What does it mean to be a Christian? To be a new person? Colossians 3:1 – 17 is a treasure trove of practical theology of what it means to be a new person in Christ Jesus. So let’s submit what we think to what the Lord says through the apostle Paul in his letter to the Colossian church.

Look at Colossians 3:1 – 17…

1 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. 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. 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.

The Colossian church was planted indirectly by the apostle Paul’s preaching & church-planting ministry in Ephesus. And it was being pastored by two of Paul’s disciples named Epaphras & Philemon. It’s commonly believed that the apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Colossian church to correct and combat something that was known as the Colossian Heresy. The Colossian Heresy in it’s most simplistic form is the teaching that Christ is not enough for you, that Christ will not bring completion or satisfaction for you and that there is knowledge to be learned that is far superior to Christ. This is called Gnosticism and it originates from the Greek word “gnosis” which means, “to know”. In short, the Gnostics in Colossae preached that there was a higher knowledge that trumped the knowledge of Christ.

To make this more plain… there was a new church in Colossae filled with new believers who were trying to live out their new lives in Christ and from within the community some really smart and knowledgeable people rose up and basically said, “Yeah this whole Jesus thing is cool and all but let me tell you what I know that you really need to know. Jesus isn’t enough for you to be whole and complete and in fact there are some things that you need to know that far surpasses the things that Jesus taught and did.”

This was the Colossian Heresy and it’s not too different from the Heresies we face today. We are bombarded daily with false heretical gospels that attempt to convince us that the next new shiny thing is what we need and that Jesus isn’t enough to make us whole and complete. There will always be voices that seek to trump the voice of God. There will always be messages that claim to be superior to the message of Christ. Paul’s answer to this ancient heresy is to teach us that a Christian is someone who is a new person with a new mind-set, who puts off the old person and puts on the new person who is filled with gratitude towards God.

This week we’ll focus on verses 1 – 9. Which means we’ll unpack what it means to be a new person with a new mind-set who puts off the old person. And then, next week we’ll focus on verses 10 – 17 and we’ll unpack what it means to be a new person who puts on the new person who is filled with gratitude towards God.

Verses 1 – 4: Paul Teaches Us That The New Person Has A New Mind-Set

We recently added a third dog to our home named Hero. Hero is a 13-month-old pure bred Siberian Husky who hasn’t been neutered yet. Besides Hero, we also have Marley who is a 13-month-old, female, ankle-biter mutt with more energy than a gerbil on crack and we have Max who is a 5-year-old male, miniature pincher who loves to spend his days sleeping and acting like a grumpy old man. So Max has the mind-set of a grumpy, tired old man and Marley has the mind-set of a cracked out gerbil and Hero has the mind-set of a young stallion whose only interest in life is making babies with Marley who just happens to be Max’s best friend. So whenever Hero makes his move on Marley or whenever Marley teases Hero… Max thinks he needs to jump in and pick fights with Hero. Most of my time with these three dogs this week has revolved around trying to help them gain a new mind-set. Hero needs a new mind-set that doesn’t see Marley as his personal toy. Marley needs a new mind-set that believes it’s ok to just chill for a bit. And Max needs a new mind-set that says it’s ok for both Hero & Marley to roughhouse around the house a little. What these dogs all need is a new mind-set; a new focus; a new preoccupation. This is really the first thing that the apostle Paul says the new person should have as well because the new person in Christ should have a new mind-set.

Paul says, “If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” In other words, you and I both need a new mind-set that seeks Christ, hides in Christ and is preserved in Christ.

The new person has a mind-set that seeks Christ… (1-2)

Paul says that, if you are a Christian; if you claim the name of Christ; if you are a new creation in Christ Jesus… then your new mind is set on seeking Christ rather than seeking the things of this earth. If you are a new person in Christ Jesus then your mind is now set in a new direction that seeks Christ wholeheartedly. If you have in fact encountered Christ in an authentic way that has led you to trust in Christ for salvation then you now have a new mind-set that is focused and preoccupied with Christ. This doesn’t mean that you must constantly attach religious phrases to everything you say and it also doesn’t mean that you can never give thought to the practical things of life such as budgeting, car repair or pet management. But this does mean that if you have heard the gospel and trusted in Christ for salvation then you have been given a new mind that is set on seeking Christ above all other pursuits in this world and it also means that every pursuit you give yourself to here on this earth should flow out of your new mind-set of seeking Christ above all else. The new person has a mind-set that seeks Christ!

The new person has a mind-set that hides in Christ… (3)

Paul says the reason we have this new mind-set that seeks Christ above all other pursuits is because if we truly have been raised with him then we have died in him and our lives are now hidden with Christ in God. In other words, when you and I hear the gospel of our salvation, we hear the message of the cross of Christ where Jesus gave his life as a willing and perfect sacrifice for our sins so that we no longer have to hide from our shame and our guilt in our fig leaves of performance and accomplishment. The new person no longer has the mind-set of hiding in the pursuit of worldly gain. The new person no longer has the mind-set of hiding in worldly accomplishments. The new person no longer has the mind-set of hiding in religious performance. The new person no longer has the mind-set of hiding in these fig leaves because the new person now hides himself or herself in the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. The new person has the highest knowledge one could ever have and that highest knowledge is the high knowledge of the cross of Christ. The new person who hides himself or herself in Christ continuously applies the life of Christ; the cross of Christ and the empty tomb of Christ to their lives. Jesus lived the perfect life that you and I could never live. Christ carried the cross that you and I could never carry. And Christ was resurrected on the third day beating the death that you and I could never beat. The new person has a mind-set that hides in Christ!

The new person has a mind-set that will be preserved in Christ… (4)

Paul says that if we are new people who have the mind-set of seeking Christ and hiding ourselves in Christ then the natural outcome of this new mind-set is that our lives will be preserved in Christ until he appears at the end in glory. In other words if we have in fact been made new in Christ Jesus, then we will in fact have a new mind-set that seeks Christ above all other pursuits and we will hide ourselves in his life, his death and his resurrection and by doing so we will be preserved till the end where our lives will be on display with Christ in glory. If Christ is the focus of your life now then he will be the focus of your life for all of eternity as. If Christ is the goal of your mind-set now then you will share in his glory in eternity. The new person has a mind-set that will be preserved in Christ!

Applying The Principle…

What is your mind-set on today? Is your mind set on seeking Christ in everything you think, say or do or are you preoccupied with things of this earth? Is your mind set on hiding yourself in the life, death and resurrection of Christ or are you hiding in your performance and accomplishments? Is your mind set on Christ preserving you until he appears in glory or is your mind set on things that are causing destruction? You and I both need a new mind-set that seeks Christ, hides in Christ and is preserved in Christ.

Verses 5 – 9: Paul Teaches Us That The New Person Puts Off The Old Person

The Christian life at its core is about becoming a new creation in Christ Jesus. It’s about being restored, renewed & transformed. It’s the picture of an old dilapidated house being under construction as demolition crews demolish the old house so that a new house can be built. Or it’s like the picture of an antique car being pulled out of the rot and decay and rust of a creek bottom and being brought into the garage for restoration. This is the picture of what Paul teaches on the heels of unpacking his high theology of what it means to be a new person who has a new mind-set. For Paul, it’s not enough to just merely have the high knowledge of the theology of the new mind-set it’s also vitally important to put practical teaching towards how to keep the new mind-set on seeking Christ, hiding in Christ and being preserved until Christ’s return in glory. This is why Paul teaches us that the new person puts off the old person by killing sin and putting away sin.

The new person puts off the old person by killing sin… (5-6)

Paul says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.” This is violent language; warfare language; graphic language. Paul is literally saying that you must put the old person that is fighting to stay alive in you to death. Murder the old person that still lives in you. Kill the old person that seeks to destroy the new person that God is building in you. Slaughter the old person that is laboring day and night within your soul to destroy you.

Thankfully Paul doesn’t just leave it to our imagination to wonder what the old person looks like. He lays it out in a successive way. Is there sexual in you? Sexual sin is a result of impurity inside of you. Is there impurity in you? Impurity is a result of sinful passions. Are there sinful passions in you? Sinful passions are a result of evil desire. Are there evil desires in you? Evil desires are the result of covetousness. Covetousness is wanting what you do not have or can not have. Do you want what you do not have or cannot have? This is idolatry. Idolatry is wanting anything more than you want God. This kind of language; this teaching; this instruction sounds very familiar to what Jesus taught when he said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter into Heaven maimed rather then to go to hell whole.” In the words of one preacher “We must be killing sin or sin will be killing us.” We must identify the sin; call it what is without excuse or blame; track down the root of it and lob its ugly head off through regular confession, repentance and application of the gospel. We must ruthlessly kill sin before it kills us. This is why it is vitally important that the new person puts off the old person by killing sin!

The new person puts off the old person by putting away sin… (7-9)

At first glance it may appear that Paul is just being redundant or repetitive in his teaching almost to the point of beating a dead horse but the reality is that Paul is simply using similar phraseology to further unpack a more robust picture of the old person of sin that we must not only kill but we must also put away. It’s the picture of putting something to death that is eating you alive while at the same time putting away the things that lead you to the things that are killing you. Paul says, “In these too you once walked, when you were living in them. But you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.” Put away the old ways that you once walked. Put away the old ways that you once lived. Put away your old practices. The anger that controls your emotional responses… put it away. The rage that injures people around you… put it away. The hatred for others that consumes you… put it away. The harmful things you say about people behind their backs… put it away. The cursing and the dirty language that saturates your conversations… put it away. All your dishonest boasting and propping yourself up as the hero… put it away from you. This is your old self that has been crucified with Christ so put it away. The new person puts off the old person by putting away sinful ways of walking; sinful ways of living and sinful practices!

Applying The Principle…

Are you actively putting away the old person? Are you ruthlessly engaged in killing the sin that is still alive in you? Are you vehemently putting away your old sinful ways of walking; your old sinful ways of living and your old sinful practices? You and I both must be actively engaged in putting off the old person by killing sin and putting away sin.

Final Observation…

So… a Christian is someone who is a new person with a new mind-set who puts off the old person. Does this describe the person that you are? Are you a new person?