Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
COLOSSIANS
I. Rules for Holy
Living.
1 Since, then, you have
been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is
seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your
minds on things above, not on earthly t hings. 3For
you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When
Christ, who is your [a] life, appears, then you also will appear
with him in glory.
5 Put to death,
therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality,
impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. [b] 7 You used to walk
in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must
rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and
filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each
other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in
knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11
Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as
God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have
against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them
all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of
Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to
peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all
wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in
your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you
do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through him.
A. Because we have been
raised with Christ, we have a clear responsibility to Christ.
1. Since we have been raised with Christ:
· We should set our
hearts on things above.
· We should set our
minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Question: What
would be examples of things above that we should be setting our hearts and
minds on?
2. Since we have died
and our lives are now hidden with Christ in God:
· We are to put to death
whatever belongs to our earthly nature.
Question: What are examples of our earthly nature?
· We are to rid
ourselves of our former way of life.
Question: What
are examples of our former way of life?
· We are not to lie to
one another.
· For we are to have put
off the old self, and put on the new self.
Question: How do
we put off the old self and put on the new self?
3. Since we are one body
in Christ; God’s chosen people; who are holy and dearly loved by God: (I Peter
2:9)
a. We are to exhibit the following characteristics in our
lives:
· Compassion
· Kindness
· Humility
· Gentleness
· Patience
· Forgiveness
· And above all else,
Love
Question: Why are
we to forgive one another?
Question: Why is love placed above all other virtues?
· Peace
· Thankfulness
b. Compare this list to
the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22.
4. Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly.
Question: How do
we let the word of Christ dwell in us?
a. Compare the results
of letting the word of Christ dwell in us to being filled with the Spirit in
Ephesians 5:18-20.
Question: What does it mean to be filled with the
Spirit, and how does this happen?
5. Whatever we do, we do
it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
B. Application
1. Through Christ we have died to sin, so we should live
like it.
2. Through Christ we
have been raised to life, so our lives ought to be a reflection of Christ.
3. Since Christ is in
all of us, He provides the power and the knowledge, but we have to have the
want to.
a. This is accomplished by:
· Letting the word of
Christ dwell in us richly, which implies two things:
i. We are reading and
studying God’s word by immersing ourselves in God’s word.
ii. We are applying God’s
word to our lives.
· Surrendering control
of our lives to the Holy Spirit
· As we do this we give handles to the Holy Spirit to steer our lives.