Walk This Way, Part I
Colossians • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsIn Colossians 3:1-4, Paul teaches the Colossians 2 steps for securing spiritual growth: strive for the things above, and set your mind on the things above.
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THE DESIRE FOR GROWTH
THE DESIRE FOR GROWTH
I don’t think I can honestly say that I’ve met someone who has zero desire to grow, in some way, shape or form. No matter how small your aspirations in life are, or how pointless you think life is in general, each and every one of us desires growth… progress… change for the “better”, however we choose to define “better”.
And, I don’t think I can honestly say that I’ve met somebody who hasn’t had a ton of trouble trying to grow, in some way, shape or form. We go to the gym for a couple months and then our weight programs slowly turn into wait-for-the-next-episode programs… we start a plan to read a book a month and we finish that book a year later… making any kind of real change is hard!
And, as believers, we get the fact that this doesn’t change in the Christian life, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating, right? We understand that Paul told us about the battle between the old man and the new man in … We understand that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds from … and we conclude that a large part of the Christian life is battling for spiritual growth.
So from what we know in Scripture, we conclude (and rightfully so), that the Christian life is about direction, not perfection… direction, not perfection. And naturally, we understand that direction in life is forwards or backwards. But on a practical level, if we’re honest, we tend to include a third category when it comes to this idea of spiritual direction: plateauing, or stagnancy.
But where do we get this idea of spiritual stagnancy, or plateauing? Is there really such a thing in the Bible? Or is it something that sounds like it’s in the Bible?
I want to posit tonight that there is no such thing as spiritual stagnancy. Yes, the Christian life is about direction, not perfection. But I want to add on one more aspect to that tonight: Spiritual direction is about progression, not regression.
And over the next few months, the apostle Paul is going to teach us all about this in . Tonight, we’re going to look at two principles that govern spiritual progression from the beginning of the chapter. So, in , Paul is going to show the Colossians two steps to securing spiritual growth: we must strive for the things above, and set our minds on the things above. Follow along as I read.
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
CONTEXT
CONTEXT
So far, we’ve followed Paul through the first two sections of his letter to the church in Colossae. First, from chapter 1, verses 3-23, we saw Paul lay out the wisdom of the true gospel. Then, from verse 24 to chapter 2, verse 23, we saw Paul unfold the folly of a false gospel. Now, from chapter 3 on, we will see Paul reveal what the fruit of the true gospel is.
Verses 1-4 come right on the heels of 2:20-23, where Paul exposed the false teacher for who he was and what he stood for: a phony who was desperately searching for any solution to his sin problem outside of Christ. Now, in contrast, Paul turns the letter on its head starting in verse 1 and begins to exhort the Colossians from here through the rest of the letter. His exhortation? If you’ve actually died with Christ and rose with Him, then seek the things of Christ and set your mind on the things of Christ. Under this passage, the rest of the letter flows as Paul lays out every facet of life that is transformed by seeking the things of Christ and setting your mind on the things of Christ.
Basically, Paul’s main point in was to exhort the Colossians to prove their possession of saving faith by pursuing a transformed walk of life and a transformed thought life.
STRIVE FOR THE THINGS ABOVE ()
STRIVE FOR THE THINGS ABOVE ()
Keep that in mind as we go back to the text. Here in verse 1, we find the first step for securing spiritual growth: striving for the things above… striving for the things above. Look at what it says:
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Notice Paul’s first words here...
“If you have been raised with Christ...”
Remember what Paul said back at the beginning of verse 20 back in chapter 2?
“If you have died with Christ...”
Understand that this repetition is purposeful. Paul’s highlighting the two realities of salvation! All believers have died with Christ, which is why he asked the Colossians why they were submitting to wordly rules if they died to those rules with Christ. But at the same time, all believers have also been raised with Christ. The only difference is this: Paul isn’t asking any more questions, but giving directions… giving directions.
So essentially, with this wording here, Paul is raising a challenge to the Colossians, before they even attempt to obey his commands: “Have you been raised with Christ?”
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
19 “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.
Last week, we looked at this from the other side of the train tracks: “If you’ve really died with Christ, then why would your life look just like the people of the world?” Now, the question is this: “If you’ve really been raised with Christ, then why wouldn’t your life look just like His?”
Paul said these words to confront the Colossians about their theology! They were being tempted to believe that you can boast of faith in Christ without bearing fruit in Christ. The problem is that the two are one in the same!
But what about our theology? Do we do any better in this arena of life? On paper, we may say we believe that fruit is proof of faith, but on a practical level, do we live that way? Often, we make excuses for why we’re not bearing fruit, or why those close to us aren’t bearing any fruit. But the thing is, we are all always bearing fruit. The question is this: as a pattern of your life, do you produce good fruit or bad fruit? The answer to that can help us know objectively whether we have been raised with Christ or not.
“We’re against liberals in this church!”
“We’re against gun regulation in this town!”
Why? Look at what Paul says in the next part of verse 1...
We’re against abortion around here!”
“… keep seeking the things above...”
All of which, in the right context, can be good things! But it’s a lot easier to make bold statements about what we stand against. How do we do when it’s time to stand our ground on what we stand for?
Understand this idea of “seeking” as a devoted effort to achieve a desire or objective. A better way to translate it may be “strive for”.
Basically, Paul is asking the Colossians here, “Have you been raised with Christ? If so, then strive for the things above.”
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Paul’s command here to “keep seeking the things above” is not a one time deal, or a once a month deal, but a lifelong commitment! The verb “keep seeking”, or “strive for”, is an active imperative in the present tense. What does that even mean? Devote serious effort now and keep devoting serious effort in the future to obtaining the things above!
But, in order to do that, it’d be kind of helpful to figure out what exactly “the things of above” are. So what are “the things above”? Simply put, the things of heaven.
When they read this, the Colossians would have been immediately challenged to evaluate their worldview and what they spent their time on. Why? Because in Ancient Rome, the things of heaven were completely countercultural to the things of the world.
In order to truly heed this command and “strive for the things above”, it would cost the Colossians everything. False teachers were abound. False religion was abound. An oppressive government regime was abound. However… However, Paul’s hope was for them to see, and us by extension, that if we have died with Christ and have risen with Him, then the proof of it will be a lifestyle that looks vastly different from the lifestyle of those in the world, especially in the evil age the Colossians lived in and the evil age we ourselves live in now.
But that’s our tension, isn’t it, friends? If we really strive for the things of heaven, then we will inevitably be separated and severed from the world in quick order. First and foremost, we need to consider the cost of seeking the things of heaven… consider the cost of seeking the things of heaven. Are we ready for that though? In , Jesus tells His disciples to count the cost of following after Him. Beloved, before we even attempt to seek the things of heaven, we have to seriously think through whether or not we are willing to face the consequences of that pursuit. Listen to Jesus’ words in -
27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
But, the reward is so very worth it. says so.
11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
And not only do we need to consider the cost of seeking the things of heaven, we need to correctly identify the things of heaven… correctly identify the things of heaven.
What are the things of heaven, or “the things above”? The things of God! The things of Christ! The things of the Lord!
So, from this, we can draw out a whole host of implications. Are we really seeking the things above? If so, in what ways?
Are we seeking the things above in our thought life? If we took an audit on the thoughts that go through your head on a daily basis, what would we find? If that thought scares you, don’t be alarmed. That scares me too! Even as a believer, we are still trapped in this fleshly body of sin and death, and until the Lord returns or takes us home, we’re going to have to battle sin on a moment-by-moment basis.
The reality is that if our thoughts got displayed on a slideshow before the entire church body on a Sunday, it would be horrific! That goes for every human being on the planet. The question is this though: what do we do when wicked thoughts appear on the screen of our minds? Do we take them and dwell on them? James says absolutely not!
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
:
So we know not to dwell on these wicked thoughts. But what should we do instead? Cast them out and dwell on the things above by the power of the Holy Spirit through standing on conviction from God’s Word!
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
And if this seems like an impossible standard to attain to, something that can never be reached, in one sense, it is! Only a believer in Christ, possessing the Holy Spirit, can heed that command from . But if you are a believer, then there’s really no excuse. It’s not a question of whether or not we are able, but whether or not we are willing.
How can we know if we’re willing to seek the things above in our thought life? A great way to know is by looking at what we fill our minds with! What information, media, music, whatever, do you consume on a regular basis? If is the standard we are to operate by in every aspect of what we should be dwelling on, then we have to apply that filter to every aspect of what we end up filling our minds with. Those who are truly seeking the things of heaven don’t spend their time filling up on spiritual junk food. They only consume the things that are most helpful as a pattern of life. Let’s strive to do the same.
In the same vein though, how has seeking the things above impacted our worldview? What do we spend our time on? On a practical level, we only have a limited amount of hours in a week, let alone a day. Just think about it! Most of spend 8 hours a day sleeping, 8 hours a day in school or working, and at least 3 hours a day eating. That’s literally 19 hours a day, gone, just like that! So with those 5 remaining hours each day, what do we do? How we answer that question exposes whether or not our priority is to seek the things of heaven or to seek the things of this earth.
This means that we have to look at everything we spend our time on, whether it’s a Christian liberty or not.
For example - We have the freedom to go on social media. Sometimes, you can follow some great accounts and read Spurgeon quotes right after being in awe at the sight of a traveling cat. But at the same time, 5 hours is only 5 hours. Does our time on Instagram outweigh the time we spend in the Word? If so, then we’re probably not seeking the things above.
We have the freedom to spend time with friends. Sometimes, those hangouts can be sweet times of great fellowship, mutual encouragement, and accountability. But other times (sometimes a lot of the time), what we call “fellowship events” are really just Christian hang-outs. That’s not fellowship. Fellowship is centered around and revolves around Christ, His Word, and how it’s impacting our lives.
That doesn’t mean that unless we’re debating the nuances of a certain spelling of a Greek word in some obscure passage, we’re not fellowshipping. Fellowship can be as simple as talking about your day with a brother or sister in Christ and sharing how you thought through the various circumstances of life with a biblical lens and what passages you clung to in trials and all the various ways you’ve been impacted by the Word or convicted by sermons recently. There’s nothing wrong with hanging out. It’s a great thing to have friends and spend time doing friend things. But at the same time, 5 hours is only 5 hours. Does our time spent simply “hanging out” (not fellowshipping) outweigh the time we spend in the Word? If so then we’re probably not seeking the things above.
We could go on and on with exploring different scenarios and facets where this principle applies. The moral of the story is this: keep seeking the things of heaven in a considerate manner and a comprehensive manner! There is no other pathway to spiritual growth in the Christian life.
But even with all of that, it’s easy to wonder, “Why? I understand I need to strive for the things above. I understand that I need to take spiritual growth seriously. But why does my focus have to be so specific?” Look at the rest of .
“where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
The Colossians may have been asking, “Why strive for the things above specifically?” Paul’s answer - “‘Cause that’s where Christ is!” And where is He? Seated at the right hand of God.
1 The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
Psa. 11
61 But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”
62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
This is one of the most encouraging truths in all of Scripture. Believers - we have a Great High Priest who intercedes for us at the right hand of God Himself! And who is our Great High Priest? God Himself. Mind equals blown.
This is why Paul told the Colossians to “keep seeking the things above.” Because that’s the only way to follow Christ! It’s the only way to walk in Him! It’s the only way to walk out all that Paul has laid out in Colossians from chapters 1-2 until now.
The Colossians’ mindset on the Christian life would’ve been completely changed when they read this. No longer was spiritual growth to be a lofty pursuit that none can reach. It became a lofty pursuit that Christ can reach, has reached, and gives us the power to reach.
Yes, we’re not always going to win every battle in this war called life on earth. Our sin is crafty, the world is craftier, and the devil is more crafty than both of them combined. But the Psalmist’s words in tell us why we strive for the things of heaven regardless.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
The wicked strive for the things below and it seems like they’re doing pretty well because of it. They are eating good! They are living good! They are doing whatever they want and nothing seems to happen to them! It just doesn’t seem fair! But here’s the kicker that every rejecter of the gospel knows to be true but denies anyway: it doesn’t last. Listen to the Psalmist in .
13 Arise, O Lord, confront him, bring him low;
Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword,
14 From men with Your hand, O Lord,
From men of the world, whose portion is in this life,
And whose belly You fill with Your treasure;
They are satisfied with children,
And leave their abundance to their babes.
15 As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness;
I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.
James tells us clearly what the things of earth really are, and what it exposes about our hearts if we seek them! Listen to on this.
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.
James 3:1
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.
16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
But in contrast, what are the things of heaven, and what does it expose about our hearts if we seek them?
James 3:
13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.
SET YOUR MIND ON THE THINGS ABOVE ()
SET YOUR MIND ON THE THINGS ABOVE ()
17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.
18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
James 3:1
So let’s not shrink back, friends! God is not a God of vagueness or confusion, but a God of order, like tells us. There are two types of wisdom. There are two types of people. And there are only two directions in life - progression or regression. It’s not ambiguous whether one is better than the other. Progression is the only option for the believer. Regression is the only option for the unbeliever. There is no plateau, no stagnancy, and no middle ground. So we must ask ourselves, if we’re not motivated to seek the things above because of a desire to please the Lord, then do we really love Him?
Let’s not forget that God was with us in Jesus Christ. God is in us through the Holy Spirit. And we will be with God by the seal of the Holy Spirit in the redemption that Jesus Christ purchased with His blood on the cross. In the meantime? Strive for the things above. The Christian life is about direction, not perfection. And it’s defined by progression, not regression.
THE DRIVE FOR GROWTH
THE DRIVE FOR GROWTH
We’ll have to save verses 2-4 for next time. But to recap - tonight we saw the first step for securing spiritual growth, which was to strive for the things above… strive for the things above.
Now, we’ve looked at this command from a lot of different angles, but I think it’ll be helpful for us to zoom out for a moment and see just why striving for spiritual growth is really worth the trouble. Tonight, I only have one motivation, but I think it’ll be more than enough for us to leave with.
1) APPLIED FAITH IS ASSURED FAITH
1) APPLIED FAITH IS ASSURED FAITH
… applied faith is assured faith. What do I mean by that? The only way to have confidence in your salvation is through sanctification. Or, to put it in simpler terms, applied faith leads to assured faith.
One of the biggest questions we often ask our close friends, pastors, or ourselves at times, is, “How do I know if I’m saved?” Great question. Look at your fruit! What is your relationship with the Word? Do you read your Bible out of a sense of longing or out of a sense of obligation? Do you seek the things above out of a desire to be pleasing to your Lord or out of a desire to be pleasing to man?
Those questions take careful thought and consideration. Here’s an even simpler way to gain clarity on where we stand with the Lord: Take an inventory on our battle against sin. How are we doing in the battle? As a pattern of life, do we find victory over our sin in the moment of temptation by applying God’s Word by faith through obedience, or do we renege on the convictions we claim to stand by when temptation gets tough?
There are many believers who have lived, do live, and will live their lives with no confidence whatsoever about their standing before God. That’s such a horrible way to live, and an even worse way to die. There’s a better way. Hear God’s Word, and obey God’s Word, one command at a time, one day at a time, for one battle at a time. The battle will resume again tomorrow, but isn’t it sweet to stand in comfort and joy before the battleground with complete confidence, not in ourselves, but in the Lord? May His glory be put on display through all of our lives. Let’s pray.