The Letter to the Colossians part 5

Colossians 3:1-17 "Getting Our Minds Right"

A Top 5 Greatest Western Movie of All Time is absolutely True Grit. Interestingly, it's the only movie in which John Wayne won the Academy Award. He said, "Wow, If I'd known this, I'd have put that eye patch on thirty-five years ago."1 The movie centers on Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) who hires Rooster Cogburn (Wayne) to track the man who killed her father. She hires Cogburn, because "[She] needs a man with true grit." 'Grit' is the willingness to do what is necessary regardless the difficulty. Now, for those that have seen the movie, Cogburn certainly fits the bill to an extent, but the careful viewer will also see Mattie Ross has just as much.

Today, as we continue reading Colossians, I'd like us to keep this idea of 'grit' in our minds. The Christian life is never promised to be an easy one, though we are given rest by our Savior when rest is needed. But, the true difficulty in Christian living is less about outward oppression and more about our own inner battles. The secret to success, as we will see, is to fix our minds on Christ. And in doing so, we will find the grit needed to respond to a world around us that desperately needs Christ.

Christians are called to the highest of standards : 3:1-4

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

Notice that Paul begins with the phrase “If then, you have been raised.” The rest of the letter continues with the assumption that Paul is writing to born-again Christians. It follows from chapter 1 & 2 in which Paul has stated what Christ has accomplished through His death and resurrection.

It is important to set the proper order for Paul’s writing, because sometimes people believe they must “clean themselves up” before coming to Christ. Or, worse, they believe if they follow the commands, or mimic them really well, then they will have earned a place in Heaven. The truth is we can never live the life Christ demonstrated outside the power of Christ. And that power only comes when we surrender to Him, ask for forgiveness and receive eternal life.

Before we can live and experience the life God has designed, we must receive the life God gives through Jesus Christ.

Once we have received eternal life through Christ, then our entire reality changes. We are no longer lost in sin. We are no longer condemned. And, we are no longer bound to our sinful natures. What we are is united with Christ, freed from sin, and given access to the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. If this is our reality, then Paul says we must think like this is our reality.

So, he states, “Set your minds on things above, not on things that are on earth.” Does this mean we should all become monks? Perhaps we should follow in the footsteps of those early Christians, the Desert Fathers, who secluded themselves from society, barely even eating in order to focus their minds and attention constantly on God. No, my dear introverts, we are not called to seclusion. After all, it is quite difficult to proclaim the Good News to the dying if we never actually see anyone.

No, Paul is telling where our mind’s anchor should be. Consider the role of a ship’s anchor. It fixes the point of the ship in the water. It does not remove the ship from the water. If a storm comes, it will not make the storm go away. When the wind blows heavy, the ship may still sway and bounce on the waves, but the anchor holds it in place.

With our minds fixed on Heaven above, it anchors us to the truth of who we are and whose we are. When our mind is fixed in Heaven, we can discern truth from lies.

We remember that no matter how bad things look on earth, it is well with our souls.

We remember that God is good, and if we are allowed to pass through trials, temptations, and troubles, it is to our benefit and will be for good.

And most of all, in 2020, we are anchored to the One who gives courage and strength. So that if our old self and the world around yells that we should tuck tail and run, we can hear our Savior say, “Stand strong and take courage.”

C. S. Lewis wrote a three part critique on modern education called The Abolition of Man. It is a book that I would make every single teacher, administrator, and law maker read had I that kind of power. It makes several important points, but today I’d like to bring up just the one: modern education has produced men without chests. What does that mean? Consider how someone makes a decision in their life. Do they use their head or their heart? Many would argue ‘both’. We rationally think about the choices in a decision, and we also weigh the decision based on feeling. In our day, some emphasize the head, but most have accepted the lie ‘follow your heart’. In The Abolition of Man, Lewis reminds us of the ancient philosophy of ‘grit’. Now, of course Lewis being a scholarly Englishman, he does not use that word. He describes the head ruling the heart through the chest, but for those of us who are familiar with the American Western, what he describes is ‘grit’. It is that character of a man that can weigh both the rational consequences with his emotional reactions with that objective standard of ethics and come out saying, “Though the road is hard and the outcome uncertain, I will do what is right, because it is right.” For the Christian, it is the ability to stand against the world and say, “Though you may disagree, thus sayeth the Lord!”

The call to set our minds on things above is a call to rise above the worldly chaos.

Why does Christ call us to such action? Look at verses 3 & 4. We have died to this world, and our life is hidden with Christ. To follow Christ is to put our sinful self to death and rise in life with Christ. It is a call to live in the present as we will be in the future. Consider—the beginning of our eternal life in Christ begins the moment we are re-created by the Holy Spirit. We are reborn as new humans. In verse 4, Paul reminds us of the truth of what will be in this eternal life. Christ will return one day, and on that day we will rise from the dead, living forever in the New Creation. If our beginning is in Christ, and our ending is with Christ, then where else shall we fix our present minds than on Christ?

We must not be moved by the chaotic winds of this world, but instead, set our minds upon Christ the Lord. Only then will we have the Christian grit necessary to live the life God calls us to live.

The call to set our minds on things above is a call to Christian Grit.

Verses 5-11 will then establish those characteristics that must be put away, because they are remnants of the old dead self. Verses 12-17 are those characteristics to take on, because they are attributes of the life God designed and those attributes that will remain once this world passes away.

The Old is Dying, so Put it to Death : 3:5-11

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Colossians 3:5-11

Paul lists quite a bit in this short section, so let’s break it down by the categories to get a handle on what attributes we must remove in our lives.

First, Paul addresses the passions of the dying man. This passion is summed up as ‘idolatry’. Notice Paul does not mention small idols or false religions. Idolatry is not just making little idols that we burn incense around and worship. It also manifests as desires which cause us to live against God’s design. God has designed each of us to be faithful to the one God has placed us with, to maintain control over our ambitions and passions, and to earn for ourselves rather than take from those who have built. In fact, if we were to analyze these for their opposite, we find “contentment”.

The dying person is bound to his passions, but the living Christian is content in God’s provision.

John Calvin famously said, “The heart is an idol factory.” The person who is ruled by their passions will inevitably make that passion their god. Whether that passion is for pleasure, for wealth, for possessions, or whatever this world offers, to be ruled by that passion is to be faithful to a false god. And on that account, as verse 6 reminds us, the wrath of God is coming. Fix your mind on things above, and do not be taken captive by idols below.

Then in verses 7 & 8 Paul addresses the attitude of the dying. Anger, malice, slander, and obscene talk all fall under the desire to tear others down. Consider how these emotions and actions are linked with the selfish desires listed in the previous verses. Our covetousness for our neighbor’s wealth stirs up anger and malice against that neighbor. Our immoral passions drive the slander and obscenities against those people around us. And last, Paul says to not lie to one another. Jesus said the Father of Lies is the devil, therefore to continue lying to one another is to live under the influence of Satan rather than speaking the Truth that is in Christ.

The dying person has a destructive attitude, but the living Christian encourages his fellow human.

Paul then summarizes his teaching with “Seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.” Here we see the connection between the Truth of our salvation with the practice of our salvation. If you will recall when we began Colossians, I described Paul’s letter as giving us the connection between right belief and right action. For Paul, we cannot separate the two. To believe in Christ is to behave in Christ. When a person acknowledges their need for a Savior because of their sin, inherent in that belief is the fact their behavior is sinful. Repentance is both turning our behaviors and our minds to Christ. Fixing on minds on things above is how to maintain a repentant attitude.

Now, before someone makes the mistake of creating a new set of laws out of Christianity, we must remember the freedom that is in Christ. Chapter 2 dealt with that freedom. So, if we remove the idea that Christ is calling us to some new set of laws, then what are we left with? We are left fixing our minds on things above. Salvation is not about following the right set of do’s and don’t’s, it is about being renewed in the image of our Creator. We were created in the image of God, and we lost sight of that image in sin.

Fixing our minds on things above reminds us of the image in which we were created.

Last, Paul says, we do not classify ourselves as Greek or Jew, or any other ethnicity. We are not circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free. There is room at the cross for all, and all who enter are in Christ.

I want to pause for a moment on this list, because Paul mentions a specific people group named Scythian. Now, some interpreters have attempted some linguistic gymnastics to explain this list, but ultimately what it boils down to is this—there is no type of person that cannot be regenerated and made new in Christ. Consider the Scythian.

The Scythians were nomadic warriors to the north of the Black Sea. From the times of Jeremiah the prophet, they were known to ride on horseback, terrorizing cities, and decapitating their victims. When a king would put to death a criminal or foe, they would also slaughter the male descendants of the victim in order to avoid blood feuds. When the king died, their harem, servants, and much of their wealth would all be placed on giant funeral mounds. During war, the soldiers would drink the blood of their first slain opponent from the victim’s skull. If a soldier did not bring the head of one of the opposing army, they were not allowed to partake in the spoils of war. In the spectrum of barbarians, they were known as the worst of the worst.

And, yet, states Paul, if they have find Christ, they are one with all other Christians.

Fixing our minds on things above reminds us of Christ’s love for all, and there is not a single soul on this earth who is beneath us.

To live as though some humans are better than others is to deny the Truth of the Gospel, the Unity of the Church, and the availability of salvation to all.

Having described the dead self and what to remove, Paul then turns to what we should take on.

Take Hold of the Life God Gives : 3:12-16

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:12-16

Notice the different verbs used by Paul. In verse 5, we are told to “put to death” the old self, but here, we are already made alive in Christ, so we should “put on” or “clothe ourselves” in the new self. The dress code for Christianity is compassion, humility, and patience. Consider that Paul has just described a variety of people in the previous verse. We know people and their occupations by what they wear. The Greeks and Romans had specific attire for their professions, and likewise they would characterize the different ethnicities and social status of foreigners by their dress.

We do the same today. I was reminded this week of a decades old story of W. A. Criswell of FBC Dallas. Criswell was outside the church working in his overalls taking care of some building needs. A visitor came by looking for the pastor and mistook Dr. Criswell as the custodian. The reason I was reminded of this is because we had a delivery come that I received. When Sharon talked to the delivery guy about an issue, he said, “I left the stuff in the hall because the janitor or some guy said it was ok.” Thanks to my ball cap and jeans, I was mistaken for “some guy”.

We know what sport a player belongs to by their uniform. We know what branch of military someone serves in based on their uniform. We know the doctor from the nurse, and we know the car mechanic from the lawyer based on what they are wearing.

A living Christian is known by their attitude of kindness and compassion.

There is no physical dress code for a Christian, and there is no real way of faking it. Many try to fake their faith by giving money or attending services. Some will help with distributing food or with special services, such as the revival, but the truth is: there is no faking your faith. A Christian is marked by compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. These are not attributes that someone can fake for very long.

Why do so many people outside the church characterize Christians as hypocrites? Because they hear about how Christians should be clothed in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, and yet they see self-proclaimed Christians who lack compassion for those in need, meanness toward those who disagree with them, pride in their own self-righteousness, pride in their strength and wealth, and worst of all, self-proclaimed Christians who fuss and fight because they can’t get their way.

Next, Paul says to bear with one another and forgive one another. What is the limit of our forgiveness? It is the same as the Lord’s. We take stock of all that God has forgiven in us and remember that if the Lord can forgive us, and if the Lord lives in us, then we can forgive those around us.

A living Christian is known by their forgiveness.

This is the point in which we need true Christian grit! When our heads cannot logically conceive how we will forgive those who have wronged us, and when our hearts cannot muster the love to be willing to forgive, that is the moment we need Christ’s strength and power to give us the grit to forgive anyway.

And above all else, Paul says, we should put on love and allow the peace of Christ rule our hearts. Verses 14 & 15 are two verses you should highlight, memorize, and store in your heart.

A living Christian is bound to love, ruled by peace, and thankful in all circumstances.

If we are to have the grit to forgive and be compassionate, we must find it in the love and peace of Christ.

When we fix our minds on Christ’s willingness to forgive and love us, then we will find the grit to forgive and love those around us.

When we fix our minds on Christ’s Sovereignty and the peace that comes knowing this world’s destiny has already been set, then we will find the grit remain peaceful in times of turmoil.

When we fix our minds on Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, and we know that this terrible day that we are living through is somehow in the Grand Story of This Creation ‘Good’, then we will find the grit to say “Thank you, Lord! For this, too, will make me stronger!”

And in that thankfulness, we will be able to live out verse 16. We will let the word of Christ dwell in our church, we will teach and admonish one another in wisdom, and we will sing! Thankfulness will fill our hearts, and we will sing to one another!

How can we really see this type of joyful thanksgiving in our church, today? We go back to verses 1 & 2. We fix our minds on Christ. And with our minds fixed on Christ, we put to death that which drives us away from Christ, and we clothe ourselves with the attitudes that bring love, peace, and thankfulness.

But, I warn you of that dire phrase in verse 1, “If then you have been raised with Christ.” If you have been raised in Christ, then all these things are absolutely and openly available to you right this second. You only have to ask God to search your heart and point you to those aspects of your attitude and life that are impeding your ability to live with thankfulness. But, if you have not been raised in Christ, every effort to fake it will fail. And one day, when this life is over, you will find yourself eternally separated and condemned by your own unwillingness to be raised in Christ.