Welcome to the Reign of Grace
radio broadcast. My name is Bill Parker. I'm the
pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky.
This program is sponsored by the members of Eager Avenue Grace
Church in Albany, Georgia, located at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany,
Georgia. I'll be bringing you a gospel
message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ from God's Holy Word. And now, the message. Now today I'm going to be preaching
from the book of Colossians chapter 3. I'm going to begin with verse
11. And the title of the message
is, Relating in Grace. In fact, I'm going to preach
two messages on that subject. Today I'm going to deal with
the first part of that. Relating in Grace. And what I'm
going to be talking about from this passage of Scripture, this
week and next week, has to do with the relationships that are
established by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
first one that we're going to talk about is the relationship
that we have with each other within the church. The church
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that relationship is special,
and it's a relationship that only believers can have. And it's only established by
the grace of God. Just like the church itself,
the relationship how we relate to each other, how we treat one
another, how we deal with each other, how we encourage and even
correct one another. These relationships within the
church between believers, just like the church itself, it is
not established by man or by the works of man. It's established
by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, having been
established upon the grace of God in Christ, having been established
and brought together by the grace of God in Christ, we who are
members of His body, the Church, are to relate to one another,
communicate with one another, treat and deal with each other
in the way of grace, and not according to the world. Now,
first of all, what is the Church? Well, the Church is a living
organism. The church is not a building
with a sign out front and a steeple on top. The church is not a geographical
place that people meet together to sing and to hear preaching.
The church is made up of the elect of God. We're going to
see that in this passage. It's made up of those whom the
Lord Jesus Christ redeemed by His blood. It is made up of those
whom Christ justified, that is, gave a right standing before
God, by His righteousness freely imputed to them, charged to them,
laid to their account. The Church is made up of those
who are born again by the Spirit of God, that is, they have been
given spiritual life and knowledge They've been given faith and
repentance to receive Christ and repent of their dead works.
They've been called into the fold, into the kingdom, into
the church. And each individual redeemed,
justified, regenerated sinner is a member of the church. It's
not made up of different denominations for the true church now. Now
what we see in our day and in the history of the New Testament
and beyond These divisions in the church are not scriptural.
There's only one gospel, and that gospel is the gospel of
salvation, based on the blood and the righteousness of Christ,
conditioned on Him alone. People have different ideas and
different views, but the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of the
church, the church is said to be the pillar and ground of truth,
the church of the living God. The doctrine of the Church is
to be extracted from the Scriptures. And I know people say, well,
everybody has their interpretation. That's the problem. That's not
the solution. There are rules of interpretation
of Scripture. When people bring their thoughts
and their notions and their traditions into the Word of God, it always
becomes corrupted. So let's start in verse 11, actually
verse 10. He's speaking of believers here
in the Church at Colossae, a place called Colossae, the Colossians.
Paul wrote epistles to the Ephesians, that's the church at Ephesus.
Galatians, that's the churches of Galatia. He wrote, John wrote
Revelation to seven churches in Asia Minor. And so these are
bodies of believers throughout the world who are founded upon
the message of truth, the message of grace. And he says in verse
10 that they have put on the new. Now that says new man there,
but the word man is in italics. which means it was supplied by
the King James translators. It would literally read this
way, and they have put on the new which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him. Now there's a two-fold application
here, and I want you to see it. First of all, Christ is the creator
of his church. He is the builder of the church.
He told Peter. And the other disciples, as recorded
in Matthew chapter 16, he said, Peter, upon this rock I will
build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. The rock upon which the church is built is not Peter, as the
Catholics say. The rock upon which the church
is built is Christ and Him crucified. He is the foundation stone. He is the foundation of Zion,
the Old Testament type and picture of the church. He is the builder
of his church. The church is made up of elect
sinners given to Christ by the Father. And he said, all whom
the Father hath given me shall come to me. So the new here has
to do, and that which is created by Christ Jesus, is the church. Now those who are, again, chosen
of God, those who are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ,
he paid their debt in full, he left nothing left for them to
pay, He justified them, made them a right standing before
God based on His righteousness imputed. They stand holy and
righteous in Christ. And those who have been born
again by the Spirit, they have the life and the operation and
the work and the power and the indwelling presence of the Spirit
of God within them. Those are the ones who have put
on the nudes. Now what does that mean, putting
on? Well, anytime the scripture uses the term put on, we're going
to see that in another verse here, it has to do with believing
in the Lord Jesus Christ, following His word by faith. It means to
put Him on. We put on Christ when we see
what He accomplished for us on Calvary. We put Him on by faith. We believe in Him. We trust in
Him. We rest in Him, just like we
put on a coat. Now, that doesn't mean that it's
just outward religion without heart. But it means it's the
expression of the heart. It's the expression of a holy
desire that the Holy Spirit has put within God's people to follow
Christ. And so he goes on to say in verse
11, that in this new, that we have put on. That is, we've received
Christ. There's neither Greek nor Jew,
circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free, but Christ is all and Christ is in all. And there's that two-fold
relationship that God's people have with the Son of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, Christ is all
and He is in all. Now what does that mean? Well,
The book of Colossians started out by talking about how Christ
has the preeminence in creation, in providence, and in salvation
in the church. He has the preeminence. It's
all about Him. It's not about the preacher.
It's not about the denomination. It's not about you or me or the
members. It's all about Christ giving
Him the glory. And when He died on the cross
of Calvary, what did He do? He redeemed His people from their
sins. He justified His people before
God. They were adopted into His family.
Christ is all. Salvation is conditioned on Him
and Him alone, and He fulfilled all those conditions. And then
He is in all. Now, how is He in all? Well,
in time, Christ sends His Spirit to bring His people under the
preaching of the truth, the gospel. of God's grace, how God can be
just and justify the ungodly. And He gives them life, spiritual
life. He gives them ears to hear what
they couldn't hear before, eyes to see what they couldn't see
before. He gives them a heart to understand and know and love
what they didn't understand and know and love before. And He
implants, imparts the Word of God, the knowledge of God into
their hearts, their mind, their affection, and their will. And
He brings them to faith in Christ and to true repentance. And He
indwells them as a body, and He indwells each one of them
individually in the person of the Holy Spirit and by His Word. Now, that's salvation. When we
speak of salvation, we're speaking both of what Christ did on the
cross, what He completed and finished, and what He does within
His people by the new birth. And all of the exhortations and
encouragements to obedience in the Scripture are founded upon
grace. So when he speaks of relationships,
how we are to relate to each other in the church, and other
relationships we're going to see next week, he always does
it with the encouragement of grace. In other words, this is
something that a sinner saved by the grace of God is commanded
to do and to seek after, to attain unto perfection as we follow
Christ, not in order to be saved, but because He already is saved.
Not in order to earn His reward in heaven, but because He has
already earned all the inheritance of the reward of grace by Christ.
Christ earned it for Him. He didn't earn it, Christ did.
and so it's the motivation of grace and that's why I call this
this relation relating in grace so here's what he says now look
at verse 12 he says put on therefore as the elect of God holy and
beloved vows of mercies kindness humbleness of mind meekness long-suffering
forbearing one another and forgiving one another If any man have a
quarrel or a complaint against any, even as Christ forgave you,
so also ye, or do ye." Now, do you see that put on therefore?
Therefore. Therefore is based upon what
has proceeded. So, in other words, he's saying
because you are saved eternally and securely by the grace of
God in Christ, because His blood has washed away all of your sins,
because His righteousness alone eternally justifies you before
a holy God, because you are secure in Him, because you are freely
forgiven, unconditionally saved, and secure. Therefore, put on,
as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, and the
rest of it. In other words, putting on here
has to do with following Christ by faith. Now, how am I to follow
Him? Well, I'm to follow Him as one
of God's elect, one whom God chosen. I know people don't like
the doctrine of election, but God's people love it. God's people
know that if it weren't for God's sovereign electing grace, none
of us would be saved. God chose a people, and He gave
them to His Son. If God hadn't chosen His people,
none of us would have chosen Him. That's God's prerogative. God is sovereign. So what is
it to be one of God's elect? Somebody said, well, if I believed
that, I wouldn't preach to anybody. Well, that's not what God says
to do, you see. Those who are elect will hear
and believe the gospel and follow Christ, and they'll be brought
into the kingdom by the preaching of the gospel. Someone said one
time to a preacher who was preaching an election, he said, if I just,
if I believed in election, he said, why don't you just preach
to only the elect? Well, the only way we know who
the elect are is by the preaching of the gospel to everyone. You're
not to sit in your chair there or wherever you are and wonder
if you're one of God's elect. That's not what the Bible says.
You're commanded and instructed and invited to believe the gospel. You're commanded to look to Christ.
He is the only way of salvation. My friend, I'm telling you, if
you reject Christ, you will end up in hell if you die in that
state. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ told his disciples,
he said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature. God's going to call out his people. That's not my
business. I can't save you. I can't even
save myself. But God saves his people. So
when he says, when you come to faith in Christ, when you come
to repentance of dead works and idolatry, When you come to rest
in Him and see the love of God given freely, unconditionally
in Christ, then and only then can you do this as one of God's
elect. Then and only then can you know
your election of grace. And then he says, put on, therefore,
as the elect of God, holy and beloved. In other words, they're
already holy. Now these are sinners here saved
by grace. I'm a sinner saved by grace.
So how can I say I'm holy? I'm holy in Christ. He is my
holiness. The Bible says that He of God
is made unto me wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, or holiness and
redemption. You see, I am holy in Him, not
in myself. And them beloved, those who come
into the kingdom, who are brought into the kingdom by the grace
of God, are beloved of God. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation,
the sin-bearing sacrifice who brought satisfaction for our
sins. So he says, now, as the elect
of God, as one who has been made holy in Christ, as one who is
freely and unconditionally beloved of God, put on this vowels of
mercy, or mercies. What's he talking about there? He's talking about compassion.
Merciful compassion. Mercy and compassion upon the
downtrodden, upon those who do not have, those who are sickly,
those who are sinners. In other words, we're not to
be puffed up and proud about the grace of God given to us.
We're to have compassion on people, compassion on those who would
even oppose us. We're to have vows of mercy.
Christ was compassionate. Christ was merciful. And then
he says kindness. We're to be kind to everyone.
This is something that we really have to work on. You see, this
is the warfare of the flesh and the spirit, isn't it? We have
a desire to be kind, but sometimes, and every so often, we're in
a bad mood, or something happens, or somebody makes us angry, and
we have to pray God forgive us for our sins. Continually pray
and seek his forgiveness. But he says, put on kindness.
We have to make an effort to do that. And it's not an effort
of legalism. In other words, we're not to
do it to be saved, but because we already are saved. Look at
how kind Christ is to his people. And then he says, humbleness
of mind, humility, submission and humility. That's a hard thing
for us, because by nature we're proud. We don't want to submit. We don't want to think of others
as better than ourselves, but humility of mind. Think about
Christ. You know, in Philippians chapter
2, it says, let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus
also, who humbled himself, he goes on to say. Humbled himself. Well, the problem is, or the
fact of the matter is, is that Christ's humility, there was
a choice that he made, because by nature he is above all, and
he's superior to all. When it's pride it's a choice
we make, because we by nature are the lowest of the low, and
therefore we should be humble. And then meekness. Now, meekness
does not mean weakness, as some people would say. Meekness means
submission to God's will and God's word. A meek person is
one who readily submits to God's will in his life. One who readily
submits to God's word in the Bible. And then longsuffering. What is it to be longsuffering?
Well, he goes on in verse 13, he says, forbearing one another.
Long-suffering and forbearance are very similar. And what it
means is we put up with a lot. He says, as a believer, if you're
going to relate to one another in grace, you're going to have
to put up with a lot. You want people to put up with
a lot from you, you put up with a lot from them. And think about
it this way. I'm a sinner saved by grace. I'm a child of God who's still
yet weak, pitiful. How much does God put up with
from me? He says, forgiving one another. Forgiveness is one of
the main evidences of a believer. And that forgiveness doesn't
come easy, because you see, we have such vengeful spirits in
ourselves. We want to get back at people.
But he says, forgive one another. He goes on, he says, and if any
man have a quarrel or complaint against any, even as Christ forgave
you, so also do you. Now, this is the forgiveness
at which we, as sinners saved by the grace of God, are to aim. We're to aim at the free, unconditional
forgiveness that Christ gives us. How did He forgive me? Freely. He didn't look down at me and
say, now, if you'll do so much, then I'll forgive you. He didn't
look at me and say, now, if you'll act a certain way, respond a
certain way, do this or do that. I'll forgive you. I know in the
model prayer in Matthew chapter 6 he says forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us. That's not teaching
a conditional legalistic forgiveness that God only forgives those
who forgive others. If that were the case then we
would all be lost. What he is showing this is the
desire of a believer's heart. Lord help me to forgive when
I am so apt not to. I tell you, there are times in
my life when somebody does something wrong to me and I want vengeance,
but the Bible says not to do that. I know better. And I have
a desire not to go after vengeance. The Bible says vengeance is mine,
saith the Lord. We're not to have a vengeful
spirit against those who would do us wrong. We're to love our
enemies, the Scripture says, and we're to forgive as we have
been forgiven. He says in verse 14, he says,
and above all these things, put on charity which is the bond
of perfectness now that word charity as you know is it could
be just as well translated love over in the book of first Corinthians
chapter 13 we have the the standard the perfection of love and charity
given for which believers are to aim in other words what kind
of love are we to display Is it only the kind of love which
we desire to display? Or is it a love that's higher
than ourselves? It's love that is much higher
than ourselves. I've told our congregation several
times that we've got to understand some things about love, godly
love now. You see, we have by nature, even
as fallen, lost sinners, a love for ourselves, a love for extensions
of ourselves, for our wives, our children. But godly love
only comes to the people of God in the new birth. When he sheds
abroad in their hearts the love of God in Christ. And here's
the thing about that love. Number one, God does not allow
us to set the standard of love. You see, if we set our own standard
of love, that's going to cause selfishness and division. It's
going to be much lower than what it should be. But when God sets
the standard, and that standard is seen in His Son, we see how
far short we fall of perfection. And that's why we need grace.
However, we're to put on love. We're to seek to love God perfectly
and love our neighbors ourselves. The reason I believe the King
James translators translated that word charity is to show
the freeness of it. You know, when we think of charity,
we think of something that is given without condition. without
any qualification, without payment. And that's the way the love of
God is towards me. It was unconditional love. He
loved us when we were yet enemies, the scripture said. Christ died
for his enemies. And so he says we're to desire
that kind of love within ourselves towards others. And he says that's
the bond of perfectness. In other words, that's what holds
the church together complete. It's grace. and love that is
the evidence and the fruit of that grace. And then he says
in verse 15, And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to
the which also you are called in one body, and be ye thankful.
The peace of God that rules in our hearts has a twofold application.
Now think about peace. First of all, there's peace established
between God and His people at the cross by Christ. That's when
He died for their sins, for our sins, and He justified us before
God and established peace between God and His people. And then
in time, as a result, the Holy Spirit is sent. to preach to
us or to bring us under the preaching of the gospel of peace where
it is declared to our minds and our hearts what Christ has accomplished
and then our consciences are cleansed, that guilty legal conscience
is cleansed by looking to Christ and resting in his finished work
for all of our salvation. That's when the peace of God
comes into our heart. And he says, let that peace of
God rule in your heart. Let that be your rule, your guide. Let that be your motivation.
And he says, that's what you're called in one body, and be thankful. You know, when you're concerned
more with the body of Christ, the church, the unity of it,
and thanksgiving, you don't have time to argue and fuss and fight
and divide. And then he says in verse 16,
let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.
Go to the Word of God. Don't go to your own opinions.
Don't go to others' opinions. Go to the Word of God. Let it
dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord. That's worship. Worship together,
you see. That's what it is to relate to
one another in grace. We meet together to worship God
in Christ. And then he says in verse 17,
"...and whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name
of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him."
In other words, here he's talking about worshiping God in Christ,
and then he's talking about giving glory to God, thanking God. Don't be so concerned with the
things of your own, your own problems, your own desires, but
go in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and do all that you do
in word or deed in thanksgiving to Him. Let your life be an evidence,
a proof of the grace of God. Now listen, as I said, this is
only to believers. If you're not a believer, none
of this, none of this is possible. It's only by the sovereign grace
of God. And that's why I tell people
in this program, your only hope to relate to other people in
grace is to first run to Christ. believe on Him and repent of
your dead works. If you're sitting there thinking
that your salvation is based upon something you do for God
and not totally resting upon the person and finished work
of Christ, you cannot relate to anybody in grace. All of your
relationships will be established in legal, self-righteous works. But you see, we want to relate
to people in grace. And the only way we can do that
is to look to Christ and rest in Him for all of salvation. We're glad you could join us
for today's message. If you would like to receive
a copy of this message, or if you would like more information
about Eager Avenue Grace Church, remember we are located at 1102
Eager Drive in Albany, Georgia. You can call us at 229-432-6969. or visit our Reign of Grace website
at www.rofgrace.com. Thank you, and may the Lord be
with you.