Made Alive to Mortify and Vivify

Colossians 3:1-17

In the last few Lord’s Days, we saw how the gospel and church discipline open and shut the door to God’s kingdom. When people hear the gospel and are saved, there’s evidence of grace. But if there’s persistent sin, church discipline corrects that. You see, while we’re not saved by obedience or good works, they prove our salvation. They show our thankfulness to God, assure us of how genuine our faith is, and win others to Christ. They’re part of our true repentance and conversion. We’ll this see today - the kind of good works we must do. We read in Q&A 88 that true conversion consists of 2 parts - dying of the old nature and renewing of the new nature. We’re saved to mortify or put to death our sinful impulses; and to vivify - to live new lives in obedience to God. These are the good works of our salvation - to do good and stop sinning. We’ll see this in 3 points from our passage. Firstly, we are made alive by Christ. Secondly, we are made alive to mortify. Thirdly, we are made alive to vivify.

Firstly, we’ve been made alive by Christ. Verse 1 says,“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” Straightaway, we’re told why we must do good. We’re risen with Christ! This is a subordinate clause. It gives a reason for something. For example, if you’re so sick, see a doctor. If you’re so full, stop eating. If you’re risen with Christ, seek things above. So our connection with Christ is the reason for our new life. In almost every verse from 1-4, a connection is made between our salvation and Christ. There are prepositions like with, where, and when Christ. Verse 1 says we’re risen with Christ. It’s in the passive voice. Meaning, we didn’t make ourselves alive. It was done to us. Ephesians 2:4-6 says - “…when we were dead in sins, God hath quickened us together with Christ…and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Because of our connection to Christ, we’re made alive. And we’re also exalted. When Christ ascended to the right hand of God, a place of honor, he gave us a place there to sit and rule with him. This is our union and connection. That’s why we should seek heavenly things.

But our connection to Christ also makes us dead to sin. Verse 3 says we’re dead, and our life is hidden with Christ. We see this clearer in Romans 6:6-7 - “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed…henceforth we should not serve sin…he that is dead is freed from sin.” Meaning, when God saved us, he put to death our sinful nature. That’s why we shouldn’t serve it. Additionally, Paul said our lives are hid in Christ. The word “hid” is translated from the Greek word for tomb. We’re entombed with Christ. It’s like ancient tombs. Qin Shi Huang was buried with all his terracotta warriors. They remained there forever (or until they were found). Always together. But far from sounding terrible, it’s a wonderful thought for us. We’re forever intertwined with the living Christ that we’re dead to sin because he died for us; and because he resurrected for us, we live to be holy. As verse 4 says, Christ is our life! That’s why Paul said in Galatians 2:20 - “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Christ lives in me.

And because he lives in us, we set our affections for Christ. Verses 1-2 tell us to seek those things which are above and to set our affection on things above, not on things below. How we think changes when we’re made alive in Christ. As Q&A 90 says, “It is a heartfelt joy in God through Christ, and a love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works.” We love spiritual things. Why? We’re saved! What we think and feel must correspond with our status. And we never stop. Literally the verse says, “keep seeking those things which are above.” What a wonderful thing! We’re made alive by Christ. And because we are, we’re eternally connected and united with him. But if we are, why does Paul command us to set our affections in heaven, and to put off our old man when he’s been crucified? Don’t these things come naturally? Yes and no. Yes because we have a heartfelt joy in God through Christ to live according to his will. But we can quench that joy. After all, we’re living on earth. That’s why Paul says in verse 5 - “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth.” Positionally, we’re in heaven with Christ. But physically, we’re still on earth. That’s why our desires are frequently pulled back from heavenly things to earthly things. So what do we do?

We’re to put to death our sinful affections, so our actions on earth correspond to our heavenly position. That’s the second point. We’re made alive to mortify. And verse 5 lists some of the most common sins that we struggle with on earth - even for Christians - fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. So we must put them to death. That’s our good work and obedience as Christians. Q&A 89 tells us that in the dying of the old nature, we are to “grieve with heartfelt sorrow that we have offended God by our sin, and more and more to hate it and flee from it.” Paul lists 2 categories of sins in verses 5-9. There are the sins of sensuality and community. The sins of sensuality have to do with fleshly appetites. There’s fornication - or “porneia” in Greek. This is any sexual sin - not just adultery, but pornography, masturbation, etc.“Porneia” often tops the list of sins in the Bible. This means that sexual sins is one of the most common sins. And the words that follow fornication in verse 5 describe how sensuality progresses. Uncleanness refers to impurity or sinful sexual desires. But unless we stop the unclean thought, it progresses. It turns into inordinate affection. You keep thinking about sinning. You let your sinful affections run wild. Then this results in evil concupiscence. After thinking for so long, you’ll greedily fulfill your sinful lusts.

The second category of sins that Paul lists here is the sins of community. Verses 8-9 describe what they were like, even as Christians. He said, but even you- “put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.” Apparently, these sins were common in church! Paul dealt with disagreements between two offensive and sensitive women in Philippi; he dealt with the factions in the Corinthian church; widows in the early church complained. And here, Paul found these issues in church. Verse 9 - he told them not to lie to one another. Verse 11 - he told them that in Christ, their differences shouldn’t divide them. There was disunity between the Greeks, Jews, Barbarians, and Scythians. As Christians, they should’ve been united because they were united to Christ! But they were still on earth. And related to the sins of community are the sins of the heart and mouth. Anger refers to impulsive anger. Wrath describes a hot anger that wants justice. And malice means ill will toward another, including the desire to injure. Again, we see the degrees of sin. If anger is not stopped, it’ll grow to wrath, and then to malice. Blasphemy refers refers to slanderous speech - like gossip. Filthy communication refers to foul speech. Lying is telling an untruth or half a truth. Religious people are capable of this - like the Pharisees who stirred the people against Jesus with false accusations. Sins of sensuality and community affect us.

But if we’re risen with Christ to seek things above and have our affections are on things above, how do we deal with sins here below? We must put them off and kill them. In verses 5, 8, and 9, we see these 2 ways. First, we put them to death. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth…” We must put them to death. A tumor is removed by surgery. Why? Because it causes death. And these sins must be put to death, because they bring God’s wrath upon the disobedient, verse 6. Remove that computer from your room; install a nanny app on your phone. If we’re no longer children of disobedience, and have been made alive, we should not walk in them but kill them. Mortification is a proof of salvation. We must struggle daily to kill sin. That’s the instinct of a Christian. A person who has no desire to mortify might not be a child of God.

Not only do we mortify, we put off. Verses 8-9 - But now, put off anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy. Why? You have put off the old man with his deeds. The old has gone, the new has come. The word “put off” means to cast away from oneself. It’s like taking off dirty clothes and flinging it to the laundry. Jesus spoke of this radical amputation in Matthew 5. If your arm causes you to sin - cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin - pluck it out. And we know Jesus was speaking metaphorically. Stop thinking - put the breaks on your sinful thoughts. Put off the anger and the bad behavior. Don’t justify it. Don’t say that God has created me with a certain temperament - I’m INTJ, or ESTP, or ENFP. Or whatever psychometric test you favor, whether it’s the Myer Briggs Type Indicator, or the Minnesota Multiphasic Inventory. Your natural man may be like that, but your natural man has been crucified and you’re being renewed. We must count ourselves dead to this kind of living - we need to put off disobedience. Why? Because one day, Christ our life shall appear, verse 4. Let’s pursue what we should be, rather than excuse what we are. We put to death and we put off our sins because Christ is coming for us. He expects that we should be living as he has saved us to live - pursuing after holiness and good works.

So thirdly we’re made alive to vivify - to renew, revive, refresh. You see, spiritual growth and Christian living is more than mortifying and removing sin. The Christian lives for and pursues holiness. There must be a new way of living and vitality. Q&A 90 says that the life of the “new nature is a heartfelt joy in God through Christ, and a love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works.” You see, growth is measured by how much you start changing to do God’s will. A gossip is no longer a gossip just because he stops gossiping, but when he is honest and speaks the truth and uses his words to build people up. An angry person is no longer wrathful just because she stops getting angry, but when she starts being kind and demonstrates her patience. And it’s hard. We’re so conditioned by habit to sin that we need to retrain ourselves to obey God.

And here we see what we’re supposed to grow in. While we saw the sins of sensuality and community - sins of our earthly nature; we see here the uncommon virtues of Christ. Verse 12 says, “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering.” As God’s elect, we’re to put on Christ’s merciful heart. The Greeks used bowels or intestines to speak about the place of emotions, we’d use heart. So to others, put on the heart of mercy. Put off anger, wrath, and malice, but clothe yourselves with mercy. Remember, it was the Levite and the priest who could not show compassion to their fellow Jew. Instead, it was the Samaritan that took care of his enemy. He was moved in his heart, like Christ, out of compassion to help the injured man. And be kind, verse 12. “Kindness” means benign, not malicious. A person who is unwilling to think badly or wickedly. But the mind is involved too. To clothe the mind with humility and meekness. Why is there wrath and malice in us? Why that quick anger? Because the mind is not lowly. But when we adopt the mind of Christ, who was God, but humbled himself to be a servant and was obedient to die on the cross, then we won’t be quickly offended. John Flavel said, “They that know God will be humble and they that know themselves cannot be proud.”

Because Christ was merciful and meek, he was patient, forbearing, and forgiving. These are the good works we must cultivate. This is his example we must follow. At the end of verse 12, Paul spoke about how we must put on longsuffering, and verse 13 says, “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” Even as Christ forgave you, forgive others. While you may have put off anger, wrath, and malice, how do you deal with those who are angry, wrathful, and malicious? How do you deal with those who lie, blaspheme, and curse us? We follow Christ’s three examples. Firstly, he was longsuffering toward sinners. He suffered because of his enemies; he was sinned against. Secondly, he was forbearing - he endured even the toughest trial. He was continually sinned against, and aggravated, but he bore with it. He never received earthly justice, but he suffered through injustice. Thirdly, he was forgiving - he was gracious and ready to pardon. To Judas who was about to betray him, he offered mercy, which hardened his heart. To Peter, he restored him 3 times for denying him 3 times. He even asked God to forgive the Romans because they knew not what they were doing. When the Samaritans refused to receive him, James and John - the sons of thunder - wanted to call down fire upon them. Jesus rebuked them and said - “the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” The good work of growing in holiness requires us to grow in Christ’s uncommon virtues. These things must be alive in us. We must vivify, make alive, we develop these virtues.

And how we do it is by putting them on and obeying his precepts. Paul said in verse 10 - “And have put on the new man” and again in verse 12 - “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, etc.” The verb tense of “put on” implies a once and for all action. Put on. No questions asked. Whether you feel like it, whether you’re ready, or whether others change first, you just put on these attitudes. Why? Because we’re God’s chosen people. Take off your evil works of anger, your filthy garment of gossip - and put on the robe of Christ. This is the good work we must do. And this includes obeying God’s precepts so that we can help one another. Change happens in the context of church. Growth never occurs without community. Verses 16-17 say, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” He instructs the congregation to let Scripture inhabit them so they would teach and admonish one another. Why scripture is needed is simple - so we’d know how to help each other to mortify and vivify. Q&A 91 says what good works are - “Only those which are done out of true faith, in accordance with the law of God, and to His glory, and not those based on our own opinion or on precepts of men.” Change takes place in the context of the church - we don’t change apart from the godly, good, and knowledgeable people. Romans 15:14 says, “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.”

Dearly beloved, how can we apply this message and catechism? It is as we have covered. I think the mind plays an important part. To know who we are in Christ - that we’re in union with him - connected to him. If we’re saved, our tastes, desires, outlook, and behavior must change. We’re dead to sin, but alive in Christ. That’s what some of us must be reminded about. We’re not bottom feeders. We are destined for higher things. But we must know the reasons for our struggle - it’s because we’re still on earth. And yes, all of these sins that we want to gratify - we want to justify our lust, anger, jealousy - must be dead to us. We must mortify them. It’s not only in the mind, but it’s in the will. What have you identified as the sin that so easily besets you? Will you not, out of grief, hate, flee from, and mortify them? And what opposite virtue of Christ will you cultivate? Maybe you’re an angry and suspicious person; or a person who loves it when your flesh is gratified; or you’re a gossiper - unable to control your wicked tongue. Put on the character of Christ. And if you’re finding it hard, you’re in good company. That’s why we must help one another to do good works. That’s why we encourage one another with the Word through comfort, teaching, rebuke. What do you need to receive today to grow? What word of rebuke or correction do you need? And what might you need to do to help another? But remember, we must have more hope - we’re risen with Christ. He died for your sins. And he rose to make you holy. What a great savior we have.

1. We Are Made Alive by Christ

A. Our connection to Christ

B. Our affection for Christ

2. We Are Made Alive to Mortify

A. Our common sins

B. By putting off and killing

3. We Are Made Alive to Vivify

A. Christ’s uncommon virtues

B. By putting on and obeying precepts