A Tale of Two Natures

Colossians   •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  50:13
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Introduction

Good morning and welcome to Dishman Baptist Church. This is not the normal way that I would usually start a sermon but I was scrolling through Twitter the other night and I came upon this insightful tweet which has great bearing on our message this morning. The tweet reads like this “You know what I love about verse-by-verse teaching? You can’t hide from what’s in the next passage.”
And really that is something I would prefer to do this morning - honestly we did discuss somewhat light heartedly last Sunday afternoon not skipping this passage but possibly putting it off for a week or not having this Sunday be family Sunday because what we are going to talk about today could be uncomfortable for some of the ears listening. But as I prayed and studied this week in preparation for this morning I was comforted by the fact that God knew this was the passage that was going to come up this morning and He knew that in our particular context that it would be a family worship day and so we cannot and will not avoid these topics but we will deal with them with a sensitivity and an understanding that these are topics that are facing us but that are also greatly impacting our children in the world that we live in and we can’t shy away from them simply because it might be uncomfortable for us.
So with that brief introduction in mind turn with me to Colossians 3 and we will be looking at verses 5-11 this morning.
Colossians 3:5–11 CSB
Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, God’s wrath is coming upon the disobedient, and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.
Now just to recapture your thoughts briefly into Colossians, Paul has been writing to this church at the behest of Epaphras because the church is being taught false doctrines. And so Paul has systematically been dismantling the doctrinal errors of the teachers as he first confirmed for the Colossians Who Christ is in chapter one of our Bibles. Then he spent much of chapter 2 telling us what Christ has done for us culminating in the passage we looked at a few weeks ago in the first 4 verses of chapter 3. And now Paul is coming to the portion of the epistle that, when I was in the Navy, we would have referred to as the WIIFM - What’s In It For Me. How does this impact me? It’s great knowing who Christ is and what He has done - it’s even great for us to know this today. But there has to be a response to it. In his epistle to the church James would say it this way - you say you believe in Christ? That’s great - even the demons believe and know who He is but the difference is what are you going to do with that? Of course that is my paraphrase and you know why I stick so closely to the text.
Paul is now going to turn his epistle to the WIIFM passages - the practical living and the impact of Christ on our lives. He’s going to give us a picture of two distinct natures. This week we’re going to see the nature that is opposed to everything that Christ taught and next week we’ll see what the Christian life should look like. This week though Paul is going to expose us to three dangers - two are explicit in the text and the last is really implicit more because of the world’s reaction to the change that takes place in a Christian. We’re going to see dangerous ideas, dangerous attitudes and then we’re going to see the dangerous remedy proposed by Christianity. In the end what we’re going to discover is this - When Christ is all and in all, it doesn’t matter what direction you look - from actions to desires or desires to actions, it will all scream Christ.

Dangerous Ideas

Colossians 3:5-7; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 2 Peter 2:22; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:29
There is much in the Bible that is offensive to the world and Paul makes two statements in this text that serve as bookends for this first idea of dangerous desires that spoken outside of the walls of this building would immediately draw the ire of the world this morning. If I were to directly quote these on either Facebook or Twitter I would be inundated by virulent responses intimating that I was a hater or intolerant or some sort of bigot. Paul first says that we are to put to death what belongs to your earthly nature and then later in the passage he says “and you once walked in these things when you were living in them.”
The world, and some sectors of the church, is very convinced that this is not possible. That we are born a certain way and that we cannot change the way we were born and so we should instead learn to live just the way that we are and be happy to be created in that way. The eminent theologian Lady Gaga recorded a song that supports this notion called “Born This Way”. And while that may seem tongue in cheek, the song is meant to send a theological message that is contrary to what Paul is telling us in this passage.
“No matter gay, straight, or bi Lesbian, transgendered life I'm on the right track baby I was born to survive No matter black, white or beige Chola or orient made I'm on the right track baby I was born to be brave
I'm beautiful in my way 'Cause God makes no mistakes I'm on the right track, baby I was born this way”
Don’t change. Don’t worry. Live your own life the way you want it - you were just born this way. It’s funny as I was typing that last sentence my fingers moved a little quicker than they should have and what I initially typed was live your own lie - and that’s exactly what the world is encouraging us to do. To embrace the lie that you were born this way and that you can’t change.
Paul here makes the case that you can in fact change and put to death that earthly nature which has alienated you from God. In another passage that gets us in hot water with the world 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Paul writes it this way
1 Corinthians 6:9–11 CSB
Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
He tells us in our passage this morning that we once walked in them when you were living in them. We were like pigs living in our own mire - in our own slop. In the book of 2 Peter, the Apostle writes about false teachers who having heard the truth of the Gospel return to their own false teaching and sinful lifestyles
2 Peter 2:22 CSB
It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, “A washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”
But how is it that Paul can say that we once walked in these things? His initial statement tells us that we are to put to death what belongs to your earthly nature but there is a paradox here. This is an imperative, a command that seems to imply that we can put to death the sinful nature on our own. The puritan John Owen summarizes the paradox inherent in this command neatly in two separate statements.
300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans “Be Killing Sin or It Will Be Killing You”

Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it while you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.

Be killing sin or it will be killing you.
but then he also said
300 Quotations for Preachers No Death of Sin without Christ’s Death

There is no death of sin without the death of Christ.

So this is not an either or proposition but instead a both and reality .
That it falls to us to kill our earthly nature but that we accomplish this through Christ’s death and the strength supplied by the Holy Spirit working in the life of the believer. To the church in Philippi Paul wrote
Philippians 2:12–13 CSB
Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.
and earlier in our own epistle Paul wrote to the Colossians regarding his own work to prepare for preaching
Colossians 1:29 CSB
I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.
We can overcome the earthly nature that separates us from God through His strength. Contrary to what the world and again some in the church will tell us there is a sinful nature that must be slain and now Paul is going to delve into the depths of that nature to expose the problem.

Dangerous Attitudes

Colossians 3:8-9; 1 Corinthians 6:18; Matthew 5:27-28; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Philippians 4:7-8; Matthew 15:18-20; Psalm 37:8; Genesis 4:6-7; Philippians 2:4-5
To demonstrate this ideal that we should put to death our sinful nature Paul is going to provide two examples of actions the bely a sinful nature. Look at these lists carefully with me for a moment before we dissect each one for a better view of it. In the first list Paul starts with a resulting action - sexual immorality and then tracks back through the desirous attitudes that result in that action. In the second he goes in the opposite direction - he starts with the underlying attitude in anger and works toward the actions of slander, filthy language and lying to one another. A quick note here to say that we’ve often been admonished not to attempt to judge the motives or heart of another individual by their actions - that the way that they are acting doesn’t necessarily tell you what is in their heart. What Paul is telling us here is that you certainly can judge a book by it’s cover - not in the eschatological or eternal sense because that is only God’s role to pronounce that judgement but in the local, more temporal sense we can certainly make a judgement of where a person might be based on their actions. This doesn’t mean that anytime someone sins against us that we should write them off as being unsaved but instead that if a pattern emerges in someone’s life we may have cause for concern.
Paul starts off attributing sexual immorality to our earthly nature. This is an exceptionally dangerous sin to the individual. Commenting on this sin in his epistle to the Corinthians Paul would write
1 Corinthians 6:18 CSB
Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body.
In his commentary on that verse Dr. John MacArthur says this “although sexual sin is not necessarily the worst sin, it is the most unique in its character. It rises from within the body bent on personal gratification. It drives like no other impulse and when fulfilled affects the body like no other sin. It has a way of internally destroying a person that no other sin has.”
The Greek word here is porneia and it is where we get our modern word porn or pornography. I’ve weighed long and hard how to navigate this today and I’ve come to the conclusion that head on is best but not in a salacious manner but instead with sensitivity to our current dynamic.
Focus on the Family reports that this scourge on our society is available to children as young as 8 (and likely even younger) - with a recent study published just this last week from the National Center for Sexual Exploitation saying that 64% of kids age 13-24 actively seek it out weekly. 30% of the information transferred on the internet is related to this issue with the leading site in 2018 alone logging more than 5 billion hours and more than 33 billion hits. Charisma magazine reported in 2018 that 68% of men in the church and 50% of pastors report to viewing it.
All of that is to bring the issue to your attention and now that I have it let me make two comments. To the kids - if someone shows you pictures or your come across a site on the internet that shows you parts of people’s bodies that you know should be kept private you need to not look and you need to let your parents know. Parents - and really all adults here - if you fall into one of the usage categories you need to stop and you need to stop now. This is not just a male problem - I just didn’t want to spend too much time on statistics because we still have a lot of Scripture to cover but this needs to be exposed. And if it is in our body then we stand ready to help anyone who is struggling with this to walk away from it in the freedom that Christ has promised.
Paul peels the onion a bit further back to reveal that before sexual immorality takes place - the action - there are mental images that take place. Christ discussed the sinfulness of lusting after something in the Sermon on the Mount. He said
Matthew 5:27–28 CSB
“You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
What Paul is demonstrating here is that evil behavior begins with evil thoughts. This has been well known for years and it was the premise for the book series that some of you may remember from around 2009 entitled “Every Man’s Battle”. The Apostle Paul also addressed the thought life and the importance of the thought life telling the Corinthians
2 Corinthians 10:3–5 CSB
For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.
and then writing to the Philippians Paul would admonish them
Philippians 4:7–8 CSB
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.
Paul knew that what was in the young man’s mind would rule his actions - but also that it is what’s in his heart that drives the mind. He says that the source of lust and impurity is evil desire and greed. Here he is borrowing again from his Master as Jesus pronounced in Matthew
Matthew 15:18–20 CSB
But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. These are the things that defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”
Our hearts are corrupt from birth as a result of the sinful nature that is passed on to us as the seed of Adam. And it is a fickle master. It is never satisfied, always desiring more and seeking ways to get it. As the Canadian pastor Tim Challies writes “The human condition is thus: when you finally get everything your little heart desires, your little heart will find something else to desire.”
Paul says that this is idolatry because it makes the desires of the individual the highest order in their life. We live in a world that is about self-gratification and instant gratification. And it is when we don’t get what we want quick enough or in a grand enough manner that the heart condition that Paul highlights next comes to the forefront.
We might be inclined to think that there really is no difference between anger and wrath but there is a subtle difference that is important. The characterization of anger here is a slow, smoldering fire that constantly simmers just below the surface. The Psalmist talks of anger in
Psalm 37:8 CSB
Refrain from anger and give up your rage; do not be agitated—it can only bring harm.
It is such a concerning issue that we see it demonstrated early in Scripture and the catastrophic impact of anger. Following the Fall and the resulting expulsion from the Garden we’re told of the birth of two boys - Cain and Abel. Both bring sacrifices to God but only Abel’s is accepted. The Bible tells us that Cain was furious - angry. God addresses Cain
Genesis 4:6–7 CSB
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
The first sin spoken of outside of the Garden was the heart condition of anger that led to the murder of Abel by his brother. Here in our passage Paul also demonstrates how anger can lead to murder of an individual - although by a different manner.
Wrath here is the “intense expression of the inner self”. It is that white hot passion that burns through us when we perceive that we have been wronged. Anger is a state of being whereas wrath is the intense boiling of anger to the surface. Anger is the lava that simmers and boils just below the surface but that colors everything an individual does - wrath is the explosion of the volcano that buries everything in its path with destruction and havoc.
Paul says that these attitudes result in malice being the driving factor for our actions. The Greek word here is kakia and it is defined as the quality or state of wickedness. It is where everything you do is with the desire not for the good of an individual but for their demise or degradation. It is the exact opposite of what Paul exhorts believers to in Philippians 2
Philippians 2:4–5 CSB
Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
Malice is a selfish attitude that seeks only the best that the individual has determined is appropriate. This often is exhibited in two manners - in slander and in filthy language. Slander is to run down someone’s character or motives to make them look bad. It is this speech that results in us putting down a brother or sister in the church or that driver on the highway who cuts you off.
It is because of these sins that the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. This is the promise for all those who are not found to be in Christ. We will either be hidden with Him and behind His shed blood or we will stand naked in our sins and subject to the wrath of God that will be poured out on the disobedient on judgement day. But is not just the sins of greed or anger - it is all sin and any sin. We should pause to examine our own lives to see if there are any sins that characterize us that we are living in that are incurring the wrath of God for us. Paul writes that these should be taken off - as the old self is put off with its practices at the moment of salvation.
This notion of putting of the old self is the sense of changing clothes. To take the dirty ones off and to put on new, clean clothes. When I was in the Navy one of the commands I served on was a LSD - or Landing Ship Dock. It was tasked with amphibious warfare and really our entire existence could be summed up in the idea of putting a contingent of Marines ashore at a specific point to do what it is that Marines do so well. I remember we once dropped them off in Kenya for a month long exercise. When they came back onboard at the end of that month you knew it. You could smell them from a mile a way. When they walked off the boats that brought them back onboard it was as if 350 Pigpen - the character from Charlie Brown - it was as if 350 of them walked onboard. Clouds of dust just followed them everywhere they went. The first thing they did was to change out of their dirty uniforms and put on a new set (after a shower of course). This is the picture that Paul is giving us here - we are to take off our old nature with all of it’s filth and dirt and defilement and to put on the new nature that we have been given.
Paul is not giving us mere behavior modification - “do better”, “be better”. He tells us how to have our behavior modified by getting to the crux of the issue, the heart. And it is a dangerous remedy.

Dangerous Remedy

Colossians 3:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 3:28;
And Paul gives us the assurance that we indeed have been given a new self. He doesn’t say that someday we should put on a new self. He doesn’t say that maybe we’ll get a new self. He doesn’t even say that one day when we’ve earned it we’ll get the opportunity to put on a new self. He says that we have put on the new self. This happens immediately at justification and salvation. When you confess with your mouth and place your trust in Christ for your salvation you have been given a new nature. The old man or woman is gone and you are new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!
As he has done so many times already in this letter, Paul is assuring the Colossians and us today that we have been given a new nature - and that even though we are still at war with the flesh the underlying nature of the believer, the core, the heart is changed fundamentally enabling us to fight against the draw toward formerly besetting sins. I have often said that the key to overcoming any addiction is to find something you love more than that vice and you will give it up immediately. When we come to Christ and find in Him all the love we could possibly need we are struck with such gratitude and love for Him that there are many vices that will just melt away in our new nature and our new found love and those which do not the Spirit will start to bring to light and we will find less and less enjoyment in those until we leave them all together.
Paul tells the Colossians that the way to do this is through the renewing of their minds in knowledge according to the image of Christ. Prior to salvation our minds are hopelessly broken due to the noetic effect of the fall. The fall into sin has caused mankind to ignore and deny their Creator. Sin has affected our minds and causes our thinking to become futile apart from Christ. This effect of sin upon our minds is known in theology as the “noetic effects of sin.”
After salvation we are being remade not only spiritually with a new nature but also with a new ability to think and reason. Things that were hidden to us before - especially in the realm of Scripture and theology - are made plain to us and we are able to grasp what Christ has done for us.
Because of this we recognize that, as Paul writes, there are no longer distinctions between us that formerly seemed to be important. Paul says there is no longer Greek or Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free men. This is an echo of what he has previously written to the Galatian church
Galatians 3:28 CSB
There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Here in our passage Paul says that Christ is all and in all.
But why is this dangerous you may be asking. It seems like really good news to us today - that we are all one. Now one side note this is only with respect to salvation. There are still roles in the church and the home that are established in a certain order as set forth in the Bible. Paul is not here removing distinctions along those lines but instead is saying that in Christ, in salvation there are no distinctions, that all are welcome.
The danger here is that our world is bent on widening the lines of division rather than erasing them. So for us to say that no, there are no distinctions in the offer, application and completion of salvation is an unpopular message. Instead lines are being drawn on just about every definable characteristic that there is - from skin color to identity, from ethnicity to age to even whether or not you have hair (I’m in the minority there). The concept that the only distinction that matters is with respect to our relation to Christ is threatening to the world and is a very unpopular message and that makes it dangerous for us. But in fact Christ is all and in all.
There are only two classes of people in this world - those who are in Christ and are Christians and those who are not and still bear the penalty for their own sins. There are no other distinctions that matter.
When Christ is all and in all it doesn’t matter what direction you go - actions to desires or desires to actions it will all scream Christ.

Conclusion

So how are we doing today? What do your actions say about you? Do your actions support what you say you believe? Do the things you watch, listen to or read demonstrate a new nature being renewed in the knowledge of your Creator or are you still clinging to the old self? What do your habits reveal about you? Your underlying attitudes? Are you still held captive by the conditions of greed, anger, idolatry or fill in your own sin here? Have you been a Christian for a while but you are casting a longing, wandering eye back over the river towards the sins you once walked in? Are you flirting with the idea of going back for a visit? Where are you this morning?
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