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Christian, Lift Your Eyes!
1w ago00:36:57Tap to summarizeColossians 3:1-4 – 1 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. Introduction If you were here for our time in Ecclesiastes, you certainly remember that the invaluable gift of the book is its description of a nearly exhaustive and futile search for satisfaction “under the sun”. In other words, Ecclesiastes is the story of a man (“the Preacher”) who unsuccessfully tried everything there is among the “things that are on earth” in an attempt to find true and lasting joy in them. He tried excessive amounts of money, work, sex, wisdom, entertainment, servants, houses, gardens, etc., and while they provided a quick buzz, they all ultimately proved to be empty. Of all that, the Preacher wrote, “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). Ecclesiastes is a gift in that it shows us that as long as our eyes are on the things of earth, we will not find genuine joy; always lust, never fulfillment; always winter, never Christmas. It’s a gift in that it frees us from wasting our time in looking for meaning and purpose and significance and joy where they cannot be found. But if not among the things “under the sun” or “that are on earth,” where are those things found? As true as the Preacher’s conclusions were, they’re only half the story. If the Preacher of Ecclesiastes had the full revelation of God, Colossians 3:1-2 would have been his grand conclusion. In that way, our passage is like answer to the lingering question of Ecclesiastes. The two passages are a perfect complement to one another. Therefore, with a fuller revelation from God, “the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints” (2:16), Paul answered, “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” (3:1-2). True satisfaction is not found among “things that are on earth,” (as the Preacher rightly, albeit painfully observed), but in “things that are above.” Paul’s main plea is for the Colossian Christians (and you and I), is to lift our eyes above the earth; to look for the source of all satisfaction where He is found and in what He has done. And in God’s loving-kindness, He inspired Paul to explain a bit of how and why He means His people to do that. In a word, it’s this simple idea: By grace, through faith in Jesus, you died to your sins, your soul has been raised with Christ, your life is hidden in Christ, and you will appear with Jesus in glory, therefore, let your eyes (your appetites and thoughts) follow. Look up, Christian! Because of what God has done and will certainly do for you in Jesus, lift your eyes above the temporary buzz of earthly joy and the light momentary affliction of your troubles and trials. Look up to the One who is risen and who gives resurrection. And then live entirely in light of what you see. Christian, Know What God Has Done (1, 3, 4) Let me repeat the logic of this passage before working through the various components of it. By grace, through faith in Jesus, you have died to your sins, your soul has been raised with Christ, your life is hidden in Christ, and you will appear with Jesus in glory, therefore, seek Christ with all you’ve got. Know what is true of you, know what God has done for you in Christ, and then live entirely in light of that. There are imperatives (commands) to follow, but we’ll never honor God in our obedience to them if our obedience isn’t rooted in the indicatives (objective truths) and promises of God. That is exactly how everyone in Christ ought to think all the time, but it is especially true when we find ourselves in times of difficulty, as the Colossians did. You Died (3) So, what is true of us in Christ? The first indicative (chronologically) is found at the very beginning of v.3. 3 For you have died… But what does that mean and how is it the kind of good news that draws our eyes up to Christ? There are two senses in which it is true. We need to understand both, but it is the second sense that Paul primarily has in mind in v.3. What are the two senses in which Christians have died? We were dead and then we die. The heart of the gospel involves life and death. God is life. He created us, making us alive together with Him as His living image-bearers. And from the beginning, God was clear on the fact that as long as His people remained in Him, they would know only life and love and order and fellowship and joy. However, God was equally clear from the beginning on that fact that sin is death. Should His people turn from Him in sin, they would surely die—spiritually (immediately) and (eventually) physically as well. Tragically, just three chapters into the humanity’s story, our first parents, Adam and Eve, turned from God to sin and therein brought inescapable and unimaginable death to themselves and all their offspring. The first sense in which it’s true that we have died, then, is in the fact that we were born physically alive but spiritually dead (separated from God and under His wrath) on account of Adam’s sins. All people, conceived by men, are born into this same death. That’s what he means in 2:13 when he declares that the Colossian Christians “were dead in [their] trespasses.” That, of course, is not good news. But what about the second kind of death? We were dead (in the sense we just considered) and then (curiously) we died. What does that mean? How can we die again? As I said earlier, we are all born physically alive, but spiritually dead. And yet, the full wages of our sin is the combination of the two. In other words, as tragic as it is that we are born spiritually dead and enemies of God, there’s worse news still. Once our spiritual death is united with physical death, we will know the full measure of God’s justice for our sin. We must die again because our sin and God’s holiness and justice require it. It can’t not happen. We must die twice. There are only two ways for that to happen. Either the just course of events will continue on and we’ll die again, such that our physical death will come together with our spiritual death unto eternal death (hell) or we will be united with Jesus in His death, such that His death becomes ours. That’s what Paul means in 1:21-22 when he wrote, “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds [first death], 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death [second death on our behalf]…” Paul’s point (in declaring that the Colossians “have died”) is that they had chosen the second kind of second death; the kind which receives Christ’s death as their own. Grace, the good news of the gospel is that we need not die the second death of hell. By grace, through faith in Jesus, Jesus died the second death on our behalf, in our place. God put on Jesus the second death we all deserve as a substitute for all who will receive Him in faith! He is both just and justifier (Romans 3:26)!!! O, what awesome news that is. Do not be OK with being casual about this…either for yourself or for those who have not yet received this news in faith. There is no greater terror in all reality than experiencing the second death apart from Christ, even as there is no greater joy than knowing that He took it for you. And that objective reality must dominate everything about our hearts, minds, and lives. We’ll come back to that soon. You Rose (1) The second objective reality is actually the first named by Paul in this passage. It is good news that Jesus took our second death upon Himself, but it is better news that we are also united with Him in His resurrection. 1 If then you have been raised with Christ… Quickly, and to be clear, while this sounds like Paul might have been questioning whether or not the Colossians had been raised with Christ (“If then you have been raised”), that’s not the case. He wasn’t suggesting that their resurrection was undetermined. The following paraphrase probably captures Paul’s actual meaning more clearly, “Since you have been raised with Christ…”. The question, then, wasn’t whether or not they had been raised, it was about what that mea...
Transcribe →You Are Not Still Alive In The World
2w ago00:42:55Tap to summarizeColossians 2:16-23 – 16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. Introduction Good morning. Thanks, Kyle for taking us back into the Psalms. I appreciate your trans-Psalm reminder that God-honoring emotions flow from God-honoring truths and lead to God-honoring lives. In addition, earlier in the week I mentioned to Kyle that I was especially helped by a few lines from his sermon. “Music is one of God’s key tools for steering our emotions.” “Chopped up air isn’t pleasing to God by itself. But a heart satisfied in God producing chopped up air”. And, “Singing together with God’s people on Sundays is God’s means of filling our joy reservoir for the week.” With that, once again, welcome back to this familiar passage in Colossians. Throughout the two weeks we’ve already spent in it, we’ve seen that all of life is a continual choice between living according to elemental spirits/principles of this world and living according to Christ. Everyone sees the world through a particular lens, and our lens is either Christ or anything else. And within all of that, Paul’s main focus was on urging the church to hold fast to Jesus; to live according to Jesus; to look see the world through the lens of Christ. Why did Paul write so emphatically about this? He gave three main reasons: (1) Elemental principles are by definition, mere human constructs; mere self-made religion with only an appearance of wisdom (but are folly); and will ultimately come to an unsatisfying and destructive end. (2) The world is Christ’s. It is from, for, and to Him. In Him alone are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and He alone is preeminent over all things. So why would we live according to anyone or anything else?! (3) To be a Christian is to have chosen to reject worldly ways of thinking as the lies they are; it is to have rejected all competing claims to Christ’s imperium; it is to have accepted Christ as the way, the truth, and the life; and it is to have died to the world with Jesus. Having seen all of that, there’s a phrase in the middle of the verse in the middle of the passage that I want to unpack a bit more. In v.20 Paul wrote, “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, [do you live] as if you were still alive in the world…?” Paul’s clear implication is that Christians are no longer “alive in the world.” And by that curious sounding phrase he was asking the Colossians to consider why they were thinking and acting like they did before they trusted in Jesus. In particular, he was asking them to consider the various ways they were seeing the world through anything other than the lens of Christ. Once again, I want to slow down a bit and consider on a deeper and more practical level what it means to live as if we are “still alive in the world” today. What are our primary temptations to see things apart from Christ? If Paul were writing to the church in Wyoming in 2026, how would he finish the verse, “Why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you _____?” As we do, we’ll see the big idea of this message: In Christ alone, and through God’s Word alone, can we see the world and our place in it as they truly are. Looking through any other lens always leads to a distorted perspective and a disordered life. The main takeaway is to carefully consider where we’re seeing the world through a worldly lens (and therefore acting as if we were still alive in the world) and replace it with the lens of Christ. Alive In the World The main question, once again, is this: Are we living as those who are alive in the world or as those alive in Christ? Are we seeing the world through a distinctly Christian lens or some type of a worldly lens? Paul will make that even clearer in the next section of his letter (next week), when he commands, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Alive in the World Vs. Alive in Christ In just a minute, we’ll consider eight alive-in-the-world ideas that are wreaking havoc on the world and Church today. Before we get there, though,I’d like to say a brief word on two aspects of the relationship between being alive in the world vs. being alive in Christ. For Christians, they’re simultaneously (1) mutually exclusive and (2) experienced on a sliding scale. Being alive in the world is mutually exclusive from being alive in Christ in that only one or the other can be true of us at one time. If we are alive in the world, then we are entirely dead in Christ. And if we are alive in Christ, then we are entirely dead in the world. Of the Colossian Christians, Paul objectively declared, “…with Christ you died to the elemental spirits [principles] of the world” and later, “you have died [to the world], and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” In the middle of chapter 2 we find out how the transition takes place in us, “…you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (2:13-14). We are either dead to Christ and alive to the world in our sin (which is everyone from birth) or alive in Christ and dead to the sins of the world (which is ours by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, accomplished by the cross alone). And yet, as we all know, our objective reality does not always shape our hearts, minds, and daily lives as it ought. And in that way, on a practical level, as Christians we live on a sliding scale between seeing the world as we did when we were alive in the world and seeing as it truly is now that we are alive in Christ. The most illuminating example I’ve heard concerns the perspective the slaves freed by Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. At the Proclamation, as a matter of objective fact, Southern slaves were immediately declared “forever free.” However, as you can imagine, that did not mean that they immediately saw the world in the same way as those who had never been enslaved. Being a freeman and learning to think and function like a freeman are two different things. Becoming a freeman is instant. Thinking and acting like one is a process. And so it is for Christians. We pass from death to life the moment we first place our faith in Jesus (like a light switch—either off or on; all one or all the other), but we spend the rest of our lives being transformed by the Spirit to live consistently with what’s already true of us (like a dimmer switch—varying degrees of brightness). In more practical terms, while non-Christian can only see the world through a worldly lens, because we are being but are not yet fully sanctified, Christians always see the world through some combination of worldly and Christianly lenses. Paul’s charge to his readers (including us) is to recognize that there is lingering worldly thinking in all of us and to do everything we can to weed it out. Again, helping with that is the main aim of this sermon. Alive in the World in Colossians As we saw, there were three primary alive-in-the-world ways of thinking (or elemental spirits/principles) Paul warned the Colossians of: Asceticism (don’t do certain things) and legalism (do certain things) to earn or keep God’s favor and mysticism (visions and dreams) to know God’s will. Those were the ideas that the world had come up with in contradiction to the world as it really is; in contradiction to Jesus. Therefore, Paul warned them of the futility and danger of continuing to live in light of them as they once had. Indeed, at the heart of the Colossian heresy was the idea that God’s favor could b...
Transcribe →Praise, Sing, Hope: The Glad Marks of God’s People
3w ago00:44:03Tap to summarizePsalm 33 – 1 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. 4 For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. 6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. 10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! 13 The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,15 he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.16 The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,19 that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.21 For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Introduction During our parenting in the early years, one of our daughters was not having the right attitude in a certain situation. Johanna told her to go to her room and spend some time by herself so she could find her happy heart. Our daughter responded in exasperation saying, “I can’t find. It is lost forever.” The reality of what that three-year old deeply felt in that moment is really a struggle for every Christian who wants to take the commands of the Bible seriously. We are commanded to have joy (verse one). If you are anything like me, you have a strong bent towards melancholy, gloominess, and even despondency. How am I supposed to create joy in my heart? The point of this psalm, and the other 149 psalms in this book is to help you have proper, God-exalting feelings that have their roots in powerful, God-revealed truths, for walking the path of God-glorifying obedience. Your feelings (emotions, affections) are powerful motivators to obey God, if they are grounded in the rock-solid foundation of God’s truth that we find in the Bible. Emotions and affections are scattered throughout the book of Psalms and this whole book is here to help you know what good emotions you should have and identify what wrong emotions you shouldn’t have…and what your response should be with those good or bad emotions. Psalm 33 is the first psalm of 150 psalms that explicitly mentions musical instruments and singing, and it highlights the importance of music in the life of his people. God cares about how you sing. He cares about how you sing and what is happening in your heart when you sing, right here, in this room each Sunday morning. He cares about how our musicians play their instruments on this stage. We know that because Psalm 33 gives commands on how you are to sing and how our musicians are to play. Psalm 33 is meant to cause us to stop and consider the place of music and singing as a means to stir your affections in fully-engaged, whole-hearted, joy-overflowing corporate worship. And I say corporate as a key word, because the original language of the first three verses is subtly plural, and the last three verses of this psalm are explicitly plural. We are to do this together. Here. So sing your guts out with one another. It is biblical. Martin Luther wrote that music “is a mistress and governess of those human emotions which as masters govern human beings or more often overwhelm them…For whether you wish to comfort the sad, to terrify the happy, to encourage the despairing, to humble the proud, to calm the passionate or to appease those full of hate- and who could number all these masters of the human heart, namely, the emotions, inclinations and affections that impel human beings to evil or good? What more effective means than music could you find?” I grew up being taught that emotions were something to be skeptical of, to keep at an arms distance, and something that didn’t have a central place in the Christian life. That is just totally untrue if you read the Bible with open eyes. You are commanded to experience joy, happiness, gladness, satisfaction and pleasure in God. And God in his kindness has given us the gift of music as a tool in which we can cultivate our emotions to grow in the rich soil of God’s Word. God’s people joyfully respond in communal music and singing when they are in awe of His word and His works, the accomplishment of His plans, and His total awareness of all things, and presence in all places of the earth. Therefore, no matter what may come in this life, God’s people will be marked by souls that wait for Him, and hearts that are hopefully glad in Him because of his steadfast love. That is what I intend to try and unpack in the time we have remaining together this morning. The Command To Joyfully Sing Together – Verses 1-3 “Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts.” The language of this passage is plural imperative. That phrase might make your eyes glaze over, but all it means is that in the original language that this psalm was written, it was implied that this command was for God’s people to do together. Kids, I can remember when I was a kid, having to diagram sentences in my grammar class. I hated it. You may hate it too, but just like taking a medicine that tastes bad when you are sick will help you get better, learning grammar is important because God wrote a book that uses grammar for us to learn more about who He is and what he commands of us. Grammar matters because God created it for us as a way to know Him and love Him. So we are to shout for joy together. Does this mean we literally need to shout? This word means to give a ringing cry of heartfelt jubilation. It does not mean cacophonies of noise. It is a meaningful response that comes out of your throat because of a heart that is satisfied in God. So when you rise up in your pew to sing songs of worship, what happens? Vibrations happen in your throat as your vocal chords snap apart and come back together really fast. You exhale chopped up air that takes the form of sound waves. That physical act that takes place in your body is not in and of itself pleasing to God. What it ought to be is an outward expression of an inward disposition of joy in the Lord. I am a baseball fan and unfortunately I am a lifelong Minnesota Twins fan. A team that has been marked by being just good enough to get your hopes up only to crush them into pieces once you allow some good feelings to start to gain momentum in your heart. Several years ago, two of my sons and I were at a Minnesota Twins game. They were playing the Baltimore Orioles. We were sitting in the left field home run deck, and everything about that game was the stereotypical reason why people describe baseball as terribly boring. It was a low scoring, low hitting game and we were down by a score of 2-1 going into the ninth inning. A Twins batter draws a walk and up to the plate walks Byron Buxton. He then hits a towering shot into left field, about five rows below where we were sitting. A walk off home run. What do you think our response was? Shouts of happiness was the appropriate response! Now, as much as my emotions enjoyed that moment watching my favorite player, with my favorite team, in my favorite ...
Transcribe →Holding Fast to the Head – Part 2
Jul 500:35:42Tap to summarizeColossians 2:16-23 – 16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. Introduction This is the second sermon on this passage. I think the heartbeat of this passage is a feeling common to every Christian: The feeling of missing something, of emptiness, of loneliness, of sadness, of confusion, of doubt. The Colossians were experiencing those things just as we all experience them to varying degrees at different times. And just like the Colossians, when we experience them, none of us wants to stay there for long. We all want them to lift asap. If all of that wasn’t the case, if the Colossians weren’t experiencing those things and being tempted by those things, then the false teaching of the false teachers would have had no appeal and Paul would not have needed to write what he wrote. Again, then, the heartbeat of this passage is the tension we all feel between the alure of accepting the immediate (albeit temporary and ultimately hollow) relief certain things can provide from the hardships of this life and our trust in the promises of God that in Christ our sufferings are a means by which God provides true relief. The main question, then, is this: What will we do when those feelings come upon us? That’s what Paul was primarily addressing in these few verses. The big idea of this passage is that if you try to add anything to Jesus, take away anything from Jesus, or look to anything but Jesus for salvation or satisfaction, you will not get Jesus, salvation, or satisfaction. The main takeaway is to do a careful inventory of what you are holding fast to and put off all that is not Jesus. Review In case you weren’t here last week (or if you just need a quick reminder), let me give a quick recap. The Colossians were faced with the choice between two alternatives, the same two alternatives that you and I are continually faced with today: Would they respond to their hardships by holding fast to Christ alone (to Him, His work, and His promises) as Paul admonished or to something else (to anything else) as the false teachers enticed? To see the alternatives offered by the false teachers in their proper context, we first reviewed what Paul had already written about holding fast to the justification, the sanctification, and the person of Jesus. Of the justification of Jesus, Paul wrote, “you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death…” (1:21-22). Sinners justified by the grace of God, through faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus. Of the sanctification of Jesus, Paul continued, he has now reconciled [you] in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith” (1:22-23). Sinners justified on the basis of Jesus’ righteousness, being given a full and certain righteousness of our own, by grace through faith. And of Jesus Himself, Paul wrote, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created… through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, …the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…” (1:15-19). Jesus Christ alone is all, and in all! That’s all pretty remarkable, isn’t it?! The false teachers must have offered something pretty special if it was legitimately going to compete with that, right?! The alternatives offered by the false teachers were legalism, asceticism, and mysticism. Last week we considered legalism. Legalism is seeking to gain or keep favor with God by obeying certain rules or traditions. It is an attempt to escape our feelings of emptiness, loneliness, sadness, and doubt, by adding something to Jesus. But this, Paul argued, is a poor, impotent substitute for Jesus. Therefore, in v.16 Paul warned them, “let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.” That is, let no one tempt you with their offers of a sense of worthiness or clarity if only you will celebrate certain holidays or eat certain things or perform certain rituals. Let no one tempt you with the fake promises of legalism. Let no one tempt you with “Jesus and, Jesus plus” heresy. Let no one tempt you to try to hold onto the shadow, when you can have the substance, Christ Himself. At best, legalism will provide a temporary sense of relief, but will only leave you in a worse spot in the end. That’s where we’ve been. Holding Fast to the Head Remember, Paul was urging his readers to hold fast to Jesus no matter what came their way, no matter what they experienced or felt. He reminded them that Jesus alone is sufficient for forgiveness, holiness, eternal life, and eternal satisfaction, even though there were some among the Colossians who were teaching a different message and offering a different hope. Their first alternative, legalism, as we saw, was empty and hollow. That leaves two other possibilities: Asceticism and mysticism. Maybe they can provide what legalism can’t? Maybe they can compete with the preeminence of Jesus? Legalism (16-17) Asceticism (18a, 19-23) The false teachers encouraged the Colossians to legalistically add certain rules and traditions to Jesus. And, ironically, they also encouraged the Colossians to seek spiritual growth by ascetically denying themselves certain things as well. Paul was just as emphatic in urging them to reject asceticism as he was legalism. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism … Asceticism in this sense meant living a life of rigorous self-denial as a means of earning God’s favor. He unpacks that a bit in vs.21-23. 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” … [which Paul refers to as] 23 asceticism and severity to the body”. In v.16, the false teachers seemed to be encouraging the Colossians TO eat and drink certain things (probably in relation to the various Jewish feasts). Here, they’re arguing that spiritual life and growth are about NOT eating and drinking (and touching) certain things. But merely stopping doing something, merely exercising self-control to the point of discomfort, as righteous as it might even feel at times, cannot change our heart. It cannot earn or keep God’s favor. It cannot save. That’s why Paul referred to them as “things that…perish as they are used,” because just as nothing that comes into the body can make a person unclean (Mark 7:15), there’s nothing we can keep out of our bodies to make us clean. Paul had much to say about this in his other writing as well. Let me give you two quick examples. Romans 14:17 the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 1 Timothy 4:1-4 in later times some will depart from the faith by … 3 [forbidding] marriage and requir[ing] abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving… Therefore Paul cried out, lamenting, “20 If ...
Transcribe →Holding Fast to the Head – Part 1
Jun 2800:44:47Tap to summarizeColossians 2:16-23 – 16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. Introduction Do you ever feel like your faith in Jesus is missing something? Are there times when the abundant life Jesus offers feels somewhat less than abundant? Have you ever had a stretch that you would describe as anything other than being filled with the love of Christ and the fullness of God? Can you remember a time in which God’s Word made promises of joy and satisfaction that seemed dubious or elusive? Of course you have. We all have. That’s the nature of this life. We cannot escape experiences of incompleteness because in God’s plan of redemption we won’t be completely complete until Jesus’ return. That’s not to say we cannot know true fellowship with God or genuine growth in holiness or real and increasing joy in Jesus. But it is to say that we cannot know the full measure of the satisfaction that will be ours in the new heavens and earth while we are still living in the old heavens and earth. The real question, then, is not whether we’ll experience loneliness or despondency or emptiness. The real question is what we will do when we do. For non-Christians, there are all kinds of answers, spanning the entire spectrums of wisdom and folly as well as good and evil. But the point of our passage isn’t about what those outside the church do when they feel some measure of incompleteness. It is about what those inside the church do. It is meant to be a mirror for all of us, revealing to us what we are holding fast to when our lives aren’t as they ought to be. And so, Grace Church, before I share with you the big idea, and before I pray, let me invite you to pray silently, asking the Spirit of God to help you see where you are holding fast to Jesus and where you are holding fast to something else; where you are living by faith in the promises of God in times of emptiness and where you are living according to some form of self-made religion. And I invite you to pray, asking the Spirit to help you see freshly and fully the uniquely sufficiency of Jesus to bring fullness. The big idea of this passage is that if you try to add anything to Jesus, take away anything from Jesus, or look to anything but Jesus for salvation or satisfaction (legalism, mysticism, asceticism, or anything else), you will not get Jesus, salvation, or satisfaction. The main takeaway is to do a careful inventory of what you are holding fast to and put off all that is not Jesus. Mere Christianity The Colossian Christians were facing then, many of the same things that the Wyoming Christians face today. They were weary and confused as they tried to sort out what to believe and what not to believe about Jesus and His will for their lives. There were false teachers among them who were offering all manner of alternative to the truth of Jesus. In our passage for this morning, we find the clearest explanation of the content of the false teaching in the entire letter. Paul’s aim in sharing it was to reveal its devastating emptiness and contrast it with the fullness that is in Christ alone. He knew the Colossians needed to decide between holding fast to Jesus or the things offered by the false teachers and he wanted to help them see their choice for what it was. That’s my aim for you all this morning as well. And to that end, I mean to share with you in plainest terms what Jesus offers and the first of the three alternatives offered by the false teachers in Colossae. My prayer is that you will see each in appropriate contrast. Let’s begin, then by considering what Paul has already said concerning the justification of Jesus, the sanctification of Jesus, and the person of Jesus before considering the legalism of heretics. The Justification of Jesus Regarding the justification of Jesus, Paul was clear concerning why we need to be justified in the first place. We were all “once alienated and hostile in mind” (1:21), “doing evil deeds” (1:21), and “dead in [our] trespasses and the uncircumcision of [our] flesh” (2:13). In other words, we were ruined in our sin and powerless to do anything about it on our own. And much of the emptiness we feel is tied to this reality that is common to all mankind. But then Paul was equally clear on what Jesus did for us. He effectively “[made] peace by the blood of his cross” (1:20), “reconciled [us to God] in his body of flesh by His death” (1:21), “set aside [our record of debt], [by] nailing it to the cross” (2:14), canceled “the record of debt that stood against us” (2:14), and on our behalf He “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them” (2:16). Once and for all, Jesus did those things on behalf of hopeless, lonely, and lost sinners like us. How do hopeless, lonely, lost sinners gain access to that saving work of Jesus? Is it by working hard enough or doing enough good things to please God? Is it by eliminating enough bad things from our lives to make up for our sins? Is it by creating our own religion? NO!!! Paul explained that it is by hearing “the Word of truth, the gospel” (1:5), by having “heard and understood the grace of God in truth” (1:7), by placing our “faith in Christ Jesus” (1:4), and all that “through faith in the powerful working of God” (2:12). In other words, it is by the grace of God alone, through faith in Christ alone, that we are justified, declared righteous in God’s sight. But what does it mean to be justified? It means, Paul wrote, being “delivered…from the domain of darkness and transferred…to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (1:13), receiving “redemption [and] the forgiveness of sins” (1:14), indeed, being “forgiven…[of] all our trespasses” (2:13), being “filled in [Jesus]” (2:10), being “circumcised with a circumcision made without hands” (2:11), “buried with Him in baptism” (1:12), “raised with Him” in newness of life (2:12), “made alive together with [Jesus]” (2:13), and, as we see in our passage for this morning, effectively dying “to the elemental spirits of the world” (2:20). That’s the gracious work of God, to ensure the promise of God, to justify sinners in Christ. Again, ask the Spirit to help you marvel at these marvelous truths. The Sanctification of Jesus But, as awesome as that is, that’s just the beginning of the gospel, the good news, of Jesus. It gets even bigger and better than all of that. It’s not merely a promise of justification based on the righteousness of Jesus. It is also a promise to work true and complete righteousness in all of us. So, how do we get the sanctifying grace of Jesus? Is justification ours by grace, through faith, but sanctification ours by our own means? That’s what the false teachers were saying to the Colossians. Were they right? No, the grace that justifies also sanctifies. The faith that first unites us to Christ, keeps us united to Him and His transforming power. We will “toil” and “struggle” for our spiritual growth, but we will do so “with all His energy that He powerfully works within” us (1:29). Ultimately, then, sanctification is ours as we “Continue in the faith, stable and steadfast” (1:23), as we refuse, in the Spirit’s power, to shift “from the hope of the gospel that [we] heard” (1:23). But what does it mean to be sanctified? What has God actually promised to work in us as we trust in Him? He is, Paul declared, making us incrementally and increasingly “holy and blameless and above reproach” (1:22). He is filling us with ever-growing “love in the Spirit (1:8) …for all the saints” (1:4) and causing our “hearts [to be] …encouraged, … [and] knit together in love” (2:2). He is filling us with “hope laid up…in heaven” (1:5). He is caus...
Transcribe →Deliverance
Jun 2100:40:09Tap to summarizePhilippians 1:18b-26 – 18b Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. Introduction Do you ever get annoyed when people ask those “Would you rather_____” questions? They go something like this. Would you rather always have to sing instead of speak, or dance everywhere you go? Would you rather have no taste buds, or no sense of smell? Would you rather live an extraordinary but short life, or a long but ordinary life? One recent and particularly odious example at work provoked a surprising amount of passionate argument among my coworkers – Would you rather get beat up in front of your girl or run away from a fight in front of your girl? In this passage, Paul takes his turn at a Would you rather question: Would you rather live or die? Wait a minute, Paul. That’s too easy! I don’t think you understand the unwritten law of Would you rather questions – They need to be tough to answer. They produce pain either because both options are desirable or because both are awful. Answering should be hard. A good question should be like, Would you rather have to walk a thousand miles, or reach your hand in an adder’s den to grab the car keys? On the surface, Paul’s question seems a lot more like, Would you rather have coffee, or not have coffee? But, as we’ll see, Paul is able to turn seemingly obvious reasoning on its head. Philippians Background: Paul the Exemplar and the Upside down Philippians Before we get there, let me refresh your memory of this letter’s background. Since December 2023, this is my fourth sermon from Philippians. I last preached to you from Paul’s letter about 9 months ago. I also surveyed Philippians in Berea about 6 months ago. That said, I’ve previously provided a lot of background of the church and the circumstances that occasioned Paul’s letter. So this morning, I’ll give it just 200 words. Luke dedicated the whole of Acts chapter 16 to narrating the establishment of the Philippian church. He notes that Philippi was “a leading city of Macedonia”, a province to which Paul arrived in AD 50 after seeing a vision of a Macedonian man beckoning for help. Paul went, and thus, the Philippian church was born when he preached the gospel to some women gathered by the river to pray. Written some 10 years later, this letter reflects a warm ministry partnership. Philippi was a Roman “colony”. This means her citizens enjoyed special legal privileges like those in Rome. Acts 16 shows how deeply this identity ran, since opposition to Paul centered on threats to Roman customs. They were accused of advocating customs “not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice” (Acts 16:21). This civic pride highlights the clash of allegiances the Philippians felt and orients us to Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 1:27 to “behave as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ”, which occasioned the letter. Why does that matter this morning? An awareness of this background helps us because it’s the occasion for Paul’s frequent presentation in the letter of his faith, his reasoning, his affections, and his motives. He talks them through these to give them an example of gospel-worthy thinking, feeling, and behavior to imitate in their trials. We saw his example in the opening 11 verses, where he reflected on the past – framing not only their gospel partnership, but also, counterintuitively, his imprisonment and legal defense as grace. We saw his example again in verses 12 through (the beginning of) verse 18, where he considered the present – namely, the contribution of his imprisonment to the advance of Christ’s interests. And in our passage this morning, Paul will conclude his missionary report by reasoning aloud, so to speak, about his future. Next time, we’ll consider Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians to imitate his example. But for this morning, we’ll focus on Paul’s exemplary role modeling. Here he applies his chief hope for Christ to be honored in his body to the hypothetical question of whether it is better to live or to die. The big idea of this passage is that Christ should be the great desire of every Christian. Thus, the main takeaway is to let the desire to see Christ exalted rule our hearts and direct our response to every trial. Deliverance? (vs. 18-20) Verse 18 In the first half of his ministry report, Paul shared his present joy that, even if it is at his own expense, Christ is getting glory. Verse 18 begins, “What then, only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice”. He is speaking there of his current circumstances. In the latter half of the verse, however, Paul turns to consider the future. “Yes, and I will rejoice” (v. 18b). He is rejoicing now over what he expects to come, namely, deliverance. Verse 19 “For I know that through your prayers and with the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance”. Deliverance, or salvation, in simplest terms, means that God will come through on Paul’s behalf. Reading v. 19 in isolation, one might naturally assume he means getting out of prison and escaping a death sentence. However, that conclusion becomes much harder to maintain when we continue on to verse 20. Before we do I’d like to consider the phrase, ‘[This] will turn out for my deliverance’. The Septuagint is the Greek OT translation that was Paul’s “Bible”. It was read routinely during the time of Jesus and apostles like Paul and of course it was the only translation most Greek-speakers could read. Here, Paul’s Greek is apparently identical to that of Job 13:16 in the Septuagint. It looks like Paul is quoting from Job. It serves to cue his readers in on his perspective. He views his circumstances through the prototypical lens of Job’s story. Most of you are familiar with that story. But if not, let me summarize briefly. In the book of Job, Satan is allowed to wreak calamity on Job’s property, his servants, and his children. This destruction comes upon Job, not because egregious sin warranted it, but because of God’s sovereign purposes, which ultimately included greater blessings for Job in a new life yet to come. But Job could not have known any of the secret purposes of God. Therefore, he feels unjustly wronged because he assumes that since bad things happen to bad people, this shouldn’t have happened to him. Meanwhile, his friends labor for 30 chapters to convince him that he’s being punished because he has sinned, if unconsciously, and if he would only repent and admit it, God would relent. Job is compelled to appeal to God, to argue his case with his Maker and vindicate himself. Let me read to you from Job chapter 13 (vs 3, 14-18) to get the context of Paul’s quote: 3 “But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God… 14 Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands?15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.16 Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him!17 Listen carefully to what I say; let my words ring in your ears.18 Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated.” As do all righteous persons in this age, Paul has detractors. We saw this formerly in vs. 15 and 17. These take gleeful, vindictive joy in the apparent embarrassment and shame of his chains, eager to see him humbled and fallen that they might rise in power and esteem. Harboring envy and rivalry, and to further their pride and selfish ambition, they frame Paul’s chains as evidence of God’s judgment. But Paul is eager for both God and himself to be vindicated. Like Job, Paul is banking on a righteous God. As Job says in 13:16, ‘this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him’. That is, I have the confidence to come before God because I know I’m innocent, He’s on my side, and He can be trusted. ‘He will surely slay me, I have no hope’, Job says, fully expecting to be slain in the presence of a holy God, yet expecting both ‘deliverance’ and to &#...
Transcribe →Captivated by Christ
Jun 1400:46:11Tap to summarizeColossians 2:8-15 –8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Introduction Welcome back to Colossians. Two weeks ago, we considered 2:8-10 and the consequences of ideas. Paul warned the Colossian believers about the bad consequences of the bad ideas they were being confronted with. He also reiterated the alternative; the good consequences of the good ideas of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In short, Paul explained that their choice really was binary. Either they would be taken captive by the ideas of the world (philosophy, empty deceit, human tradition, elemental spirits of the world) or captivated by Christ. His point is that a right understanding of Christ makes the choice as easy as it gets. Jesus and nothing is infinitely better than everything without Jesus. Living according to Jesus is eternal life, while living according to anything else is eternal death. This morning, we’re going to pick up where we left off. That is, we’re going to look more closely at who Jesus is and what He’s done for those who receive Him in faith. As we do, you’ll see the big idea: With even the most child-like understanding of the gospel, the choice between living according to Christ and according to anything else is entirely obvious. The main takeaway is to learn and rehearse the gospel continually. Captivated by Christ – Who He Is To be captivated by something is to have it fill you with wonder and delight to the point that you feel enchanted by it. Have you ever been captivated by something like that? For whatever reason, God seems to cause me to be especially captivated by (I’m not really sure what to call it) certain landscapes (Glacier NP, the Canadian Rockies, the views of the North Shore of Superior from the SHT, the Utah NPs, etc.). They give me a sense of God’s presence (and my smallness) that I don’t really experience anywhere else. They really are captivating for me. In some ways, that idea is at the heart of this passage for Paul. He knows that the Colossians will be captivated by something. For every reason, he urges them to be captivated by Christ. Remember, then, the question the Colossians were continually confronted with is the same question that continually confronts all of us: Will we be taken captive by the ideas of this world or will we be captivated by Christ? This sermon is meant to help you see the simple fact that nothing compares with Jesus. At best, every alternative to Christ is a disordering of something which enables it to provide immediate, but temporary and tiny pleasure; pleasure of the sort that ultimately ends in far greater and lasting discouragement and difficulty. I was recently reading a book that enumerated and documented some of this in alarming detail. The author wrote, There is plenty of statistical support for the contention that people [who look to the empty and deceptive philosophies of the world] are unhappy. Levels of self-declared depression and clinically diagnosed depressive symptoms have skyrocketed in recent years… I wish I were merely talking about more adults confessing to being sad, but we are seeing an increase in depressed dispositions leading to an increase in behavior of desperation. The overall suicide rate increased a shocking 30 percent in the first twenty years of this new century. Roughly 5 percent of American adults have reported serious thoughts of suicide. We know that alcohol and drug abuse has skyrocketed, and, in fact, deaths from alcohol abuse have risen precipitously, even for those over the age of sixty-five. Nearly one million people have died from drug overdoses in America since the year 2000, with a 30 percent increase in the number annually in recent years, and a 256 percent increase over that twenty-year period. The escalation in the rate of growth of opioid deaths began just after the 2008 financial crisis. Separate from those who tragically die from drug and alcohol-related causes, a stunning fifteen million Americans regularly abuse alcohol… The tragedy of lives consumed by drug and alcohol abuse is worsened only by deaths rooted in drug and alcohol abuse. The use of antidepressants has doubled over the last twenty years, with a 35 percent increase in the last six years alone. It is estimated that thirty-seven million American adults regularly take an antidepressant medication (albeit at varying degrees of severity and dosage). We are talking about 15–20 percent of American adults needing medication for problems related to depression and anxiety. I do not mean to say that becoming a Christian immediately eliminates all of these things or that mature Christians never deal with them. But I do mean to say that many of them are the direct result, the consequences, of being taken “captive to philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world.” I do mean to say that while the philosophers of this age promise much with all their offers of liberation and satisfaction apart from Christ, they simply cannot ultimately deliver anything but the kind of sadness and emptiness (ultimately death) described by the author I quoted. I do mean to say that Paul was not thinking mainly in the abstract when he wrote of the alternatives to Christ. He knew that whenever we calibrate our minds or hearts to anything other than Jesus, our lives will reflect that in every manner of real-world pathology. And I do mean to say that many of them will change dramatically when we begin to live “according to Christ.” I do mean to say that living by faith in Jesus, and Him alone, only and always ultimately leads to fullness of eternal life and joy. Jesus spoke directly to this in Matthew 13(:44-45), “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Grace, the rest of this passage and sermon are meant to help you see the simple fact that nothing compares with Jesus; to help you see that He is the greatest treasure and nothing else comes close; to help you see that to really understand who Jesus is and what He’s done for those who trust in Him, is to be shocked that we ever looked anywhere else. So, the million-dollar question is why would anyone believe that Jesus is the greatest treasure? Or, how is Jesus the greatest treasure? Or, what has He done that is so superior to all the alternative philosophies and traditions? Paul answers those questions decisively, emphatically, and poetically by describing two aspects of who Jesus is and a handful of things He’s done for those who trust in Him. Seeing Jesus for who He is and trusting in Him for what He’s done is a gift from God. We don’t deserve it. If we receive it, it is by grace alone. Therefore, as we make our way through Paul’s description of Jesus’ nature and work, my encouragement is to continually ask the Spirit to help you be as amazed by these things as they warrant. Ask the Spirit to help you to see them for what they are and how they compare to everything else. Ask the Spirit to shape your mind and heart, and cause you to live according to the truth and glory of these things above all else. With that, consider with me the two aspects of Jesus’ nature that Paul highlights. Whole Fullness of Deity (9) In v.9, we read, “…in [Jesus] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily… That, of course, is a truly staggering statement. In some ways ...
Transcribe →Justified by Faith
Jun 700:30:43Tap to summarizeRomans 5:1-5 –1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Introduction Its baseball season. I loved playing baseball. Do you know what we did on gameday? We took batting practice. The infielders took ground balls and turned double plays. The outfielders would take fly balls, and practice throws to 2nd, 3rd and home. We never ever started a game without doing these things first. Why was that? After all, we practiced on days when we didn’t have games! Why was it necessary to take batting practice before a game? Because some foundational things must be done well if we are going to play the game well. And so, we rehearse the same thing again and again. Several years ago, I took Shelli’s nephew to a Brewers game. We got there early. Guess what professional players were doing before the game? Batting practice, fielding ground balls, and catching fly balls in the outfield. I say this to you this morning because for the Christian, there are some foundational truths that we must practice again and again. It’s not enough to hear and believe a foundational truth when we first become a believer. There are foundational truths that we must rehearse and understand and apply to our real-life situations each new day. The “game” of life is infinitely more important than the game of baseball, and so we must practice, practice, practice. And one of those foundational truths that we must “practice” or rehearse, is the doctrine of justification. The focus of today’s sermon will be on how our lives are impacted and changed by being justified by faith. We are not justified by works, but by faith. We will talk about that more in a minute. But first, to fully understand the significance of being justified by faith, we must first rehearse what it means to be justified. What is Justification? Wayne Grudem defines justification like this: “Justification is an instantaneous legal act of God in which He thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us and declares us to be righteous in His sight” (Systematic Theology, p. 723). In other words, God declares, once and for all, that our sins are forgiven (past, present and future sins), and that we are counted as righteous. All of this is because of Jesus, who took our sin, and gave us His righteousness. When we are justified, it’s not that we no longer sin, and that we are now innately righteous. Rather, when we are justified, God, from His heavenly courtroom as a just judge, declares that we are no longer liable for our sins, and declares the righteousness of Jesus to be considered as our very own. Christ’s righteousness has been imputed to us, or it has been credited to our account. When God sees us, He sees the righteousness of Christ. God has the authority to justify, and it is His act or declaration. Justification is an act of God. It’s a gracious act of God. It’s an undeserved gift from God. But we receive it by faith. What Does It Mean To Be Justified by Faith? Romans 5:1 begins by saying: 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith… In chapters 3 and 4 of Romans the Apostle Paul makes it clear that no one will be justified by obeying the Law, because no one (other than Jesus Christ Himself) has ever obeyed the Law perfectly. We all fall short. We all sin. That is why Romans 3:10 says “There is no one righteous, not even one…”. And so, Romans 3:20–26 says this: 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. The Law exposes our sin before a Holy God. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— (since we won’t be righteous by keeping the Law—news of God revealing His righteousness apart from the Law is really good news—but what is it? Here it is…) 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. We will never be declared righteous because have kept the Law perfectly. Never! We will be declared righteous by God’s grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. What Jesus did in His death for us satisfied the wrath of God for our sin—and we receive this by faith, not works. When we are justified by faith we are forgiven and declared righteous by trusting in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. We are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That is the exact opposite of us being justified by our keeping of the Law or our works. Chapter 4 establishes that even Abraham was justified by faith. Romans 4:3 says: 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Before we talk about some of the blessings of being justified by faith, I want you to listen to an important word by Wayne Grudem: “Scripture never says that we are justified because of the inherent goodness of our faith, as if our faith has merit before God. It never allows us to think that our faith in itself earns favor with God. Rather, Scripture says that we are justified by means of our faith, understanding faith to be the instrument through which justification is given to us, but not at all an activity that earns us merit or favor with God. Rather, we are justified solely because of the merits of Christ’s work” (Systematic Theology, p. 730). We are justified to the praise of God’s glory alone! Now… When We Are Justified by Faith… We have received a rich gift from God. And within that gift, there are many other gifts. Not only are we declared forgiven and righteous in God’s sight, verses 1-5 mentions at least 4 other blessings that come from being justified by faith. One is that… We Have Peace With God (v. 1b) “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The fact of the matter is this: Sin separated us from God. We were alienated from God. Without hope. Without life. Because of our sin, we stood condemned before God. We were enemies of God. We were hostile towards God. But Jesus Christ changed everything. Ephesians 2:14 says Jesus is our peace. Jesus gave us peace with God. This peace is a state of reconciliation with God. In Jesus we are restored to a right relationship with God. Through Jesus, we are brought back to God. We are at peace with God. This is a real objective peace. We have this because we were justified by faith. It’s not a subjective feeling that comes and goes. This is an objective fact. We are no longer under condemnation of God; instead, we are restored to God and at peace with Him. We have this peace with God whether we feel it or not—because it is a result of being justified by faith. Its objective and never changing. Now, there is also a subjective peace OF God that we can also experience. As Philippians 4:6-7 teaches us: 6 do not be anxious about anything, (sometimes that is what we feel or experience) but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This is a subjective peace that comforts us when we face troubles. At times we may feel more anxious, and at other times, we may feel or experience the peace OF God that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This sense of well-being and quiet is the peace OF God—it’s a subjective experience. Romans 5:1 is talking about Peace WITH God—it is a never changing objective reality because we are justified by faith. But secondly… We Now Stand in God’s Favor (v. 2a) 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into th...
Transcribe →The Consequences of Ideas
May 3100:41:53Tap to summarizeColossians 2:8-10 –8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. Introduction What’s the worst idea you’ve ever heard? My early-mid teenage years were pretty much defined by bad ideas. Sticking a bobby pin into a plug and then the plug into an outlet was one of the more innocent and innocuous ones. On the other end of both spectrums was some really, really bad ideas I had while driving a car. On a more global scale, humanism, materialism, and all the various aspects of secularism are among the worst ideas mankind has ever conceived. The extent of the devastation caused by them (both temporally and eternally) cannot be measured. Our passage for this morning is largely about bad ideas and their consequences. But Paul’s point is not to merely wallow in how bad the Colossians’ world was, but to help them see the stark contrast between those things and the best idea of all time and its consequences. And that so that they might continue to walk in Jesus. Stated another way, whereas our passage for last week, 2:6-7, gets to the heart of the solution to the Colossians’ problems (remember the simple truths of the gospel and then seek to become increasingly rooted, built up, established, and abounding in thanksgiving), our passage for this morning, 2:8-10, gets to the heart of the problems themselves (they were at risk of being taken captive by bad ideas and led astray from Christ). The big idea of this sermon is that all ideas have consequences. What we believe determines how we act. False beliefs take us captive. True beliefs, which are always rooted in Jesus, set us free. The main takeaway is to see that no one takes us captive with false beliefs and to seek the freedom that is found only in the Truth of Christ. The Ideas Once again, Paul’s letter to the Colossians is one part warning concerning the imminent danger they faced, and one part encouragement concerning God’s protection and deliverance that was theirs in Christ. In that is a critical reminder that the news of salvation in Jesus is only good when it’s shared in contrast with the bad news of death through sin. When we share the gospel with the world, it is as important that we tell them what they must be saved from as it is to tell them what they are saved through and to. A gospel without the sovereign holiness of God and the death-producing sin of mankind, is no gospel. We must warn before we woo. But Paul is not mainly speaking of evangelistic efforts or to non-Christians here. He is mainly speaking to a group of people who profess faith in Jesus, but are in danger of being led astray from the truths of the gospel by false teachers and their bad ideas. And within that, he writes to them of the bad ideas, their consequences, and the manner in which the Colossians ought to respond. In a bit of reverse order (from Paul’s in v.8), let’s consider the bad ideas first. Paul explicitly names four: (1) philosophy and (2) empty deceit, according to (3) human tradition, according to the (4) elemental spirits of the world. These are more categories containing bad ideas, than bad ideas themselves, but they serve as important place holders for what’s to come in the letter. Philosophy The first bad-idea category is “philosophy”. It’s important to note that the term itself isn’t negative. It simply means “love of wisdom”. There is good philosophy, of course; philosophy rooted in genuine wisdom. But there is also bad philosophy; philosophy rooted in the godless ideas of the world. There is, perhaps, no clearer example of the contrast between these two kinds of “wisdom” that what we find in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Throughout the end of chapter one and into the beginning of chapter two, he writes of “destroying the wisdom of the wise,” God making “foolish the wisdom of the world,” and the inability to “know God through wisdom”. But he also writes of “Christ crucified” as the “the wisdom of God” and his burden to “impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God,” which is the power of God to save. In other words, and once again, in the Bible, the word “philosophy” is used in both positive and negative senses. In that way, the issue isn’t that the Colossians were at risk of “loving wisdom”. The issue that Paul wants to Colossians to consider is the nature and content of the “wisdom” being presented to them. Empty Deceit That leads to the second “idea” named by Paul, which is actually just a clarification of the first idea. It answers for us the nature and content question of the philosophy Paul wrote about in v.8. What kind of philosophy was being presented to the Colossian Christians? “Empty deceit” philosophy; the first kind of philosophy I highlighted from 1 Corinthians 1-2; the philosophy of the world, the kind God destroys, the kind God makes foolish, the kind through which God cannot be known, the kind that promises much, but delivers little. Grace, have you ever considered how much empty deceit there is out there? Have you ever considered how often you are bombarded with it? Have you ever really tried to slow down and examine your own thinking to find elements of it? It’s probably easy for most of us to name the empty deceits “out there”. The world is so confused when it comes to issues of sex and gender, wisdom and folly, good and evil, life and death, love and hate, marriage and family, government and religion, ethics and morals, God’s nature and commands, and a whole host of other things. The world around us promises that we can work through those things however we want and find true satisfaction in whatever we come up with, but for the most part, we know that’s empty deceit, right? While I don’t think the Church is as good on those things as we think we are, we are, for the most part, better at recognizing them for what they are than those outside of the Church. However, there’s plenty of empty deceit inside the Church as well. As Jerry Bridges has pointed out, we often function according the empty and deceiving philosophy that treats ungodliness, anxiety, discontentment, unthankfulness, pride, selfishness, lack of self-control, impatience, irritability, anger, judgmentalism, envy, and gossip as “respectable sins.” In similar fashion, over the years, we’ve regularly been grieved as elders at how common it is for otherwise godly families to follow the empty and deceiving philosophies that kids’ sports/extracurricular activities ought to dominate family life, that skirting the edges of community with God’s people is an OK way to live, that worshiping as the gathered church on the Lord’s day is anything other than the pinnacle of the week in God’s design, that coming in and out of covenant membership in a local church is treated as a small thing, that husbands so easily abdicate and wives so easily complain, that non-evangelism is normal, and that God’s Word is minimized as the ultimate standard for significant aspects of our lives. Grace, if you are to receive Paul’s words as God intends, you will prayerfully examine every aspect of the ideas and philosophies that drive your life, seeking and destroying those that are ultimately composed of empty deceit; that is, those that promise joy or comfort or acceptance, but can only deliver the opposite. In just a bit, we’ll see what’s at stake for those who live according to these kinds of ideas, but first, let’s look at the final two “ideas” and the fact that they describe the source of the empty-deceit philosophies being put before the Colossians. They are human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world. Human Tradition Human tradition means exactly what you probably think it means. It is the thing that Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of His day for. 6 And [Jesus] said to [the Pharisees and scribes], “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!” (Mark 7:7-9). Jesus said this in relation to...
Transcribe →Walk in Jesus as You Received Jesus
May 2400:49:46Tap to summarizeColossians 2:6-7 –6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Introduction Church, try to recall a time in which you found it particularly difficult to follow Jesus. Perhaps it was hard because you just didn’t know what to do (what it meant to follow Jesus in your circumstances). Or, perhaps it was hard because although you knew what to do, you just didn’t want to do it. Or, perhaps it was hard because although you knew what to do and even wanted to do it, the consequences for doing so were steep. When you found yourself in that place of difficulty, what was the most helpful counsel you received? Was there anything that you read or heard or remembered that truly helped you navigate your circumstances with biblical, Spirit-empowered hope and confidence (even if it was still hard)? What do you do (and how do you know) when following Jesus makes life hard? If that’s not a question you’ve ever had to deal with (or even regularly have to deal with), that’s a problem, but one for another day. But for those of you who do find themselves asking that question consistently (maybe presently), I hope you’ll lean way in this morning for Paul offers a great deal of help. Indeed, answering that question is largely the point of this entire letter, but it is especially the point of this particular passage. Above all (that is, throughout Colossians), Paul argues: You remember that Jesus is over all and in all (that He is supreme, preeminent). First and most, you settle on the fact that no matter what you are going through, Jesus is with you in it and sovereign over it. More specifically though, according to Colossians 1:6-7, you remember when you first trusted in Jesus and then, in light of that, you continue to walk in Him. That is, you remember your faith initially as a means of living out your faith continually. The big idea of this sermon is that faithfully walking the Christian life (always, and especially in times of hardship and confusion) is directly connected to beginning the Christian life with a simple acceptance of the simple gospel. The main takeaway is to consider all aspects of our lives through the simplifying lens of Jesus as King and Savior and then to live it out in truth, faith, and thanksgiving. As You Received Him (6) The small church in Colossae, consisting primarily of newer Christians, was in a tough spot. As we’ve seen, and will see again next week in greater detail, their difficulties were largely the result of a constant bombardment of “plausible arguments” and “philosophy” and ‘empty deceit” and “human tradition”. It’s probably not too hard to imagine, is it Grace? These baby Christians trusted in Jesus and consequently had their whole lives turned upside down. Everything was new and little was clear. They didn’t even have the completed Bible yet. Even without opposition, it was a tall task to even know what to do, let alone do it. But with bad actors, teaching bad ideas, it was inevitably harder still. It was harder because some of what they were hearing was “plausible”. It was wrong, but it sounded like it might not be. How do you sort through it all? It was also harder because some of what they were hearing was appealing. It was wrong and they knew it, but it was easier (kind of like the doctrine of annihilationism—no hell sounds a lot easier than hell). How do you keep choosing that which is right, but harder, when life is continually hard and easier options are continually put in front of you? Gerri and I are seeing that in a group of our son’s friends. Many of them either just came to faith in Jesus or just came to understand it in a life-changing way. And that, right into the deep end of life. They’re trying to discern God’s will for their areas of study, graduation, dating, marriage, career, etc. They’re getting all kinds of advice from all kinds of people with all kinds of motives and it can be hard to know what to make of and do with it all. They have friends and even parents giving them “plausible” advice for living their best life. It’s often rooted in real life experience and a genuine desire to help them avoid some of the mistakes they made themselves. The advice they’re getting generally flows out of truly (even if misguided) benevolent motives. At the same time, friends and family often mock or take offense if their counsel is rejected. These young people know that life is 10,000x better in Christ, but also significantly harder than just going with the cultural flow. So what are the Colossians and our son’s friends supposed to do and how do they know? Again, that’s largely the point of these two verses—which are right at the heart of the letter. The first part of Paul’s answer, found in v.6, was to consider how they received Jesus. 6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him… How did they receive Jesus? The same way anyone and everyone receives Jesus: They trusted in Him (1:4) with child-like faith. Not everything was clear, but there was a sweet clarity in simply believing that Jesus alone is Christ and Lord—that He alone could forgive them of their sins and that He alone was worthy of submitting to entirely as the highest authority in their lives. And there was a sweetness to the confirming grace of God that came with it. God immediately produced in them love for one another (1:4), hope for eternal life (1:5), and significant spiritual fruit 1:6). In other words, to come to faith in Jesus is to settle on the purist, most basic elements of the faith. It is to accept mere Christianity—Jesus as Lord and risen Savior. So, what does that have to do with baby Christians discerning the will of God in the midst of lots of clamoring voices making all kinds of claims? It means, Grace, we never move past the basics of the gospel. If any aspect of our walk with Jesus is honoring to Jesus, it’s because it flows out of the good news that King Jesus was crucified and risen for sinners. In that way, every aspect of the Christian life flows out of the things we believed when we first trusted in Jesus. There is more to learn, but it’s never disconnected from the things we believed when we initially experienced new birth in Jesus. The longer you are a Christian, the more life you will experience. And the more life you experience, the more complicated things can become. Like the Colossians, you’ll inevitably encounter lots of questions and competing ideas. The simple fact that God loved the world in such a way that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life, won’t answer all of those questions, but it most certainly will orient you for them all. It won’t sort through every plausible idea for you, but it will immediately eliminate many and illuminate all. For instance, when confronted with the question of who you should marry and the many voices speaking into it, remembering the gospel doesn’t give you her name, but the reality that Jesus is the Christ means that she needs to be a Christian and someone who loves as Jesus loves. The gospel doesn’t give you his name, but the reality that Jesus is King means that he must be someone who loves His rule. Likewise, when confronted with the question of how to respond to the bully at school, the gospel isn’t a play-by-play instruction manual, but it is a reminder that Jesus loved us when we were still His enemies. When confronted with the question of how to respond to someone who is wrestling through gender issues, the gospel doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, but it is helpfully orienting to remember that we are who King Jesus says we are, that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and that the only hope for any of us is Jesus crucified and raised. The first part of Paul’s answer for the Colossians, our son’s friend group, and every Christian who is having a hard time discerning God’s will for their life (especially when life is hard for being the kind of person who tries to discern God’s will for your life), is to remember that faithfully walking the Christian life is always directly connected to the beginning the Christian life. It always begins with the conviction that everything flows out of the reality that Jesus is King and Christ. Oh to be properly amazed, humbled, and oriented by the basic truths of the gospel throughout all our lives. So walk in Him (7) Again, the small church in Colossae, consisting primarily of newer Christians, was in a tough spot due to a constant bombardment of the “plausible arguments” and “empty deceit” of “human tradition” and “philosop...
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