Chapter 2 closed with- Let no one defraud you (18). Here the culprit is religious mysticism that replaces spiritual nourishment from Christ with empty (but exciting) religious experiences. You have in Christ all that you need. Beware substitutes!
“The greatest philosophy ever produced does not come within a thousand leagues of the fathomless profundity of our Lord’s statements, e.g., “Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.’” Oswald Chambers
Put to death (1–7). In Christ, you have died to the old life and been raised to a new life (Rom. 6:1–14; Eph. 2:1–10), so make the new life the focus of your attention. Set your mind on it; seek to experience all that you have in Christ.
Put off (8–9). Like Lazarus (John 11:44), you must get rid of the graveclothes that belong to the old life. By faith, put off the old sins that bound you; Christ has set you free.
The Message
We experience the favor of God in the Will of God
Psalms 37:4 NIV Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Colossians 3:1-11 NIV1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
- Romans 12:1 NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
- Ephesians 4:1-2 NIV As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
- Philippians 4:1 NIV Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
- 1 John 3:2 NIV Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
- Romans 1:20-21 NIV For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
- Romans 1:32 NIV Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
- Ephesians 4:22-23 NIV You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
- Barbarian. Someone who did not speak Greek and was thought to be uncivilized.
- Scythian. Scythians were known especially for their brutality and were considered by others as little better than wild beasts. They came originally from what is today south Russia.
- Christ is all, and is in all. Christ transcends all barriers and unifies people from all cultures, ethnicities and nations. Such distinctions are no longer cause for division. Christ alone matters
- Galatians 3:28 NIV There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.