What does partnering in the Gospel mean?  Zack Amis unpacks some of Paul's final words in Colossians that give some insight from the Apostle to the Gentiles.  

Paul, carried along by the Holy Spirit, gives the church in Colossae and us instructions on how to pray, conduct ourselves, and enter into conversations with non-believers.

Being in Christ reorders all of our lives, including and perhaps most importantly, the household. 

Being in Christ will lead us to reflect the Character of God.

We are to believe the Gospel, appropriate our new identity through our behavior, and become a new humanity.  This is described as a wardrobe change by Paul, who was carried along by the Holy Spirit.  How would our lives be different if we put on Christ every morning when we were getting dressed for the day?  

All of you know that the wrath of God is coming against idolatry like sexual immorality, impurity, disordered desires, evil cravings, and covetousness.  Once, you were lived this way and were under God’s wrath, but not anymore.  However, now you have different indicators of idolatry; anger, rage, ill-will, slander, and shameful speech.  You must consider the parts of yourself that are aimed at earthly purposes—your idolatry—dead and rid yourselves of this divisive conduct.

If we are truly in Christ, we all have stories about how the Holy Spirit has delivered us from sinful conduct and we know consider those disordered motivations dead.  

I once was living in (VICE), but now I consider (MOTIVATION) dead.

However, Sanctification (the process of being delivered from the power of sin in our lives) is a life long process.  We must humbly be ready to take the next step to rid ourselves from sinful conduct the Spirit reveals to us and consider the motivations for that conduct to be dead.

The Apostle Paul, carried along by the Holy Spirit, consistently writes to the churches to accurately position the believers in the correct position—between “being raised spiritually with Christ” and “will be raised physically with Christ in Glory.”  In Colossians Chapter 3, Paul begins to give the application from living in this in-between.  You Live from Christ and toward Christ—Christ is Your Life. So seek the Kingdom He is administering at the Right Hand of God the Father by setting your mind (or keep thinking about) Christ and the Kingdom He is administering.  
“What are you thinking about?”  Or perhaps the better question, “What dominates your thought life?”  What we think about is what we seek and what sets the trajectory of our lives.  In Christ, we are headed for another resurrection, a more full and complete resurrection and the glory of Christ shared with us.  Let’s live like it now. 

Religiosity can foster the growth of our sin nature and produce division among the Church.  We are to be killing our sin nature or it will be killing US.  We do this by remembering that we are to participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus, in whom we have unity.  This is a simple concept, but becomes very difficult to live out in the day to day.  In this sermon, we address how to live this out through Revelries, Regulations, and Revelations.

Paul addresses the yoke of circumcision, a sign of the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenant, that was being put on the Disciples in Colossae, a yoke that the patriarchs all of Israel hasn't been able to bear.  Only by participating in the death and resurrection of Christ can believers receive the circumcision, sign of the covenant, of Christ.  In Christ believers are made to be alive and forgiven of all our sins.  However, this also comes with coming under the ultimate authority of Christ.

There are two categories of wisdom; wisdom revealed in Christ and wisdom according to the traditions of man and built upon the fundamentals of the world.  Wisdom that is not according to Christ is connected to empty deceit.  Christians must carefully watch out and guard from being overcome and becoming a slave to the empty deceitful wisdom.  Paul encourages the church in Colossae to be careful by continuing just as they had received Christ--don't add anything to Jesus, but put faith in The Word of God.  This will lead to a dependent relationship with Christ, like a tree rooted next to a stream or a house built on a strong foundation.