I’m
guessing that, like me, you’ve experienced the confusion of not knowing what to
do next. Whether you’ve just finished high school and are moving on to college
or you’ve just finished college and you’re moving into the workforce or you’re
in the workforce and you’re changing careers or you’re getting married for the
first time or having kids for the first time, or facing countless other
significant changes in your life, you’re probably wondering, What Now? You probably don’t need me to
tell you that life can be confusing sometimes. Just when we think we’ve got
life figured out, something happens and we lose our bearings and we’re left
wondering, What Now? Sometimes we’re
left confused through no fault of our own and other times we wander around in the
dark because we didn’t fully consider the consequences of our choices.
For example, you’ve gone away to
college but didn’t consider how hard it would be to live away from home for the
first time in your life. You’ve taken a new job that pays great money but
didn’t consider how hard the long hours and travel would be on your family.
You’ve gotten married but never really considered how hard it would be for two
sinful people to keep their wedding vows for the rest of their lives. Every
decision we make; every action we take has consequences that demand our
attention. That goes for those of us who have made the decision to give our
lives over to Christ and make Him our Lord and Savior. For too many who make
that decision, the process ends there and it becomes a one-time confession and
then a return to the old way of life. But that’s not what it means to be a
follower of Jesus Christ. Making that decision doesn’t only have eternal
consequences, in has consequences for how we live here and now. However, for too
many Christians, that decision if followed by confusion and wondering, What Now?
Subject Text
Colossians 3:1-17
1Since, then, you have
been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated
at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on
earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with
Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you
also will appear with him in glory. 5Put to death, therefore,
whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust,
evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the
wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life
you once lived. 8But now you must also rid yourselves of all such
things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your
lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old
self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is
being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there
is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave
or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12Therefore, as God’s
chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other
and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive
as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love,
which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15Let the peace of Christ
rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And
be thankful. 16Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as
you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and
songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17And
whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Context
Paul’s
letter was written late enough, probably around 60 A. D., that the church in
Colosse probably included quite a few second generation believers and false
teachings had started creeping in as time went on. Although Paul never visited
Colosse, it was, nevertheless, founded by converts from one or more of his
other missionary travels. Unfortunately, Paul received word that the church was
being poisoned by religious relativism. It appears that there were some who
were attempting to combine pagan practices, secular philosophy, and Christian
doctrine. If that sounds familiar to any of you it should because it’s a
practice that continues in our churches today. In Colosse, Christians behaved
in a way that was inconsistent with their confession of faith in Christ so Paul
wrote them this letter as a kind of instruction for holy living. It is written
to answer the question, What Now?
Text Analysis
1Since,
then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where
Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on
things above, not on earthly things.
Paul makes
it clear in vv. 1-2 that making a
decision to be a follower of Christ is no small matter. When Paul says that we
have been “raised with Christ,” he is referring to the resurrection of Christ
which is a beautiful and inspirational image that we all love to reflect on.
However, what we fail to acknowledge in Paul’s statement is the implication that
Christ’s death preceded His resurrection. In the same way, we cannot enjoy the
benefits of sharing in Christ’s resurrection if we don’t also experience death.
However, unlike Christ, we don’t have to experience physical death to share in some
of the benefits of His resurrection. What we must experience; what we must
actively pursue is the death of the old us—who we were before we became
followers of Christ. It means putting to death the sinful heart and mind where
sinful behavior originates.
“Genuine
spiritual experience begins with understanding our identification with Christ.
Paul tells the believers that they have been raised with Christ…This reference
to resurrection refers to a past event; we have been raised. The reference is
to our identification with Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection…He
means that because of our identification with Jesus we have been granted new
life which gives us the capacity to live a new kind of life…The reality of our
resurrection with Jesus should produce in us new motivations and new minds…The
believer is to see everything, including earthly things, against the backdrop
of eternity. With a new (resurrection) perspective on life, the eternal is to
impact the temporal.”[1]
3For you died, and your life is
now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life,
appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Let’s be
honest, vv. 3-4 are really confusing.
Specifically, what does Paul mean when says that our lives are hidden with
Christ in God? To understand what Paul means in v. 3 we have to uncover the meaning of v. 4. When Paul refers to Christ appearing, he is referring to the
second coming of Christ. Paul teaches elsewhere (1 Thessalonians) that
believers who die prior to Christ’s second coming will be raised from the dead
when He returns. But what about those who are still alive when Christ returns?
Paul also teaches (1 Thessalonians) that those who are still alive when Christ
returns will be transformed. But transformed into what? That’s the key—we will
be transformed into the eternal beings we were created to be. However, until
the second coming of Christ, that part of who we are is hidden in Christ. You
see, while we are part of this world we are both temporal and eternal beings
created by God. The temporal aspect of our humanity is still broken and subject
to the ravages of sin. However, when we give our lives to Christ, God hides the
eternal aspect of who we are with Christ who occupies eternity. We will either
return with Him at His second coming if we die before He returns or we will be
transformed when He returns if we are still living.
“In
Christ’s death, all believers died. Then, like a seed buried in the earth, a
believer’s real life is hidden from the world, just as Christ’s glory is
hidden, only to be revealed when he returns. The spiritual lives of believers
are hidden inner lives that are in union with Christ who has brought them to be
with him in God.
“One day,
when Christ is revealed in his glory, believers will also share in all his
glory. The divine life of Christ will be revealed fully and will glorify us
(reveal our true potential as children of God). Christians look forward to the
new heaven and new earth that God has promised, and they wait for God’s new
order that will free the world of sin, sickness, and evil. In the meantime,
they go with Christ into the world, where they heal people’s bodies and souls
and fight the evil effects of sin. Christ gives us power to live for him now,
and he gives us hope for the future—he will return.”[2]
5Put to death, therefore,
whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust,
evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the
wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life
you once lived.
As I told
you in my last lesson, one of the things I was doing during the month I was
away from teaching you was attending a required class for my doctoral studies.
One of the things I love about spending time with other students and professors
at the seminary is being around people who always manage to teach me something
new or remind me of something I’ve forgotten that I can pass on to you. Well this
last time was no different. I learned many things during my week in class but
there was one thing that is particularly relevant to vv. 5-6 and it has to do with the idea of putting something to
death. The class discussed the clear disconnect between what Christians say
they believe and how they actually behave in everyday life. What this group of
pastors experienced in their respective ministries is supported more formally
by George Barna from the Barna Research Group in various formal surveys that
led him to conclude, “Most Christians—not those who merely call themselves
Christians but those who have confessed their sinfulness and have asked Jesus
Christ to be their Lord and Savior—have fallen prey to the same disease as
their worldly counterparts. We think and behave no differently from anyone
else.”[3]
What was
agreed to among this group of pastors was that Christians have failed to
incorporate one particular ancient spiritual discipline into their daily
lives—the discipline of self-mortification. Sadly, at one point the Catholic
church distorted this vital practice and turned it into self-flagellation or,
more appropriately, self-abuse as a public display of piety. As a result, this
very valuable and biblical discipline became largely neglected by the Church.
The biblical practice of self-mortification is found in Paul’s imperative to
“put to death” all the immoral and unholy practices in our lives. Paul provides
a brief list of some of those practices. They are intentionally general because
they are intended to be like category headings under which all inappropriate
thoughts and actions fall. When Paul says that you are to put them to death, he
is using the metaphor of death to convey to believers with the strongest
language he can that they should stop behaving in the sinful ways they did
before they became believers. “This does not merely mean that Christ demands a
new standard of life from his redeemed people. It means that everything
associated with distorted humanity is to be put to death because it has been
transformed according to the perfect model, Christ himself, and therefore there
is no excuse for such distorted behavior.”[4]
8But now you must also rid
yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and
filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you
have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on
the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
I’m
guessing that most of you felt pretty good about yourselves after hearing that
first list of inappropriate behavior from v. 5. But what about the list
behaviors included in vv. 8-10?
Still feel pretty good about yourself? I know I don’t. This list like the one
before it was not intended to be exhaustive but an outline of behaviors that
are pretty common and rarely considered to be all that terrible. But we are
usually wrong when we think we understand how high God’s standard really is.
Remember that Jesus commanded us to be perfect in the same way that the Father
is perfect. That is the real standard for the way we are called to live. That
includes putting to death the obvious behavior of sexual immorality but also
includes the less obvious behavior of anger and rage. For most of us, it was
fairly easy to rid ourselves of “evil desires,” but how are you doing with the imperative
to rid your life of filthy language? How about ridding your life of lying? I
recognize that the standard of being perfect in the same way that the Father is
perfect is unattainable but that’s not an excuse to stop trying and when we
fail to confess our failure and try again. We will never be perfect in this
life but imagine how much closer you will be by the end of your life if you
keep striving for that goal.
Paul uses
the metaphor of the old self and the new self to describe our lives before we
became Christians and our lives after we became Christians respectively. He
tells us that the more we become transformed into our new self, the clearer
will the image of the Creator; the image of God become in our lives. “Paul was
appealing to the commitment the believers had made, urging them to remain true
to their confession of faith. Every Christian is in a continuing education
program. Renewal is constantly needed in the believer’s battle against sin and
the old nature [old self]. What we learn is personal knowledge of Christ who
created this new nature [new self] within us. The goal of the learning is
Christlikeness. The more believers know of Christ and his work, the more they
are being changed to be like him. Because this process is lifelong, we must
never stop learning and obeying.”[5]
11Here there is no Gentile or
Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but
Christ is all, and is in all.
God’s
imperative with respect to our spiritual condition doesn’t discriminate.
Instead, it applies to all humanity equally regardless of race, nationality,
religious practice, class, or station in life. Everyone who has made the
decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, must also accept Him as the
Lord over their life. It is a package deal. Christians cannot have Jesus as
Savior but reject Him as Lord. And no one is exempt from accepting these terms.
“It is precisely because of the cosmic scope of Christ’s work, including above
all his act of reconciliation, that such internal divisions and ways of
categorizing peoples and individuals have ceased to have meaning as
determinants of Christian self-preconception, conduct, and relationships…Anyone
who recognizes God in Christ to that extent will find such human distinctions
and boundaries relatively trivial and unimportant. If ‘Christ is [all, and is
in all],’ then nothing can diminish or disparage the standing of any one human
in relation to another or to God.”[6]
12Therefore, as God’s chosen
people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and
forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as
the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love,
which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15Let the peace of
Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to
peace. And be thankful.
Teaching
about ethical living isn’t just a matter of what Christians shouldn’t do, it also includes
instruction on what Christians should
do as described in vv. 12-15. Limiting
our practice to removing unethical behavior from our lives without replacing it
with ethical behavior could very well turn us into proud, religious elites. It
is only when we add the ethical behaviors listed in vv. 12-15 that the image of God in our lives becomes more evident
to the world around us.
Paul’s not saying that
non-Christians exhibit none of these characteristics in their lives. Some
non-Christians may in fact exhibit many of these characteristics in their
lives. This shouldn’t surprise you since all humanity is created in the image
of God. That image is simply more evident in some unbelievers and less evident in
others. However, it must be evident
in all those who call themselves followers of Christ. In other words, while
ethical living as described by Paul might be evident in the life of some
unbelievers, ethical living must define the lives of every believer regardless
who they are or what their life circumstances might be.
“The focus on regulations like, ‘do
not drink, do not smoke, do not even dance’ distracts us from the genuine and
valuable ‘mortification’ described in Colossians…which trains us to strip off
not just certain socially unacceptable behaviors (in the eyes of a particular
group) but to strip off our very selves in favor of the new self God wishes to
birth in us through the Spirit. In the process of becoming this new person, we
are challenged far more deeply than by any code of behavior designed to make us
look ‘Christian.’ In opposition to the pale shadows of Christian life seen in
the lifestyles that promote the ‘holier than thou’ mentality stands the vision
of [these verses], in which love, forgiveness and mutual encouragement toward
growth characterizes every interaction between those who call themselves by
Christ’s name.”[7]
16Let the message of Christ dwell
among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through
psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your
hearts. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in
the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
The message
of Christ is not a message of being stuffy, stuck-up, unhappy, mean, and angry.
Instead, it is a message of having and living life to the fullest (Jn. 10:10).
Unfortunately, too many Christians are defined by the former and completely
miss out on the latter. Verses 16-17
paint a very distinct picture of Christians as teachers and encouragers of one
another who are so filled with joy that they can’t help but sing praises of
gratitude to God from the bottom of their hearts. This is the picture of believers
that will have the greatest chance of attracting unbelievers who are
desperately looking to discard their old self defined by selfishness and
self-satisfaction in exchange for a new self defined by joy, praise, and
gratitude centered in and directed toward Christ.
“Christianity
offers good news, and worshipers are not well served by a steady diet of
melancholy. God has broken into our sorrows and bestowed on us such a glorious
destiny that it should evoke a joyous thrill. Our worship should reflect the
good news that we have been redeemed, and we should express our deepest
gratitude to God. Some Christians have been restrained in openly expressing
their delight in God, perhaps because they think that too much exuberance can
become frivolous and subject to delusion. Some may see their task only in terms
of getting people to walk the straight and narrow, and they fear that any hint
of holy intoxication will lead instead to people getting out of hand. The
letters of Paul, which exude such joy in the direst circumstances, make clear
that Christian faith rouses the deepest joy, and Christians need to express
this joy in their worship of God.”[8]
Application
“Most fairy
tales end with the prince marrying the princess, and the stories always
conclude with the words, ‘And they lived happily ever after.’ After the hero
has rescued the heroine, the marriage of the prince to the princess comes as an
anticlimax. But this is not the Christian view of marriage. The wedding day
with bells and rice is not the arrival point that marks the end of the story;
it is only the beginning. The wedding is the beginning of a lifelong adventure.
It is a journey through uncharted seas, which explains why so many marriages
today end with a shipwreck.” To often married couples begin their marriage
adventure with the question, What Now?
This
explains the experience of countless Christians as well when they first make a
confession of faith. They make a public profession of faith that is marked by
baptism and then they think they will “live happily every after.” But like
marriage, the confession and baptismal ceremony isn’t the end of a journey,
it’s the beginning of an adventure. Far too many Christians stand at the edge
of that adventure and are left wondering, What
Now? Also like marriage, the Christian life is an adventure into uncharted
territory with many highs of joy and lows of sorrow. It is a life that must be
marked and defined by transformation. Like the experience of an exhilarating
adventure changes us, the experience of the Christian adventure must change us.
If it doesn’t, then we’re doing something wrong. Jesus doesn’t want us to just
live life, He wants us to live life to the fullest! Paul gives us a good part
of the map for the adventure we are on as Christians. The adventure involves
completely ridding ourselves of the dirty, old, ragged, life-sucking habits and
behaviors that defined our old self and put on clean, fresh, new, life-giving
behaviors that define our new self and reveal more clearly every day the image
of God that has been obscured and distorted by sin. With joy and gratitude we
can begin or continue the adventure of living the Christian life; teaching and
encouraging other travelers along the way with Christ at the center of your
life always striving toward the goal of Christlikeness without being needlessly
mired down in the uncertainty of, What
Now?
[1] Max
Anders, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians
& Colossians—Holman New Testament Commentary, (Nashville, TN: B&H
Publishing Group, 1999), 326-327.
[2] Bruce
Barton, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, and Dave Veerman, Life Application New Testament Commentary,
(Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 882.
[3] George
Barna, The Second Coming Of The Church,
(Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 6-7.
[4] Gerald
F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, Daniel G. Reid, eds., Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1993), 629.
[5] Bruce
Barton, et al., eds., Life Application
New Testament Commentary, 883.
[6] James D.
J. Dunn, The Epistles to the Colossians
and to Philemon—The New International Greek Testament Commentary, (Grand
Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 227.
[7] David A.
deSilva, An Introduction to the New
Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation, (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2004), 728.
[8] David E.
Garland, Colossians/Philemon—the NIV
Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998), 239.
(Audio version; Music: "Captain" and "Oceans" by: Hillsong UNITED)
