Colossians, Pt6: "The Shocking Truth About Holiness"

October 6, 2019            NOTES NOT EDITED
Colossians, Pt. 6: “The Shocking Truth About Holiness”

Colossians 3:1-11

SIS:  Sin demanded a death penalty and Jesus paid it; holiness also demands an execution, and we must carry it out.

My birthplace, Moundsville, W.Va., has two prominent features. One feature is a large conical-shaped burial mound in the center of town. It is 240 feet in circumference and 62 feet high. It is the largest such mound in the United States. An ancient pre-American native people called, The Adena, built it over 2000 years ago by moving 60,000 tons of dirt. The area now has a museum of artifacts preserved from earlier excavations. Many artifacts have been lost through the years. Moundsville takes its name from this ancient burial mound. 

The second prominent feature providing a nostalgic bit of fame, or infamy, comes from a massive hand-carved stone structure that sits across the street from the mound. The West Virginia maximum security prison has stood on that location since 1876. Over the 119 years of its operation, it housed some of the most notorious, and violent criminals in the history of the United States.  

This massive structure also housed, “Old Sparky.” Old Sparky was bolted to a low platform which covered what had previously been the trapdoor of the gallows used in the state's judicial hangings. This is a macabre and endearing name for the electric chair that dispatched over 94 criminals in his 8 years of operation. Old Sparky modernized the dispatching of the most notorious and violent criminals after taking over the duties from the gallows that stood just below Old Sparky. Old Sparky was retired in 1959. The last person executed by West Virginia was Elmer Brunner on April 3, 1959, for the robbery-murder of Ruby Miller committed with the claw-end of a hammer in Huntington. Old Sparky still sits inside the walls of this massive structure that now serves as a movie set, museum, and major tourist attraction.

Those who were consigned to take a seat in Old Sparky felt the wrath of over 2000 volts of electricity surging through their body as they paid the ultimate price for their crimes. I think it is shocking to most people to realize that this same experience of “capital punishment” applies to the Christian life also. Our salvation was secured, in total, by the death of Jesus Christ on a cross over 2000 years ago. Jesus Christ died the death of a criminal, not for His sins or failures, but for the failures of you and I and every person that has lived or ever will live. It is only through this “execution” of God the Son that the penalty for sin could be paid.

Nevertheless, there is a second execution owed for the sins of man. It is not an execution to pay for our sins, Jesus Christ alone paid that price “once for all, for everyone.” Nothing any person could do can add to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. But, this other execution provides a pathway for holiness. 

Here’s the $64,000 dollar question, or $600K in today’s money:  “Is it your desire to live a truly holy and devout life in sacrificial service to Jesus Christ, the Lord?”  If your answer is yes, here is a shocking truth you must know—holiness requires you execute your fleshly self!

Let’s read the “Shocking Truth” about executing our flesh (3:1-11).

So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God.  ² Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth.  ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. ⁴ When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. ⁵ Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature:  sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.  ⁶ Because of these, God’s wrath comes on the disobedient, ⁷ and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.  ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self  with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on  the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.  ¹¹ In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.

                       

There are three distinctive phases to the pursuit of a devout and holy life:  One, an intense focus on spiritual issues, which I call Sighting-In Your Spirt; two, the daily battle against sinful habits and attitudes which I call, Executing Your Flesh; and three, the passionate immersion of your self into the life of the church which I call, “Burying Yourself In the Body of Christ.”  Let’s take these one at a time.

1.  SIGHTING-IN YOUR SPIRIT (1-4)

Every fall since I was about15 years old, I’d witness and later participate in an annual fall ritual:  sighting-in our rifles getting ready for the upcoming deer hunting season.  Sighting-in a rifle relates to adjusting the scope to hit a target at a particular distance.  The key was to adjust the scope to the rifle so that they rifle would hit “dead-center” of the target.  In a similar way, the key to holiness is to adjust the focus of our lives, our scopes if you will, to the standard of God’s Word so that we can hit the target of holiness dead-center. 

Verses 1-4 establish the principles and perimeters for the pursuit of a devout and holy life. Let’s review these verses.  Verse 1 says,

So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God.  ² Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth.

There is a bit of a scholarly dispute over how to interpret the first three words in Greek translated, “If, then you have been raised (verb is translated with three words).”  This is a conditional sentence that establishes a “condition” (protasis) and a “consequence” (apodosis).  There are several different kinds of conditional sentences in Greek.  This is a first class conditional sentence in which the “consequence is assumed to be true if the condition is true.”  We would say in English, if “A” is true then “B” is the natural consequence.  Paul is telling us that if we are truly saved, that is “raised with Christ,” then it should naturally follow that we pursuing passionately spiritual matters, that is, “seeking what is above.”  If there is no pursuit of spiritual matters, it does not necessarily mean that a person is not saved, but it definitely means a person is NOT being obedient to the Lord that saved him, or her.  Something is “out of focus and out of balance.”

Verses 2-3 restates what should be the characteristic nature of the life of a true believer and then gives the reason why this is the case.

² Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth.  ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God.

So many people who would say if asked that they were followers of Christ show little or no evidence of progress in the area of holiness.  The reason seems clear: they have not truly “died and been hidden (buried) with Christ.”  They may or may not be saved.  There is not enough evidence to prove they are saved, beyond what they say.  In short, their spirits are not SIGHTED-IN.  Second, we must then

2.  EXECUTE THE FLESHLY NATURE (5-9a) 

Paul says it like this:  “⁵ Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature.”  The KJV says it with a bit more poetic flavor, “Mortify . . . your members.” The price you must pay for holiness is “capital punishment.”  You must “die” to your flesh daily to pursue a devout and holy life.  The words “put to death, or mortify” come from the Greek word, nekroō (νεκρόω), which means, “put to death.”  I’m sure you have heard the term, necrotizing bacteria.  It is an often fatal disease that literally cause the death of your flesh.  Necrotizing bacteria are often called, “flesh-eating bacteria.”  The flesh literally dies on the bone, progressing inch by inch.  If we are going to pursue a devout and holy life, a death will be required—the death of our fleshly nature.

This is where the idea of holiness becomes “shocking.”  Holiness requires an execution of our flesh in much the same way as a serious crime requires the execution of the criminal.

Let me reemphasize a point I’ve made several times:  no amount of “mortifying or putting to death” our flesh by our efforts can add anything to our salvation.  The sacrifice of Jesus alone does that.  But, being saved not only requires accepting the death of Jesus on our behalf, but pursuing a devout and holy life requires the execution of the criminal the Bible calls, “The Flesh.”  Colossians goes on to outline exactly what kinds of sins make our flesh subject to capital punishment.  Paul addresses these sins in two groups.  First, sins of the body which are personal and private (verse 5-7).  Second, Colossians deals sins of the tongue and emotion, or social sins (8-9).  First let’s review the sins of the body, or PERSONAL sins.

(1) Verse 5 says,  put to death . . . sexual immorality.  I am not going to belabor the point of each sin in these two lists.  I don’t want to risk causing anyone to have thoughts they shouldn’t have.  It is hard enough to not think about “sexual immorality” when sex is used in our society to sell everything from toothpaste to Toyotas!  The word Paul uses here is rare in Classical Greek.  The word is rare, but the practices it refers to were widespread.  The word for sexual immorality is “porneia.”  It originally referred to prostitution but Paul uses it to refer to any illicit sexual activity, of the mind or body. Paul’s admonition to “put to death sexual immoraility” is even more important today with the widespread consumption of pornography, our English derivative of porneia.  The porn industry is a ***** billion dollar industry.  Most late night T.V. is nothing more than “pornography.” After years of going back and forth on the issue, I am convinced that “R-rated” movies fall under Paul’s umbrella of porneia.  Remember, the gnostic false teachers felt the body was absolutely meaningless which led to the idea that any action involving the body was acceptable.

(2) “put to death . . . impurity.”  This is an interesting word. It was related to the sexual practices of ancient religions, such as temple virgins. There’s no modern comparison that is easily made, but the polygamous practices of Mormon’s comes close. Perhaps a “crude slang” word like “seedy, back alley, or low-life behavior” captures the gist of this word. The seedy practices of drunks and drug addicts on streets and in hovels also applies. Basically, anything that is crude or unseemly would fall into this category, such as hanging out in sports bars or such.

(3) “put to death . . . lust.”  Lust can apply to any strong desire that controls your behavior.  It doesn’t have to be only sexual lust. It could be as simple as “over-eating,” or “over-shopping,” or “soccer, football, or golf.”  Lust translates the Greek wors “pathos,” or desire. We should not become slaves to our desires. Lust is the opposite of Paul’s command to “seek what is above and set your mind on the heavens” (vv. 1-2).

(4)  “put to death . . . evil desire.”  Evil desires could be translated, “evil thoughts.”  Whereas the object of lust could be something that is not in and of itself evil, like food, or even wine, “evil desires” focus on dark themes, like enjoying horror movies, or being pulled toward the “goth” lifestyle with its dark themes, dark dress, and dark make-up on the eyes and lips, and painting one’s fingernails black. 

(5) “put to death . . . greed which is idolatry.”  To put this vice in its simplest form let me say that “greed simply means getting more pleasure out of stuff than out of spiritual pursuits.”  Greed means that one gets more enjoyments from their possessions than they do their God.

Verse 6 concludes the first list of sins with a dire warning.  Nobody sins without consequences—including a believer that sins.  The Word warns us:  “Because of these, God’s wrath  comes on the disobedient.”  Judgment Day is coming and there will certainly be a reckoning before God.  The lost will stand uncovered and feel the full wrath of God, including the consignment in hell for all eternity.  But, sinning believers will also see a reckoning if they fail to put to death the flesh.  The Bible says, ^“I tell you that on the day of judgement  people will have to account  for every careless word they speak.” (Mt. 12:36).  To what degree this passage deals with Christian accountability for the pursuit of holiness, is not altogether clear, but the sins of a child of God are no less egregious to God than that of an unbeliever.  Holiness is not God’s suggestion—it is His command!

This first list “sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil thoughts, and greed which is idolatry” focus on the “personal nature of sin” which drives us to unwholesome, unholy attitudes which can lead to unholy and unwholesome behavior.  The second list focuses more on how our sinful attitudes can negatively affect others.  I call the second list, “social sins.”  Let’s quickly run through this list.  I’ll spend less time on this list because there is some overlap.

(1)  “put away . . . anger(v8).” The word translated anger is “orgē.” The most obvious relationship to English is our word, orgy, or an out of control sexual party.  The key is the “out of control” issue.  Anger means we are not in control.  The word translated anger is related to the word for a “fertile field.”  When we get angry, it is fertile ground for all kinds of “bad behavior,” which is why Jesus said that when one is angry, “he has committed murder in his heart” (Mt. 5:21-22).  

(2) “put away . . . wrath (v8).” Wrath is simply “anger on steroids.” You might translate this “fits of fury.”  One can get angry, and not lose one’s temper, but with wrath it is manifested by violent outbursts. 

(3) “put away . . . malice (v8).”  This is equivalent to bitterness, or a longstanding ill-feeling toward someone else for some perceived injustice, whether justified or imagined.  Malice, or bitterness, is the equivalent of “drinking poison hoping someone else will die.”

(4) “put away . . . slander (v6).” This is the equivalent of the First Centuries, “Fake News.”  It is any speech that violates the old adage, “If you can’t find something good to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.”  Slander is gossip.  You can spot slander about to fall from someone’s lips when they lean over to you and whisper, “I shouldn’t say  this . . . ,” and then they precede to say it.

(5) “put away . . . filthy language (v8).”  This refers to obscene or uncultured talk.  It include cussing and sharing “off-color jokes.”  It includes any speech that might be considered crude.  Paul talks about this also in Ephesians 5:4. 

(6)  “Do not lie (v9a).”  A lie is a lie. Truth sets one free, lies enslave both the speaker and the hearer.  Just be truthful.

Now, how do you feel about your pursuit of a devout and holy life after going through this 11-count indictment by the Grand Jury of Heaven?  I was quite shocked when I went through these two lists of personal and social sins. I never realized just how “fleshy” my life has become. We have no choice but to plead guilty to allowing our flesh to remain alive.  It is far past the time for us to “mortify, execute, or put to death what belongs to our worldly nature” (v5). 

We have learned that a devout and holy life requires that we SIGHT-IN OUR SPIRIT in order to focus on the target of a devout and holy life—SIGHTING IN MEANS “seeking the things of heaven.”  Second, we learned through two painful lists of personal and social sins, we must execute or put to death any and all sinful attitudes and actions that hinder us toward hitting the target of holiness.  There is a third phase to living a devout and holy life, much neglected by many, and that is

3.  BURYING YOURSELF IN THE BODY OF CHRIST (9B-11)

Chapter 3 begins the second part of Paul’s exhortation to the Colossians.  Paul used chapters 1 and 2 to correct some faulty doctrine creeping into the church from false teachers.  It is not enough, however, to know the right things to do. Holiness is as much an act as an attitude.  Holiness requires both right thinking (chapters 1 and 2) and right living (3-4).  We see this shift from doctrine to duty in Paul’s use of the imperative forms of two significant words, “seek, or desire” in verse one, and “set your mind on” in verse two.  These words are both commands reflecting how we should think and act. The Bible is not a Book of suggestion, but a Book of God’s decrees on how we should live.

Fundamental to any pursuit of a devout and holy life is the participation in a local community of faith—a church.  By participation I do not mean a casual relationship with an institution, but the communal relationship with other believers.  It’s called, “fellowship.” I’m not talking about merely a sprinkling of “pie and ice cream socializing,” but the BURYING OF ONESELF IN THE LIFE OF THE LOCAL CHURCH.

Look back to verse 3 for a moment.  It says, “ For you have died,  and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God.”  Let me ask you a pointed question, “what do we do with dead bodies?”  Set aside the modern practice of cremation.  We bury them.  Let me ask you another question.  Where exactly, on this earth, is our life “hidden, meaning kept safe” in Christ?  I would suggest to you that the place our life is “kept safe” in this life is the Church, or the Body of Christ.

Spiritually, or ultimately, our life is “hidden with Christ in glory.”  We will one day be raised to a “glorious body” (see verse 4)” but until then, we are now part of the Body of Christ on earth.  Look at verse 10,  “¹⁰ and [you] have put on  the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.” Where is this “renewal” process taking place?  It is happening in some spiritual vacuum?  Verse 11 answers that question:

¹¹ In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.

Verse 11 if a description of the Body of Christ, the Church.  there are not cultural division, Greek or Jew; there are no religious divisions, circumcision or uncircumcision; and there are no cultural social or economic divisions or preferences in the Body of Christ, that is barbarian or Scythian.  There’s only “One Body,” the Lord’s Body, the Church.  The church is the incubator in which the eggs of salvation hatch into lives of devotion and holiness.  Each part works with every other part to assure a holy and healthy whole. 1Cor. 12:13 says,

 ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.  ¹⁴ So the body is not one part but many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But now God has placed each one of the parts in one body just as He wanted.

Romans 6:4 describes baptism as “burial.”  When a body is buried, it is place completely into the ground, and if it were for modern mortuary techniques, every body would become a part of the soil into which it was buried.  So, every believer must “bury himself or herself” into the Body of Christ, the Church, until they are as one with the church as a body becomes one with the soil around it.

I often lament that the idea of pursuing a devout and holy life is as foreign to most believers as a surfer is to an Eskimo.  We just don’t see the kind of pursuit of holiness that the Bible indicates should be the natural consequence of becoming saved.

We need to bring back “public executions” in church.  It should be common to see brothers and sisters “frying their sinful flesh in the electric chair of devotion and holiness.”  The SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT HOLINESS is this:  the flesh has got to fry!