Colossians 3:1-4 ESV
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
If you have been raised with Christ that means you first of
all died with him to sin, so you are dead to sin but alive to God in Christ
Jesus, by the grace of God, through God-given faith in him. Your old self was
crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to
nothing, so that you would no longer be enslaved to sin but to God and to his
righteousness. And so sin is no longer your master but the Lord is your Owner-Master.
So, those of us who have died with Christ to sin and who
have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like
God in true righteousness and holiness, are to seek after the things that are
from heaven that have eternal value, not after the things of this sinful world
which are here today and gone tomorrow. Our focus should be on things of
eternal value not on the things of this earth which are passing away.
So this means that the focus of the things that we do in
this life should be on things of eternal value. Yes, many people still have to
work and make money and pay bills in order to live, and they have families to
care for and mouths to feed and houses to take care of, etc. But we can do
those things and still have the focus of our lives on the Lord and on his word
and on things of eternal value and not on things of this earth.
The thing of it is, who or what is guiding our lives and our
decisions? Who or what is directing our steps? Who or what is deciding how we
spend our time when we are not at work or taking care of children or cleaning
our houses or doing laundry, etc.? or even while we are doing those things? What
are our minds and hearts focused on? What are we taking into our minds, eyes,
and ears? And what are we giving out to others from the things we are taking
in?
If we died with Christ to sin and if we are living to him
and to his righteousness, our lives are to be hidden with Christ in God. Our focus
should be on him and on his word and on living holy lives, pleasing to God. Our
desire should be to do his will in all areas of our lives. He should never be
an afterthought or someone we neglect, but all we do should flow from our
relationship with him in obedience to his will for our lives.
Colossians 3:5-10 ESV
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
Now, many people who are professing faith in Jesus Christ
today are not putting to death what is earthly in them, but rather they are
putting to death the grace of God and his gospel message which they will not
accept. For, they have bought into a lie which is telling them that they can “believe”
(undefined) in Jesus, have their sins forgiven, and be guaranteed eternal life
with God regardless of how they live their lives from then on.
And so they are being given carte blanche to continue in
deliberate and habitual sin without guilt and without fear of punishment but
with the promise and guarantee of heaven as their eternal destiny. But the
grace of God instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to
live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s soon
return. It does in no way give us free reign to keep on sinning (Titus
2:11-14).
Yet, many of those professing faith in Jesus Christ are
saying “No!” to God and to his word and they are listening to the teachings of
men who are telling them that their sins no longer matter to God. And so they
are putting the grace of God to death by them continuing in sexual immorality,
impurity, evil desire, malice, slander, lying and cheating, etc. And they are
hiding their sins in secret hoping no one will know, and so they are faking
Christianity.
But if we have truly died with Christ to sin and we have
been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, sin is to no longer
have mastery over our lives. We are to no longer let sin reign in our mortal
bodies, to make us obey its passions. But we are to present ourselves to God as
instruments of his righteousness because we have been brought from death to
life by his grace through genuine faith in him (Romans 6:1-23).
For, on account of these things the wrath of God is coming.
And we will not escape his wrath if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin
and we do not forsake our sinful practices to follow our Lord in obedience to
his commands, regardless of what we profess with our lips. For not everyone who
says to Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the kingdom of heaven but only the
one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn
15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1
Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Gal
5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal
6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb
10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev
18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
I
Will Lift My Eyes
An
Original Work / December 12, 2012
Based
off Psalms 121-125
I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.
My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.
He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not
sleep.
Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.
I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.
My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.
I give thanks to Him.
I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n.
Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with
Christ.
Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.
I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.
I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n;
My home, now in heav’n.
Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.
Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.
Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we
need.
Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend,
indeed!
Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.
Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.
I can count on Him.
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