Last year in our small group Bible study we studied Colossians and Philemon, letters written to the church in Colossae while Paul was imprisoned in Rome. I have studied Colossians before and as we were studying them, I was again struck by how Christ exalting and practical this short letter is. So, when Nate asked me to preach in his absence, I chose this passage from chapter 3. After I finished my first draft of the sermon, I thought, “I’m going to check and see what I said in the sermon I preached on Ephesians 4,” which is very similar to today’s passage. When I checked in our sermon archive, I realized I never preached on Ephesians 4, but I did preach on Colossians 3 before. Some of the things I will share today are very similar, but Scripture is so rich and God has shown me some new things to share. Knowing repetitio est mater studiiorum, repetition is the mother of all learning, I trust that those of you who heard my previous sermon will again benefit from hearing from this wonderful passage. I also discovered that I had more material to cover, so today will be part 1 and at a future date, I will cover the remainder of this passage in part 2.

The Colossian church was probably planted by Epaphrus, a servant of Christ Jesus and a disciple/ fellow worker of Paul (1:7,4:12), who was currently imprisoned with him (Phm 1:23). Epaphras likely reported to Paul the status of the church including its faith in Christ Jesus and its love for the saints (1:4). But there were also problems in the church. In chapter 2, Paul confronts false teaching that infiltrated the church and was leading some astray through human philosophy (2:8-15), legalism (2:16-17), asceticism and worship of angels (2:18-23). To counteract this, Paul, in chapter 1 reminds them of the preeminence of Christ (1:18). We don’t need Christ plus philosophy or legalism or asceticism, or the worship of angels; because, as he reminds them in chapter 3:11, Christ is all, and in all. Although the Colossians and us were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds; Christ had reconciled and presented them and us holy and blameless and above reproach before God, the Father. (1:21-22) So Paul charges them and us to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (1:10) and in 2:6 Paul tells us “as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” In Scripture, walk (peripateo) means to live or deport oneself or to be occupied with. So, Paul, as he does in most of his letters, moves from doctrinal truth to practical application beginning in chapter 3 instructing the Colossians and us how-to walk-in Christ.

So, with that introduction, let’s look at our passage from Colossians 3:

3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. ¹¹ Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

¹² Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

In this passage, we will see that Paul gives us instruction on how to walk in a manner worthy of the preeminence of Christ. To help remember these instructions I’m going to use some alliteration with S’s. We will see that he tells us to seek and set our minds on things that are above, to slay the old self, and to suit up with the new self. He also gives us 4 practical steps of how to do this. But before we get in to these practical S’s, Paul gives us some more theology to remind and motivate us to take these actions. I see at least six theological truths in this passage to remind us to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.

First, we see the continued preeminence of Christ in all things. In this passage Paul mentions Christ 11 times. To summarize, we see Christ is all, and in all (v 11). There’s with Christ twice (v1,3), where Christ (v1), when Christ (v4). There’s the peace of Christ (v15), the word of Christ (v16), the Lord (v13) and the Lord Jesus (v17), as well as with him (v4) and through him (v17). Emphasizing Christ’s preeminence, we also see that Christ is seated at the right hand of God (v1). There are many other Scriptural references to Christ seated at the right hand including Psa 110:1 (c/w Mat 22:44, Mar 12:36, Luk 20:42, Act 2:34, Heb 1:13) Mat 26:64, (c/w Mar 16:9; Luk 22:69), Act 2:33 (also 5:31, 7:55-6) Eph 1:20, Heb 1:3 (also 8:1, 10:12, 12:2) and 1 Pe 3:22 and they speak to Christ’s exaltation and authority with all things being subject to Him. And from the right hand of God, Jesus also intercedes and advocates for us and allows us to draw near the throne of grace (Rom 8:34 c/w Heb 4:14-16, 7:25).

Second, Paul reminds us of our former condition (v6-7). Instead of walking in a manner worthy of the Lord, we were once walking in our old, sinful nature characterized by the deeds of the flesh such as sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness/idolatry, anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lying (c/w Gal 5:19-21). And on account of these the wrath of God is coming. Not only is it coming, but John 3:18 and Eph 2:1-3 make it clear that in our natural state we are condemned, dead in our sins, and by nature children of wrath. This was our desperate condition. Thanks be to God that He did not leave us in this state.

Third, he reminds us of our current condition: we are chosen, holy, and beloved (v12).

Joh 15:16  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

1Pe 2:9  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Rom 5:8  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Eph 1:4  even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

And that leads us to fourthly, in our union with Christ, we have died (v3) and have been raised with Christ (v1). We see in Colossians chapter 2:6-14 that although we were dead in our sins, we died with Christ, and have been raised and made alive in Christ. Paul develops this more thoroughly in Romans 6, which we read in our creed this morning. But to summarize, Romans 6:5 says, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” So, Paul starts off chapter 3 with “if then you have been raised with Christ.” This is a first class conditional phrase, in which Paul assumes his premise of the argument is true. So, you could translate v1 since you have been raised with Christ. It is a truth for all believers. Paul elaborates further in Ephesians and Galatians:

^{Eph 2:4} But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

^{Gal 2:20} I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

The fifth theological truth I see in this passage is: our life is hidden with Christ in God (v3). Commentators suggest several possible meanings. There is an implication of the mystery of the gospel, previously hidden to us, but now revealed (Mat 11:25, Col 2:3, Eph 3:9). It could also mean that our new life is concealed or hidden from the world and the world will not understand us. Instead of being taken captive by the philosophies of the world Paul mentions in chapter 2 (2:7) or another common philosophy of his and our day, “eat and drink, for tomorrow we die,” (Is 22:12, 1 Cor 15:32); 1 Pet 2:11 tells us, as strangers and pilgrims (KJV), the world will not understand why we abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against our souls. But hidden, can also mean something treasured or stored up, and I think this is more of the meaning Paul has in mind here. Think of Psa 119:11  I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Or Pro 2:1  My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, . . . 4  if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5  then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. Or think of the man who found treasure hidden in the field and sold everything to get it. Jesus said this is like the kingdom of heaven (Mat 13:44). So we should put everything on the line pursing Christ and in Christ we receive joy and are treasured and secure in His kingdom.

Sixth, Christ is our life and when he appears we will also appear with him in glory (v4). Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him (Joh 14:6). He is the resurrection and the life and whoever believes in Him, though he die, yet he shall live (Joh 11:25). And whoever looks upon the Son and believes in him will have eternal life and be raised up on the last day (Joh 6:40). This is our blessed hope (Tit 2:13): that when Jesus appears in glory, we shall be like Him and see Him as he is (1 Jn 3:2)

So, with these six theological truths of the preeminence of Christ: our former state of being under God’s wrath; our current state of being chosen, holy, and, beloved; our union with Christ in His death and resurrection; being hidden, treasured, and safe in Christ; and inheriting His treasure, kingdom, and glory; Paul reminds us of our privileged position in Christ. In the remainder of this passage, he challenges us to live a life worthy of our position and calling in Christ Jesus. But he doesn’t just stop there. In the remainder of this passage, Paul gives us direction on how to do that. He encourages us to set our minds on things that are above, including these theological truths, which motivate us to seek the things that are above. He gives us four steps which allow us to slay our old self and suit up with the new self, leading lives that are transformed, honoring and glorifying Jesus. Let’s first look at seeking the things that are above and setting our minds on the things that are above (v1,2).

Have you ever been walking and looking down at something, most likely your phone, and you run into something or someone? Why did that happen? It’s because you were not focused on where you were going. When you are walking, to successfully make it to your destination, you must keep your eyes looking forward to that destination. It is the same in our spiritual walk. In verse 1 Paul tells us to seek the things that are above and in verse 2 to set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth.

Maybe Paul got this idea from David who charged Solomon and the leaders of Israel to set their minds and hearts to seek the Lord your God (1 Chr 22:19) and whose desire, as we saw in our call to worship (Psa 27:4) and our OT responsive reading (Psa 63), was to earnestly seek the Lord.

Jesus told us in Mat 6:25-34 not to be anxious seeking earthly things such as food/drink/clothing which the Gentiles and unbelievers seek after, but we are to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Seeking involves practical steps toward our goal or destination which we will look at in more detail in this passage next time. Setting involves an inward resolve, a mental state, or as the KJV says, “set your affection” to make it to the destination which is already guaranteed to us. This can only be done through the Spirit. Romans 8:5-6 says, “⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” And the things of the Spirit are revealed to us through His word, Psalm 119:36-37 says, “³⁶ Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! ³⁷ Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” Philippians 3:13-14 says, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul contrasts this in Php 3:19, which says those with their minds set on earthly things, their end is destruction. And Hebrews 12:1-2 says as we look to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, we should lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, so that we can run with endurance the race that is set before us.

So now that we understand the motivation for and the command to seek and set our minds on things above, let’s look at how to practically do this. In v2, we saw the pattern of doing one thing, setting our minds on things that are above; and not doing another thing, setting our minds on the things of the earth. Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount that the 10 commandments where not just about what we should not do, but what we should do. Paul tells us further in this passage and others ,such as Eph 4:17-5:21, which we read in our NT reading (also Rom 13:8-14, Gal 5:16-26); that the Christian life, the process of sanctification and becoming conformed to the image of Christ, is not just about stopping sinning, or not doing something we are not supposed to do. It is, more importantly, about doing what we are supposed to do, living up to the justified status that we enjoy; and living out the holy life we have been given in Christ. I like to call it the replacement principal. We must slay or put to death or put off the old self/nature and then suit up with or put on the new self/nature.

First, let’s look at slaying or putting to death or putting off the old self. In Gal 5:24 we are told that those who belong to Christ Jesus crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. And Rom 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Here, in v 5 we are told to put to death or mortify (KJV) (nekroo) what is earthly in you. In v 2 we are told not to set our minds on the things that are of the earth and the things of the earth are the things of this world. The apostle John admonishes us:

^{1 Jn2:15} Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

And the writer of Hebrews reminds us that,  ”For here (on this earth) we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” (Heb 13:14)

And Paul says in:

Gal 6:14  But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Although positionally, it is true we are dead to our old self and the world, practically we have to take up our cross and die daily (Luk 9:23, c/w Mat 16:22-25, Mar 8:34-38)

Specifically, in v5, Paul mentions 5 passions or desires that we must slay or crucify or put to death or put off: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. In this list Paul works backward from the outward manifestation or act of sin to the inward or heart desire or idol that produces the action.

Heb 13:4  Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Sexual immorality or fornication (porneia) refers to any sexual activity outside of the God ordained plan for the intimate union between a husband and wife in marriage and metaphorically to idol worship pointing back to the root of sexual sin, covetousness which is idolatry. In between covetousness thoughts and idolatry and the outward expression of sexual immorality are the thoughts of impurity, passion, and evil desire. These are sins that all of us face and many struggle. Instead of recognizing sexual intercourse as one expression of the love between a husband and a wife, in our hypersexualized culture, the physical act of sex has become the ultimate God. And the LGBTQ+ revolution has made the main feature of the modern identity our “sexual preference or attraction,”, rather than our identity as image bearers of God. But listen to Scripture:

Eph 5:3  But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

^{1 Th 4:3 “}For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” 

Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount that at the heart of breaking the 7^th commandment, to not commit adultery, was the heart attitude of lust (Mat 5:27-32).

Paul is showing us that at the heart of sexual immorality, and all sin, is covetousness or idolatry. Rather than worshipping God alone and following his good ways, we worship ourselves. We want what we want, whenever we want it. To slay or put to death sexual immorality, impurity, passion, and evil desire; we have to go after the heart attitude of covetousness and replace it with contentment (Php 4:11) and a knowledge of the goodness of God (Psa 25:8). We must take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5). Php 4:8 reminds us to instead of these impure thoughts, to think about whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise. Although Scripture should be our primary source of help, some other helpful resources I would suggest if you are struggling with these sins or ministering to someone who is struggling include: Axis.org, Purehope.net, and fightthenewdrug.org.

In v 6, Paul reminds us that because of these, and all sin, God’s wrath is coming. But the good news is that we are no longer under God’s wrath, and we no longer are slaves to these sins. So, we must put these idolatrous thoughts and sinful actions to death, we must slay them. As we will see, they can be replaced with the fruit of the Spirit, especially love. If we have a proper scriptural understanding of sex as one expression of the love between a husband and a wife, we will save it for them now or for those who are not married for your husband or wife in the future.

In vv 8&9 Paul further addresses sins of our hearts, and words, which we are told are a part of our old self/man/nature and that we are to slay or put away or put off. Here, Paul works in the opposite direction moving from the heart attitude of anger to the outward expressions of wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk. Even though sexual sin is an affront to God and a blight in our culture, within the church, this list of sins may be more prevalent. Jesus taught us in the Sermon on the Mount that at the heart of breaking the 6^th commandment to not murder was anger (Mat 5:21-26) and James tells us, “^1:20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. “ When we slander others, outright or more commonly by gossip, we sin against God who made that person in His image. Instead, again we must put these away and replace these with Godly desires and attitudes.

Eph 4:29  Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

And Eph 5:4  Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

In addition to scripture, a helpful and practical resource to deal with anger that we have used in our family is the book The Heart of Anger by Lou Priolo. I would highly recommend it if you struggle with the sin of anger.

Further, Paul instructs us to be careful with our words and not to lie to one another. We are no longer of the devil, who is the father of lies (Joh 8:44), but we are of the heavenly Father, of whom it is impossible for Him to lie (Heb 6:18), and whose word is truth (Joh 17:7); so we must stop lying to one another and be people of the truth. To do this we must fill our minds with His truth so we can speak the truth.

Psa 15:1  O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 15:2  He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; 3  who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

And Eph 4:15 tells us to speak the truth in love and v 25, “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”

So, Paul tells us to slay or put to death or put off or away the practices of the old self: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness/idolatry, anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk, and lying. These lists are not exhaustive, there are many other practices we must put away and I refer you to Rom 13:12-14, Gal 5:16-26, Eph 4:17-5:20, Jam 1:21, 1 Pe 2:1 for other sins we must put away. As v 7 &9 state this is how we once walked/lived/practiced. Now we must suit up/put on/live a new way. I’ve given you some ideas on that today. Next time we will look in more detail about suiting up or putting on the new self and practical steps on how to do that.

But to summarize what we’ve covered today, we looked at 6 theological truths that motivate us to seek and set our minds on things that are above. That we have a privileged position in Christ that we are to live up to. Doing this involves slaying or putting to death or putting off or putting away our old self along with its idolatrous practices and sinful heart attitudes of covetousness and anger with lead to impure thoughts and sexual immorality and anger and malice, slander, and obscene talk.

Here are some application questions to ponder:

Am I united with Christ in His death and resurrection?

If you are united with Christ, what habits can I develop to help me seek and set my mind on things that are above?

What habits do I need to change so I’m not distracted from seeking the things above?

What heart attitudes and actions from my old self do I need to slay or put off?