We’re working our way through the book of Colossians in this series of posts. In this lesson, we’ll look at what it means to seek things that are above, how to set our minds on Christ and begin to look at the process of change in a believer’s life.
At the bottom, you’ll find a complete list of the other posts in this study on Colossians.
Seek to Be Like Christ – Colossians 3.1-15
Background
The church at Colossae was founded by a man named Epaphras. Epaphras had traveled to Rome to visit Paul and share his concerns about the presence of false teachers in his beloved church. The book of Colossians was Paul’s response. In it, he gives a beautiful explanation of the preeminence of Christ, shares amazing gospel truths, and explains how those truths should be lived out in the life of the believer.
Last time we looked at one of the four elements of false teaching being espoused in Colossae, Jewish legalism and we saw how our union with Christ makes those legalistic requirements unnecessary.
If you missed it or any of the previous posts, here are the links:
The Preeminent Christ & Why It’s Important | Colossians Part 2
What Does Christ’s Preeminence Mean to Me? | Colossians Part 3
A Summary of the Christian Life | Colossians Part 4
The Unfolding Plan of God, Crimes of Passion & Our Hope of Glory | Colossians Part 5
Rooted & Established in Christ | Colossians Part 6
The Danger of a False Gospel | Colossians Part 7
The Power of God in Us | Part 8
Our Union with Christ | Part 9
Seek to Be Like Christ
Today we’re going to look at Colossians 3.1-15, beginning with verses 1-4:
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.
Paul spent much of the last two chapters teaching us who Jesus Christ is and what it means that we have been united with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. Here in chapter 3, Paul begins showing us how we live that out in our everyday lives.
In verse 1, he calls us to “seek the things that are above.” This is not just heaven itself but the One who is in heaven, our Savior Jesus Christ. We are to set our hearts on Him, seek to become more and more like Him every day and live in light of who He is and all that He has done for us. Like Paul, we should make it our goal in life to be pleasing to Him in all things (2 Cor. 5.9).
Set Your Mind on Christ
In verse 2 he says, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” This is not merely an intellectual exercise. We are to set our minds on Jesus, who He is, His character, and what He values. We should preach the gospel to ourselves constantly. And we should examine our thoughts, values, ideas, motives, and responses in light of Scripture.
In fact, scripture needs to be the lens through which we view all of life. When facing trials, we should remember passages like Romans 8.28-30; 1 Corinthians 10.13, and James 1.2-4. In our joys, we should remember it all comes from His hand (Jas. 1.17). And we should pray that our hearts, minds, and wills become more aligned with His every day.
These two verses are what we call imperatives. They are the commands. Then in verses 3-4, Paul reminds us again of the why, because we have died with Christ (v. 3) and because we will one day be with Him in glory (v. 4). That should encourage us to keep an eternal perspective at all times.
Put to Death What is Earthly
Then in verse 5, Paul begins to expand on the indicatives:
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Ephesians 4.22-24 says it this way:
22to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
If you look back at Colossians 3.5 again. It says we’re to put to death what is earthly. The old man, the habits of our sinful, selfish nature.
We’re to put off the kinds of things listed in Colossians 3.5-10.
Ephesians 4.17 says we’re not to walk as the Gentiles do. We’re not to act like unbelievers. Our faith in Christ and our union with Him should change us. Not in some unseen way only but in the way we think, speak, and act.
But this isn’t just a one-sided change.
The Principle of Replacement
Starting in verse 12, he said:
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
This process of changing and growing requires that we put some things off or put them to death. But we must also put some other things on in place of them.
Tonight, you’ll take off your old dirty clothes and put something else on instead. I doubt that you will get up in the morning and put a clean blouse over the dirty one. You’ll take off one and put on another.
In the same way, the Christian life involves putting off certain things and replacing them with Christlike thinking, speaking, and acting.
And it’s important to realize that our thinking is just as important as our speaking and acting, perhaps more so. Because if we think about something for very long, it will come out of our mouths and eventually through our actions.
Proverbs 4.23 in the New Century Version says:
Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.
It Takes Both
We can’t just put things off, stop doing some of what we see as big sins. Neither should we simply try to hang some good fruit on the outside without putting off the old man if we’re to grow in genuine holiness. The process of growing and changing involves both, putting off the habits of our old sinful nature and putting on new righteous habits.
That’s only possible as we keep our eyes on Him, stay in His Word, and pray for His help to live obediently before Him.
In the next lesson, we’ll talk about letting the Word of Christ dwell in us and look at more of the put-offs and put-ons that should characterize our growing lives.
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Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Complete List of Posts in this Series
The Preeminent Christ & Why It’s Important | Colossians Part 2
What Does Christ’s Preeminence Mean to Me? | Colossians Part 3
A Summary of the Christian Life | Colossians Part 4
The Unfolding Plan of God, Crimes of Passion & Our Hope of Glory | Colossians Part 5
Rooted & Established in Christ | Colossians Part 6
The Danger of a False Gospel | Colossians Part 7
The Power of God in Us | Colossians Part 8
Our Union with Christ | Colossians Part 9
Seek to Be Like Christ | Colossians Part 10
Putting on the Character of Christ | Colossians Wrap-Up
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