Put on the New Self (Part 2)
January 2, 2017
Put On The New Self (Part 2)
Colossians 3:1-4English Standard Version (ESV)
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.
SOME THINGS MUST BE RELEASED
(Ill. As we cleaned our room the other day, we came across several items that just had to go. We really didn’t have room for some of them; and some of that stuff was just plain trash! It has to go and it did! The trash is sitting on the curb waiting to be picked up. Several bags of stuff that we no longer needed went to Goodwill. While we retained some things, other thing had to be released.
In our spiritual lives, the same thing is true. Some things have to be let go! There are some things that try to attach themselves to our lives that are just plain trash. Those things need to be kicked to the curb! Other things simply don’t have a place in our lives and those things need to be let go.
Paul tells us in verse 2 that we are to focus our thoughts on Heavenly things. While we do that, we are to avoid getting caught up in all the things in this world that would swamp our minds and hinder our walk. If we allowed the mind to focus on this world, it would have no time to give itself to the things of God.
Here in Colossians, Paul mentions some dangerous distractions that would hinder our walk if they were allowed to. Let me show you what he says we need to avoid.
- 2:8 False Doctrine – Paul warns these early believers about those who would carry them off into false doctrinal beliefs. The word “spoil” means “to carry off the booty; to carry someone off as a captive”. The enemy would love nothing better than for God’s people to get themselves trapped in some false system of belief that takes the emphasis off Jesus. He tells us that the enemy does thin through:
- Philosophies – This refers to wisdom of men. Man has invented some strange belief systems over the years, and every single manmade belief system is at variance with Jesus Christ. If what a person teaches is not backed up by the Word of God; that system is to be avoided by the believer.
- Vain Deceit – This phrase means “empty tricks”. It refers to those who deceive through trickery or through a slick message. Again, if the message is not Jesus it is not of God. If the focus is not on Jesus and His shed blood, it is not of God!
- Traditions of Men – Believer are warned to be careful of long held beliefs. Just because people have believed something to be true and have been taught that something is true, does not make it true! We are not to base our faith and our walk on the traditions of men, no matter how godly or worthy of respect the man may be. We are to base our belief system on the Word of God alone!
- The Rudiments of the World – Again, believers are warned against falling away from a mature faith to accept a simplistic doctrine. This phrase refers to an alphabet, or things in a row. It speaks of simple things in contrast to deeper truth. We are to stay with the Bible and try every teaching against the clear Word of God.
(Ill. If you listen to certain high profile preachers in our day, you hear the very things Paul warned the Colossians about being taught in the pulpits of our day. We are to avoid false doctrine at all costs. We are to run from it, regardless of the package in which it is presented.)
Col 2:16-17, 21-23 Foolish Demands – Paul also warns believers to watch out for people who would place them back under the Law. Jesus came to deliver us from legalism and from the harsh, impossible demands of the Law. Christians are to stand in the liberty they have been given in Jesus Christ. Paul is telling these believers that “no man has the right to be their judge”. If they have been saved by Jesus, they have been delivered from the demands of the Law and they enjoy great liberty in Jesus. The only reason that liberty should be limited is for the sake of a weaker brother or sister, Rom. 14-15; 1 Cor. 8-10. The whole point of these verses is this: true spirituality does not consist in the keeping of man-made, external rules; but in a personal, faith relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
What you do or do not do is not what makes you a spiritual person. Spirituality comes from knowing Jesus and allowing Him to live through you!
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