Colossians 3:8-10

Position Determines Practice

 

 

1. Blasphemy: blasphēmian, “slander, evil speaking”, speech injurious to another’s good name
1. This would include blasphemy against God…

                                                             i.      Referring to oneself as deity is blasphemy. That is what Jesus was accused of.

                                                          ii.      But it is blasphemous to use the Lord’s name in vain too! That too is sin.

                                                        iii.      It has become popular today – especially with young girls to say, “O my God” as if it were an interjection.

                                                        iv.      God’s name is HOLY. It is not an interjection. It is a precious name to used with great care… and not in vain (empty; no purpose).

                                                           v.      Do not blaspheme… speak evil… by using God’s holy name in a casual manner.

2. While the term blasphemy is used as evil speaking against God, in writing to believers, it is more likely Paul had in mind evil speaking against men.

                                                             i.      We have all been guilty of this sin too: speaking evil of others… slander… saying things about a person that was intended to hurt them… to damage their reputation… make them look bad before others…

                                                          ii.      This is malice coming forth out of the mouth!

                                                        iii.      If malice is in the heart… and a slow simmering anger against a person is in our heart… then eventually it will come out of our mouths… in the form of evil speaking!

3. Blasphemy… ALL evil speaking… is to be put off like a dirty rag. It is unbecoming for a saint of God.

 

2. Filthy communication (aischrologian) is shameful, indecent, dishonorable, or abrasive speech.
1. Wuest: foul sneaking, low and obscene speech.
2. This term speaks of foul language… swearing… cursing… a dirty mouth…
3. The Christian is a new creature, and should develop a new vocabulary!

                                                             i.      Some words may not actually be curse words… but they might not be fitting for a believer.

                                                          ii.      Some terms might be insensitive, course, tactless, rude, vulgar, or offensive.

                                                        iii.      The believer ought to be CAREFUL about the very words we choose to speak.

                                                        iv.      Remember, we are going to be judged by our words… every idle word spoken will be evaluated at the Bema seat of Christ.

                                                           v.      Matt. 12:36  - But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

 

4. Eph.5:4 – Paul expands this to foolish talking or jesting.

                                                             i.      Filthiness – obscene speech; shameless speech or conduct.  (Cf. Eph. 5:12 – a shame to speak of some things!)

                                                          ii.      Jesting = (lit = good + turn… twisting words and meanings around to make it funny)… joking around.

1.    But Paul is not forbidding joking in general. He is forbidding jesting “which is not convenient --- fitting, becoming a saint.”

a.    Note that Paul uses the very same REASONING here as in Colossians.

b.    The REASON not to use course language is based upon our position.

c.     If you are born again, you are a saint of God. Your speech should reflect your position!

2.    Good clean jokes are good, clean fun.

3.    But beware because good clean jokes in a time of laughter can easily and quickly degenerate into that which is no longer good clean fun. 

4.    When that occurs, walk away. Don’t get caught up in that frenzy… and find yourself laughing at clever, but filthy jokes!

5.    Dirty jokes… even off colored jokes… questionable jokes… or jokes designed to hurt people… are UNBECOMING a saint of God.

6.    And don’t tell jokes that on the edge of being dirty… or ambiguous in meaning… shady…

7.    If you wouldn’t tell the joke if Christ were standing next to you, then don’t tell it ever… because Christ lives IN you!

                                                        iii.      Our speech should be PURE… clean… holy… honorable… glorifying to God.

                                                        iv.      In this context, Paul says that THANKSGIVING is fitting for the believer. Replace the course, vulgar speech with thanksgiving.

                                                           v.      Eph. 4:29 – let NO corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth… but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister GRACE to the hearers.

                                                        vi.      This is a command to be OBEYED!

 

3. Lying (Eph. 4:25) for truthfulness is essential in followers of the One who is “the Truth” (John 14:6
1. Defined: to lie, to speak deliberate falsehoods; to deceive one by a lie
2. Lying is more than just an inaccuracy. It is the MOTIVE that makes it a lie… the INTENT to deceive.
3. You’re not lying if you give inaccurate information, but you THOUGHT it was true. It is a lie when you give inaccurate information and intend to deceive and mislead.
4. Thus, because it involves our intentions, we can lie in lots of ways… not just speech… in writing… in what we leave out of a conversation… through innuendo…
5. Wuest: “Lie” is present imperative in a prohibition, forbidding the continuance of an action already going on.

                                                             i.      It is, “Stop lying to one another.”

                                                          ii.      Yes even believers lie… and it is always sinful.

                                                        iii.      We are to put it to death… put it off like a filthy garment.

                                                        iv.      What could be more contrary to our position in Christ, who is the TRUTH?!

 

 

1. Here Paul continues his exhortations based upon our position.
2. The old man is the man we were in Adam.
1. The old man stands in contrast to the new man we are in Christ. (vs.10)
2. The old man is the unregenerate you… the unsaved you… the person you were before you came to Christ for salvation.
3. The old man was who we were in Adam. (I Cor.15:21-22)

                                                             i.      We are all related to Adam through physical birth.

                                                          ii.      Because of Adam’s sin, those who were IN Adam have his sin imputed to our account.

                                                        iii.      The result is physical death and the second death… condemnation.

                                                        iv.      Those IN ADAM share Adam’s fallen nature and his condemnation.

4. I Cor. 2:14 – the old man was a natural man.

                                                             i.      He did not have the Spirit and was 100% ignorant of spiritual things – though he may be fluent in religion.

                                                          ii.      He cannot understand spiritual things for they are spiritually discerned, and he is spiritually dead – and does not have the Spirit of God.

                                                        iii.      He cannot know God or His Word.

                                                        iv.      He is very much ALIVE to the natural realm and may excel in the pursuits of an earthly life: education, politics, religion, culture, moral living without God,

                                                           v.      But he is DEAD to the spiritual realm. He cannot enter it… he cannot fathom it… it is foolishness to him.

                                                        vi.      Like the false teachers I John 4:3 describes, “They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.”

                                                      vii.      The natural man is conversant and skillful in this natural realm… but unable to perceive… unable to enter… unable to know the spiritual realm.

5. That person was dead in sins. (Eph. 2:1)

                                                             i.      He was dead in sins.

                                                          ii.      He did not possess eternal life.

                                                        iii.      He had not been regenerated.

                                                        iv.      Thus, he did not have a new heart. He had only had one nature: a sin nature.

6. He was enslaved to sin.

                                                             i.      Rom.6:6c – we served sin as slaves to it.

                                                          ii.      Rom. 6:14 - Sin had dominion over our old man.

7. Col. 3:7 - Therefore, the old man LIVED in the kinds of sins listed.

                                                             i.      These sins were characteristic of his lifestyle.

                                                          ii.      He LIVED & WALKED in them.

                                                        iii.      He knew no other walk… he had no other life.

8. Summary of the description of the old man:

                                                             i.      In Adam, and possesses Adam’s fallen nature and condemnation.

                                                          ii.      Dead in sins – unregenerate - unsaved

                                                        iii.      Alive only in the natural, earthly realm

                                                        iv.      He does not have a new nature – he has only the old nature, and is thus “enslaved” to it.

                                                           v.      Thus, he lives and walks in the natural realm… the realm of the flesh.

                                                        vi.      He is shackled by his fallen, sinful, human nature which is his because of his physical birth… in Adam.

 

3. He states that the Colossians had already put off the old man.
1. This is not a command to put off our old man. It is a statement of fact. He is dead already!
2. The old man is crucified… dead… mortified… put off

                                                             i.      Col.2:20  - dead with Christ to the world. (Gal. 6:14)

                                                          ii.      Col.3:3 – Since ye are dead with Christ…

                                                        iii.      Rom. 6:6 – your old man was crucified with Christ

3. This is true of EVERY believer in Christ… from the babe in Christ to the mature believer… from the carnal believer to the spiritual believer…

 

4. This is our new POSITION in Christ.
1. Col. 2:12 - By means of Spirit baptism, we were immersed or placed IN Christ.
2. In Christ, we are thus identified with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. His death becomes our death.
3. Hence, our old man is DEAD… because we died with Christ.

 

5. The significance of this truth:
1. This means that the person we USED to be before salvation is dead.

                                                             i.      The old unsaved person… the old unregenerate you is dead!

                                                          ii.      We now have ETERNAL life and can never revert back to the position of being DEAD in sins. That man is dead!

                                                        iii.      We no longer are the man who existed only in the natural realm and was enslaved to sin.

2. We are NOT that person any more! We have been set FREE from bondage and slavery to sin.

                                                             i.      That means that we don’t HAVE to live that way any more!

                                                          ii.      The liar died with Christ! Praise the Lord.

                                                        iii.      The blasphemer died.

                                                        iv.      The man with the dirty mouth and a dirty mind died.

                                                           v.      The man who led an unclean, lascivious, and covetous life is dead.

3. Our past life is OVER – gone and buried. Don’t dig it up. Don’t try to relive it.

                                                             i.      Don’t gloat over past accomplishments in the flesh. They are but dung apart from Christ.

                                                          ii.      Don’t waste time weeping over past failures.

                                                        iii.      BELIEVE t hat our past life is GONE… dead and buried… and put out of sight.

                                                        iv.      This is the BASIS for a Spirit filled walk of faith: knowing and believing that our old IS dead… and thus we don’t have to live that way any more!

 

4. Therefore, don’t behave like that old man.

                                                             i.      Put off his dirty clothing… his bad behavior.

                                                          ii.      Don’t use your past life as an excuse for NOT walking in the Spirit today…

                                                        iii.      Modern psychology makes us VICTIMS of our past.

Þ    They say, “We can’t help our behavior. It’s not our fault we are this way. We have been abused in the past.

Þ    Or, “I can’t help it. I have addictions. I’ve always been an addict.”

Þ    “I can’t help it. I have been permanently scarred from my past.”

Þ    Or “I can’t help it. This is the way I’ve always been!”

                                                        iv.      God’s Word to such folks is clear: the abused person is dead! The addict is dead! The man with scarred past is dead!

                                                           v.      And to the man who says, “I can’t help it. This is the way I’ve always been” God says, CHANGE! Put off those dirty clothes.

                                                        vi.      To the man who says, “I can’t help it. I’m addicted” (alcohol, sex, smoking, drugs, etc.) God says that the addict is crucified!

                                                      vii.      To the one who is struggling with scars deep in their soul from the past God says, “I am the Great Physician. I am the Author of life. I am the Good Shepherd who restores souls. If I can create the universe, I can heal a scar! Trust Me.”

                                                   viii.      God’s Word to such folks is clear: the abused person is dead! The addict is dead! The covetous man is dead. The man with scarred past is dead! The old man who was enslaved to SIN died!

                                                        ix.      Such WERE some of you, but now ye are CLEANSED!

                                                           x.      And to the man who says, “I can’t help it. This is the way I’ve always been” God commands us to Put off those dirty clothes. CHANGE!

                                                        xi.      “I can’t” is not part of the vocabulary of the believer walking in the Spirit.

                                                      xii.      If we were left to ourselves that is the right answer. But it is GOD who works in us both to will & the DO

                                                   xiii.      I’m sure Moses felt like saying “I can’t” make water come out of the rock… and I surely can’t part the Red Sea!” I’m sure Peter felt like saying, “I can’t” when Jesus told him to walk on the water!

                                                    xiv.      It doesn’t matter how powerless or hopeless we FEEL. What matters is what God said… and whether we are willing to believe Him or not.

                                                      xv.      When we believe, God does a supernatural work in us… like enabling Peter to walk on water… Moses to part the Red Sea… or enabling US to have victory over the sin that used to enslave us!

 

5. Perhaps some of us here have been struggling with the sins listed here by Paul: sexual sins, anger, wrath, lying, covetousness, .

                                                             i.      They can control a person’s life. Perhaps they controlled your old life.

                                                          ii.      But now you are saved… and the Spirit of God seeks to control your life and WILL – if we trust God… yield to Him… and BELIEVE God.

                                                        iii.      God said that the old man who was enslaved to those sins is dead. We don’t have to live like a slave to sin any more.

                                                        iv.      God said that we are a new man in Christ and he is ABLE to walk in newness of life and experience victory.

                                                           v.      Do you believe God? (That’s the real question!)

 

6. Victory is through faith.
1. Faith demands that we BELIEVE what God said about our old man. Faith is believing what God said… even if our feelings tell us otherwise.
2. We walk by FAITH, not by sight or feelings… the measuring yards of the OLD man.
3. God says that that man is dead! Do you believe Him?

                                                             i.      The person who was enslaved to sin is DEAD.

                                                          ii.      The person who lived only in the natural realm… in the sins of the flesh… with an untamed temper… is dead!

4. When we say, “I can’t help it” we are declaring to God that we do NOT believe Him when he says that the person who was enslaved to sin is dead.

                                                             i.      Chains have been torn asunder! Praise God for that!

                                                          ii.      As long as we refuse to believe God on this point, we are DOOMED to a miserable life of relentless frustration and failure. (Rom 7)

5. The new birth radically changed us, whether we know and appreciate it or not.

                                                             i.      We are NOT the same person anymore.

                                                          ii.      The person we USED to be died… we are no longer enslaved to sin.

                                                        iii.      The past is behind us. If we sin now, it is our choice.

                                                        iv.      Believe God and we are on the way to victory.

6. Refuse to believe God – and we are stuck in perpetual immaturity, carnality, discouragement and defeat. (the slough of despondency)

                                                             i.      What a miserable way to live – to be enslaved to our past.

                                                          ii.      What makes this miserable life even worse is when we have been set free and yet we don’t believe it!

7. Illustration: Shetland collie on his run…
8. We have been set free from sin and don’t HAVE to live that way any more… but we do. It is such a habit… and we are reluctant to believe God.
9. Faith will set us free. Knowing and believing the TRUTH will set us free.
10. Unbelief will keep us enslaved to our past life… our former lifestyle… to the ways of our old man.

 

 

A.   The New Man Described

 

1. New Defined (there are two words for new in Greek)
1. Neos: New, recent. New in relation to time, that which has recently come into existence or become present.
2. The new man is a new person. He recently came into existence.
3. This person did not exist before salvation.

 

2. The new man is a new creation in Christ. (II Cor. 5:17)
1. Note that the new creation is so because he is IN Christ.

Þ    In Christ, the believer died and rose again.

Þ    Our old man DIED with Christ.

Þ    A new man AROSE with Christ… as a new creation.

2. Creation is a supernatural work that only God can perform.
3. Salvation is a supernatural work in which God makes us a NEW man… a new creation… a new person.
4. The old man is the kind of person we were IN Adam (dead in sin; enslaved to sin; condemned by sin; one nature = sin).
5. The new man is the kind of person we are in Christ (alive unto God; free from sin; with a new nature… a new heart… a new mind… justified!)
6. God does a supernatural work of eternally CHANGING us the moment we receive Christ as Savior. We are a NEW man… although it may not be apparent to onlookers.
7. We look the same; talk the same; we live in the same body; our voice doesn’t change; our SS # is the same; our address is the same; in one sense we are the SAME person.
8. But in another sense, we are a completely NEW person: we don’t have to sin… AND we are ABLE to walk in newness of life!

 

3. “Putting on the new man” is NOT a command.
1. It is a statement of fact. Every believer has already put on the new man.
2. At the moment of saving faith, the old man is put off, and the new man is put on.
3. This is not something to strive to accomplish. It is something revealed by God and is to be BELIEVED.
4. It is the BASIS upon which God commands us as believers in this age.
5. Because we ARE a new man… because we ARE a new creation, we are thus ABLE to walk in newness of life!

 

 

 

 

 

 

B.   God Addresses the New Man in Christ

 

1. God gives impossible commands to this new creature.

a.    He commands us to mortify the sins of the flesh which previously enslaved us! (fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, anger, wrath, malice, filthy speech, and lying.)

b.    These were sins that the old man could NEVER put away.

Þ    These were impossible commands to an unsaved man… to our old man.

Þ    He was enslaved to them.

Þ    He had only one nature: SIN!

c.     But the new creature in Christ is a new kind of person.

Þ    The new man has a new nature… the divine nature.

Þ    He died to sin and is set free from bondage to sin. He doesn’t HAVE to sin.

Þ    He is indwelt by the HS and Christ Himself!

Þ    He has all the power of the resurrection available to enable to DO whatever God has commanded.

Þ    He not only has the will but the ability to perform God’s good pleasure.

Þ    He is seated in heavenly places in Christ and blessed with all spiritual blessings and enablements.

Þ    Yes he still has the fallen nature inherited as a son of Adam, but he also has a new nature that is his because he is regenerated and is in Christ…

Þ    He has a new mind, a new heart, and a new will.

Þ    He is ABLE to walk in newness of life.

Þ    That means that there are no excuses for lying, anger, fornication, covetousness… or any other sin.

Þ    Now that we are saved, now that God has given us new life, He expects a new lifestyle…

Þ    And God has provided everything necessary for that to be a reality in your life and mine.

Þ    The new man (and only the new man) is capable of understanding God’s Word & doing God’s Word.

Þ    Apart from the commands to be saved, all the appeals in the NT are addressed to the new man.

Þ    The new man now has a choice: to walk in the flesh or in the Spirit.

 

2. BUT NOW we are saved! BUT NOW we are new creatures! BUT NOW our old man is dead…

a.    Therefore, behaving like that dirty old man is unbecoming one in our glorious heavenly position!

b.    We have a new position. God expects us to wear the new clothing… white linen… clean and white… the “R” of the saints. We should be CLOTHED with “R”… in mind, heart, speech, and behavior.

c.     And this command is to be OBEYED… NOT in order to BECOME a saint of God… but because we already ARE a saint of God… a new creature!

d.    Our new position as a redeemed son of God, as a citizen of heaven, as one who is raised with Christ and seated in heavenly places, ought to have an effect on our thinking, our attitude, and our behavior!

Þ    Our position determines our clothing!

Þ    Our position should CHANGE the condition of our daily lives… and make us more like Christ!

Þ    If it doesn’t change us, then it really hasn’t sunken in yet!

Þ    DWELL on it; meditate upon it; study it; enjoy it;

Þ    As we ABIDE in that glorious position where we have been placed, we will bear fruit… like the branch that abides in the Vine.

Þ    As we abide in Him, we are ABLE to walk in newness of life; ABLE to have a victorious Christian life;