Well, good morning, church.
Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Colossians.
Colossians chapter 3, page 984, if you're looking in a pew Bible.
Chapter 3, we're looking at verses 5 to 11 today.
Chapter 3, Paul's giving instructions to the church about what it means to live in union
with Christ.
Last week, we looked at what it means that we have died and risen with Christ.
Today, we're looking at things to put away, and next week, we'll be looking at characteristics
to put on in this very practical section of the letter.
So, let's read Colossians 3, starting at verse 5.
Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil
desire, and 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.
But 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 is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,
free, but Christ is all and in all.
Earlier this summer, I was walking around my backyard, and I noticed some weeds and vines
that had been growing up along the fence.
And I thought to myself, some of those look a bit like poison ivy.
You know, I got that as a kid.
It wasn't very nice.
I should probably deal with that sometime.
But I was working on other projects around the house at the time.
I wasn't quite sure what was poison ivy and what wasn't.
I wasn't sure how to deal with it without getting it, so I let it go.
And it gradually slipped to the back of my mind.
Then in early September, I was out in the yard again.
And I noticed that these weeds and vines had grown up throughout the summer with the rain
and the heat.
And rather absentmindedly, I started pulling up a few of them, gathering them in my arms,
and I dumped them in a corner of the yard and thought no more of it.
Until two or three days later, when I began to suffer the consequences of my carelessness.
First little blisters appeared on my wrists, and they spread up my arms.
Within a few days, they had spread all over and were appearing in new places every day.
It was a systemic poison ivy infection.
I was itchy everywhere all the time, especially when I was trying to sleep.
I was woken up in the middle of every night, and I would pace the kitchen floor trying to
distract myself.
I tried every remedy I could find on the internet.
Calamine lotion, oatmeal baths, even diaper rash cream, and apple cider vinegar.
I don't recommend the latter.
Finally, I had to go to the doctor and get prescription medication.
Now, since then, my attitude toward poison ivy has changed in three ways.
First, I learned to identify it precisely for what it is.
I carefully examined photos and descriptions of it on the internet.
I'm a bit of a hawk about it now.
I can recognize it from a distance.
I can distinguish it from more harmless vines.
I've noticed, which I didn't notice before, how pervasive it is in our neighborhood.
Second, I did some research about how to get rid of it.
I asked some of you for advice.
Some of the advice I got was not what I initially wanted to hear.
I wanted to deal with it without any chemicals, right?
That's always the ideal.
But the consistent advice that I received was, in this situation, the weed killer really helps.
So I took that advice.
And third, I pulled it out by the roots.
One day, I put on an old set of clothes, two pairs of gloves, some sneakers that I was ready
to get rid of that had been hanging around for a couple of years, hadn't worn them.
I went through the yard, pulled up every bit of poison ivy that I could find.
I even went into the neighbor's yard because that's where some of it was coming from.
I picked up the pile of weeds that I had carelessly dumped in the corner so that no young children
would happen to run into it.
Thankfully, they didn't.
I put every branch and leaf in the trash bag, and then I threw away the gloves, clothes,
and sneakers that I was wearing.
For now, at least, our yard is free of poison ivy.
The passage we're looking at this morning says that there are some things in our lives
that are like poison ivy in the backyard.
They need to be clearly identified, and they need to be ruthlessly exterminated.
Paul says in verse 5, put these things to death.
He says in verse 8, put them all away.
Don't just ignore them.
They don't go away by themselves.
Declare all out war on them.
Take no prisoners.
Make no compromises.
Get rid of them.
Pull them up by the roots.
Throw them in the garbage.
Not the compost.
Don't let them come back and gain a foothold ever again.
Today, I want to look at three questions.
I want to look at what do we need to get rid of?
Why do we need to get rid of it?
And how do we carry out this process?
So first, what do we need to get rid of?
And the answer is all sorts of spiritual garbage.
Paul gives us two lists in verse 5 and verse 8 of nasty weeds that don't belong in our spiritual gardens.
Verse 5, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Verse 8, another list of five, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
Now, in verse 12, Paul will give us a contrasting list of five Christian virtues to cultivate.
And so next week, we're going to look at not just what we need to get rid of in our lives, but what we need to cultivate.
But in addition to the list in verse 5 and verse 8, Paul gives us two additional warnings in this passage.
One in verse 9, where he says, do not lie to each other.
And one in verse 11, where he's warning against creating or maintaining divisions in the body of Christ
that is disregarding or dishonoring or excluding others who are of a different race or class or background.
Do you notice how wide is the range of sins that Paul calls out here?
Sins of thought, sins of word, sins of deed.
This list covers most of the Ten Commandments, right?
Number one and number two, idolatry.
Number three, dishonoring the Lord's name.
That word slander could also be translated blasphemy.
Number six, murder, right?
Jesus says anger and wrath and malice in your heart is murder in your heart.
Adultery, number seven, and other sexual sins.
Bearing false witness, number nine, with lying.
And finally, coveting, number ten.
And you know, this isn't particular to the letter to the Colossians.
These are not…
Paul's not targeting specific problems in the Colossian church.
This is standard early Christian teaching.
You can read almost any of Paul's letters or other New Testament letters,
and there's these lists, Galatians 5, 1 Corinthians 5, Ephesians 5, 1 Timothy 1, and elsewhere,
that cover all these bases and a couple more.
Or Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, right?
Jesus covers anger, lust, unwarranted divorce, dishonesty, and unforgiveness all in one chapter.
The point is, like a mutating virus, sin takes on many different forms,
but they're all dangerous, and they're all ultimately deadly.
Now, this is important to note because many people today criticize Bible-believing Christians
for having a very narrow range of moral concerns, right?
Why are all those Christians so fixated on regulating other people's sex lives?
Is that all that Christians really care about?
Now, on one level, that critique is not totally fair.
Even the most politically conservative Christians are not proposing to criminalize sexual behaviors
that they don't agree with.
But at another level, I think the question is pointing to a genuine danger
if we selectively apply these lists.
And I think whatever our political inclinations, we need to beware of this danger.
N.T. Wright put it this way, many Christians tend to concentrate on either the list in verse 5
or the list in verse 8.
He says,
He goes on to say,
You might say that Paul is an equal opportunity sin attacker.
All right?
You see, if we single out one of these sins, whether it's sexual immorality or racism,
and if we constantly speak out against it as if it's the only sin that really matters,
and in the process we ignore or deny or minimize or excuse many of the others in this list,
now, don't we almost always choose a sin to pick on that we're not particularly attracted to
and that we're not currently involved in?
And doesn't that reveal some pride and self-righteousness rather than simply a pure gospel conviction?
You see, we don't want to clear out the poison ivy,
but ignore the poison oak and poison sumac.
They look a little different on the outside,
but it's the same oil that causes the same terrible reaction in human beings.
Now, another form of, we might call it hypocrisy or selective application that we can fall into
is to speak more loudly against the sins of the non-Christian world around us
than the sins within the Christian church and within our own hearts.
That's a bit like me going on and on about the poison ivy in my neighbor's backyard,
of which there is plenty, I assure you,
but not dealing with the invasive vines and prickly thorn bushes
that might be spreading through my backyard.
Paul always saves his strongest words about sin for those who profess to follow Christ.
In other words, in the fight against sin,
we always need to start by cleaning our own house first,
and only then will we be able to make a positive difference in our neighborhood.
You see, Paul's message to non-Christians is never this,
start behaving like Christians should.
Paul never says that.
Now, yes, non-Christians can benefit from anger management classes.
It's good we have those around.
Non-Christians can benefit from not sleeping around.
Even the New York Times health section last weekend rather reluctantly concluded
that having fewer previous sexual partners,
and especially having no previous sexual partners,
does tend to make for happier marriages.
It's good for society if truth-telling is the norm,
and it's right to honor people of all ethnicities.
Now, many non-Christians would share many of these values
and sometimes embody them far better than Christians do.
But if you're not a Christian,
the message of Christianity is not,
start behaving like a Christian should,
and then maybe we'll accept you.
It's not, obey God, and then God will accept you.
The message of Christianity is that every single one of us,
without exception,
is more sinful and flawed than we admit or even can imagine.
But in Jesus Christ,
God has done everything necessary for us to be completely forgiven
and forever loved.
So turn to Christ.
Trust in Him.
You're accepted in Christ.
Therefore, obey.
In other words,
the verses we're looking at today
flow out of the verses we looked at last week,
verses 1 to 4.
Did you notice,
therefore, in verse 5,
put to death, therefore,
what is earthly in you?
We can only do that
because of what verse 3 has already said.
You have died,
and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Jesus died and rose from the dead,
and we have died and risen,
spiritually speaking, with Him.
We are united with Him,
and so we have a new identity
and a new life in Him.
So we shouldn't focus only on some sins
or only on the world's sins,
but, you know, for many of us,
the danger is not so much
that we will selectively call people out
on certain sins and not others
or that we will only rant and rave
about the ungodly world that we live in.
For some of us,
we are so concerned not to appear hypocritical
or to have anyone accuse us of being hypocritical
that we never lovingly and clearly
call somebody out
who is a brother or sister in Christ
who is caught in a sin
or being led astray
by the deceitfulness of sin.
Instead, we say things like,
I know they won't respond well,
so I won't say anything,
as if you can always predict the future.
And even if you can, so what?
When does God call us
to simply guess what's going to happen
and only act on that basis?
Or we say, we're all sinners,
so who am I to judge?
Even the Pope said that, didn't he?
Well, the Pope's comment was taken out of context,
but that's neither here nor there.
The point is we make excuses.
Many of us are tempted
to be cowardly people pleasers.
And that is neither loving nor godly
nor in accord with Paul's very pointed
and plain words in this passage.
You see, Paul's concern here
is that the true followers
of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus
would live up to the name
of the one we represent.
And that we would get rid
of all sorts of spiritual junk
that does not belong in or among us.
So what do we need to get rid of?
All sorts of spiritual junk.
All the things in this list.
Now that brings us to the second question,
why?
Why do we need to get rid of all these things?
Paul gives four reasons.
First, in verse 6, Paul says,
get rid of sin because the wrath of God
is coming on account of these things.
Now what is God's wrath?
Sam Storms defined it this way.
God's righteous antagonism
toward all that is unholy.
God hates sin.
He is absolutely, unflinchingly opposed to it
because it wrecks his good creation
and it denies his holy character.
All the sins in these lists
cause all kinds of chaos
and fragmentation in our souls,
in the church,
and in the world.
When we practice these things,
we are being untrue to ourselves
and even more importantly,
we are being untrue to God.
And God will not simply let all of this
go on forever.
One day God will judge the world
in righteousness.
He will put an end to sin.
He will condemn it to hell forever.
And the only reason we have any hope
of surviving that day
is because Jesus has united himself to us
and died in our place
so that God could destroy our sin
without destroying us.
That's the hope that we have,
that we've clung on to Jesus.
But still,
even though God is committed
to rescuing us
and bringing us through that,
God still hates the sin
that dwells in us
and is committed to getting rid of it.
And the question for us is,
do we also hate our sin
like God does?
Are we indignant
that it still has as much of a hold on us
as it does?
In other words,
the simple way to ask this question is,
do you really want to change?
Sometimes the reason
why we don't make progress
in getting rid of sin in our lives
is because
we don't really want to change.
We've made our peace with sin.
We've decided that it's acceptable.
It's understandable.
It's not really that serious.
It's too hard for me
to live without it.
So I'll try to manage it
rather than get rid of it.
But Paul says,
no.
Sin is not something to be pruned.
Sin is something
that needs to be gotten rid of.
Be killing sin
or it will be killing you.
John Owen said a long time ago,
sin is rot
that must be gutted.
It will slowly eat away
at your very humanity
until it finally hollows you out.
Isn't that what happens
when sin takes a deeper
and deeper hold of a person?
It dehumanizes us.
Any of these things,
when they get deeper
and deeper into us,
they hollow us out.
God hates sin
with a vengeance
and so should we.
Second reason,
verse 7,
get rid of sin
because
that's how you used to live,
not who you really are.
In these,
you too once walked
when you were living in them.
You too once walked.
That is,
you actively engaged
in these very sins
in specific times
and places.
And you were living in them.
It's a more ongoing verb.
That is,
you were living in a context
where such things
were simply normal.
Now,
Paul's writing
to a church
of relatively new
Christian believers
in Colossae.
The church had existed
for probably less than five years
when he wrote this letter.
And most,
if not all,
of the Christians
in Colossae
had come from a Gentile
or pagan background
where all of these things
in one form or another
were sort of par for the course.
Paul was reminding them
those things characterized
your former life
before you knew Christ.
In other words,
these sins are not
the real you.
They're only vestiges
left over
from your past life.
Now,
isn't that a powerful weapon
in the fight against shame?
Isn't the sense of shame
the sense that I'm
dirty
and contaminated
and worthless
because of these things
that I've engaged in
in the past?
They stick to me
and I can never
get them off me.
In fact,
they become part
of who I am
and we become afraid
to let go
of sin
because we're afraid
that we'll lose ourselves.
And Paul says,
no.
By getting rid of sin
and clinging on to Christ,
you're finding
your true self.
You're not losing
your true self.
And all the sin
that clings to you
is not who you really are
at the deepest level.
It's not who God
defines you to be.
It's not who you are
becoming in Christ.
All that contamination
and pollution
and filth
can be washed away.
It does not define you.
So get rid of sin
because God hates sin.
So should we.
Get rid of sin
because it's what we used to do.
It's not who we really are.
Third reason,
verse 9,
get rid of sin
because now you're part
of a new humanity
in Christ.
You have put off
the old self
with its practices
and have put on
the new self.
Now sometimes
when Paul uses
this language
of the old self
and the new self
or as the King James
version puts it
a bit more literally,
the old man
and the new man,
sometimes Paul is speaking
about Christians
individually.
For example,
2 Corinthians 5, 17,
if anyone is in Christ,
there is a new creation.
The old has gone.
The new has come.
But here,
I think Paul's
primary emphasis
is not just
an individual one
but a corporate one.
In other words,
what Paul is saying
is this.
As members
of the body of Christ,
we have put off
the old humanity
embodied in Adam,
characterized by sin
and destined for death.
And we have put on
the new humanity
embodied in Christ,
characterized by righteousness
and destined for life.
We have put off
the old humanity.
We have put on
the new humanity.
Now, Paul uses this phrase
in the same way
in Ephesians 2
when he is talking
about Jews and Gentiles
being incorporated
into one body
in Christ.
So, if you flip
a couple pages back
in your Bible
and look at Ephesians 2,
verse 14,
it says this,
for he himself,
that is Christ,
Christ himself
is our peace
who has made us
both one
and has broken down
in his flesh
the dividing wall
of hostility.
Go on to the middle
of verse 15,
that he might create
in himself
one new man,
one new humanity
in place of the two,
so making peace
and might reconcile
us both to God
in one body
through the cross.
So, this is the picture
that Paul is painting,
that God has drawn
different,
all kinds of different people
into one new humanity
in the body of Christ.
And if you go back
to Colossians,
verse 11
makes a lot of sense
in this context.
It's not a sort of digression,
but Paul's saying
here,
here in the new humanity,
there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcised and uncircumcised,
barbarian,
scythian,
slave or free,
but Christ is all
and is in all.
Right?
Paul's saying
here in the new humanity,
here in the body of Christ,
our human distinctions
need not divide us
because Christ is all.
He's everything.
He's everything we need.
And Christ is in all.
He dwells in every one
of His people,
regardless of race,
class,
or nationality.
You know,
it's not always easy
to love one another
across racial and class
and national lines.
You know,
look down at the list
in verse 11
for a moment.
The Greeks
were a dominant civilization
at the time.
They were proud
of their military prowess
and their intellectual heritage.
They were privileged
and they tended
to look down
on Jews,
the next one
in the list.
The Jews
were fiercely independent.
They had endured
centuries of slavery
and exile,
but maintained
their cultural traditions.
Circumcision
was a source
of pride
for Jewish males,
but Greeks mocked it
and denigrated it.
So,
it was challenging enough
for Jews and Greeks
to get along,
but Paul goes even further.
Barbarians.
Barbarian
was a pejorative term
invented by the Greeks
to mock people
who couldn't speak Greek.
They're the bar-bars.
The blah, blah, blah.
They speak
an uncivilized language.
Now,
Scythian,
Scythian was sort of like
as far off
as you can go.
Scythians
were nomadic tribes,
who originated
in southern Siberia.
They were considered
wild men.
They were fearsome warriors,
they never bathed,
and they covered themselves
with tattoos.
And then finally,
there was the dividing line
between slave and free
that ran throughout
the ancient world.
So,
what has Paul done here?
He's just listed
all kinds of people
who normally
don't get along,
who were raised
on different sides
of the tracks,
who don't usually
see eye to eye,
who don't usually
trust each other,
who have all kinds
of past history
and current politics
separating them.
And then,
look at what he says.
He says,
Christ is bigger
than every one
of those distinctions.
God is bringing people
from every tribe
and tongue
and nation
into the body
of Christ,
the church,
and in relationship
with each other.
He is conforming
us together
to the image
of his son.
You know,
we live in a time
and place
where
conversations
about race
and class
are often fraught.
Right?
There's mistrust
and isolation
and lack
of understanding,
false accusations,
one tribe
is pitted
against another.
Almost everyone
feels defensive
in one way
or another.
but the gospel
frees us
to let down
our defenses.
The gospel
frees us
to admit
where we fall short,
where we struggle
to love our neighbors.
You know,
I will say
of all the sins
in this list,
this is probably
one of the ones
that's hardest
to confess
to a brother
or sister in Christ
to say,
I struggle
with prejudice.
I have trouble
with some other
groups of people.
Because don't,
isn't what we all
want to say is,
I'm not racist.
Don't accuse me
of that.
Because in our culture,
that's a pretty bad
thing to be accused of.
But the gospel
frees us to say,
I don't have it
all together.
Whatever
sin on this list
it is
where we specifically
need help.
The gospel
frees us
to open ourselves
up to people
who are different
than us
and to rejoice
that God
is bringing together
all kinds
of people.
Greeks,
Jews,
barbarians,
Scythians,
into the body
of Christ.
People who have
no earthly reason
to know and love
each other
except we belong
to the new humanity
and we've been bought
by the blood of Christ
and we're a family
and we're destined
for life together
forever.
And that's
a wonderful thing.
That brings us
to the fourth reason.
Verse 10,
get rid of sin
because every day
we're being renewed.
We've become part
of the new humanity
in Christ
but God has not
just done something
a long time ago
to rescue us.
He's continuing
to renew us
day by day.
It's an ongoing work.
God's renewing us
in knowledge
that is
or as Romans 12 says
he's transforming us
by the renewing
of our mind.
He's renewing us
after the image
of the creator
of the new humanity.
Again,
we see that theme
that when God
redeems us
he's recreating us.
He's making us
all that we were
meant to be
as his image
bearing creatures.
Christ is a true
image of God
and we being
united to Christ
by the Holy Spirit's
renewing power
are gradually
being made
like him.
We're becoming
who we were
always meant to be
and God is
continuing the good work
that he has begun
in and among us
and he's doing that
as we live together
as a body.
Many years ago
an Anglican pastor
named C.F.D. Moule
wrote,
Christian conduct
is the result
not simply
of the effort
to be good
but of incorporation
into the body
of Christ.
In other words
he's saying
it's not just
through us
trying harder
that we
grow in Christ-likeness
but as we live
together
in the body
of Christ
through the friendship
and prayers
teaching
and counseling
encouragement
and accountability
and constructive
criticism
of other Christians
that God continues
to renew us
day by day.
So what do we need
to get rid of?
All sorts of
spiritual junk.
Why do we need
to get rid of it?
Because God hates it
and so should we
because that's how
we used to live
not who we really are
because now we're part
of the new humanity
in Christ
and every day
we're being renewed.
So finally
how do we do it?
At the beginning
I shared three things
I needed to change
in order to deal
with the poison ivy
in my backyard.
I want to conclude
with three parallel
practical ways
of dealing with sin.
First
we need to identify sin
for what it is.
Paul does not talk
evasively
or in polite euphemisms
or in categories
that are so general
that we don't know
what he's really
referring to.
Paul names sin.
He calls it
what it is
so that we can
recognize it clearly
whenever it manifests itself.
Sexual immorality.
Any sexual intimacy
outside of male-female marriage.
Impurity.
Anything associated
with sexual immorality
that contaminates
our character.
Pornography
falls into this category.
passion and evil desire.
Out of control lust
and cravings.
Covetousness
or greed.
Now sometimes
covetousness
or greed
seems a little more
tricky to define.
Right?
Because there's not
it's not defined
by a limit
on how much income
you can have
before
you go over the line
into greed
and materialism.
Right?
It's not quite so
clear-cut
as sexual immorality
in one sense
but
John Piper
has a very helpful
definition.
He says covetousness
is desiring
something so much
that you lose
your contentment
in God.
It's a good question
to ask.
Am I wanting
something so much
that I've lost
my sense of contentment
and joy
in God?
If so
that's
coveting
or greed
or envying.
And that's why
Paul says covetousness
is a form of idolatry
because it displaces
it pushes
out
our worship
of God.
The opposite
of covetousness
is contentment.
Someone
shared this quote
with me this week.
To be a Christian
is to receive
God's good gifts
and to enjoy
them the most
to need them
the least
and to give
them away
most freely.
To enjoy
them the most
to need
them the least
and to give
them away
most freely.
That's the
opposite of
covetousness.
Going on
the second list
anger
and wrath.
Now verse 6
talks about
the wrath of God
and Ephesians 4
says be angry
and don't sin.
So when we're
defining anger
we need to
distinguish
sinful anger
and godly anger.
And I think
one place
that's very helpful
for us to do
this is the
end of the
book of Jonah.
The end of the
book of Jonah
God has a
conversation with
Jonah.
And Jonah
is angry
and twice
God asked him
this question
do you do
well
to be angry?
Jonah doesn't
listen the first
time he
goes on his
rant
so God
asked him
a second
time
do you
do well
to be
angry?
It's a good
question to
ask ourselves
when we're
angry.
Is your
anger helping
you to
live well?
Is your
anger helping
you to live
courageously?
To resist
complacency?
To hunger
for righteousness
and justice
not just for
yourself
but also for
others who
are vulnerable?
that's a
righteous
anger.
Or
is your
anger
locking you
up in a
prison of
bitterness?
Is it
making you
shut down
emotionally
until you
explode in
rage?
Is it
making you
cynical toward
everybody
especially
anyone who
resembles
those who
have hurt
you the
most?
Or is it
producing the
fruit that
Paul describes
at the end
of verse
8?
Slander
or gossip.
Obscene
talk.
That doesn't
just mean
cursing.
It literally
means shameful
words.
It could
include ridiculing
or embarrassing
others.
Those kinds
of words that
cut others
down.
Jesus said,
out of the
abundance of
the heart,
the mouth
speaks.
So we
need to
identify sin
for what it
is.
Second,
do some
research how
to get rid
of it.
Don't assume
that you
have all the
wisdom you
need within
you to
deal with
sin.
Search the
scriptures for
what they have
to say about
the specific
issues you're
dealing with.
for many
people,
memorizing
scriptures has
been a really
helpful thing
to do.
Scriptures that
you can bring
to mind when
you're in the
moment and
when you're
tempted to
fly off the
handle or
tempted to
whatever.
Also,
there are lots
of good books
downstairs on
the book
stall and some
of them address
many of these
issues.
just a few.
Good and Angry
by David
Powlison.
Very helpful
book.
Closing the
Window by Tim
Chester that
deals with
pornography.
Money,
Possessions,
and Eternity by
Randy Alcorn.
Or A Loving
Life in a
World of
Broken
Relationships.
If you're
dealing with,
if you're
struggling with
resentment or
bitterness,
by Paul Miller,
A Loving
Life.
It's a great
book.
But whether
or not you
read a book,
ask for help.
Ask for
advice.
Ask for
prayer.
Ask for
accountability
from your
brothers and
sisters in
Christ.
And take
the advice
you receive
to heart.
Now, I'm
not saying
everybody's
advice is
always going
to be
exactly what
you need
to hear.
Sometimes
you'll get
bad advice.
That's why
compare it
against the
scriptures and
ask more
than one
person.
But if
it's in
line with
the scriptures,
and especially
if a couple
of people are
sort of getting
at the same
thing,
take their
advice to
heart even
if it's
not what
you wanted
to hear.
That's why
we need
each other.
Because we
don't always
see things
clearly on
our own.
If things
are really
deep and
complex,
consider
seeking out
a pastor
or a
counselor if
you haven't
already.
And when
you explain
your issues,
be transparent.
Because nobody
can help you
if they don't
know what you
need help
with.
all the
sins in
verse 5
and verse
8 are
bad enough.
Lying
about them
is even
worse.
And
deliberately
hiding them
from someone
who is
directly
affected by
them
counts as
lying.
It's
interesting
that Paul
doesn't just
include lying
in one of
the lists.
He adds
it on at
the end
as a
separate
command,
even though
it disrupts
the symmetry
of the
passage.
There's a
nice symmetry
of the
passage if
you eliminate
the lying
command.
Five
vices,
two reasons
to avoid
them.
Five more
vices in
verse 8 and
two more
reasons to
avoid them
in verses
9 and
10.
And Paul
adds in,
do not
lie to
each other.
I think
he perhaps
puts it
that way
for emphasis.
Lying or
deception is
particularly
significant
because it
breaks
trust.
It makes
others feel
vulnerable,
tentative,
and unsafe.
Trust can
be rebuilt,
but it
does take
time.
Telling the
truth can
be painful,
awkward,
costly,
and embarrassing,
but it's
the only
way forward.
First John
talks about
if we walk
in the
light,
then we
have fellowship
with one
another,
and the
blood of
Jesus Christ,
His Son,
cleanses us
from all
sin.
So let's
walk in
the light.
bring these
things out
into the
light.
Share them
with a
brother or
sister in
Christ if
you haven't
already,
so they
can pray for
you and
encourage you
and hold
you accountable.
So identify
sin for what
it is,
do some
research how
to get rid
of it,
ask for
advice and
help,
and finally
pull it
out by the
roots.
How do you
pull something
out by the
roots?
You have to
bend down on
your knees.
we need
to pray.
And we
need to
bring to
bear upon
it the
power of
the cross
of Christ.
The cross
of Christ
is the
most powerful
tool we
have as
Christians
to root
out sin,
not just
to pull
off a few
leaves or
to weed
whack it
and then
have it
grow back
again,
but to
really get
down and
pull it
out by its
roots.
Because the
cross shows
us two
things.
The cross
shows us
that there
are no
sins that
are simply
excusable.
All the
sins in
these lists
are bad
enough that
they required
the death
of the
Son of
God
Himself
to atone
for them.
But the
cross also
shows us
that there
are no
sins in
these lists.
There are
no sins
that make
you
unredeemable.
And isn't
that the
lie that
many of
us struggle
with?
We think,
yes, I've
done all
these sins,
or many of
them, or
one of
them, and
the guilt
is overwhelming,
and I will
never escape
it, and
I'm
unredeemable.
And the
cross of
Christ says
no.
Christ
died to
redeem us
from all
sin.
In fact,
Hebrews 12
says,
for the
joy set
before Him,
Jesus endured
the cross.
What was
that joy?
The joy of
bringing us
with Him
to glory.
The joy
of calling
us His
brothers and
sisters.
The joy
of incorporating
us into
His body,
into the
new humanity
with Him
as our
head.
Amen.
The cross
says Christ
has died
to cleanse
us from
every sin
and to
take us
all the
way with
Him to
glory.
So,
brothers and
sisters in
Christ,
let's put
sin to
death by
the power
of Christ.
Let's
pray.
Amen.
Father,
we thank
You that
You speak
to us
plainly
and clearly
in Your
Word.
We thank
You that
You expose
our sin,
what is
destructive
to ourselves
and to
one another
and dishonoring
to You.
But we
thank You
that You
have given
us the
power
in Christ
because of
His
atoning
death
on the
cross
for us,
because of
His
victorious
resurrection,
because of
the gift
of the
Holy Spirit
that You
have shed
abroad in
our hearts.
Lord,
You have
given us
the power
to fight
against these
sins,
to identify
them,
to root
them out.
We thank
You for
Your renewing
power.
We thank
You,
Lord,
that we are
being renewed
day by
day in
knowledge after
the image
of our
Creator.
We thank
You that
we are being
renewed as a
body.
Lord,
I could do
that renewing
work even
now,
even today,
and throughout
this week as
we pray with
one another and
fellowship with
one another and
seek to encourage
each other in
these ways.
We pray that
You would
prevent us from
falling into
either pride
and self-righteousness
or despair
and hopelessness,
but that You
would fix our
eyes on our
glorious Savior
and that You
would continue
the good work
that You've
begun in
and among us.
We pray these
things in
Jesus' name.
Amen.