Would you open your Bibles with me to the book of Colossians? Colossians chapter three. Colossians three. I began preaching from this portion of God's word last week, dealing mainly with the first four verses concerning the assurance the security, the safety of all true believers in Christ.

Those who have been washed in his blood from all their sins, those who have been justified before God, forgiven, righteous in God's sight, not by their works now, not by any decision they've made, but righteous by the merits of Christ, obedience unto death on the cross as the righteousness of his people, his righteousness imputed, charged, accounted. And let's read those first four verses before I get into today's message. Beginning in verse five, it says, if you then be risen with Christ, Now that means that he died for you, he was buried for you, he was raised from the dead for you, indicated, evidenced by the God-given faith that you have in him. I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day.

Now if that's the case, or since that's the case for you or for me or for any believer, sinner saved by grace, who's been born from above by the Spirit, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. How does Christ sit on the right hand of God?

He sits there as the mediator, the intercessor of his people, pleading, pleading, His calls for us. And when I say pleading, I don't mean He's trying to persuade the Father. The Father's already persuaded, the Son's persuaded, the Spirit's persuaded.

It's not that. But as long as we're in Christ, and if you've ever been in Christ, you're always in Christ, but if we've been brought by the Spirit to be in Christ by faith, that means you're safe. Now somebody says, well, you better be careful, you can lose it. No, you can't lose it. He won't let you lose it. You could if he'd let you, but he won't let you.

And that's why I quoted that 2 Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed and persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day.

There's no such thing as in the Bible now, in the gospel, the true gospel, as a salvation that can be gained by our works or our decision, and then lost by our sins and our indecisions. Because God saves us in Christ, and he keeps us, preserves us in Christ, and he'll bring us to glory in Christ. So seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. As long as he's sitting in the right hand of God, his people are safe. The only way they could lose salvation is if Christ could be thrown off of that throne, and he can't be thrown off.

So verse two, set your affection, your mind, your heart, on things above and not on things of the earth. Now you have to deal with earthly things. As we live here on this earth, as one old preacher said, you can't be so heavenly minded that you're earthly no good. So you have to deal with earthly things.

You have to deal with your families, your marriages, if you're a father, if you're a mother, your jobs, even money. You have to be concerned about that because You know, you can't just roam the streets. Well, some people can, but they shouldn't. But anyway, you have to deal. But set your affection, your mind, your heart not on things of the earth that aren't going to last. You may get a big promotion sometime and get a lot more money.

But when you die, all that's gone. What have you got left? Well, the only thing we've got left, and it's everything, it's all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And that's what our affections ought to be set on, even as we responsibly take care of the things of this earth. So set your affection on things above and not on things that are, and he says in verse three, for you are dead. Now this is important. What do you mean I'm dead? And your life is hid with Christ in God.

What that speaks of is two things, and I'm not gonna have you turn to all these scriptures because it'd take too much time. But in Romans 6 and Romans 7, mark this down and read it. Romans 6 says that we are dead to sin in Christ. and by Christ. Our deadness, our death to sin, had nothing to do with what we do.

Christ did it all. So we say, like in believers baptism, when He died, He died not as a private person, He died as a representative of a people. He died as the surety of a people. having their sin debt charged to Him. He paid the debt. We sing a hymn called Jesus Paid It All. All the debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

So what kind of death is he talking about there? You're dead. He's talking about a legal forensic death in Christ who was condemned in my place for my sins and he drank damnation dry and satisfied the justice of God and brought forth a perfect righteousness whereby I stand before God complete. Righteous in Christ. And I personally, through my works or my will, had absolutely nothing to do with that except as I stood legally in Him. Dead to sin.

Now I'm a sinner. How about you? You're a sinner too. Whether you believe it or not, that's what you are. Sin still affects my life. I made this point last week. And it's such a good point that I may not get through the real message, but anyway. I'm a sinner, sin still affects me. It affects what I think, what I do, my relationships. And I'm not saying that in pride. I'm not glad that it does. I wish it didn't, but it does. But there is a sense in which even my own sin cannot touch me, cannot influence me.

And that's as I stand before God, accepted in Christ, my sins are washed away. You ever sing any hymn that has that with it? What can wash away my sins? What does it say? What's the next line? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Do you believe that? A lot of people sing that, they don't believe it. They think, well, I have to wash them away with my tears of repentance. or I have to wash them away by a believer's baptism. That's not true. Christ's blood washed all my sins away, legally. They cannot be held against me. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who can condemn me?

It's Christ that died. Yea, rather is risen again and is at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for me. Romans 8, 33 through 34. So when he says you're dead here, that's what he means. I died when Christ died. He was my surety, my substitute, my redeemer. He's my intercessor, he's my keeper. And I died legally to sin, to my sins, because they were charged to him and he drank damnation dry. He fulfilled it so that I cannot die in my sins.

That's why all for whom Christ died shall be saved, folks. There's nobody gonna be in hell for whom Christ died. Because the reason they're in hell is by their sins. And people will come and say, well, you must accept it. The Bible teaches that if he died for you, you will accept it. All that the Father giveth me, what? Shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Now left to ourselves, we won't accept it. We won't come to him. Now in Romans chapter 7 it says we're dead to the law, the law of God. Well how am I dead to the law of God?

Well in the view of God's justice, His law, I cannot be condemned for my sins because I've already been condemned in the person and work of Christ and He fulfilled it. And those sins, as I said, cannot be charged to me. The law cannot condemn me. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ. You see how secure that those who are in Christ are?

And I've heard people say it, you all have to, I get sick of it, but, well, if I believe that, I just grant sin all I want to. Well, go ahead. But you're not a believer. because the reality of this, the reality of our safety in Christ. Go back to Colossians 3 now. He says, for your dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. I have a hiding place. That's what I preached on last week.

Christ, our hiding place, safety, security. And it says in verse four, when Christ, who is our life, and He is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory. I don't have to fear His coming. I don't have to fear standing before God at the judgment, because I stand there in Christ, washed in His blood, clothed in His righteousness. Somebody said, well, you've got to give an account. Christ is my account. Thank God. Now the realization of that security and that safety that God has put me in by His grace and His mercy and His power to be in Christ leads to this.

Now look at verse five. And this is where we get to the follow-up. Mortification of sin. Mortification of sin. Verse five, he says, mortify therefore. Now that therefore goes back to the prior verses. Because you're safe in Christ, because you are righteous in God's sight, because you're washed clean from all your sins, because your sins cannot be imputed, charged to you, mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. Members, what is he talking about? Well, he's talking about our physical bodies, our arms, our eyes, our ears, our legs, your members, mortified, which are upon the earth, which are physical.

And what he's saying there is this, don't use your eyes for sinful purposes. Don't use your hands for sinful purposes. Don't use your physical body. Sin is a principle within, it's not a substance. It's not something you drink. Somebody says, well there's sin in the bottle. No, there's sin in the person who takes the bottle and uses it sinfully. You understand that? Christ taught the disciples that. It's not what goes in the mouth that defiles you, it's what comes out of the what? The heart, the mind, the affections, the will.

So when he says mortify, now what does the word mortify mean? It means put to death. Kill it. Mortify, we get our word mortician, mortuary, from that. I read a poem when I was in high school called Mort Darther. What does that mean? The death of Arthur, talking about King Arthur. His death. You've heard somebody being mortified. That means they've been rendered almost like a dead person. So he says, put to death therefore.

Now based upon your safety and security, in other words, what he's commanding you to do here, he's not saying do this in order to be safe. He's not saying do this in order to be secure. And he's certainly not saying do this in order to be safe. He's saying do this, set your mind to this, because you're already saved by the grace of God in Christ. You're already safe and secure. certain to be glorified.

Your members which are upon the earth. Sin is a principle within, but it expresses itself through these members. You can take your hand and you can use it to open a Bible and read it, or you can take it to hold a gun and shoot people. The hand itself is not evil, but it can be used for evil. A hand itself is not holy, but it can be used in ways that set you apart. Like I said, opening the scriptures. You can use your hand to steal, or you can use your hand to give to charity, either way.

The sin is in the heart. So he says, this is the vantage point of our hiding place where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. So now, one of the most important aspects of our lives as sinners saved by grace is how we as believers are to view and deal with this problem of sin.

And we all have this problem. Now there are some denominations that deny it. I've dealt with them. Charismatics, whatever, you know. They say, well, I'm now living above sin. I told one guy, I said, well, you must be living on the second or third floor of some place. Because if anybody's below you, you're above sin. But they're below sin. Somebody said, I no longer sin. Well, if that's true, you'll never get sick. You'll never grow old. And you'll never die. Because all of those are the result of sin. Do you know that? The wages of sin is what? Death. Now, we're all gonna die physically. The question is, will we die eternally, spiritually?

What determines that? God does by our situation in Christ. Am I in Christ, believing in him, resting in him, pleading him as my worth and righteousness? or am I against him? How are you gonna stand before God at judgment? What is the standard of judgment? Think about that. The standard of judgment is perfect righteousness that can only be found in the person and work of Christ.

And I quote this verse all the time. Paul's standing on Mars Hill in Athens, preaching to Greek and Roman philosophers And he tells them about Christ and how God commands all men everywhere to repent. And in verse 31 of Acts 17, he says, because God has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained in that he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead.

That's the standard. You say, well, I love people, not enough. I'm glad you love people, but you don't love them enough, because you don't love them as perfectly as Christ loved his people. You say, well, I'm trying to keep the law. Well, the standard is not how hard you try. The standard is, have you kept it? Or have you broken it in the least, the least, every jot and tittle now, You see, in order to stand before God and be accepted and declared saved and righteous, I have to have a righteousness that equals the righteousness of Christ. And I cannot do that by my works or my efforts. My tears of repentance won't do it. Should I repent? Should I work hard to be good? Yes, but that's not going to save me. That's not going to secure me. That's not going to make me righteous. Only God can do that by charging, accounting, imputing the righteousness of Christ to me. And all for whom he has done that will come to Christ.

Now this, this is the viewpoint, the vantage point from which we should mortify our members. And look what he says in verse five, fornication, that's sex outside of marriage, uncleanness, that's any act of sin, uncleanness. He says inordinate affection, affection that is misplaced, evil concupiscence, that's lust, Covetousness, which is idolatry, that's any desire for anything, good or bad, that keeps you from seeking the Lord. If you have a desire to make a lot of money, there's nothing wrong with that, unless it takes up your whole heart and keeps you from seeking the Lord and His truth.

That's idolatry. See what I'm saying? Abraham was a rich man. Job was a rich man. Of course, he had it all taken away from him, but he got it back again. But if that desire for whatever it is, a good life here on earth, a home, a good job, money, a good wife or a good husband, if that keeps you from seeking and finding and worshiping the Lord, it's idolatry.

He says, mortify them. He says in verse six, for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. A child of disobedience is an unbeliever. Mark it down. In the which you also walk sometime when you lived in them. Before you were born again, brought to faith in Christ, that's how you walked. And he says, but now, look at verse eight.

But now you also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, hatred, that's what that is, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth, don't lie to one another, seeing that you've put off the old man with his deeds. What is the old man? That's my former connection with Adam in a state of spiritual death and depression.

It's before I was born again. before I was made a new creation in Christ. Put that off. In other words, don't act like you did when you were dead in sin. You may have been religious, most of us were. I was a very religious person before I was born again. I was in seminary, but I didn't know Christ. I didn't know the gospel. So I don't even want to act like that when I was in seminary. I wasn't drinking and carousing and all that, but I was doing other things in idolatry. But all those things, put it off. He says in verse 10, the old man with his deeds, verse 10, and have put on the new man. What is the new man?

That's my current standing and state in Christ. I'm a child of God. I'm a sinner saved by grace, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. The more I learn and know about Christ, the more I put on the new man. Putting them on means acting like them, dealing with them.

And he says in verse 11, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, sithian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. So when he speaks of mortification of sin, the first thing he's talking about is recognize and rest in your position and standing before God in Christ. Safe and secure, righteous, cleansed, legally, forensically, cannot be condemned, secure. Your life is hid with God in Christ. My sins are all taken away.

This sinner can say that because that's what the Word of God says. And that's what faith does. It believes the Word of God. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Dare not trust the sweetest frame, wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

So the first way to look at mortification of sin is as an accomplished act, accomplished for us on the cross of Christ as our surety, our substitute, and our redeemer. Now next week I'm gonna get into this more. But there's other ways to look at mortification of sin and that's what's spoken of here in this passage, it's mortification as a goal.

Now, I'm a sinner saved by grace, secure in Christ, righteous in Him. I sin every day, but there's a sense in which my sin cannot touch me because they've all been washed away. I'm righteous before God in Christ. But still being a sinner, I must fight sin tooth and nail within me.

And that's mortification as a desired goal. And what he says, if you have any of these, like you talk about malice, hatred, hatred for a person, hatred for a brother or sister in Christ, for whatever reason, mortification of sin says, Fight it to the death. Engage yourself in the warfare of the flesh and the spirit. Fight sin. Fight it with every part of your being, knowing that you're not gonna win the battle, but that Christ has already won the battle. Now, there's no way that a believer can fight sin and kill it while he or she is on this earth. And yet we're commanded to do so for the glory of God and for our witness unto people.

I can't kill it in. I can't kill all sin in me. Paul dealt with that in Romans 7, 14 through 25. He said, I want to do good, but I don't even know how to do it because sin so permeates my being. It keeps me from loving God perfectly, perfectly now. It can't keep me from loving God because the Holy Spirit wars against it and drives me to God in His grace. But the sin of selfishness and self-love keeps me from loving God as Christ loved God. You see, in order to be saved, I have to have a righteousness that equals Christ's righteousness.

And I can't do that by trying to fight and kill my sin, because it's not going to happen on this earth. How do some religionists fight sin? Well, they'll say something like, let's appoint a discipline committee and police our congregations. And when we catch them sinning, as they say, we'll discipline them. Won't work.

You can be sitting right there looking at me and sinning in your mind. I tell people all the time, I say, don't get too proud. That thought that just shot through your head, I didn't see it. God did. Some will say this, they'll say, let's go live in a cave. where we don't have to deal with people. The problem there is this. We're the problem. The sin goes into the cave with us in our sinful thoughts. Some say let's punish ourselves. You see these stories about Catholic monks whipping themselves. But they're just as sinful when they finish whipping themselves as when they started.

Some will say, well, let's just forget about it then and throw caution to the wind and live like hell. Is that what the Bible says? No, it says, mortify therefore your members. Every true believer who is saved by the grace of God, whose sins have been purged away, and they have been purged away, folks, That little chorus we sing, did you hear what Jesus said to me? They're all washed away. And they are. They cannot be charged to us. They cannot condemn us.

But every true believer whose sins have been purged, but who's still in a battle within themselves, is to fight what is called the warfare of the spirit against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit. But fight it from the right vantage point. Our life is hid with God in Christ and we're secure and safe to the end and always will be Not because of our warfare, not because of our attainments or our improvements, but because of what Christ accomplished in his obedience unto death as our surety, our substitute, our redeemer, our preserver, and who will glorify us in the end. That's how to mortify. We'll talk a little bit more about it next week. All right.