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April 23, 2023
Zombies in Church
“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth.” (Colossians 3:5-11)
The Christian has three enemies to his spiritual life. Enemies to our faith are the most important and dangerous enemies we have. To destroy or even damage our faith is to interrupt our relationship with God and nothing is more important than that (Heb.11:6). First is the world; second is Satan; third is our flesh. The world, the flesh, and the devil. These are real and have caused many a shipwreck for the Christian pilgrim.
The inspired apostle addressed two of our enemies so far in Colossians: Satan and the world. Both have been dealt with and defeated at the cross of Christ. We were crucified to the world and the world to us when Jesus died on that cross, because we were in Him when He died. Satan was utterly defeated and had his authority stripped away at the cross. Bout the only thing he has left is lies, but that’s not to say he is someone we must not deal with. All he had with Eve was a lie and he knew how to use that effectively. He still does. Using the world as his bait, he maneuvers us to fall to temptations and loss.
Paul was a great theologian, and his writings are deep. Even the Apostle Peter thought so (2Pet.3:16). We’re not talking snorkeling here; we’re talking scuba diving. Paul does not throw his doctrinal pearls along the shore; neither does he cast nuggets in creek beds. If you want the pearls you have to dive deep and to find the motherlode of gold you must dig deep into the rock of the earth. Paul goes down deep and stays down long in Colossians. He feeds the hungry soul with meat and the believer must chew to get any nourishment out of what he writes.
Without background we’re not going to understand much of this important passage in Colossians. All this putting off and putting to death the flesh makes little sense without what is taught in the context of these verses and in Romans chapter six.
Either the sinful nature of the lost person animates his flesh (members of his body) or the regenerated new nature of the Christian that God creates in him (and every Christian) at the new birth does. Unless he is acting like a zombie! “Do not present your members (of your body) as instruments of unrighteousness to (serve) sin, but present (give) yourselves completely to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. The NLT says, “Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” (Rm.6:13)
Stay Connected with Grace Church!
Dive deeper into sermon notes and see how Christ is moving in our community by visiting our website: https://sites.google.com/view/gracehouseclinton/sermons
If you feel led to support our ministry, you can give securely here: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=674824c2-5d42-11ee-90fc-1260ab546d11
Thank you for being part of our ministry! #GraceChurch #FaithInAction #terrysimpson #terry #simpson #clintonar #sermons #pastor #ministry #discipleship
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By Terry Simpson
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Send us Fan Mail
April 23, 2023
Zombies in Church
“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth.” (Colossians 3:5-11)
The Christian has three enemies to his spiritual life. Enemies to our faith are the most important and dangerous enemies we have. To destroy or even damage our faith is to interrupt our relationship with God and nothing is more important than that (Heb.11:6). First is the world; second is Satan; third is our flesh. The world, the flesh, and the devil. These are real and have caused many a shipwreck for the Christian pilgrim.
The inspired apostle addressed two of our enemies so far in Colossians: Satan and the world. Both have been dealt with and defeated at the cross of Christ. We were crucified to the world and the world to us when Jesus died on that cross, because we were in Him when He died. Satan was utterly defeated and had his authority stripped away at the cross. Bout the only thing he has left is lies, but that’s not to say he is someone we must not deal with. All he had with Eve was a lie and he knew how to use that effectively. He still does. Using the world as his bait, he maneuvers us to fall to temptations and loss.
Paul was a great theologian, and his writings are deep. Even the Apostle Peter thought so (2Pet.3:16). We’re not talking snorkeling here; we’re talking scuba diving. Paul does not throw his doctrinal pearls along the shore; neither does he cast nuggets in creek beds. If you want the pearls you have to dive deep and to find the motherlode of gold you must dig deep into the rock of the earth. Paul goes down deep and stays down long in Colossians. He feeds the hungry soul with meat and the believer must chew to get any nourishment out of what he writes.
Without background we’re not going to understand much of this important passage in Colossians. All this putting off and putting to death the flesh makes little sense without what is taught in the context of these verses and in Romans chapter six.
Either the sinful nature of the lost person animates his flesh (members of his body) or the regenerated new nature of the Christian that God creates in him (and every Christian) at the new birth does. Unless he is acting like a zombie! “Do not present your members (of your body) as instruments of unrighteousness to (serve) sin, but present (give) yourselves completely to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. The NLT says, “Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” (Rm.6:13)
Stay Connected with Grace Church!
Dive deeper into sermon notes and see how Christ is moving in our community by visiting our website: https://sites.google.com/view/gracehouseclinton/sermons
If you feel led to support our ministry, you can give securely here: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=674824c2-5d42-11ee-90fc-1260ab546d11
Thank you for being part of our ministry! #GraceChurch #FaithInAction #terrysimpson #terry #simpson #clintonar #sermons #pastor #ministry #discipleship