too shall conquer in him.

[13:25] So Paul says, if you have been raised. But then he says this, seek the things that are above, where Christ is. And so what we see is Paul is shifting here, not just the fact that we're, our life is hidden with Christ in God, but now we have a directive.

[13:43] Because our lives are different, because they're redeemed, because they're changed, because we're hidden in Christ, we should seek the things of Christ. And this is our identity. What we're supposed to do matches only what we are in Christ.

[13:57] So, here's the command, and I love this. Seek the things that are above, where Christ is. Practically speaking, here's what Paul is speaking about, or what he's suggesting to us.

[14:08] He is suggesting that we die to our old self, and recognize our resurrected life. How? By seeking heavenly things. Seeking the things that are above, is Paul's way of putting it.

[14:22] So, practically, what does this mean for us? Well, it means this. I'm actually going to ask you to keep a finger here, and turn back. For me, it's two pages. For you, it might be one, depending on the text size of your Bible.

[14:33] Flip back with me to Philippians 4, verse 8. Literally, page or two back in your Bible. Paul elsewhere gives the idea of what it means to seek the things that are above.

[14:45] And here's what he says in Philippians 4, verse 8. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

[15:03] That's what it means to set our minds on heavenly things. And I may offer to us, as we read that list from Philippians, what is the one thing that fits all of those descriptions and more?

[15:14] It's the loveliness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And so what does Paul say? Seek the things that are above. So we think, okay, I need to think about good things, heavenly things, godly things, divine things.

[15:28] Yes. But it's even more than just those things. Paul has a specific objective in mind. Where Christ is. Set your thoughts on the things that are related to Christ in the heavenly realm.

[15:45] In other words, set your mind on all heavenly things that have one thing in common, and that is Christ. How do we do this practically? Well, we think about God and His goodness.

[15:57] We think about Christ and His glory. And maybe you're like me and you don't have the great, thinking about Christ, that's the application. I just sit here and in my mind, focus on Jesus.

[16:11] Yes, it's a form of heavenly Christian meditation, if you are, thinking about the things we should be. But there's a way in which God allows us to do this well. And I believe it has everything to do with His Word.

[16:25] That when we take the Word of God and we read it and we study it and we talk about it amongst ourselves and we devote ourselves to its teachings, we are enacting this very command to seek the things which are above.

[16:39] So a call to know the Scriptures, to allow them to point to Christ as we are told it does. But not only this, here's what the Gospel does.

[16:50] It hides us away in Jesus so that, verse 4, when Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory. So Paul suggests two things. because of the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb, empty tomb, because of that reality, we will be raised with Christ one day.

[17:07] So we have hope. But both now, then, and now, if we have been raised with Him, that's a passive present tense there. So you have already been raised, is another way of putting that.

[17:18] Our affections, our heart, our mind, all of it has already been resurrected. Meaning that our life is completely different. We now no longer live in the life that was, but in the life that we have through Christ.

[17:30] Which leads us into verse 5. We have just learned of the glory of the Gospel, the beauty of Jesus in verse 1 to 4, what He has done for us.

[17:41] Now we see verse 5. Put to death, therefore. That therefore is connected back to having resurrection life. Therefore, what is earthly in you, and here's the list, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

[18:03] And here's the most staggering thing about this whole layout, logically, for Paul. He says, put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you.

[18:13] Meaning this. This is literally what Paul is saying. Put to death that which has already died in our former self. But if it's already dead, why is it cropping up in me?

[18:29] Paul, you just said that the old me has died and that we already have resurrected life. It's gone. And now he says, hey, but you still need to put it to death. And this is the wrestling that we do a lot of times in these sort of questions.

[18:44] I thought the Lord already did away with my past life, so why does it keep cropping up? Why does sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, those are things I read that list and if you're like me, you say, I still have a tendency to give in to these sins.

[19:02] And it's the reality of this, that the gospel has resurrected us now once and for all. It's done. It's completed. It's finished.

[19:13] But yet, we still have work to do in dying to these things. So here's what I want us to see about this list of sins. There's two lists of sins.

[19:23] The first one here is in verse 5. The second one is going to be down in verse 8. Let's talk about 5 real quick. All of these sins, this list, if you will, they have something in common.

[19:35] And what they have in common is this idea of idolatry. Now, all sin is idolatry. If we give way to sin, we are giving into a form of idolatry.

[19:45] But here's what Paul has specifically in mind with this list. He's pointing to something that he defines as which is idolatry, meaning this, wanting something more than God.

[19:58] When you read this list, sexual morality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, it's pointing to the heart. The desires of the heart that look to God and find somehow, find dissatisfaction, and then look in our flesh and our earthly desires to something else to fill my cup.

[20:17] That's idolatry. Putting something in the place of God. But not only that, there's even more specific bent to this list, and we have to talk about it quickly. Sexual morality, impurity, passion, and evil desire all have something very much in common in the original language.

[20:36] And it is sexual sin. And if you add the fifth, covetousness, you get a full sweeping picture that what Paul is specifically alluding to here is not just sexual sin.

[20:51] Yes, it's idolatry in general, but he has a specific concern, and it's this. The sins which pull our hearts' affections away from the only one that can truly satisfy and toward the things of the flesh.

[21:08] And the reason why this is such a big deal for Paul in this section is because it is those sins that pull our affections away from God which lead to destruction.

[21:21] And for him, in this instance, he's going to talk to the Colossians and give a specific bent towards sexual sin, towards the sins of the flesh in that way. But what he's really trying to do here is point out this, that when we give our hearts fully over to something other than God, they lead to a place where we will find destruction.

[21:45] And I want to be really clear here. What Paul's not saying, what I'm not saying, is that sexual sin is a form of sin that cannot be atoned for. He's not suggesting that if somebody's living in sexual sin in Colossae that there's no way they could be a Christian.

[22:01] It's not demanding perfection from people, but what he is saying is that sexual sin has a specific bent about it. And what it does to the person in the heart of the person who has these desires is it's continually pulling the heart in a direction of the flesh and the former life.

[22:24] And when that happens, the heart finds a new master. And for Paul, sexual sin, he calls elsewhere a sin against the body.

[22:37] And for Paul, this is a big deal because his whole point in chapter 3 is to talk about how our old life is gone, our new life has come. So here's what I want to encourage us with.

[22:48] If you're here today and you find yourself in the throes of giving your heart over to another master, which is the proper way to define sin, but especially sexual sin, I want to encourage you to consider who has the allegiance of your heart.

[23:07] And if it is Christ, to share maybe this week with someone else who you know loves the Lord, maybe someone, a brother who you've walked through with in life or maybe a person that you respect of the same gender preferably, that you would love to say, you know what, I want to find accountability in this and I want Christ to be the soul master of my heart.

[23:32] The reason I'm passionate about this is this has been an area in my past that has gripped my heart and pulled me away from the Lord. And what it took for the Lord to begin to purify my heart over time and show me that He is Lord and show me that He's so much greater of a desire than anything else I give it to is a wise, godly mentor to sit down with me and walk through what it looks like to pursue holiness.

[24:01] So I want to encourage us. Paul takes sexual sin very seriously and he looks at the Colossians and he says, listen, it's time to die to all of those things that pull us away from who we are in Christ.

[24:16] But then there's a second list of sins and we're going to read down through that by starting at verse 6. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. We'll deal with that in a minute.

[24:26] Verse 7 he says, In these you too once walked when you were living in them but now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

[24:37] Do not lie to one another seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices. And the second list of sin has a different bent to it. This second list of sins are what I'm going to call community sins.

[24:52] outward expressions that we have forgot who we are in the context of community. And in this category of sins you see things that divide people, break relationships, lead to lost trust and unity.

[25:11] Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk. Lying to one another. So here's what Paul's concern is here. That for the first list it's for your individual worship.

[25:23] If you are a brother or sister in here today and your heart is not fully given over to Christ because of the throes of the flesh, give your heart over. Find victory in Christ through accountability.

[25:34] But second, there's the second application from the list. These sins are directed towards others. That when we're not in right relationship with one another as brothers and sisters, here's what happens.

[25:45] that if we live in the past, who we once were in our sin, it will lead to these things manifesting in our fellowship. And here's the big picture for all of these.

[25:57] Verse 6. And this is going to be a scary expression, a scary thing, and in some ways it should be. On account of these, I'm going to put every sin into this category.

[26:09] On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. You may be asking, why? Why is Paul talking about the wrath of God? I thought we're talking about putting on Christ, living a new life.

[26:21] Isn't that an encouraging word? So in verse 6, why does he mention the wrath of God is coming on those who still live in their sin? And the reality is that Paul has a high view of God such that he reminds the Colossians that living in sin and not in Christ has one destination and it is eternal wrath from a holy God.

[26:56] Does he say this to scare them back into repentance? To cause fear that would lead them to repentance? Or is he saying this reminding them of the wrath of God that is poured out upon sinners to remind them of the gospel with which they have come to Christ and in which they are hidden?

[27:19] I believe it's the latter. Here's what Paul is saying here. Remember when we used to live in our sin, the sexual morality, the impurity, those evil desires, and yes, even the anger, the malice, the obscene talk.

[27:31] Let's put all of it in there. Do you remember what it was like before you knew Jesus being enslaved to these horrible earthly masters? Do you remember that?

[27:43] And furthermore, do you remember that you were saved from the destruction that is to come for sinners? Remember how Jesus delivered you from the pain and penalty of death?

[27:56] Remember how God in His unbelievable love poured out His wrath upon an innocent person instead of you? Remember how you were once there, but now you were once here through the gospel.

[28:12] In other words, here's what Paul's doing with this statement. He is again reminding them of what is true in hopes that it will empower them about what to do. And here's how we know that.

[28:23] Look at verse 7. How do we know that that's what Paul is trying to do in verse 6? Talking about wrath. Look at verse 7. In these, you too once walked when you were living in them.

[28:36] We used to be living that life. We used to have wrath destined for our lives. But now through the gospel, through the freedom that Jesus brings in His sacrificial death, perfect offering on that cross, we have received life.

[28:54] Resurrected. In verse 8, but now you must put them all away. So here's the connection that Paul makes between what is true and what we are to do. The motivation to kill sin and to live holy ought to stem only from who we are, not who we want to be.

[29:14] I'm going to repeat that one more time. Draw motivation to kill your sin and live holy from who you are, not who you want to be. What do I mean by that?

[29:25] In verse 7, Paul points out that we once were this way, walking in sin, walking in darkness, but now we are new, walking in Christ, hidden away with Him.

[29:38] And his objective there is to focus our obedience and our growth in Christ on the truths about Christ that are true of us. That we once were sinners far off from God and now we have been brought near as children.

[29:51] That we once were in a land of darkness, is now we are in a land of light. That we once were destined for wrath, now we are destined for joy forever. And I think that oftentimes in our sanctification, we can base, base our sanctification not on who we are in Christ, but instead on what we think we want to be someday.

[30:14] And these things can be good, but don't get me wrong, okay? I think a lot of times we can think this way. You know what? I want to be rid of this sin. I want to be a good father someday.

[30:25] I want to be ready to receive and marry a wife. I want to be a good churchgoer someday. I want to be a good... You can draw the list out of things that we may want in this life.

[30:35] Desire to be. That may even be good things. But here's what I believe. I believe that that can fall... We can put us in a trap. Where instead of seeking the truth of who we are and living that out, we look at the truth of who we maybe will be someday and trust in ourselves to get there.

[30:52] Instead, sanctification should lead us to draw strength not from ourselves, but from Christ's perfect work. I want to give you a quick illustration of what Paul is trying to say here and how I think the resurrected life looks like.

[31:08] The resurrected life is like a butterfly. Our former lives were the caterpillar constrained to earth bound in that body that indulges its voracious appetite by eating leaf after leaf after leaf.

[31:26] Now, I don't know about you guys. Those of you who have raised children or maybe have young children in the home, we have the Hungry Caterpillar book. Okay? Yeah, everybody... You know what I'm talking about? Eric Carle? It's a great book.

[31:36] You read it and it talks about how the caterpillar eats this and then it eats that and it's a constant cycle of the caterpillar eating the next thing and not being hungry enough or not being satisfied so it eats another thing and the list goes on and on and on and on and the book just keeps going and these ridiculous things that the caterpillar eats.

[31:53] Just reading this the other day. And I think this is actually a pretty good picture of what it looks like before we come to Christ. That the body of flesh that we were once in continually gives in and continually is unsatisfied in what the world offers.

[32:10] That like that caterpillar we continue to go after and devour anything that may look good. But before Christ we indulge our voracious desires and they never lead to anything except death.

[32:30] But our new life in Christ is like a butterfly. Free to fly, beautiful and with new tastes for sweet, satisfying nectar. This is what's staggering.

[32:42] Did you know that a caterpillar eats up to 200 times its own body weight in its life cycle up until becoming a butterfly? The butterfly has only one food that it eats in its entire life cycle after emerging from the chrysalis.

[32:59] And what is it? Nectar from flowers. Why does this matter for this illustration? Well, I think again if the butterfly tries to return to its former appetite of leaves it will die.

[33:14] It cannot survive on that past diet. Instead, what has happened the caterpillar likes to gorge, the butterfly likes to flutter and enjoy the beautiful nectar of the flower.

[33:31] We were like caterpillars gorging ourselves on the pleasures of life but here's what happened. Through the gospel we enter that chrysalis and we emerge with freedom to fly in all beauty hidden in Christ and now our desires are not for what was but now the taste that we have is for sweet nectar.

[33:49] What is that nectar? It is the grace of God that we have received through the gospel. We have undergone a spiritual metamorphosis through the gospel. The old life is gone with its old desires and appetites and the new life has come with its new tastes for sweet nectar.

[34:06] The grace of God. So here's what I'll encourage us to do to seek the pure nectar of God's most radiant flower. Reminding ourselves that we have been raised with Jesus that we have died with Him and our old life along with it.

[34:26] And finally this that we have put on the new life. Look with me at verse 10. Here's what Paul says to summarize all of this reality of the new self the resurrected life and have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

[34:51] Now just before in verse 9 he said we've put off the old self. So we've put off the old self and we've put on the new self. And the language that he's using here is amazing. The word put off is literally to strip off or to disarm.

[35:04] To take off something. To strip it off completely. And here's what Paul's getting at. Our old life was like this husk that enveloped us and through the gospel Jesus ripped that off.

[35:16] Our old life is literally not a part of us anymore. But not only that he says we have put on the new self and the image here the verb here is to dress oneself in clothing. That's the verb Paul uses here.

[35:29] In other words through the gospel we have received a new wardrobe. That to wear the old clothing that doesn't fit anymore that's all tattered and ruined is impossible.

[35:42] You can't go back and put it on. What Christ has removed no man can ever install. Instead here's what Paul's saying we have clothed ourselves in a new garment through Christ.

[35:57] And what is that garment? It is the garment of righteousness. In the book of Revelation the saints of all the ages will assemble and the Lord will avenge them by conquering evil once and for all.

[36:07] And it says of the saints that are gathered from every tribe tongue and nation in that passage they are clothed in white. That is our new garment that being hidden in Jesus Christ allows for the first time for us to have that newness that purity that wholesomeness which is the opposite of that list of sins.

[36:28] Impurity Paul says we are now pure in Christ and through that identity here's what Paul wants us to do. Put to death every sin that identifies us with our past life.

[36:40] And here's the final piece of the puzzle that I love Paul for doing this. Look at verse 11. Here there is not Greek and Jew circumcised and uncircumcised barbarian, Scythian slave free but Christ is all and in all.

[37:01] Here's how Paul summarizes all of this. In order to do that which we are called to to live in newness of life and in holiness we have to remember the truth of who we are that we are hidden with Jesus we are purified and washed he has made us new and he is our life.

[37:19] But how does this look like practically? Well verse 11 gives us a hint. Here's what he just said. Regardless of how you came to Jesus each and every piece of the body each and every person every saint every brother and sister is now in Christ and we all have the same identity.

[37:39] In other words it doesn't matter who you were before you came to Christ. It doesn't matter what race or ethnicity you were it doesn't matter what job you held it doesn't matter what you believed what sin you struggled with here's what Paul just said every person that has come to Christ and entered that holy beloved church that Josh talked about earlier being a part of the body every person that has become part of the body of Christ is in him and that is our identity period.

[38:09] How does this help us to fight sin to kill it and to live in the new self the resurrected life? Look around you brothers and sisters for the people you sit amongst that have also bowed the knee to Christ and have repented of their sin they are according to Paul the way to do this.

[38:30] Here's what I want to call us to I want to call us to kill sin Devour scripture for scripture teaches us what is true and if you're like me my heart is constantly wandering from what is true It is the seasons of my life where I have neglected God's word that I have found myself doing that which I do not want to do Why?

[38:52] Because truth guides our duty Devour scripture as if your life depends on it because it does but secondly do this in confession make confession a daily rhythm too often in my life I think of confession as something I should do every so often if you're like me you know what every month or so maybe I'll think about oh man I need to confess a lot of sins that I've done I think this would be a good time the Lord's calling me to confess and he is often times in my life but I want us to raise the bar a little bit make confession of sin a daily offering not an occasional offering as we confess our sin it helps us die to it and recognize it as false living but then thirdly meditate on Christ and his gospel we do this all in community Christ is all and in all and we are to act on that according to Paul just as Josh shared we believe in membership here as a church we believe that by taking the truths of God's word and making them a standard for all of us to live by and upholding those things that we are able to obey God live holy and put off sin so here's some of the things that are in our membership covenant the things that we agree to do together in truth unite discern love minister gather respond pray nurture give submit uphold and welcome together next week we get to talk about the splendor of Jesus in the loving church here's the transition for Paul right before he talks about what our love looks like as a body he says this we're all in all if you're here today and you believed in Jesus and repented of your sin you are in Christ you are hidden in him but not only that as a church we are hidden collectively in Christ help one another die to sin hold one another accountable in love you and I have been given a resurrected life but the church is the resurrected bride we do this together

[41:06] Lord thank you for today thank you for the new life that we have in Christ Lord I pray Lord that as we think about dying to sin this week that you'd help us to first start in our own lives individually Lord that we would die to sin each and every day every morning every night Lord would you put it upon our hearts Lord the ways in which we fall the ways in which we crawl back to that old life and try and put on those old clothes that are that don't fit anymore the ways in which we try to re-enter that chrysalis and go back to that larvae stage Lord of just satisfying those earthly desires and appetites Lord I pray that like the butterfly Lord we would fly free in the grace of God and that we would seek the sweet nectar of his word help us to live these new lives in Christ by putting you on daily and recognizing you as the center not just of our salvation but you as the center of all of our growth all of our sanctification

[42:12]  Lord we love you and we give over this morning amen amen