WEBVTT 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:11.599 Well, friends, in our culture, over a series of decades, there has been a gradual disappearance of sin. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:27.920 The idea that human beings are not basically good people, but are rather just people who occasionally make poor decisions, but are by nature creatures who stand in act active opposition to God is falling more and more on hard times. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:38.880 Though we have, you know, affirmed the word sin, culture is familiar with the word sin, its weight is becoming less potent, so to speak. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:44.479 We have replaced sin with sickness or victimhood. 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:59.119 The conscience of Western culture is being numbed by a strong therapeutic worldview that reframes every moral failure as a condition to be treated rather than a transgression to be repented of and forgiven by God. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:05.840 And tragically, from my vantage point, much of modern churches have adopted this framework wholesale. 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:12.480 But Paul will not allow us to do that, or rather, God, who inspired Scripture through Paul. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:17.040 And just three verses, verses 21 through 23, we'll focus on this morning. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:27.200 In just three verses, he refused to let us soften what we were, minimize what Christ did, or drift from the gospel that saved us. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:34.959 He uses words that are very stark and deliberate, words like alienated, hostile, evil deeds. 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:42.640 But then he uses phrases like reconciled, holy, blameless, and above reproach. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:55.599 With God's help, what I want us to see this morning, friends, from Paul's words in verses 21 through 23 is that if you are in Christ, you've been reconciled, presented holy, and declared blameless. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:57.439 So now live like it. 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:02.640 Paul holds up a mirror in this chapter to show us what we were. 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:11.840 He holds up the cross to show us what Christ did, and in some ways gives us a compass to show us how to walk forward in perseverance. 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:22.319 And so what I want us to do this morning is on the heels of Paul's words in verses 15 through 20, which Zane did a wonderful job helping us just see the supremacy of Christ in all things. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:32.000 And it's almost like Paul is just bursting out into this doxology or this poem just to say, look at how awesome and transcendent and glorifying Jesus is. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:42.960 And then in our verses this morning, he's given some indicatives, some reminders of who you are in Christ, and in light of that, how we should live. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:47.439 So let's let's just let's read verses 21 through 23 real quickly here. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:03:09.199 So after this doxology of praise of the transcendence and supremacy of Christ, in verse 21, Paul picks up once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions, but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:17.280 If indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:24.400 This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:27.599 This these verses can be divided up really by each verse. 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:33.120 The first verse is focusing on uh who you were past tense before your salvation. 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:38.639 Verse 22 is focusing on present tense, but now he has reconciled you. 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:42.639 This is now your standing before God by way of your justification. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:52.479 And then verse 23 is a future tense of, hey, you are to persevere if you are in Christ and not waver away from the gospel. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:04:00.719 And so we'll break these down one by one, but let's start with verse 21 and look at what you once were before Christ saved you. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:03.840 Now, Paul doesn't ease into this, doesn't he? 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:06.400 He uses very stark language. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:12.319 He begins with a strong description of the human condition before you receive God's saving grace. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:18.399 If you are in this room this morning and you are a born-again believer, this is true of all of us. 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:22.800 Before our salvation, you were alienated from God. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:26.879 When you hear that, you automatically know exactly what Paul's communicating, don't you? 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:29.600 You were a foreigner to the things of God. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:31.680 You did not belong to him. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:33.279 You were alienated. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:44.319 Isaiah 59, 2 says, But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:51.120 This is important because in our culture, sin is not a serious issue. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:05:01.600 Just the term itself can be offensive, but we should expect that because those who don't walk with Jesus don't share our convictions and our Christian worldview, our uh submission to the authority of Scripture. 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:05.439 But friends, we were alienated from God. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:08.160 Like let's just think about what that means. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:17.680 So before you were a Christian, you sin was not just like an inconvenience in your relationship with God, it severed it. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:28.160 It was the reason why God cannot even look at you with favor and love, but rather his just condemnation and wrath hung over you because you were an enemy of God. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:31.519 Let's just turn over to Romans chapter 1 real quickly. 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:38.560 Because when you say hard things as a pastor, it's always good to just read scripture so y'all don't think I'm picking on you. 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:48.000 Romans chapter 1, verses 18 through 24 is a stark reality of fallen humanity. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:51.839 Beginning in verse 18. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:55.279 Here's the guilt of the world according to God's word. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:04.560 For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:09.680 Since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:21.199 For his invisible attributes, that is his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:25.439 As a result, people are without excuse. 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:31.839 For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:37.360 Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:50.079 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:58.800 Therefore, God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:07.439 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served what has been created and said of the Creator, who is praised forever. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:08.399 Amen. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:12.399 Friends, that is the universal scope of human depravity. 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:17.519 That is everyone's state before they receive salvation in Jesus Christ. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:19.839 That is what it means to be alienated. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.959 You're alienated because of that sinful heart posture that Paul just articulated in Romans 1. 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:28.560 Paul says that we were hostile in mind. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:29.680 Think about that. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:31.839 That's combative language, isn't it? 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:33.199 This is a critical word. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:36.959 Paul does not say, you know what, before Christ, you were indifferent to God. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:38.560 You were just neutral. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:39.920 You didn't hate him. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:41.120 You didn't really love him. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:42.319 You were just in the middle. 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:45.199 He doesn't say that you were apathetic toward God. 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:47.759 He says you were hostile in mind. 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:49.360 You were an enemy. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:56.079 Your mind, your affections, your will all were in opposition to everything God stood for. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:59.920 Your whole posture was oriented against God. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:05.360 Now some might think, well, you know, when I look at my life before Christ, I don't know if I would say I was an enemy of God. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:06.319 I didn't hate God. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:08.240 I didn't, I didn't curse God. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:17.120 But friends, if you didn't worship and serve the Jesus we learned about last week in the previous verses, then what God were you serving and loving? 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:19.040 It wasn't the God of Scripture. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:21.920 Therefore, you are hostile in mind. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:24.800 And that depravity is holistic, friends. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:26.319 That's how jacked up we were. 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:29.360 It's not just that we did bad things. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:34.080 No, our minds were hostile and fallen and corrupted. 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:43.600 Our affections were hostile and corrupted by sin, which led to hostile and oppressive, sinful actions slash deeds. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:47.120 Which is why Paul says you were hostile in mind. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:56.799 If you look down at verses 21, so we were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:04.559 So he's saying your mind was corrupt and depraved, and that corruption gave evidence through your actions. 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:10.320 You made it evident that you were hostile and alienated by God by how you lived your life. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.919 Your deeds put on display your corruption. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:17.039 So behavior, friends, always flows from belief. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:20.720 We can't detach our actions from what we believe in our affections. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:25.679 What we believe in our minds, what we feel in our hearts, leads to the choices we make. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:29.759 The words that we speak communicate where we stand with God. 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:36.799 And Paul is saying those who were hostile in mind were also expressing that hostility in evil deeds. 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:42.960 Hostility towards God produces a life shaped by that same hostility. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:45.360 Let me illustrate like this. 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:51.039 Imagine a soldier who is deep behind enemy lines by themselves. 00:09:51.360 --> 00:10:00.159 Is that soldier in enemy territory just gonna walk around freely, just go to a local coffee shop and just hang out wearing their country's uniform? 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:01.919 No, of course not. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:06.080 Because you are in an opposing nation's territory. 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:11.120 Therefore, you would be actively oriented against that enemy country. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:14.960 Every instinct, every decision would be shaped by that hostility. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:19.120 You'd be sneaking around very, very carefully and very strategically. 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:29.519 Before salvation, we weren't spiritually neutral bystanders to God and Christ, who just needed a little direction, who needed a little, you know, self-improvement. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:36.559 We were active combatants against God and his kingdom, not in spite of our minds, but through them. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:45.919 We were corrupt radically to the point in which everything we saw in verses 15 through 20, we would have frowned at. 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:53.679 We would have thought, you know, this sounds like clever, you know, clever prose, but I don't see anything precious about this Jesus. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:56.799 Or all the songs we just sung, we wouldn't have spoken like that. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:58.960 Jesus wasn't a treasure to us. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:02.639 Maybe, like me, before I became a Christian, I would have professed to have been a Christian. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:10.320 I would have acknowledged God and yeah, Jesus is great, but my life clearly showed he was not supreme in my life. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:13.679 Therefore, showing I was hostile in mind. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:19.759 This is why in our culture, this cultural fog around sin is very dangerous. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:26.960 Sin isn't merely a bad habit, or like our politicians do a great job of when they get caught doing something. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:29.039 It's like, well, you know, that's not who I really am. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:31.279 I just, you know, it's a poor lapse of judgment. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:33.200 No, you that is exactly who you are. 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:35.279 You are radically corrupt. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:37.759 Sin is not merely a bad habit. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.519 It's not tripping up and just making a bad decision. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:44.559 It's a description of who we are by nature. 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:47.919 We were enemies of God. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:50.240 It reminds me of Satan. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:55.120 You know, these these terms Satan, the devil, the adversary, these aren't his name. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:57.519 These are titles that describe his nature. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:11:58.799 He is a liar. 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:00.720 He is an accuser of the brethren. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:04.559 These are titles that describe his nature, what he does fundamentally. 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:06.399 Same with sin for us. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:10.639 Before we were saved, we were sinners. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:12.480 That was our identity. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:14.240 Enemies of God. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:25.360 But modern culture and sadly much of the modern church culture has so softened this that sin has nearly vanished from the conversation. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:33.039 Where most Christians would acknowledge, yes, the Bible teaches we should be holy, we should pursue purity and integrity and all these things. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:41.039 But the actual like holy grit to work and put forth effort to actually be holy is kind of frowned upon sometimes. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:45.679 It's like, oh, let's not be legalistic and talk like that because we're covered by grace. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:46.720 Yes, amen. 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:47.600 We sure are. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:50.720 But that same grace should motivate effort. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:57.519 We've traded conviction for things like therapy and repentance for self-improvement. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:01.039 But scripture won't allow such categories. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:04.000 We're not just victims of a broken world. 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:08.320 We are participants in introducing the brokenness to the world. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:14.320 That goes for when we were unbelievers, and even now, as believers, who still struggle with sin. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:16.879 We are the problems. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:18.080 I believe it was J.K. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:28.480 Chesterton many, many, many years ago when someone, I think it was a publicist, wrote in a news article, like, What is wrong with the world? 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:29.279 And J.K. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:31.600 Chesterton responded, I am. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:34.960 He understood the doctrine of sin. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:38.639 We are not just victims of a broken world. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:44.080 We are active participants in introducing and promoting sin and brokenness. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:49.279 We have offended God and severed ourselves from his fellowship. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:53.919 That is every single person's testimony in this room before you came to faith in Christ. 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:56.799 This is why sometimes I'm not I want to be careful here. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:07.679 I'm not a big fan of, you know, when we share our testimonies, a lot of people spend all this time talking about here's all the wicked things I did, and then like three seconds on, and then Jesus saved my soul and I heard the gospel. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:10.080 Everyone has the same testimony in here. 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:20.879 You were born in sin, you murdered Jesus on the cross, you were separated from God, but God, rich in mercy and grace, saved your soul. 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:23.919 That is everyone's testimony in this room. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:29.600 Everything I'm describing right now, I don't care what the minute details of your particular testimony is, it's the same. 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:38.000 You were alienated from God, you were his enemy, but God was rich in mercy and saved your soul. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:47.200 We have to ask ourselves, have I settled for a view of myself that is too gentle in light of scripture? 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:55.440 Meaning, for instance, have I gravitated towards what the culture is teaching me, which is we're mostly most of us are victims, so to speak. 00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:02.000 Or do I see myself as no, no, no, I'm not primarily a victim, I'm a perpetrator in light of God's holiness. 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:06.559 I am a perpetrator of sin who needs forgiveness. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:12.639 We live in a culture which a lot of Christians are being influenced by, oh no, no one's really truly bad. 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:16.240 We're all victims, and we just need to improve a little bit. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:18.720 But that's not what Paul says. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:28.320 That is what you once were, but Paul doesn't end there because verse 22 turns everything on its head if you look down at verse 22. 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:47.600 You always gotta perk up a little bit when you see those words, but therefore, if but now he, meaning Jesus, has reconciled you by his physical body through his death to present you wholly, faultless, and blameless before him. 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:57.039 The contrast between verses 21 and 22 are one of the most staggering pivots in Paul's writing. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:08.639 Paul often uses this pattern of really soberly highlighting the truth and reality of the our depravity, our sin, our alienation from God, and then does a wonderful job of connecting it. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:13.919 But God did all these things to rectify all that sinful stuff. 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:17.759 And it raises the very question that one scholar asked. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:35.440 So, in light of what we see in verses uh 15 through 20, where Paul is just holding up the beauty of the transcendence of God, and some of you might not be familiar, but Colossians is believed to have been written maybe about 30 years or so after Jesus' resurrection and ascension into heaven. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:36.799 So that's important to know. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:39.360 So this is recent history, okay? 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:40.879 So think about this. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:47.120 One scholar puts it this way: how could claims of this magnitude, look, actually, let's go back. 00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:49.440 Let's read 15 to 20 real quick. 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:58.240 Paul says, and this is all speaking of Jesus, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:10.720 For everything was created by him in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:15.279 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:17.759 He is also the head of the body of the church. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:24.000 He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:37.440 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:38.319 Amen. 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:45.839 Now, keep in mind, Paul is making some pretty, some pretty significant claims about Jesus in those verses, isn't he? 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:54.319 I mean, he's he's saying Jesus, whom the audience would have heard of and known, because he existed about 30 years ago, or he was resurrected. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:56.559 These verses are saying he's God. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:02.559 God the Father expresses himself visibly through the Son, he is the ruler and has authority over all things. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:04.799 All things were created by him and for him. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:21.119 And one theologian puts it this way, and I love this, he says, How could claims of this magnitude be made about a man who died little more than 30 years ago and was remembered as a personal friend by men and women still living when this letter was written? 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:26.880 The answer Paul gives is not philosophical, it is historical and physical. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:27.839 Think about that. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:35.759 If Jesus didn't truly resurrect from the dead, people could have easily debunked this and saying, wait, no, Jesus wasn't this. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:37.599 Paul, are you serious? 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:40.079 Jesus was not supreme over all things. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:43.359 He wasn't the creator of all things, he wasn't God in human flesh. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:49.599 God the Father did not uh find pleasure in dwelling in him, letting his fullness dwell in Christ. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:51.599 They could have easily pushed back on this. 00:18:51.680 --> 00:19:00.240 And instead, this becomes inspired scripture for the edification of the church 30 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:04.799 Paul is saying, the Jesus you knew, this is who he is. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:06.319 Now there's some parallels. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:10.880 You don't have to turn here, but uh Colossians and Ephesians have some good parallels. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:16.799 So for example, in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 12 and 16 gives us similar language. 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:30.400 In Ephesians 2.12, Paul says, Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:34.160 As I said earlier, if you want to know your testimony, go read Ephesians chapter 2. 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:35.920 Go read Ephesians chapter 2. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:36.720 That was all of us. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:46.480 We were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers of the covenants of promise, and because of that we had no hope and were without God in the world. 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:56.400 In verse 16, Paul says, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:00.880 That same hostility that Paul mentions in our text this morning. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:06.880 Paul returns to this theme repeatedly because it's almost like the hinge of the entire gospel. 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:13.920 We who were separated and without hope have somehow been brought near to God, who was once our enemy. 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:17.359 And the way that happened was through the cross of Jesus Christ. 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:22.960 The cross did not soften the hostility, it completely vanquished it. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:31.119 That hostility that hung over every last one of us was dealt with through the physical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:42.400 And this is why it's very important that Paul makes it clear in verse 22 that we have been reconciled by his physical body through his death. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:44.720 Paul is careful here. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:47.440 This was a real death. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:53.519 The Colossian heresy, which we'll get into when we reach chapter two, minimized the physical. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:55.440 Paul insists, no, no, no, no. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:00.400 The incarnation, the crucifixion, and the resurrection are not metaphors. 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:07.359 They're not clever fables that us Christians are just passing along to encourage each other to follow a fake God. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.680 God came to earth in real flesh. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:17.599 He really died on the cross and rose on the third day. 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:20.079 Friends, these things are extremely significant. 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:26.160 This is why Hebrews 9 22 makes it clear that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:30.400 Or Hebrews 13, turn to Hebrews 13 real quick. 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:33.920 I want to help y'all just brag on Jesus real quick. 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:48.400 Hebrews 13 verses 11 through 12 give us an important picture of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament and how it connects to Jesus. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:52.240 And praise be to God, friends. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:59.839 Could you imagine every Sunday if we had to gather and as pastors we had to lead a proceeding in which we slaughtered an animal at the front of the sanctuary here? 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:11.759 And we all had a bloody mess every Sunday, just weakly reminding us of the fact that hey, we got to keep doing this because it doesn't fully atone for our sins until Jesus arrived. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:14.480 Look at verse 11 of Hebrews 13. 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:26.799 The author says, For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priests as a sin offering are burned outside the camp. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:33.839 Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify the people by his own blood. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:39.440 Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:42.480 For we do not have an enduring city here. 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:44.960 Instead, we seek the one to come. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:46.640 Let's just pause here. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:50.240 Let's understand what's going on in Israel's history here. 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:53.279 This was this is a this is a yearly thing for them, okay? 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:55.279 This was just life for an Israelite. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:00.720 On the day of atonement, the high priests carried the blood of the animal they sacrificed. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:04.559 They carried the blood into the most holy place of worship. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:11.279 But the body of that animal, according to Leviticus, had to be taken outside the camp and burned. 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:11.839 Why? 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:13.279 Because it was unclean. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:15.680 Therefore, it was treated as unclean. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:17.599 So it was removed from the most holy place. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:18.960 It was cast out. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:24.240 Hebrews 13, 11 through 12 makes the connection explicit with Jesus. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:29.759 Jesus suffered on our behalf outside the gate to make his people holy. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:33.920 Jesus was crucified outside of Jerusalem for the same reason. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:37.359 He was not executed there by accident, brothers and sisters. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:46.240 He was treated as unclean, cast outside the holy city, bearing the shame and the curse of sin in his own body. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:51.920 And here is the irony of the author, uh, that the author of Hebrews wants you to feel when he writes this. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:58.079 The one treated as unclean is the very one who makes sinners clean. 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:07.279 The one cast outside is the one who brings you into the presence of God, or another way to put it, as Paul says, he brings you near to God. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:13.519 Jesus became the rejected sin offering so that the enemies of God could be declared holy. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:22.079 Jesus is the one person in the gospels who touches the unclean leper and makes him clean rather than the leper making him unclean. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:31.119 Why do you think, friends, that the dominant heresies throughout the centuries have been attacking either Jesus' humanity or Jesus' divinity? 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:34.400 Because Satan knows that they matter very much. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:38.559 If Jesus is not fully God, he is not sufficient to atone for your sins. 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:46.000 If Jesus was not fully man, his death and resurrection was not sufficient to atone for your sins and to justify you. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:53.519 This is why these things in the Bible all are pointing to Jesus Christ and his death, burial, and resurrection. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:56.480 And let me tell you a little bit more about Jesus. 00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:02.559 Many of you are familiar that several people in the Bible died and were resurrected supernaturally, right? 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:06.400 I mean, to name a few, obviously the most famous probably would be Lazarus. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:09.759 There's the widow's son and Jarius' daughter. 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:15.440 People who really died and through a supernatural act of God were resurrected. 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:21.359 But friends, there's only one person who died and resurrected himself. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:28.559 There's only one person who laid his own life down voluntarily and said, Don't trip, because I'm gonna get back up. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:36.400 He said it himself in John 10, no one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:41.519 I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:45.359 If that's not one of the most gangster statements in the gospels, I don't know what is. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:48.960 Jesus is saying, no one takes my life. 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:56.799 I'm reading the Gospel of John with my kids right now, and it is crazy to hear Jesus on the cross say, It is finished. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:25:58.960 It is finished. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:01.279 Which means he has the authority to say that. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:05.519 He has the authority to say what God sent me to do has just been fulfilled. 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:09.920 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:15.039 I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:21.279 Jesus' bodily resurrection, death, and resurrection matter tremendously. 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:37.200 This is why Paul is reminding his audience, friends, Jesus reconciled you by his physical body through his death to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:43.759 The resurrection is the ground of everything Paul says next in verse 22. 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:48.640 These three staggering descriptions of the reconciled believer. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:53.839 If you are in Christ, you are, Paul says, holy, which means set apart. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:55.119 You are consecrated. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:57.440 You now belong to God. 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:06.079 You are blameless, which if you were a Jew, this would have been familiar language because the sacrificial animals had to be without defect. 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:07.359 They had to be blameless. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:11.039 And Jesus says, through his death and resurrection, that's what you are now. 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:12.880 You are without defect. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:14.400 You are blameless. 00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:17.279 You have been found acceptable before God. 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:20.480 Brothers and sisters, just think about that right now as you sit in that pew. 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:24.319 If you are in Christ, God finds you acceptable. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:26.480 He delights in you. 00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:31.200 Not because he looked at you and said, Oh man, like they're gonna do so much good for me. 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:32.000 That makes me happy. 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:33.200 No, no, no, no, no, no. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:37.279 Simply because he decided to sovereignly show you grace. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:45.279 But third, Paul says, if you're in Christ, you are above reproach, which means you are free of accusation. 00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:48.720 No charge could stand against you in the courtroom of heaven. 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:51.279 This is what Paul echoes in Romans 8:33. 00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:54.480 Nothing can stand against God's elect. 00:27:54.559 --> 00:27:59.920 No charge can be made against any of God's children where God would sit there and say, you know what, I need to consider that. 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:05.440 No, he laughs at it because Jesus said, It is finished. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:09.759 So we got to ask ourselves, friends, if if these things are true of us, because this is what Paul is doing. 00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:12.240 He's being a good pastor/slash apostle. 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:20.160 He's wanting the church and Colossi to understand, friends, you once were alienated from God, past tense. 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:21.680 That's who you were. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:30.799 But if you're in Christ, you have now, verse 22, but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death. 00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:36.880 And he did it to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him. 00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:44.400 So ask yourself, Christian, in your Christian life, do you live the reality of what Christ has declared you to be? 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:48.319 Do you live out of this reality that I am blameless? 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:51.599 I am above reproach, I am set apart. 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:56.960 Is that the active identity that you're functioning from on a weekly basis? 00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:01.039 Now, don't get me wrong, we're all flawed individuals who are striving forward to be faithful. 00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:12.000 We struggle with remaining corruption, but are you fighting to remind yourself of what God says you are, or are you letting outside sources more tell you what you are? 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:26.799 And if you do struggle, here's something I found helpful many years ago to try to just reorient myself and remind myself of the gospel, my union with Christ, whether I fall into sin or well, I hate using the word fall into sin. 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:34.000 When I choose to sin against God, or when I'm struggling to believe in my identity of Christ in Christ, I try to remind myself of three things. 00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:36.160 Number one, admit your sin. 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:39.279 Number two, accept God's forgiveness. 00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:41.440 And number three, act like a Christian. 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:44.799 Think of the triple A's, like the car company. 00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:46.559 Admit your sin. 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:49.200 Accept God's forgiveness. 00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:51.440 That might be the one we struggle with the most. 00:29:51.680 --> 00:30:00.640 So, friends, remember when we confess our sin, when we admit our sin to God, we don't have to like do penance where it's like, well, I gotta like accumulate some good deeds to earn God's favor. 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:03.519 And then when I admit my sin, there'll be a transaction which he'll forgive me. 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:04.559 No, no, no, no. 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:10.400 That's why I love how Paul says, consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ Jesus. 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:12.880 He's appealing to our intellect, our mind, our logic. 00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:16.000 It's like, no, it's not, it's not primarily about how you feel. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:16.880 It's logic. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:19.359 If you are in Christ, consider yourself dead to sin. 00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:26.160 So admit your sin, accept God's forgiveness, and act like a Christian. 00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:36.240 Do the things that show that this is your identity, that you are set apart, that you are blameless and above reproach. 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:43.839 But Paul does not leave us in the glories of verse 22 without a word about what it means to actively walk in them as well. 00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:48.559 Because in verse 23, Paul calls us to persevere in the faith. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:52.799 If these things are true of you, here is how you should live. 00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:57.920 So he makes it clear: hey, you've been reconciled through his physical body, through his death. 00:30:58.079 --> 00:31:03.119 And here's the reason Jesus did this: to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before you. 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:12.319 Before I move to verse 23, 23, just notice how Paul is highlighting in verse 22 like God, uh Jesus' active participation in your sanctification. 00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:14.160 Don't please don't miss that. 00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:16.160 Don't read past that quickly. 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:21.759 Jesus understood the hostility that stood between you and his father. 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:32.240 He died on your behalf so that you can be presented holy, faultless, and blameless before him. 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:35.839 So just think about how fail-proof your sanctification is, friends. 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:45.119 Jesus is saying the only way you can be presented before the Father as a blameless individual is through a reconciling work that only I can do. 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:46.720 So I'm gonna do it for you. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:32:09.680 He did what he did in order to accomplish an end, which is almost like, you know, uh a kid when they draw a picture and it's the greatest piece of art they've ever created in their minds, and they just come to mom and dad with so much great joy to show you, and you have to do your best to act like that's the greatest piece of art you've ever seen, as well. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:13.599 And you bet not throw it in the trash and get caught doing that. 00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:17.119 It better go on the fridge with all 23 of the other pictures. 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:31.599 It's almost like that's what Jesus does, in a sense, where Jesus is like, okay, I can't present you right now because you're alienated, but I'm gonna fix everything that needs to be fixed so that I can present you to God. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:43.039 So imagine this isn't the greatest illustration, but imagine a defendant showing up in a courtroom before a judge in an orange uh jumpsuit and shackles. 00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:47.039 They're gonna have a particular heart posture because they don't want to be there. 00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:50.640 They understand I'm I'm here to stand in judgment. 00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:56.640 But imagine the judge's son or wife comes into the courtroom to bring the judge lunch. 00:32:56.880 --> 00:32:58.720 It's a whole different perspective, right? 00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:00.640 It's like I'm not here in judgment. 00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:03.519 I'm here to because I have a good relationship with the judge. 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:15.440 Jesus is saying, I'm trying to present them to the judge who now becomes their father, because now he sees them as blameless and pure and holy and above reproach. 00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:22.319 And if that is true of you, then verse 23 is how we should move forward in our walk with the Lord. 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:24.640 He says, if indeed, so here's the promise. 00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:27.759 So remember, you see those therefore, you see, but now you see an if. 00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:29.119 So this is important. 00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:30.319 This is a condition. 00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:34.400 So everything he has just previously said hinges on verse 23. 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:43.599 If indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. 00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:50.720 This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it. 00:33:51.759 --> 00:34:00.559 Now, some people get hung up on verses like this because they think, wait a minute, is this teaching that a Christian can lose their salvation? 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:09.840 Because Paul is saying, like, hey, all this glorious stuff I just said that, okay, Jesus, he died for you so that he could present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him. 00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:18.400 However, that's if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope. 00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:20.639 Is he saying you can lose your salvation? 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:29.840 No, friends, he's talking about the doctrine of perseverance, which to give a short definition, the doctrine of perseverance teaches that God keeps those whom he saves. 00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:32.639 God keeps those whom he saves. 00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:40.320 That is to say that God, who God has truly saved, will be kept by his power to the end. 00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:42.159 Praise be to God. 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:47.599 If any of us was kept by our own power and strength, there would be no hope for any of us. 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:52.639 We are going to commit enough sins in the next four hours that could condemn us to hell. 00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:55.280 We are kept by God's power. 00:34:55.519 --> 00:34:58.159 That's why I love the beauty of the doctrine of justification. 00:34:58.239 --> 00:35:11.679 When Jesus died on our behalf and we were declared justified, God did not say, okay, no, uh Jesus put a down payment on your salvation, but you got 30 years to save up the rest through your good deeds. 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:15.440 You know, God doesn't have a warranty on our salvation. 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:18.960 He doesn't have a Costco return policy on our salvation. 00:35:19.199 --> 00:35:22.000 If you are justified, it is finished. 00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:23.679 It is a done deal. 00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:26.639 Nothing can separate you from God's love. 00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:31.920 Okay, so then how do we understand verses uh verses like verse 23? 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:46.079 Because there's a lot of language in the Bible that talks like this where it has caused a lot of damage, where some Bible teachers or just Bible students reading their word think, wait a minute, so is there some kind of sin I can commit that would forfeit my salvation? 00:35:46.559 --> 00:35:56.559 Well, verse 23, for example, has been misread by some as a warning that a true Christian can lose their salvation, but I would suggest that that is a misreading of the text. 00:35:56.880 --> 00:36:08.159