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'm going to be preaching from the book of Colossians, chapter
3, if you'd like to follow along in your Bibles. And I encourage
you to do so. Read the scriptures. And today,
as I preach through these scriptures, follow along and interpret scripture
with scripture. I'm going to show you several
passages, and I want to talk to you about this subject, a
life hidden in Christ. A life hidden in Christ. Let
me read the first few verses of Colossians chapter 3, and
hopefully we'll be able to get into this and you'll understand
what I mean by a life hidden in Christ. The Apostle Paul writes
here to the believers at the church at Colossae. He says,
"...if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which
are above. Where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God, set your affection on things above, not on things
of the earth. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Now
what the Apostle Paul is attempting to do, through the power of the
Holy Spirit as he pens these words, he's seeking to give the
believers in this church, and unto all believers, because this
is a general epistle written to all who know Christ, who believe
in him, he's seeking to give us a motive, a reason for following
the Word of God, for obedience, a motive. Now, that's so important.
We need to understand that a life of obedience that is pleasing
to God is not pleasing because of the works of men, is not pleasing
because of the act or the deed itself, but it has to do with
the glory of God in Christ. What is your motive? You say,
well, I'm trying to do the best that I can do. to be the best
person I can be. And there's nothing wrong with
that in and of itself. But the issue here is what is
your motive for obedience? Now, by nature, our motive is
self-righteousness. And that comes out in man's natural
way of religion. Self-righteous works religion.
For example, If you're seeking to obey God, or if you're seeking
to be a, quote, good person, unquote, in order to be saved,
trying to gain your salvation, or earn your salvation, or even
earn your reward, or maintain your salvation by your works,
that is what the Scripture calls evil. Now, it's evil not because
the act itself is evil, but because the motive behind it is evil.
The motive is self-righteousness. The Bible plainly declares that
by deeds of law shall no flesh be justified. That is, be made
righteous or be declared not guilty. We could just as well
say saved. The Bible says, for by grace
are you saved. It's not what you earn you see.
Grace means a gift, a free gift that is not conditioned on the
object who receives the gift. Salvation is free. Salvation
is based upon a work that has been done, finished, and completed,
but not by me and not by you. It's based upon the work that
has been done, has been finished, and completed by the Lord Jesus
Christ, whom God sent into the world to finish the work. Salvation
is not an earned thing. It is not what you earn for yourself. but it is a free gift of God
based on the righteousness, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, if you're seeking to obey God, to keep His commandments,
in order to earn your way into His favor, or maintain your salvation,
that's an evil motive. It's an evil motive because it's
self-righteous. It's an evil motive because it
means you're an unbeliever. You see, if Christ came to this
world, to accomplish the work, if you think you can accomplish
it, then you're denying Him. That's why the Apostle Paul wrote
in Galatians chapter 5 that believers are to stand fast, firm, immovable,
in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. And don't be
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. That yoke of bondage
is self-righteous works religion. So if your motive is self-righteous,
then whatever you do is evil. But the motive that is pleasing
to God is that which is sown into the heart of a believer
by the Holy Spirit when he comes to see that he cannot earn anything
from God. He cannot earn the least of God's
blessings and favor. That we by nature and by our
best works do not deserve any of God's blessings or favor.
That if God were to give us what we deserve and what we earn by
our works we would be condemned forever to perish in hell. So
the motive is this. Now here's what Paul writes.
Look at verse 1. He says, if you then be risen
with Christ. Now he's speaking of the resurrection
of Christ. The gospel speaks of the obedience
of Christ. Christ obeyed the law perfectly. That's what God requires. Somebody
may ask the question, for a sinner to be saved, what does God require? Well, he requires several things.
And one of the things God requires is perfect obedience to the law. A man told me one time when I
told him that, he said, well, nobody can be perfect. And I
said, that's why salvation is by grace and not by words. You see, you cannot do enough.
under the law to earn your salvation. The law must be kept perfectly,
and that's why God sent Christ into the world. In the book of
Romans chapter 10, Paul the Apostle spoke of his Jewish brethren
according to the flesh. And he said they were religious.
He said they had a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
He said, for they deemed ignorant of God's righteousness, that
is, what God requires for salvation, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, trying to work their way into God's
favor, he said, they have not submitted themselves unto the
righteousness of God. Now, what is it to be submitted
to the righteousness of God? Well, he tells us in Romans chapter
10 and verse 4. He says, for Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
In other words, Christ is the fulfillment of the law. Christ
is the finishing of the law. The book of Daniel chapter 9
prophesies of the coming of the Messiah and says that he will
make an end of sin, that is, he will bring sin to its end,
and he will finish the transgression, and he will bring in everlasting
righteousness for his people. You see, you cannot fulfill the
law, yet God requires it. I cannot fulfill the law, but
God requires it. So what are we to do? Well, we're
to look to Christ and him alone as the fulfiller of the law.
So the gospel speaks of his obedience. Now the gospel speaks not only
of his obedience under the law, his positive obedience to the
precepts of the law, the gospel also speaks of his death. In
other words, Christ not only obeyed, but he obeyed unto death. Philippians chapter 2 tells us,
even the death of the cross. You see, the law of God, in order
for it to be fulfilled, not only must its precepts be kept perfectly,
if there's any transgression of the law, justice steps in
and it must be satisfied. God must be just because he's
God. God always judges according to
truth, and he can by no means clear the guilty. In other words,
if I'm going to be cleared, now that's what I am by nature, a
guilty sinner. I fell in Adam. I'm a sinner
ruined by the fall. And the only way that a guilty
sinner can be cleared before God is for that guilt to be removed
in a way that honors God. In other words, God just can't
look over it. He cannot just deny it as if it didn't exist.
It does exist. Somebody's got to step in who
is appointed of God who is able and who is willing to take my
place and suffer what I deserve for my sins. And that's what
the Lord Jesus Christ did in his death. He obeyed the law
for me and not only that, he went to the cross of Calvary
for my sins and he died the death that I deserve based on my sins
charged to his account. So he was obedient unto death.
Now, the Bible teaches that he actually died on the cross. That's
what the Bible means when it speaks of the blood of Christ.
The blood must be shed. Death must come about because
the wages of sin is death. And therefore Christ, having
my sin put to his account, he earned and deserved death by
my sins. And he died so that he was buried. But he didn't stay dead because
his death on the cross made an end of sin. He finished the transgression. He brought in righteousness.
He was the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believed it. The grave could not hold him so he conquered
death and he arose again the third day because of the justification
of his people. Christ finished the work. Now,
when Christ did all that, he didn't do it for himself. He
did it for his sheep. He calls them his sheep. In another
place, they're called his church. In another place, they're called
God's elect. They are the redeemed ones. Christ paid the price. And therefore, when Paul writes
here, if you then be risen with Christ, he's speaking of the
substitutionary work of Christ on behalf of his people. If when
he died, you died with him, If when he was buried, you were
buried with him, and if when he arose from the dead, you arose
with him. Now that's the condition of salvation.
It's not what you do. It's not what I do. It's not
even our faith. A lot of preachers will tell
you that salvation is conditioned on faith. And you might read
some scriptures in the Bible that seem to your mind to indicate
that. But that's not what it's talking about. When the Bible
says, he that believeth, or if you believe, you must answer
this question, he that believeth what or who? Or if you believe
what or who? Well, the Bible teaches that
the gospel is God's promise to save sinners based on the righteousness
and the blood, the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is none other than God incarnate. And the Bible teaches in the
Gospel that the work is already done. The requirements are already
fulfilled. The conditions have already been
met. Therefore, you're required and commanded and called on and
invited to believe that Christ himself, by himself, met and
fulfilled all the conditions of my salvation. Faith is just
the God-given instrument by which we receive it unto ourselves.
Faith is the hand that reaches out and lays hold of Christ who
has already met the conditions. Christ is my righteousness, not
my faith. I believe in Him. Christ is my
hope and my peace and my comfort. I believe in Him. So if you then
be risen with Christ, if Christ satisfied all the conditions,
all the requirements of salvation for you, here's what you're to
do. Now here's what Paul says. Now that's the motive of grace.
Salvation by grace. And therefore, we're to work,
we're to do good works, we're to seek to obey God, not in order
to be saved, but because we're already saved in Christ. You
see the difference? That's the motive, not of self-righteousness,
but the motive of gratitude, the motive of love, the motive
of grace. And that's the work of the Spirit
in us. It's Christ who makes us right before God, and we seek
to follow Him. So Paul writes, he said, if that's
the case now, he says, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Now first of all, Christ
sitting on the right hand of God is a biblical way, referring
back to the prophecies of the Old Testament and the work that
Christ fulfilled, it's a biblical way of saying that Christ completed
the work, that he met the conditions, he fulfilled all righteousness.
In other words, everything that God requires of me for my salvation,
I find complete and fulfilled in Christ. He's seated at the
right hand of God. This is the right hand of acceptance.
God accepted him. Therefore, if I am accepted of
God, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 6, I'm accepted
in the Beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the right hand
of fellowship. In other words, I'm brought into
fellowship with God through Christ. This is the right hand of judgment.
You see, when I go before God, I've already been judged. My
sins were judged at the cross and Christ paid for them. He
was under the wrath of God for my sins charged to Him. And He
drank damnation dry and paid my debt in full. I don't owe
a debt to God's law and justice anymore. I've been judged not
guilty. I've been judged righteous, justified
in Christ. And the key to it is it says
Christ sits on the right hand. As our high priest, he sat down
at the right hand of God. You know, back in the Old Testament,
under the law of Moses, the priest in the tabernacle, or in the
temple later on, the priest never sat down. There were no chairs
in that tabernacle. Everything that God prescribed
for that tabernacle, there were no chairs. Because the priests
were never to sit down, they were always to be standing. And
the reason is because those priests always had a work to do, it was
never finished. But Christ, who is the fulfillment
of all that which was typified in the priesthood and the tabernacle,
He fulfilled the work. He finished it. He completed
it. And He sat down. because it was
done. And he doesn't have to do it
again. The Bible says, for by one offering he hath perfected
them that are sanctified forever, in Hebrews chapter 10, in verse
10. It says he went into the holiest
of all one time, not for himself, but for his people. So it only
took Christ, the God-man, to substitute one time. And he sat
down. Now what he's saying here is
that if we're one with Christ, if we're in Him, trusting Him,
resting in Him, believing in Him, then seek the things which
are above. Seek heavenly things. Don't be
tied down to the earthly things that take men away from the glory
of God in Christ and from the worship of God in Christ. Don't
be so consumed with the things of this earth because they're
temporary. The Bible says all flesh is grass, all like flowers,
wither away. This world is not the home of
Christ's sheep. It's a journeying place. This
is just a pilgrimage. We're in the world, but we're
not of the world. We're not worldly people in the
sense that we have no hope for eternal glory in heaven with
Christ. Seek those things which are above. And here's what he
specifies. He says in verse 2, set your affection on things
above, not on the earth. Not on things on the earth. Now
that word affection would literally be translated mind. And what
it's speaking of here is the whole heart of a regenerated,
born-again person. That is, the mind, the affections,
the will. In other words, when God the
Holy Spirit regenerates a sinner, when we're born again by the
Spirit of God, by the sovereign, invincible power of God who gives
life from Christ, by the Holy Spirit, it affects how we think,
It affects our consciences, how we judge things. It affects what
we want, what we desire, what we love, what we need. And it
affects our will. It affects our whole inner being,
what we are. In other words, we love things
now that we didn't love before. We desire things now, things
of the glory of God that we didn't desire before. We may have desired
to be saved before we were born again. But our desire to be saved
before we were born again was dishonoring to God. Now our desire
for salvation is honoring to God. How do you know the difference?
Well, are you seeking salvation anywhere or in anyone but in
Christ and Him crucified? You see, if you're seeking salvation
anywhere or in anyone or in any way other than Christ and His
finished work, it dishonors God. And it dooms you. So, therefore,
we seek God in Christ. The Bible says, "...in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." We looked at that over
in Colossians chapter 2. And then it says, "...and you
are complete in Him." The Bible also teaches that Christ is the
revelation of the glory of God in redemption. You cannot honor
God but through the Lord Jesus Christ. So therefore, he says,
set your affection, what you think, what you love, what you
desire, what you will, on things above. Look unto heavenly things.
Look to that which glorifies and honors God, and not that
which just fulfills the lust of the flesh for a little while.
And then he says, not on things on the earth. Verse 3, now here's
where we come to a life hidden in Christ. You see, that's what
he's been describing here. This is a life hidden in Christ. He says, for you are dead, and
your life is hid with Christ in God. He says, you're dead. Now, how are we dead? I'm standing
before you preaching the gospel. I'm able to move. I have physical
life, and I'm not dead in that way. But if I'm in Christ, I'm
dead. Now, in what sense am I dead?
Well, I'm dead to the power of God's law to condemn me. When
Christ died and was condemned for my sins, the condemnation
was totally removed from me. I cannot be condemned. I'm no
longer under the sentence of death. When Christ died, I died. Because he died for me. He was
my substitute, my representative. When Christ was buried, I was
buried. He was my substitute. When Christ
arose from the dead, I arose from the dead. So in the sense
that I'm dead to the law's sentence of death, I'm no longer under
that condemnation. The Bible says, for there is
therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ, who
walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Romans chapter
8 and verse 1. It goes on in Romans chapter
8 to say, who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
He's risen again and is seated at the right hand of the Father
ever living to make intercession for us. I cannot be condemned. I'm dead with Christ. And then
I'm dead to any commandment of the law as to attaining or maintaining
salvation. You see, the law does not require
anything of me in order to earn God's salvation. And the reason
is, is because Christ has already earned everything I need. The
Bible says, that he that spared not his own son, how shall he
not freely with him give us all things? Ephesians chapter 1 and
verse 3 says, we're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. If we have Christ, we have everything. And then I'm dead in this sense.
I'm dead to any power of sin to condemn me and bring me back
under the wrath of God. For I'm dead. Now how am I dead?
Now look here, he says, your life is hid with Christ in God. I'm hidden in Christ. My life
is a life hidden in Christ. Now the hiding here, this hidden,
doesn't mean hiding in such a way so as to conceal things. Because
you see, nothing's concealed before God. God knows and sees
everything. He's God. He knows the thoughts
and the intents of the heart. You can't hide from God. You
can't run from God. You may try. Many people spend
their lives trying to in this life, trying to hide from God,
trying to run from Him, but it's to no avail. So it's not hiding
in Christ so as to conceal things. In fact, if your life is hidden
with Christ in God, everything's been brought out into the open.
What you are by nature, what I am by nature. My friend, I'm
a sinner saved by the grace of God, and that's it. And I can't
hide that from God. He knows my frame. He knows my
weaknesses. He knows my sins. He knows me
at my best and at my worst. And He knows that even at my
best, I'm nothing before Him. But my life is hidden with Christ
in this sense. He is my safe harbor, my safe
haven. He is my rest. In Christ, I'm
hidden from the wrath of God because He took my wrath. In
Christ, I'm hidden from the judgments of the law because He took my
judgment. In Christ, I'm hidden from the
accusations of Satan. the accusations of men, and the
accusations even of my own heart. The Bible says, who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's Christ that dies.
I'm in Christ and my life is hid with Him in God. That means
this now. It means I cannot be lost again. Now why? Because I'm such a good
fella? No sir. Because I'm going to
persevere? Well, by the grace of God, I
will. But that's not why I can never be lost again. I can never
be lost again because my life is hidden with Christ in God.
God sees me in Him. And listen to me. Anyone whose
life is hidden with Christ in God, they could no more ever
again be lost than Christ could be thrown off of His throne.
He sat down at the right hand of the Father, and as long as
He's there, I'm safe in Him. He is my wisdom, He is my righteousness,
He is my holiness, and He is my redemption, and He'll never
stop doing those things unto me. And then he goes on in verse
4, he says, when Christ, who is our life, Christ is not just
part of my life, Christ is my life. In other words, it's all
about Him. He is my very life. Without Him,
I have no life. If Christ were not my life, it's
not like, well, if He left, then part of my life would be gone.
No, sir. He's all. And Paul's going to deal with
that in the next few verses here. Christ is all. But you see, Christ
is my life. And he says, when Christ, who
is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him
in glory. That is the certain hope of final
glory in Him. Now, you know, you look at yourself,
you look at other people, and as we go through the years, you
see the effects of age, which are the consequences of sin.
And this body is dying. It's necessary that this body
die. We must be changed, for flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God. This corruptible must put on
incorruption. But let me tell you something,
if my life is hid with Christ in God, then I'm going to be
resurrected under glory in Him. When He comes the second time,
when He shall appear, all who are in Him, all whose lives are
hidden with Christ in God, shall be resurrected and they will
exist and live forever in a new body, a spiritual body, one that
will never die, one that will never grow old, a place where
there'll never be any sorrow, no pain, no tears, no death,
no sickness, a perfect glorified body in Christ. And that's what
a life hidden with Christ in God means. A life hidden in Christ
is a life of peace and assurance and safety and rest in Him. And that's salvation by the grace
of God. Well, I hope you've enjoyed this
message and I hope that it's helped you to understand the
Scriptures and the very Gospel itself. If you'd like to have
a copy of this message, listen to the announcer and he'll give
you the details. The title of this message is A Life Hidden
with Christ. And 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 Turk, 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.