Okay brethren, let's be turning
to Colossians chapter 2. Colossians 2. Now in Christ we have good news
for sinners. In Christ we have good news for
the believer in Christ. In Christ, sinners become believers. He makes believers. He makes disciples of His people
whom the Father chose and gave to Him before the foundation
of the world. And sinners become believers
through a gracious work of the Father that He does for them.
that He does not do for others. He does a gracious work for those
that He loves, and faith is wrought in them that are His people.
And this is what the Good News is all about. It declares what
Christ Himself has accomplished for His people. It declares what
He's done for them on the cross, in His death, in His burial,
in His resurrection, and it reveals in believers, that is, the Lord
reveals in the heart of His child what that means, what Christ
accomplished for me, to know that He justified me with His
own blood. He's obtained the forgiveness
for my sins, and I am now by His grace accepted with the Father. It reveals to us what all the
blessings of sanctification are, that I'm dead to the law. The law has nothing more to say
to me, and I'm alive unto God. I live now in Christ, Christ
in me, and I'm alive unto God. Now, there's a battle, there's
a struggle in us that believers feel. We're well acquainted with
the warring that goes on in the flesh. There's a struggle for
the souls of the people of God. That is how they feel within
themselves. When you read the history of
Israel, there was war in the land of Canaan. There was invading
armies. There was trouble for them. There
was warfare going on in the land of Canaan. And so we feel that. We feel that struggle in war.
And just like they were brought to their knees to cry out to
God when they came into bondage, when they were subjected to their
enemies, so the believer cries out to the Lord for grace, for
mercy, for help in time of need. And that warfare makes us to
know our need. It makes us to know that we need
the grace of our God. And we hear the preaching of
the word. We come and hear, we're gathered
to hear the preaching of the gospel because we need it. We
need this grace. We want to feed upon Christ who
strengthens and nourishes us. We want to hear that good news
again. To know what our God has done
for us. And the apostles, they wrote
these epistles. They wrote these epistles and
it tells us that there were struggles going on. It tells us of the
warfare that was going on in the churches. And it tells us
that the children of God, those that believed Christ, could feel
within themselves their need, their need. And they wrote these
apostles to give us an understanding, more and more, more deeply, what
Christ has accomplished for us. They recorded things and addressed
things in these scriptures that make us to know that what's going
on in me, the struggle, the warfare I feel is exactly the same struggle
and warfare that was going on in the midst of those brethren.
in the first days of the church there, of the New Testament church. And they wrote these things declaring
what Christ accomplished for us because of evildoers who were
seeking to beguile their hearers with enticing words of lies and
deceit and things that are not salvation but turn our eyes away
from Christ. And so Paul here is giving a
recounting of what Christ has accomplished for us. He's speaking,
he's rehearsing that fruit which is wrought in the children of
God by the grace of God in Christ through that justification and
sanctification resulting from his death and resurrection. And so we'll look at this, we'll
look at the end of chapter two, where Paul asks if ye be dead
with Christ. And then we'll see the beginning
of chapter three, if ye then be risen with Christ. Now, I don't know how much the
church at Colossae was enticed by the beguiling words, those
words of the Judaizers, those words of the pagan philosophers,
but I'm certain that it was present there. It's present in our day. It may be subtle, but it's present
in our day. It's present in other churches. It's present here. There's always
an enticing, beguiling philosophy, words. It's always mixing in
and attacking the people of God. And I'm thankful that the Holy
Spirit moved Paul to write what he wrote here. He's illustrating
for us what our death in Christ, with Christ, means. He's telling
us, you've died with Christ. You that believe him, you're
dead with Christ. And he tells us things that help us to understand
more and more what that means. What does it mean that I'm dead
with Christ? He says in Colossians 2.20, Wherefore, if ye be dead
with Christ, from the rudiments, those elements of the world,
why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances? And so all the elect of God died
with their Savior Christ. All of God's people died with
Christ. Now this isn't describing our
physical death. It's not describing our spiritual
death. We all died spiritually in Adam. We're already born spiritually
dead. This is speaking of our death
to sin. Speaking of our death to sin,
and that means it's power over us when we were dead in trespasses
and sins, when we didn't know Christ, we didn't know these
things, we didn't believe or receive this word concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything we knew was according
to our walk, according to the course of this world, According
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience." Ephesians 2.2. That's what we
knew. That doesn't mean that we worked
out the most wicked thoughts or ideas that we had, but all
of our ideas were corrupt in sin. There's moral people out
there that don't believe God. but all their thoughts of God,
all their thoughts of morality and sin is according to the old
corruption of that old man of sin. That informs their choices, their
decisions, how they see things in the world and why they do
the things that they do. Now it doesn't mean that sin
is dead. We that are dead with Christ
and dead to sin does not mean that sin is dead in our fleshly
members. It's still present in this flesh. This is why Paul in Romans 7
21 said when I find this law at work that when I would do
good Evil is present with me. Sin is right there with me. Evil is present with me, he said.
And it means, well what it means is that we're not subject to
sin. It doesn't force us to bend the
knee to sin anymore. We're not subject to it. It doesn't
rule and reign over us. We don't live according to its
rules and its dictates, according to the lusts in the flesh and
us just doing what we would do because we like it. That's the
natural man. The natural man does the things.
We eat the foods that we eat because we like them. Or we get
some health benefit from them. We are doing things for a reason.
And people sin according to the things that they like doing.
That's what they want to do. And now in Christ, we're dead
to that sin. We're not forced to bend the
knee to that sin and to hear it and do what it says. Paul
said this in this way, and when you go there to Romans 6, let's
go there and you can put a marker there because we'll see probably
another scripture there later. But Romans 6, 6, and that chapter
in Romans 6 is very much aligned with this chapter of Colossians
chapter 2. Paul is speaking of the same
things. He's addressing with the Colossians
what he addressed with the Romans. So Romans 6, verse 6 and 7 says,
knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Christ, that
the body of sin might be destroyed. That henceforth we should not
serve sin." Don't bow the knee to sin. He's saying we've been
crucified with Christ so that we wouldn't serve sin. For he that is dead is freed
from sin. Now let's look at one more verse
in Colossians 2. Come back to Colossians 2 verse
11 now. in whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, and putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." And
so the body of sin is a single unit, but it's not made up of
one part. The body of sin is made up of
many members, just like our bodies. We have fingers. We stand on
legs that are like pillars. We have our strength and our
abilities. It's a body with many members,
and that's what the body of sin is. It's a body of many members. The body of sin is made up of
many parts, and that's why I think oftentimes people are so interested
to understand what is this body of sin? What is this body of
sin? Well, it's made up of many members.
There's a lot of aspects to it. There's a lot of features to
these different members. And so my hope, I want to at
least address this because I believe it will comfort your hearts.
I believe it'll help you who believe Christ because believers,
this is one of the areas that believers really struggle in. They're really troubled by the
presence of sin in their flesh. It bothers us. We don't like
seeing our sin. Sure, there's some certain sins
that we just live with and don't think much of, but there's times
when we're really troubled by what we've thought, what we did,
or what we've said. It really bothers us that sin
is still present in our members, in our thoughts, in our words,
in our deeds and actions. And so, a lot of times, believers
seeing that, especially those that are sensitive, have a sensitive
conscience to these things, they struggle with their assurance.
They struggle to believe that Christ loves them, that they
are a child of God. And they're thinking, well, If
I'm dead to sin, if sin is destroyed in me, that body of sin is destroyed,
aren't I supposed to be freed from sin? And they see its presence
and so they think, maybe God doesn't love me. Maybe Christ
didn't die for me. But for you that do believe Christ,
in spite of the sin in you, but you know He's the righteousness
of God, He is the Savior whom the Father has sent. If I'm saved,
if I'm accepted with God, it's because of Christ's sake. You
that believe Him, that He is the Savior, the Son of God, the
surety and substitute of His people, but you see sin in it,
it causes you to stumble and to be afraid because you don't
understand how is this possible that sin is yet present in my
members, the members of my flesh. But let me say this, the one
verse that helps me, that puts this in perspective, is that
the apostles addressed sin in the church because sin was present
in the flesh of the people. And Peter said it this way in
1 Peter 2.11, beloved. So we know he's writing
to believers. Dearly beloved, I beseech you,
as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war
against the soul. Peter's encouraging believers
to abstain, to put off that lust that's in our flesh. It's still
present in the believers. All believers feel the presence
of sin in their flesh. They feel the lust, they feel
the passions of those things that rise up from time to time,
and we're troubled by it. And so they're encouraging us,
abstain from those things. Put those things off. Don't seek
those things. Don't just willingly bow the
knee to those things like you did before you knew Christ. Abstain
from those things. That's why he's saying what he's
saying. And so Paul in Colossians is
doing something similar. He's giving numerous examples
of the destruction of the body of sin, what that means. What
does it mean that the body of sin has been destroyed in us
by Christ. And there's many examples to
look at because it's made up of many members. It's made up
of many members. Now, even if I don't cover one
of the members, or even if there's something you're thinking of,
or I don't say it clearly enough, That's okay. Because the comfort
of the believer isn't in knowing each and every jot and tittle
of the body of sin and what it does and how it works. The comfort
of the child of God is in Christ. Not what I know about sin, but
what I know of Christ. What's been revealed in my heart
about the Lord Jesus Christ and my need of Him. That I'm a sinner.
He's the Savior of sinners. And so Paul actually addresses
that in verse 10, Colossians 2 verse 10, when he tells us,
and ye are complete in him. Brethren, rest in Him. You're
complete in the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the head of all principality
and power. That means even the body of sin
is subject to Him, subject to our King, who is in control of
all things, has power over all things. All things are subjected
to Christ. Believe Him, trust Him, worship
Him, follow Him. Believe him, follow him. You
don't destroy the body of sin. He does. He's the one that destroys
the body of sin. And what he's showing us in this
is our need of him. I can tell you, and there's a
lot of believers that would confess this, that if it wasn't for sin
and troubles and trials and afflictions, we'd go right on through this
world content in ourselves. And we wouldn't seek the Father.
But because of those things, it brings us to our knees, crying
out to Him, Lord, save me! Help me! Deliver me, Lord! This is filthy! I don't like
what I see in my sin. Save me, Lord! Have mercy on
me! Keep me! Lord, help me! Who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? Paul asked. I thank God for Jesus
Christ. And so these things trouble us
and they make us to see our need and to look to Christ and to
keep looking to Christ and not condemning others and judging
our brethren because we see what we are in ourselves and we see
our constant need for him. Just like Israel time and time
and time and time and time again was brought into captivity to
see, they saw their need, how foolish they had been, what idolaters
they are, how corrupt they became, and they cried out to the Lord
and the Lord delivered them. And that gives us a sense of
the same warfare going on. Not that we wanted to get to
the worst possible moment, but the Lord is showing us constantly
our need of Him, and bringing us to our knees, and bringing
us to confess, Lord, I'm all unrighteousness. Save me. Have
mercy on me with the righteousness of your son. Make me righteous
in him. Cleanse my heart. Cleanse my
mind. Cleanse my thoughts. Forgive
me of my foolishness, Lord. Save me." And that's what he
does for his people. Now first, regarding this body
of sin, it has no more power over you because, not because
you've put it away, but because Christ died and in his death
shed his blood to atone for your sins. You're justified not because
you don't sin anymore, you're justified for Christ's sake. That's what the gospel declares.
The gospel tells us you're justified by his blood. He died to justify
us. The body of sin is not stronger
than the blood of Christ. It doesn't have the rule and
authority and can't stand there accusing you to the Father because
the blood of Christ intercedes for you. And you're delivered
from death for Christ's sake. He's destroyed that body of sin.
The law has nothing more to say to you because you're dead to
the law. You're dead too. The law can't
stand there and accuse you because you're dead to the law. And so
the law today for the believer makes no demands of you. It can say nothing to you because
you're dead to the law. You're not married to the law.
You're married to another, even the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our
husband and he's the voice that we listen to. He speaks to us. He teaches us. He reveals his
law, the law of faith. the law of liberty, the law of
love to our God. In our God, it's His law. And
He keeps us so that He delivers us from foolishness. And you
can be sure of this, if you're living in sin and doing things
that you ought not to do, He is able to speak to your heart. He's able to show you don't do
that. apart from the law. He shows
you and instructs you, don't do that, don't do that. And he
knows exactly how to teach each one of his people to show us,
I ought not to do that. That's foolishness. I smart when
I do that. The Lord knows how to make it
painful to me to not to show me and teach me and keep my heart
ever looking to Christ. He knows how to chase me. Second,
in this verse that we already looked at in Colossians 2.11,
let's read it once more, in whom also ye are circumcised with
the circumcision made without hands in the putting off of the
body of the sins of the flesh, that body of sin, by the circumcision
of Christ. And so what the Spirit is teaching
us here in this chapter is we died with Him so that now we
live with Him. One of the benefits of the destruction
of the body of sin is that He puts it off from us through a
spiritual circumcision of the heart. He puts off that body
of sin by a spiritual circumcision of the heart, that which ordinances
and ceremonies of circumcision couldn't do. just by removing
the flesh. That couldn't do it. But Christ
has done what? He's cut away the filth of the
flesh, that skin, that filth that laid over our hearts as
a veil, that kept us in blindness, that kept our hearts and minds
dead to the things of God, that didn't hear, that didn't understand
what the Lord was saying to us. And so now, with that circumcision
of the heart, what do we do? We look to Christ for all our
acceptance. We're not looking to the form
and the dead letter and the ordinances and the ceremony. and robes and
phylacteries and the burning of incense and the pretty buildings
and the stained glass windows, that's not what we're looking
to anymore for our righteousness and sanctification. We're looking
to Christ. We know I stand faultless before
the throne of God, not because what I do or don't do, but because
of Christ, who he is and what he accomplished for me in his
death, burial, and resurrection. That's the circumcision, brethren.
You know that because that deadness of the flesh has been removed
from your hearts. And you know Christ is my all.
He's all my salvation. He's obtained everything I need.
Now as a result of these blessings in Christ's redemption that destroys
the body of sin in us, Paul gives us a practical illustration.
He shows us what this world is still subject to. Those in the
body of sin, those that are members of that whole body of sin, they're
yet subject to these things. And so Paul gives us these practical
illustrations to show us you're dead. You're dead with Christ
and you're dead to those things. They don't rule you, they're
not your governor anymore. You're not subject to those things.
Colossians 2.20, wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the
rudiments of the world, why as though living in the world are
you subject to ordinances? Why are you dancing around fires,
cutting down trees, and bowing down to stumps and stones, and
doing all these elemental things that cannot save you? Once we
thought those things were life. People practice the law. People
still, confess in Christ, think that they're subject to the law,
and they practice the law, and they take a little bit of this,
and they take a little bit of that, like they're ordering from
a Chinese takeout menu, because they like these things, and this
aligns with their personality, and I can do that, so I'll accept
that, and I'll take this, and then we feel good about ourselves,
because we've taken the things that we like and feel okay with
doing. We don't touch those things.
We find excuses for those things that we can't do but we find
what we like and we do those things and we feel good about
ourselves because we're doing our best to please the Lord by
those things and we're condemning others. We get to see that person's
a sinner. I know that. I wouldn't do what they do and
that's how we justify ourselves in the flesh according to the
flesh. That's the the pharisaical way, the wickedness of man. And so the Lord delivers us from
all that. Now, Colossians 2, 21 and 22,
touch not, taste not, handle not. This is how it manifests
itself, the philosophies of man's vain tradition. Don't do that
anymore. We stopped that a long time ago.
We put that away. We don't touch that, taste that,
handle that anymore. which things are all to perish
with the using after the commandments and doctrines of men. Some have
wondered, well, Paul maybe is talking about that law of dead
persons, not to touch dead persons or touch dead things, or food
sacrificed to idols, or foods deemed inappropriate for someone
that's like a Nazirite, or touching, eating, consuming unclean animals
like pigs because they have a cloven foot but they don't chew the
cud and things of that sort. Well, Paul is saying all of that
is for the body of sin. That's what they're worried about.
That's what they're focused on. That has no regard to you that
believe Christ. You're not in that body. Don't
observe those things. Don't be troubled by those things. You look to Christ for all your
righteousness, not these things in laws and ordinances according
to tradition and philosophies of men. Our acceptance is Christ
alone. It's not in foods. It's not in
ceremonies, it's not in ordinances, it's not in calendar days, it's
not in moon cycles. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
all your acceptance with the Lord. Colossians 2.23, which
things have indeed a show of wisdom and will worship. humility
and neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying
of the flesh." In other words, yeah, you put off a good show.
You look like a holy person before other men. You look like you're
a Christian and a holy person and you're wise, but he's saying
you're not. It's just hypocrisy. It's death. Don't look to those things. They're
deceitful and They trouble the brethren, they take the eyes
of your brethren off of Christ that try to do what you do, and
it puts it on the flesh. That cannot save. That we've
been delivered from. The body of sin is dead. Why
are you looking to that dead thing over there? In that sense,
yeah, don't touch the dead thing. Don't touch that dead body. It's
dead. It's been put to death with Christ. And so, he's saying God will
not receive that wickedness. Those are wicked works. You mean
my righteousness is filthy? That's exactly right. Your righteousnesses
that you think is your righteousness by your practice and ordinance
and observings, those are filthy rags, the Lord says. The only
righteousness that I receive is the righteousness of my son.
So we come believing in him. believing, calling upon Christ. Don't let those things beguile
you because they just put people in chains of darkness. They just
shut them up in prisons and close the door and leave them shut
up there in death and darkness forever until Christ comes and
opens the door and says, Show yourselves. Come into the light.
And then we come by His glory and power. So Christ has set
us free by His blood. Now, just like He did with illustrating
what our death in Christ means and what those things mean in
relation to the body of sin, which is now dead, So he illustrates
what our being raised with Christ means. Look at verse 1 of Colossians
3, 3-1, If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which
are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. You know, as I was thinking of
the body of sin, There's another aspect to the body of sin. It's
the inheritance that belongs to those who are yet in the body
of sin, who are partakers of the body of sin. They have an
inheritance which is coming to them. Now we know that in Adam,
all die. That's what the Body of Sin is
talking about, all those in Adam who are just old men of flesh
and that's all that they are. They died spiritually, they don't
believe Christ, and they're going to inherit an inheritance, which
is the wages of sin. Their inheritance is death, eternal
death and ruin. In Christ, that's not your inheritance. That has no more bearing on you. Sin does not dictate your inheritance. Christ is the one who gives you
an inheritance. He's given you an inheritance,
and your inheritance is in Him, and by Him you've inherited eternal
life. you that believe on him. You've
been given life, spiritual life. You've been given his spirit.
You've been given a circumcision of the heart to see and to know
Christ and to see the folly of fleshly, carnal things that cannot
save. You've been regenerated. You've
received the inheritance, the down payment, the earnest of
your inheritance by the giving of his spirit. That makes you
to know, he's my life, he's my all, he's my acceptance with
God. This is what Christ said when he said to the disciples,
I go to prepare a place for you. and I will come again and receive
you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also. Christ is your inheritance. That's
the one in whom we stand perfect and complete. So sin's presence
in our flesh, it requires faith. That's why God gives you faith,
because you still feel and know the presence of sin in the members
of this flesh, this old man of flesh, and so he gives you faith. And faith is required. And he
shows us the need for faith, that we walk in faith, not saying,
oh, I'm perfect, I don't sin anymore, I don't think I've sinned
at all today. Liar! Yes, you have, and you
just sinned then, even if you didn't. So we see it, and it
requires faith. He draws out faith from his people,
which is a fruit of the Spirit, not of the flesh, but what he
gives so that we believe. Lord, help me. Lord, save me. Lord, forgive me. Lord, keep
me. Keep me walking. in Christ. And when he returns and raises
this body anew, you'll be free. You'll have a new body. You'll
be raised anew in a body without sin, without infirmity, without
the struggles and the warfare. in it any longer. Trust Him. Until then, we walk by faith,
believing the promise of God. That's why I believe the sin
is still remaining in the flesh, because He hasn't regenerated
the flesh. He's regenerated the Spirit,
the new man of faith that believes Him. Just real quick, when you return
to Romans 6, and then we'll flip back to Colossians 3, but looking
at Romans 6, again, he's speaking of these same things in verse
11 through 13. He just words them a little different.
He speaks of faith here, though, but he says, likewise, reckon
ye. Believe. Trust him. Reckon ye
also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Look at what he's done for you.
And he's speaking of faith. Let not sin, therefore, reign
in your mortal body. Don't keep bowing the knee to
it. Cry out to him to save you. Don't
let it reign in your mortal body as though you're subject to it.
that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. Again, that requires
faith, following Christ. Neither yield ye your members
as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. As he shows you, cry
out to him. Ask him, help me, Lord. I don't
want to keep doing these things foolishly. But yield yourselves
unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members
as instruments of righteousness unto God. It's faith, brethren. You're only doing that in faith. And He does help you. You that
cry out to Him and call out to Him to save you from those lusts
and passions in your flesh, He's able. And He does. He does. He does deliver. Now return to
Colossians 3, and we'll close right here. Colossians 3, verse
2 and 3. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth, for ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. Amen. Let's go to the Lord in
prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you
for your grace. We thank you, Lord, that you
died and we died with you, that you would destroy this body of
sin. that it be destroyed in us, and
you've delivered us from the members of that body of sin.
Lord, we see and feel the presence of sin and the lusts of this
flesh in us. We know it's there, and it does
cause and create quite the warfare. As you revealed to Rebecca when
she had the two boys in her womb, she said, if it's so, if God
has done this, why am I Thus, why am I like this? Lord, you
show us our weakness and you drive us back to cry out to our
God. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.
And you sent that publican home who cried that. You said he went
home justified. And Lord, that's what you do
for your people. You cause us to look to Christ. You cause
us to see that to have no confidence in this flesh, but to have every
confidence in Christ alone. That's your work, that's your
work of grace, Lord, and you give us faith to believe Christ
and to believe that word. Lord, keep us, help us to ever
look to Christ. Help us that are struggling with
sin and troubled by it, Lord, that we would see Christ and
rest in him and be helped by your spirit and your grace. It's
in Christ's name we pray and give thanks, amen. All right, brother. We'll come
back at a couple minutes after 11. Or we'll just try and start right
at 11. Let's just do that.