Home | Meeting Times | Directions | Contact

South Woods Baptist Church

• Welcome
  • Pastor's Welcome
  • Meeting Times
  • Directions
  • Sermon Schedule
• About
  • Our Leadership
    • Our Elders
    • Our Deacons
    • Our Pastoral Staff
  • Our Beliefs
  • Our Covenant
  • Our Connections
  • Our Calendar
• Ministries
  • Worship
  • Music
  • Sunday School
  • S.T.I.N.T.
  • Youth
    • Youth Activities
  • Children
  • Missions
• Resources
  • Sermons
  • Orders of Worship
  • S.T.I.N.T. Audio
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • Newsletters
  • Bookstore
  • Links
  • Library
• Search

Home > Resources > Sermons > Colossians

SANCTIFICATION: A NEW RULE

COLOSSIANS 3:15-17

DECEMBER 5, 1999

 

Sanctification is a family matter. That is, it involves the whole family of believers in a local church. While it is true that we are saved individually; we are not saved in isolation from other believers. And while it is true that we are sanctified individually; we are not sanctified in isolation from other believers. Sanctification takes place within the framework of relationships we have with one another in the church. Guy Appere has expressed this clearly:

By God's deliberate choice, sanctification is a collective process taking place in a community and, apart from special circumstances, the Christian's way to sanctification is in company with other Christians and with their help [The Mystery of Christ, 107].

This is quite apparent in the language used by the Apostle Paul in our text, as he exhorts us corporately to a life of spiritual progress. The progress of sanctification gives evidence that believers are under a new rule for all of life. How is this new rule expressed in sanctification?

I. By the peace of Christ ruling

Peace is a common word we find in both OT and NT. The OT concept refers to 'wholeness or well-being'. The NT idea expands the concept of peace while building on its OT heritage.

1. Its dimensions

What is this "peace" implied in the text? He calls it "the peace of Christ," which is uniquely used here, though we see the "peace of God" used in numerous places (e.g., Rom. 1:7; I Cor. 1:3; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2). It points to the peace that comes from Christ or the peace that Christ has granted on the basis of his redemptive work.

The word itself conveys "a sense of wholeness and well-being, completeness and totality," according to Kent Hughes [The Supremacy of Christ-PTW series, 110]. So in this sense we see its connection with its OT roots. However, there seems to be a deeper dimension of peace in its NT use.

Two specific areas must be considered when thinking of the peace of Christ. First, we must think of Christ in his person. We sing of Christ as "the prince of peace" during this time of year. We think of the breaking of the yokes of spiritual slavery and the casting off of the bonds of tyranny through Jesus Christ. Because he is the one who reconciles us to God, he is also the one who reconciles us-racially, culturally, socially-to one another. To the Ephesians, Paul declared,

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR (Eph. 2:13-17)

The emphasis in this passage is how, in the person of Christ through the offering of himself at the cross, Jews and Gentiles who have been at enmity with each other are now brought into the same family through Christ. Rather than the open and even secret hostility in their relationships, through Christ the "enmity" has been removed, the wall separating us racially, socially, and culturally has been broken down. We are now "one new man" in Christ. Therefore, we have peace in relationships to each other due to the person of Christ in his mediatorial office. The peace of his presence continues to establish our relationship with one another.

Secondly, we have peace in relationship to God that is described in the term "justification." It is through the accomplishment of our Lord in bearing the judgment of God against us that we now have peace with God. This is a peace that is a gift through Christ. "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). We are no longer enemies of God, but his children. We no longer are under divine judgment but under his blessing and care.

It is this "peace of Christ" that is to "rule in your hearts." The consciousness that we are at peace with God through Christ and at peace with one another through Christ, must dominate our thinking. It is to affect our decisions. It is to alter the way we think, live, and interact with others.

2. Its distinctions

This peace is to "rule in your hearts," that is, it is to be the arbitrator or umpire of our hearts. The Holy Spirit has effectually called us to this peace in the body of Christ, "to which indeed you were called in one body." It is to characterize our lives together as Christians. The church is to be recognized in a chaotic world by a conscious reality of the peace of Christ in her midst.

If we think of the distinctiveness of the body of Christ in the world in comparison to all the other institutions of the world, the church is to be characterized by the rule of peace. Eadie calls it "that calm of mind which is not ruffled by adversity, overclouded by sin or a remorseful conscience, or disturbed by the fear and the approval of death" [quoted by Curtis Vaughan, Colossians: A Study Guide Commentary, 101]. It can be seen in the midst of trials or adverse situations, when those who are believers keep their heads and walk through such situations with an inward calmness.

Appere expresses this when he writes, "Peace is to the soul what health is to the body: a sign of balance and order, and also the condition for full growth and development" [105]. The peace of Christ conquers the worry, fear, and anxiety that dominate the thought of most people. This peace rules in the believer's heart and consequently affects the entire atmosphere of the church. When you bring together a group of people who are resting in Jesus Christ, you may have chaos going on all about them, but they will be buoyed by the peace of Christ.

In reading history, I've noticed that one thing that characterizes Christians living in constant peril of life and limb is "the peace of Christ" ruling in their hearts. Foxe's Book of Martyrs offers one example after another, of men, women, and children, who were hunted down like animals for their faith in Christ, then cast into prisons and dungeons, stretched on the rack, burned at the stake, and decapitated by the executioners. Their lives might have been taken, but no peril could rob them of the peace given to them by Jesus Christ. For this peace ruled their hearts.

Do you "let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body"? If that is the case, then you can be certain that such a rule produces "thankful" hearts and lips. This is a thankfulness that arises out of the reality that you are living in the grace of God.

II. By the word of Christ dwelling

Sanctification progresses in our lives as we live under the rule of Christ's peace. But there is also the active work of the word of Christ dwelling within us in all its richness. "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

1. An explanation

If Paul had said, 'Let the Word of God dwell richly in you', then we would easily have grasped that he was speaking of Scripture. But when he uses the term "the word of Christ," he is not talking of a different truth, but the specific truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is recorded in the Scriptures and that we have experienced through faith. The profound richness of the gospel is to dwell in the believer. He is to lavish his mind on the gospel. He is to mull its riches. He is to contemplate the magnificence of grace shown in the gospel. He is to give consideration to the eternal sufficiency of the gospel. He is to yield himself wholly to the demands of the gospel upon his life.

The plural pronoun "you" refers to the church. The word of Christ is to richly dwell within the church. As the body corporately gathers it is to be characterized by focused attention upon Jesus Christ in all his fullness and sufficiency in the gospel. Our worship, conversation, prayers, and discussions must be saturated with the glorious richness of the gospel. Our conversation upon leaving our assembling should continue on the richness of the gospel of Christ.

This is so critical for us in understanding what is involved in sanctification. We sometime hear of formulas or steps to sanctification, as though we are following instructions in a box. Paul never offers anything like that. Instead, Paul reminds believers of Jesus Christ and our relationship to Him. In light of the error being passed off by the antagonists in Colossae, error that would turn attention away from Christ and his gospel, Paul insists that the only way to progress in sanctification is through the rich indwelling realities of the gospel. You can never go wrong by thinking upon the gospel. If you think that the gospel exists only to initiate your salvation, then you move on to more important subjects or weightier content, you are sadly mistaken. Some among us may be slowed in our sanctification because we have neglected the gospel of Christ. We are setting our minds on so many things to the neglect of drinking deeply from the wells of our salvation in Christ.

2. Multiplied expressions

To add to this, Paul explains that as we corporately experience the continued richness of the gospel we will minister to one another through our thinking, discussions, exhortations, and even our singing with reference to the gospel of Christ: "with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thanksgiving in your hearts to God." Do you notice the distinctly corporate way that all of us are to minister to one another in the body? We are reminded in this text of how everyone of us as believers is involved in the ongoing sanctification of others in the body. You contribute to my sanctification while I also contribute to yours. It is not that I sanctify you or you sanctify me. But it does mean that my sanctification is incomplete without the contribution you make in my life. Again, this is another reason we are to be faithful in gathering with the church when it assembles. You will not make spiritual progress by withdrawing from church or being sporadic in your participation.

All of us need to be taught and admonished. The words refer to instruction in the truths or doctrines of the Christian faith and having these truths applied to our minds to correct and direct our behavior and practice. Who is involved in the teaching and admonishing? Certainly we recognize that the NT teaches that some in the body are particularly gifted as teachers and exhorters. But it appears the implication offered in this text is that all of the church is to be involved in teaching and admonishing others in the body.

You may say, I just don't think that I can prepare a lesson and teach a class. Paul is not referring to teaching a class at this point, but to the individual or small group setting in which we are involved in helping to build one another's understanding of the gospel. We even do this through the joyful, thankful singing of "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." When the body gathers to worship we are not to sing as though it has no effect upon those around us. Instead, we are to keep in mind that as we sing with thankfulness for God's grace, we are helping to lay truth to the minds of our fellow believers.

Kent Hughes points out, "The record of Christian awakenings during the last 2,000 years shows that whenever the Word of God is recovered, it is received with great joy which is inevitably expressed in song" [112]. For instance, during the period of the Reformation, there was a rebirth of congregations singing hymns. Luther himself had a big part in this, even contributing by writing hymns. The thousands of wonderful hymns written by Charles Wesley and William Williams accompanied the Great Awakening under the influence of John Wesley and George Whitefield. The period that followed, ushering in the second Great Awakening, brought more hymn singing through the work of John Newton, Asahel Nettleton, and many others. Charles Haddon Spurgeon always accompanied his ministry with great hymns.

It was not the musical scores that dominated this era, though there were wonderful tunes developed. Instead, it was the rich content of gospel truth in poetic form that helped to shape the spiritual lives of multitudes through the hymnody of those periods. Most people learned and sharpened their understanding of spiritual truth through singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We have the biblical mandate in our text to continue this practice and to continue instructing and admonishing one another through the singing of the church.

There is some distinction in the use of these three types of singing. Psalms has reference primarily to the OT psalms that were used in worship for hundreds of years before the NT era. They continued to be used in the first century and to this day. Some groups go so far as to restrict their music only to the psalms, which seems to be a clear neglect of Paul's present exhortation. Hymns are songs of praise to God. Augustine, in the 4^th century, explained the essentials of a hymn: 1) it must be sung; 2) it must be praise; 3) it must be to God [Trench's Synonyms, 298]. Hymns were used by pagan religions to express praise to their deities. But early Christians captured this practice and made it a distinctively Christian one. Even some of the texts of the NT are likely early, commonly known hymns of the church, e.g. Colossians 1:15-20 and Philippians 2:5-11. Spiritual songs may possibly be "impromptu rhythmic utterances produced under the influence of the Holy Spirit," according to Curtis Vaughan [103]. They certainly would have more content than "Kum-bah-yah" and would be the means of helping to further a believer's understanding of the Christian faith. Rick Melick has wisely written, "Music is legitimate only when it is a medium pointing beyond itself to the exhorting and encouraging of other believers and the evangelization of unbelievers" [NAC, 305].

The assembled church in worship is to "sing...with thankfulness to God." The word used for thankfulness implies that you are to sing "by the help of divine grace" or "with grace in your hearts" [Vaughan, 103]. We are to take seriously both the attitude of our singing and the intention of our singing.

III. By the name of Christ under girding

Believers are to live categorically different from the rest of the world. "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." Such a practice transforms the mundane tasks of life into a conscious act of continued devotion and love for Jesus Christ. It is that truth Paul spoke when he told the Romans to present their bodies as living sacrifices to God, for such drastic, daily action is "your spiritual service of worship" (Rom. 12:1).

1. An encompassing worldview

"Whatever you do in word or deed" is an encompassing term. It means everything about your life. So Paul is telling the believers of Colossae who were still living under the strong influence of paganism about them, to consider both their tongue and actions to be expressions of honor to Jesus Christ. How far are we to go in living out our Christianity? The glory of the gospel is to permeate the whole fabric of life. Our devotion to Jesus Christ is to be seen even in the little tasks of life.

I remember reading the little book about the mystic Brother Lawrence. For him, even washing dishes in the monastery was an act of worship and devotion, for he turned it into an activity that he did consciously for Jesus Christ. How often do we face tasks at home or work or school that do not bring us any real pleasure and may even be unenjoyable? Probably, we face those kinds of things each week. Paul is telling us that we must look at these things differently. Yes, they are the same tasks that we may have complained about or dreaded before. But now we are to look at them as being done for Christ or as a testimony to his grace in our lives.

To "do all in the name of the Lord Jesus," implies that the whole of your life is to be lived with a view toward pleasing him. You belong to Jesus Christ. Your purpose of existence is in relationship to him. So whether you are pastoring a church or managing a business or serving as a missionary or laboring in a factory or attending school, all of life is to be done with a view toward honoring Christ. "Living in accord with his name means 'in harmony with his revealed will, in subjection to his authority, in dependence on his power'," according to William Hendriksen [quoted by Melick, 307]. We take on whatever job or task we may have with a different attitude and aim. We represent the reputation of Jesus Christ within our sphere of influence, so we desire to honor him by our diligence, thankful spirits, hard work, and dependability.

2. A consistent acknowledgement

In all of this we are to be "giving thanks through Him to God the Father." Do you live constantly with thanks in your heart to the Lord? One of the biggest stumbling blocks to our spiritual progress is ingratitude. It brings our progress to a grinding halt, for it implies that we are at the helm of our lives or that our circumstances are sovereign over us or that God's goodness cannot reach far enough in our lives.

The present tense of this participle, "giving thanks," shows that it is to be our lifestyle as Christians. For thankfulness brings us into a constant remembrance that we do not deserve anything given to us by the Lord. It helps us to live with a constant dependence upon him as Lord of all in our lives. The added phrase, "through Him," that is, 'through Christ', points us to the grand reality that we have been redeemed and as the redeemed we are continually receiving from the Lord's hand. All of life to us is his gift. We may not understand all the details he delivers our way. But we can be assured that if we belong to him, that he is ever working for our good in preparing us for eternity. Therefore, we can give thanks through Christ to God the Father.

Conclusion

Do you want to progress in your spiritual life? Then heed what is spoken so simply and clearly in our text. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of Christ, giving thanks through him to the Father.

3175 Germantown Rd. S. | Memphis, Tennessee | 38119 | (901)758-1213