Colossians 3 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00So, in Colossians chapter 3, we're going
2. 0:03to learn what we should put on after
3. 0:06we've put off the flesh. In the previous
4. 0:09chapter, he's saying, "Don't try to
5. 0:10fight the flesh with the flesh." Rules
6. 0:13and regulations and dos and don'ts and
7. 0:15festivals and moons and Sabbaths and all
8. 0:18the other cheap shadow stuff doesn't do
9. 0:21anything when it comes to killing the
10. 0:24flesh. Now, he's going to tell us what
11. 0:27we need to do instead. He says you got
12. 0:29to be circumcised in baptism, which is
13. 0:31the putting off of the flesh. You got to
14. 0:34continue to walk. Now in chapter 3,
15. 0:37verse one, therefore, if you have been
16. 0:41raised up with Christ,
17. 0:43keep seeking the things above where
18. 0:47Christ is seated at the right hand of
19. 0:49God.
20. 0:52He's saying if you've been raised up
21. 0:54with Christ, if if the Holy Spirit has
22. 0:57made alive a new you, has given you the
23. 1:00power of of God, if you've been
24. 1:02strengthened with power in the inner
25. 1:03man, then keep seeking what is above
26. 1:08where Christ is seated at the right hand
27. 1:11of the throne of God. Now, that does not
28. 1:13mean that there is a a dad throne and a
29. 1:15son thrown. That is not what he's saying
30. 1:16at all. This is a term a figure of
31. 1:19speech that when an heir apparent
32. 1:22finally took the throne of his father he
33. 1:25was sitting at the right hand of the
34. 1:26throne of of the king because that was
35. 1:29the place of full inherited power and
36. 1:33that's where Jesus is. There's only one
37. 1:35on the throne. To him who sits on the
38. 1:38throne, not to them who sit on the
39. 1:40throne. To him who sits on the throne
40. 1:44be blessing and honor and glory and
41. 1:46power. He is the one who sits on the
42. 1:48throne. He is the lamb.
43. 1:50Set your mind on things above, not on
44. 1:54things that are on the earth. So he's
45. 1:57saying, don't become completely tangled
46. 2:00up in earthly, visible, doable, fleshly
47. 2:05expressions of religion,
48. 2:07for you have died and your life is
49. 2:11hidden with Christ in God. hidden.
50. 2:16Nobody can find your former identity.
51. 2:19Nobody can find the autonomous,
52. 2:22independent, do-it-yourself you. Where
53. 2:25are they? We can't find them because
54. 2:27their life is hidden
55. 2:30with Christ in God.
56. 2:33That is a new identity if ever there was
57. 2:35one. When Christ who is our life is
58. 2:40revealed, then you also will be revealed
59. 2:43with him in glory. This term reveal,
60. 2:47it's apocalypsis. It's the unveiling.
61. 2:50It's the disclosure that that Paul spoke
62. 2:53of in Romans 8, the revealing of the
63. 2:56sons of God. We're going to be revealed.
64. 3:00This is the unveiling of a glorified
65. 3:03self that we're going to experience.
66. 3:06Therefore consider the members of your
67. 3:08earthly body as dead to immorality,
68. 3:13impurity, passion, evil desire, and
69. 3:17greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it
70. 3:20is because of these things that the
71. 3:22wrath of God will come upon the sons of
72. 3:26disobedience. Now, is this Paul teaching
73. 3:29a permissive gospel? No. He doesn't say
74. 3:32it used to come on the sons of
75. 3:34disobedience. He says, "You've got to be
76. 3:36dead to all of this cuz if you're not,
77. 3:38the wrath of God is coming on you." This
78. 3:41is disobedience.
79. 3:43But somehow we have access to a power to
80. 3:47put this to death that we do not have
81. 3:50through the rules and regulations and
82. 3:51dos and don'ts religion.
83. 3:54For it is because of these things that
84. 3:55the wrath of God will come upon the sons
85. 3:58of disobedience.
86. 4:00And in them you also once walked when
87. 4:04you were living in them these sins.
88. 4:07But now you also put them all aside.
89. 4:12Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and
90. 4:15abusive speech from your mouth.
91. 4:19He gives immorality, impurity, passion,
92. 4:22evil desire, and greed. And he calls
93. 4:25greed idolatry.
94. 4:30The the way carnal people go after money
95. 4:34and possessions is the way righteous
96. 4:36people should go after Jesus in the
97. 4:38kingdom.
98. 4:40When you go after things the way you
99. 4:42should go after Jesus in the kingdom,
100. 4:44you're an idoltor. But when you go after
101. 4:46Jesus in the kingdom, the way you used
102. 4:49to go after things, you're a true
103. 4:51disciple.
104. 4:54You once formerly were living in them,
105. 4:56but now you also put them all aside.
106. 5:00Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and
107. 5:02abusive speech from your mouth. Do not
108. 5:05lie to one another since you laid aside
109. 5:08the old self with its evil practices
110. 5:13and have put on the new self who is
111. 5:17being renewed to a true knowledge
112. 5:20according to the image of the one who
113. 5:22created him. Now, the new self is not
114. 5:25talking about an individual new you
115. 5:27because you're hidden. The new self is
116. 5:29talking about the one new man that
117. 5:32Ephesians is speaking of. He's talking
118. 5:34about the resurrected Jesus, the body of
119. 5:37Christ. So you could read that. Put on
120. 5:39the new body of Christ
121. 5:43who is being renewed in a true knowledge
122. 5:47according to the image of the one who
123. 5:49created him. Amen. The body is being
124. 5:53renewed. It's being changed according to
125. 5:56a true knowledge. True knowledge is
126. 5:59constantly renewing us to be more like
127. 6:01God. False knowledge is taking pride in
128. 6:04things we did apart from God that keep
129. 6:07distancing us from his presence.
130. 6:11This is a renewal in which there is no
131. 6:13distinction between Greek and Jew,
132. 6:16circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian
133. 6:19or cythian, slave and free man. But
134. 6:23Christ is all
135. 6:25and in all.
136. 6:29There's no difference because there's
137. 6:30only one Christ and he's all and he's in
138. 6:34all. This is the hope of glory. Christ
139. 6:37in you, the hope of glory.
140. 6:40What Paul has just said is world
141. 6:42changing. No Roman, no Greek, no
142. 6:45philosopher had ever stood at a podium
143. 6:48and said, "There is neither Jew nor
144. 6:50Greek. There is neither male nor
145. 6:52female." Only Paul, only the gospel of
146. 6:56Jesus. Every every every movement out
147. 6:59there that flies the banner of equality
148. 7:03steals it from the pages of the Bible.
149. 7:06But there's only one place of true
150. 7:08equality. That is when we all die to our
151. 7:10old self and become brothers and sisters
152. 7:13in the one new man of Jesus Christ.
153. 7:17So as those who have been chosen of God,
154. 7:21holy and beloved, put on a heart of
155. 7:26compassion,
156. 7:28kindness,
157. 7:29humility,
158. 7:31gentleness, and patience,
159. 7:34bearing with one another. Does this make
160. 7:36you think of Ephesians?
161. 7:38Bearing with one another and forgiving
162. 7:41each other. Whoever has a complaint
163. 7:44against anyone.
164. 7:47Just as the Lord forgave you, so also
165. 7:52should you.
166. 7:54Beyond all these things, put on love.
167. 8:00So, he's told us there's a new man, and
168. 8:02now he's telling us all the ways to get
169. 8:06inside that new man.
170. 8:08How do you get inside that new man?
171. 8:11compassion, kindness, humility,
172. 8:13gentleness, patience, bearing with one
173. 8:16another, forgiving, forgiving,
174. 8:21and above all else, put on love. The new
175. 8:24man is the incarnation of love. Beyond
176. 8:28all these things, put on love, which is
177. 8:30the perfect bond of unity. Unity is not
178. 8:35a feeling. It's a covenant. But love is
179. 8:40what bonds the pieces together. Glue is
180. 8:44what bonds the elements of your phone.
181. 8:46Screws bond the pieces of this watch.
182. 8:50But love bonds the ligaments of the
183. 8:54body, the relationships together. When
184. 8:57the body is fraying, we've lost love.
185. 9:01We've lost the glue,
186. 9:05the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace
187. 9:09of God rule in your hearts to which
188. 9:13indeed you were called in one body and
189. 9:17be thankful.
190. 9:19This is similar to Philippians where he
191. 9:21tells us that the peace of God will
192. 9:24guard literally garrison, protect with
193. 9:27soldier force our hearts and minds in
194. 9:30Christ. It's the same thing here. Rule
195. 9:33now is the king taking over. It's a
196. 9:36rulership. Amen. Peace is not a feeling
197. 9:40that ensues from a corrected
198. 9:42circumstance.
199. 9:44Peace is a will of God imposed in a
200. 9:47terrible circumstance and says this
201. 9:50doesn't fit with your understanding. It
202. 9:52surpasses knowledge. But God's way is
203. 9:55going to be done. Let it rule. Let
204. 9:59let
205. 10:02the peace of God rule. That means it's
206. 10:05up to you. That means it's up to me. I
207. 10:08have to choose to let the peace of God
208. 10:12garrison my heart
209. 10:15to which indeed we were called in one
210. 10:17body.
211. 10:19So the peace is found in the body.
212. 10:24So much of the anxiety is trying to
213. 10:26figure it out alone outside the body.
214. 10:30Oh, and he also adds and be thankful.
215. 10:35You got to be grateful because you
216. 10:36haven't received grace gratus until it's
217. 10:39turned into gratitude.
218. 10:42Let the word of Christ richly dwell
219. 10:46within you.
220. 10:49Let the word of Christ richly dwell
221. 10:52within you. Do we have an impoverished
222. 10:54word of Christ? Do we know how to
223. 10:56minister the truth as fragments and
224. 10:59breadcrumbs? Or do we have the steak and
225. 11:02the potatoes and the drink and the
226. 11:04dessert? Does the word of Christ richly
227. 11:07dwell within us? Let the word of Christ
228. 11:10richly dwell within you with all wisdom,
229. 11:16teaching and admonishing one another
230. 11:20with psalms and hymns and spiritual
231. 11:24songs, singing with thankfulness in your
232. 11:27hearts to God. This is how the word of
233. 11:29Christ is rich in the church.
234. 11:34This is Jerusalem, a city of truth.
235. 11:36Whatever you do in word or deed, do all
236. 11:39in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
237. 11:43thanks through him to God the Father.
238. 11:46Let everything be an expression not of
239. 11:48you, but of Jesus to others. Am I giving
240. 11:52you a cup? I'm giving this as a member
241. 11:56of Christ to a member of Christ. I'm not
242. 11:58giving this because I'm special or
243. 12:00you're special. I'm doing it in the name
244. 12:02of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through
245. 12:05him to God the Father.
246. 12:09Wives, be subject to your husbands as is
247. 12:12fitting in the Lord.
248. 12:15Husbands, love your wives and do not be
249. 12:18embittered against them. Children, be
250. 12:21obedient to your parents in all things,
251. 12:24for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
252. 12:26Fathers, do not exasperate your children
253. 12:29so that they will not lose heart. Slaves
254. 12:32in all things, obey those who are your
255. 12:34masters on earth, not with external
256. 12:36service as those who merely please men,
257. 12:39but with sincerity of heart, fearing the
258. 12:41Lord. Whatever you do, do your work
259. 12:44heartily as for the Lord rather than for
260. 12:46men, knowing that from the Lord you will
261. 12:49receive the reward of the inheritance.
262. 12:51It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
263. 12:55For he who does wrong will receive the
264. 12:57consequences of the wrong which he has
265. 13:00done and that without partiality.
266. 13:03So he's saying
267. 13:06this pivot seems sudden. It's like where
268. 13:08is Paul going? We were just talking
269. 13:10about these good attitudes and we were
270. 13:13talking about doing everything for Jesus
271. 13:14and then all of a sudden it's like
272. 13:16submit order order submit and don't
273. 13:20worry about what they've done wrong cuz
274. 13:21God will judge them without partiality.
275. 13:23Well, what he's saying is that none of
276. 13:27this can be possible. We can't live in
277. 13:30Christ. We can't be in him except if we
278. 13:34submit not just to his feelings, his
279. 13:37attitudes, his grace, his spirit, but
280. 13:40also the order by which he has arranged
281. 13:43relationships.
282. 13:45These relationships comprise the
283. 13:47components that are glued and held
284. 13:49together by love. So he's saying, you've
285. 13:52got to submit in these ways. And if
286. 13:54people wrong you, God's going to judge
287. 13:56them without partiality. Whether they
288. 13:58think they're a master or whether they
289. 14:00think they're a slave, they're going to
290. 14:01be judged by God without partiality. But
291. 14:03you, you got to understand that no
292. 14:05matter where you're called, no matter
293. 14:07what you're doing, you can do it as an
294. 14:11expression of Jesus. This whole thing is
295. 14:14an outworking of what it means that he
296. 14:17says in verse 16 and 17, whatever you do
297. 14:20in word and deed, do all in the name of
298. 14:22the Lord Jesus. He's saying,
299. 14:25"Wives, be a wife in the name of the
300. 14:28Lord Jesus. Husband, be a husband in the
301. 14:30name of the Lord Jesus." He's saying,
302. 14:31"See your relational obligations as an
303. 14:35expression of the authority and rule and
304. 14:38name of the Lord Jesus." Here's how.
305. 14:41Submit, love, serve. Do it like this.
306. 14:45And that's when the body is real. That's
307. 14:47when we're living and doing and being in
308. 14:49the name of the Lord Jesus.