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. Welcome to our program. Now today
I'll be preaching from the book of Colossians chapter 3. The
title of the message is, The Cause and Effect of Grace. The Cause and Effect of Grace. Now whenever we speak of salvation,
according to God's Word, we must speak of salvation by free, sovereign
grace. The Bible teaches that God is
sovereign. He chooses whom he will. And
that God saves by grace. As the Bible reveals our sinfulness
and our depravity, it is very clear that no sinner could ever
be saved by his best efforts to keep the law. All we can do
is fall short for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. We've missed the mark. And it's clear that even at our
best, we are still unprofitable servants and cannot be justified
before God. We cannot be righteous, we cannot
be saved by our works. We've quoted so many times the
book of Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8, for by grace are you saved,
literally have you been saved, and through faith, that is by
means of faith, and that not of yourselves, even faith is
not a work that we do in order to earn salvation because by
nature we have no faith. Faith is the gift of God and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. not of works,
lest any man should boast." So salvation is by grace, and there
are several ways of describing that. Salvation, for example,
is not conditioned on the sinner, but it is conditioned only on
Christ, the sinner's substitute. The Gospel is the declaration
that Christ has fulfilled all of the conditions, all of the
requirements, all of the stipulations of the salvation of his people.
So then salvation is not based upon or caused by what we do
for God, but it is only based on and caused by what He has
done for His people in Christ. So now the question comes, well,
what are we to do? Is there anything for a sinner
to do? Well, the Bible teaches that sinners are commanded and
required to believe. But what are we commanded to
believe? What are we required to believe? We're commanded and
required to believe that salvation is the accomplished, finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he met all of the conditions
of salvation, that we have nothing to recommend us unto God but
Christ and him crucified, the redemption that Christ accomplished
in his bloody death, and the justification that he accomplished
at Calvary by his righteousness charged to his people. So then
that lays the basis and the foundation for salvation. But there is an
effect. There's cause and there's effect.
Now last week I dealt with the first four verses of Colossians
chapter 3. And it basically lays the foundation. This is the cause. This is the
foundation or the basis of salvation. And he says here, if you then
be risen with Christ, Seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." Now that speaks of the
finished work of Christ to save his people from their sins. He
put away their sins. He redeemed them completely.
He didn't try to save anybody. He didn't just make salvation
available, but he actually accomplished redemption and justified his
people at Calvary by his blood and his righteousness. And so
he says, set your affection on things above, not on things on
the earth. Our love, our thoughts, our hope, our assurance, our
peace, our comfort, our motives are to be set in Christ. Grace is the motive, you see,
grace in Christ. And then he says in verse 3,
for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. That's
the eternal security of the believer. He's dead to sin. Sin can no
longer be charged to him. Sin can no longer bring him back
under the wrath of God. He's dead to the law. The law
cannot condemn him. Because, you see, he's already
been judged for all his sins as they were laid on Christ.
And Christ died for those sins. He was buried with Christ. He
was raised again with Christ. Therefore, his life is hid with
Christ in God. And then, verse 4, When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with
Him in glory." Now, my friend, if Christ died for your sins,
if He was buried and raised again because of your justification,
you can rest assured that when He comes again, you will be glorified. That's the assurance of grace.
Now, there's the cause. There's the basis. But as there
is a cause, there is an effect. As there is the ground and the
basis, there is the fruit and the result. Someone once said
that in true Christianity, grace is our doctrine. Gratitude is
our ethic. Are there things that God's people
are to do? Are we required and supposed
to do? Yes, but not in order to be saved. We're to do these
things, we're to attempt to do these things, we're to strive
to do these things because we already are saved by grace. You see the difference? You see
the motive and the ground for a believer's obedience in any
area, whether it be in prayer, whether it be in worship, whether
it be in love, treating each other the right way, whether
it be in giving, Whether it be in any way, in any area of life,
the obedience of a believer is to be motivated, not by legalism,
trying to earn your way into God's favor, trying to earn your
blessings from God, trying to earn your salvation, or even
earn your reward. It is to be done by grace, out
of love to God, gratitude for all that he is freely given in
Christ. And therefore, he says in verse
5, now listen, he says, mortify therefore your members which
are upon the earth. Now first of all, he says mortify
therefore. That therefore reaches back to
the foundation, to the basis, to the cause. Your attempts to
mortify are to be the effect, the fruit, the result, but the
cause and the ground and the foundation is the grace of God
in Christ. Now that's the motivation. Now
mortified means this. It means put to death. Now I
want you to notice something here though. He had already said
that you are dead. If you're in Christ you're dead.
That's speaking of grace as to what we are in Christ. We're
dead to the law. We're dead to sin. How are we
dead to sin now? You know I'm still a sinner.
A sinner saved by the grace of God. If you're saved, you're
still a sinner saved by the grace of God. The only ones who would
not admit to that are people who are not saved. But you see,
we know ourselves. We confess our sins before God
and before men. But you see, we're dead to sin
only in this sense. Sin cannot condemn us. Sin cannot
bring us back under the wrath of God. Sin can no longer be
charged to us. Christ died for our sins. But
while we're on this earth, In this flesh, and it's sinful flesh,
we're still plagued with the presence of sin. We're still
plagued with the influence of sin. We're still plagued with
the contamination of sin. Sin plagues and contaminates
everything we do so that we can at no time in ourselves claim
a sinless perfection. You see, the only sinless perfection
that I have right now is Christ. who's seated at the right hand
of the Father. He is my righteousness. One day, I will be sinlessly
perfect in myself, but that's when I change. That's when this
old corruptible body is gone, and I go to be with the Lord
and when I'm glorified with Him and have a new body, which will
never sorrow, never die, never experience pain, even the presence
of sin will be gone then. That's what we look forward to.
But while we're on this earth, even as safe sinners, we have
to fight sin. The Bible calls it a warfare.
Paul said it's a warfare between the flesh and the spirit. Walk
after the spirit. Strive to do so. And this is
what he's talking about in verse 5. Now this is not the cause
of salvation. This is the effect of salvation.
He says, mortified therefore your members which are upon the
earth. Now mortified means put to death. And what he's talking
about is the sinful desires and thoughts and actions that still
plague my members. My members being my eyes, my
tongue, my ears, my body, my arms, my legs, even my very heart. In other words, I've got to strive
for sinless perfection. Again, not to be saved. Not to
be holy, in other words, it doesn't make me holy. I'm to strive to
be holy, but even my efforts to do that will not make me holy. You see, I'm a sinner saved by
the grace of God, but I'm to strive to obey God. I'm to strive
to not give in to the passions of this flesh, this sinful flesh.
Mortify, put them to death, therefore your members. which are for American.
He lists several things here. He lists fornication. That's
sexual immorality. Don't give in to that. Don't
put yourself in a position to fulfill that lust. He speaks
of uncleanness, which is any sin. Inordinate affection. That
is affection that is not natural. He talks about evil concupiscence. Now that word concupiscence simply
means an unlawful desire. It's very similar to lust. Lust meaning an unlawful desire. And then he says covetousness
which is idolatry. You know what covetousness is.
Covetousness is when you desire a sinful desire for the things
of others. And what he's saying here is
that some people are so consumed with that covetousness that what
they desire becomes their idol. You talk about people who want
to get rich in money and they give their lives to it. They
work day and night, they neglect God, they neglect the gospel,
they neglect the church, they even neglect their families and
sometimes even neglect themselves in order to get that unlawful
desire. The Bible teaches that it's not
money that is the root of all evil, it's the love of money,
the love of riches. Christ spoke of in the parable
of the sower and the seed. He mentioned the various kinds
of hearers there, there are four kinds of hearers. There was the
wayside here. The seed was the gospel that
was preached. The Word of God. And some of
that seed fell by the wayside. People didn't even consider it
and just walked away from it. Others fell on stony ground and
it didn't take root and when persecution came over the Word,
they left it. And then another one kind of
here was the thorny ground hearer. And the thorny ground hearer
heard the gospel. claimed to believe it, but left
it for the love of riches, the love of the things of the world.
And that's what the covetousness, which is idolatry. Now it doesn't
have to be money, it can be anything. It can be a lot of different
things. Listen, anything that you desire in this world that
takes you away from seeking the Lord. from worshiping him, serving
him, from attending to the truth, is covetousness, which is idolatry. And he says, now you put that
to death. Strive to put it to death. Strive not to give in
to it. Again, not in order to be saved,
but because you are. Now this mortification here is
a goal, you see. It's not a reality within ourselves. There is a sense in which our
sins are already mortified, put to death in Christ. The book
of Romans chapter 8 speaks of that. But in ourselves, as to
our experience here on earth, mortification is a goal. I want
to put it to death. And then he says in verse 6,
now he mentioned these sins, these unlawful desires, fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, covetousness,
which is idolatry. Now listen to what he says in
verse 6. He says, For which thing sake the wrath of God cometh
on the children of disobedience? Now those sins which still plague
a believer are not evidence of condemnation in a believer because
he's looking to Christ who washes us from our sins. In Christ we're
dead to sin. In Christ we're dead to the law.
But now take the person who doesn't have Christ. who has no Redeemer,
who has no Mediator, who has no surety, no Savior, no Substitute. Where do these things leave him?
Well, it leaves him under the wrath of God. My friend, the
wrath of God abides on every person outside of Christ. When
Christ came to this world, He Himself on the cross came under
the wrath of God for His people. And in His bloodied death, He
removed that wrath. He was buried and rose again
the third day, proving it. He removed that wrath. But my
friend, if you never come to a saving knowledge of Christ,
then you're under the wrath of God. Now you may say, well I'm
not a fornicator. I don't have that uncleanness,
that inordinate affection, that evil concupiscence, that covetous
which is idolatry. Oh yes you do. You may not recognize
it, but it's there. Paul the Apostle wrote that in
Romans chapter 7. You know what he said when he,
and he was a religious man, his name was Saul of Tarsus. And
he was doing his best to keep the law. He was doing his best
to fight sin. And he thought he had made it.
He thought that he was fine. He thought that he was not a
sinner anymore. He thought that he had taken
care of the issue of fornication and uncleanness and concupiscence.
He thought that those things were gone. But he didn't see
how far the law reached. The law reaches to the heart.
The law is spiritual. You see, the law condemns not
only what I do in sin, it condemns the motive, it condemns the thought,
the heart. Christ taught that in Matthew
chapter 5 in the Sermon on the Mount. He said this, he said,
you've heard it said by them of old that it is unlawful, that
it is a sin to commit murder. But he said, I say unto you,
it's a sin, it's unlawful to be angry enough to commit murder. And then he mentioned lust. He
said, you've heard it said by them of old that it's a sin to
commit adultery. But he said, I'm telling you,
it's a sin even to lust after a woman. So he's saying here,
all sin deserves death. And the only hope that we have
of being free from the wrath to come is to flee to Christ
for refuge. You see that? I'm a sinner. You
say, well, you have problems with these things. We have problems
with all sins. My friend, think about it. There's
nothing apart from the grace of God, there's nothing that
we wouldn't do. You think about this, for the thing, he said,
they come upon the children of disobedience. Now the children
of disobedience in the Bible are unbelievers. And here he's
talking about those who die, who are in unbelief in their
lives and continue on unto death. And he says in verse 7, he says,
in the witch you also walked sometime when you lived in them.
He's telling these believers here that this was what occupied
your time, your life, your mind. This consumed you. This was your
tenor of life. But God brought you out of that
by His grace. You didn't bring yourself out. You didn't say, well, I'll quit
this and then God will save me. You may have one time said that,
but now you realize that was idolatry. You see, God saved
you. He brought you out of that. But
He says in verse 8, But now you also, Put off all these. Put
them off. Just like a garment that you
wear. Take it off. Put it off. And he says, put
off anger. Put off wrath. That is, wishing
destruction. Put off malice. Malice is hatred. He says, put off blasphemy. That's
speaking in wrong ways about God. Put off filthy communication
out of your mouth. That is, speech that is not edifying.
He says in verse 9, lie not one to another. Don't bite one another.
Does a believer have to fight these things? Yes, he does. Every
believer does. He says, lie not one to another,
seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds. Now the old man there is my former
state of condemnation in Adam. When did I put him off? In my
experience. When I look to Christ. When I
look to Him for my whole salvation. He was crucified. That old man,
my old state of condemnation with Adam, was crucified when
Christ died. That's what Romans 6 says. But
I didn't know it and didn't realize it and I still walked in his
deeds until God the Holy Spirit in his work of regeneration and
conversion, the new birth, brought me to look to Christ. And then
I saw that the old man was dead. Now I've got to put off his deeds.
You see, I still have the remnants of the old man in this flesh.
And this sin that I still have to put up with. So now I'm trying
to put off his deeds. Everything that identified him
and was with him. So he says, let me read that
verse 9 again. Lie not one to another, seeing
that you have put off the old man. And that's past tense now.
You have done it. When did you do it? When you
believed in Christ. when you rested in him and with his deeds
now I've already put off his deeds in this sense I can say
I've put off his deeds in that I no longer expect God to save
me based on my works but I totally look to Christ and then he says
in verse 10 and have put on the new the new man which is renewed
in knowledge after the image of him that created him I've
put on the new man now what is the new man That is my current
state of justification and redemption in Christ. And I put Him on when
I see Christ and Him crucified. I put Him on when I believed
in when the Holy Spirit brought me to know Christ, to see my
sins, and caused me to flee to Christ for refuge from the wrath
of God. When God the Holy Spirit brought
me to love Him and to know Him and to rest in Him, I put on
the new man. I see myself now as a sinner
who was redeemed and justified at Calvary, and I'm renewed in
knowledge after the image of Him that created him. I want
to be like Christ. Now that's the effect of grace,
not the cause. My desire to be like Christ,
And the attempts that I go through by the power of God is motivated
by the Spirit to be like Christ, to be conformed to His image.
Do not save me. I do that because I'm already
saved. That's the presence of the power and life of God within
me, Christ in me, the Holy Spirit in me, His Word in me, causing
me from the heart to worship and serve God. Now look at verse
11. And he says, in this new man,
now that is in the justified, redeemed state in Christ, that
is the church of the living God, that is the kingdom of God. He
says there's neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
there's neither barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is
all and in all. Now this is very significant
here. I want you to listen to me for a moment on this. For
all those who are in Christ, there are many differences that
exist. For example, there's sexual differences,
there's male and female, there's cultural differences, national
differences, there are racial differences, there's all kinds
of differences, social differences. We can talk years about how they
differ. those who have been brought to
Christ, those who have been saved by the grace of God. The church
of God is made up of so many different kinds of people with
so many different likes and dislikes, preferences, ideas. But you see,
in Christ, none of those differences mean anything. And what he's
saying, as far as your salvation As far as your position in the
kingdom and family and household of God, as far as your redemption
from sin, as far as your justification before God, as far as your hope
is concerned, it makes no difference at all whether you're a Jew or
a Gentile, whether you're a barbarian or Scythian, whether you're circumcised
or uncircumcised, whether you're bond or free. Here's what makes
a difference. Christ is all and in all. That's it. Paul said it this
way. He said, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the
world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision mean of anything
but a new creation. What makes the difference? between
saved and lost? Christ and Him crucified. What
makes the difference between holy and unholy? Christ and Him
crucified. What makes the difference between
righteous and unrighteous? Christ and Him crucified. See,
everyone who is in the church of the true and living God is
equally saved, equally redeemed, equally justified, equally holy
and righteous in Christ. And He's the only thing that
really matters, you see. And that's what motivates God's
people to mortify these members, to mortify these sins, to try
to put them to death, to strive to be like Christ. Because Christ
is all, and He's in all. Christ is in the heart, He dwells
in the heart of every one of His children by His Spirit and
by His Word. He's in our heart by doctrine. In other words, His truth, His
word is implanted in our hearts. He's in our hearts by love. The
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts and that's what draws
out our love to Him and to His people. He's in our hearts by
grace. That's why we're to be merciful
and forgiving. All of these things in Christ.
And there's neither Greek nor Jew. There's neither circumcision
nor uncircumcision. These things that meant so much
to many people. Barbarian, Scythian, Bonder Frick,
Christ is all. And he's in all. Now my friend,
the Church of God is made up of God's elect. It's made up
of those whom Christ redeemed at Calvary and justified at Calvary.
It's made up of those whom the Holy Spirit gives life and calls
into the kingdom. It's made up of those whom God
preserves throughout their entire lives here on this earth because
if He didn't preserve us, we would not persevere. You see,
it's not my hold upon Him that saves me. It's His hold upon
me. And the church of the living
God is made up of those who will one day without fail be glorified
together with Him. He will not lose one of them.
My friend, there'll be no empty seats in glory. None at all. There's not one person for whom
Christ lived, obeyed the law, suffered and died, was buried
and rose again, who will fail to reach heaven's glory. And
you know what? They will all come to faith in
Him. You say, well, where does that leave me? It leaves you
where you need to be, with absolutely no hope of salvation, but in
Christ and Him crucified. Now, never forget it. Grace is
the cause, you say, and the fruit and the effect is our love for
Him and our desire for Him. I hope that's been helpful to
your understanding of the Scriptures. And if you'd like to receive
a copy of this message, listen to the announcer as he'll give
you the details. The title of the message is,
The Cause and Effect of Grace. I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. 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.