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On-Again...off-Again
Contributed by Gerry Pratt on May 17, 2002 (message contributor)
Summary: Christians need to change their hearts and work towards taking the wicked desires out of their lives while adding the things of God to their lives.
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Col. 3:1-17 - 1Since you have been raised to new life
with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven,
where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor
and power. 2Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think
only about things down here on earth. 3For you died when
Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
4And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the
whole world, you will share in all his glory.
5So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within
you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and
shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of
this life, for that is idolatry. 6God’s terrible anger will come
upon those who do such things. 7You used to do them
when your life was still part of this world. 8But now is the
time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander,
and dirty language. 9Don’t lie to each other, for you have
stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds.
10In its place you have clothed yourselves with a
brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you
learn more and more about Christ, who created this new
nature within you. 11In this new life, it doesn’t matter if
you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised,
barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that
matters, and he lives in all of us.
12Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he
loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted
mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13You
must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the
person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you,
so you must forgive others. 14And the most important
piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds
us all together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace that
comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of
one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be
thankful.
16Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in
your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and
counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs to God with thankful hearts. 17And whatever you do
or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the
while giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Col. 3:1- Assumes we understand...and have followed
the pattern set forth in Rom. 6:3-6
Rom. 6:3-6 - 3Or have you forgotten that when we
became Christians and were baptized to become one with
Christ Jesus, we died with him? 4For we died and were
buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was
raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father,
now we also may live new lives.
5Since we have been united with him in his death, we will
also be raised as he was. 6Our old sinful selves were
crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our
lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
We have all, hopefully, been raised to a new life in Christ.
A. If this is true, we should have made a real change...
a tangible change...a change that others can see in
us, and a change that we can realize, as well.
1. This is not something static, but this change is
always in flux.
a. The change that took place when we were
baptized was just a start....we continue to
change as we live and learn the Christian
life.
Col. 3:10 - 10 In its place you have clothed yourselves
with a brand-new nature that is continually being
renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who
created this new nature within you.
Col. 3:2 tells us that our thoughts, which have been earthly
and materialistic...survival, jobs, pleasures, material things,
money........these things need to be, replaced with....and...
controlled (in the mind) by our new, spiritual, man.
A. If we think and act so very much as the world
does.....or if we are still thinking and acting as
we did when we were in the world....something
is dreadfully wrong.
ILLUSTRATION: A long time ago, a man married a
catholic woman and converted to Catholicism. This man
had a lot of problems with eating fish on Fridays. This man
loved his steaks and did not like fish. On Fridays, he
would sneak into his back yard and bar-b-que a nice, thick,
steak.
His wife reported him to the priest. The next Friday the
priest hid in the bushes by the man’s back yard. When the
man was just about finished with his steak, the priest
popped out of the bushes and said, “Ah-ha! Caught you!