Colossians 2:6-7 ESV
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
When we receive Christ Jesus the Lord (Owner-Master) by
God-given faith in him, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we
are resurrected with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be
like God in true righteousness and holiness. Our old self, which belongs to our
former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, is crucified
with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that
we will no longer be enslaved to sin but to God and to his righteousness.
But this involves our cooperation. This is not automatic.
Not everyone is crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to
walk in newness of life in him, although Jesus put all sins to death with him
on that cross. We ourselves must put off our old self, which belongs to our
former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and we have to
choose to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. And we have to put on the new
self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Yes, we are only saved by God’s grace through faith, and
this is not of ourselves, neither the grace nor the faith to believe in Jesus.
For we can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first
draws us to Christ, i.e. unless he first persuades us as to his holiness and
righteousness and of our sinfulness and of our need to repent of our sins and
to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). And Jesus is the
author and perfecter of our faith, not us. And he gifts faith to us.
Yet, since that faith comes from God and is persuaded by God
and is gifted to us by God, it is going to agree with God and with his divine
character and will for our lives, and so by faith in Jesus Christ we will
submit to him as Lord, and surrender our lives to him, and die with him to sin,
and live to him and to his righteousness, by his grace, in his strength and
power, and to the glory and praise of God. Sin will no longer have mastery over
our lives but Jesus will be our only Lord and Master.
Therefore, we will no longer walk (in conduct, in practice)
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Sin will no longer be our
practice but righteousness and godliness and obedience to our Lord will be our
practice. For Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and
to his righteousness. And he gave his life up for us that we would now live for
him and not for ourselves. And he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God
(to redeem us) that we might now honor him with our bodies.
[Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1;
1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
Colossians 2:11-12 ESV
“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
When (usually) males are circumcised, it involves a cutting
away of physical flesh and it is done via human hands, usually the hands of a
doctor, I believe, at least here in America. But this is speaking of a
spiritual cutting away of our sinful flesh, and it involves the putting off of
the body of flesh, i.e. our sin nature (our instinct to sin), and this is
accomplished by the circumcision of Christ via him putting our sins to death
with him on that cross so that we can die with him to sin and live to his
righteousness.
When we die with Christ to sin we are buried with him by
baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life in him. Once we
have died and we have been buried with him, not physically but spiritually,
then we can be raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God,
who raised him from the dead. And being raised means we are now given new lives
in him to be lived for his glory.
Colossians 2:13-15 ESV
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
Not one of us can be saved from our own sins by our own
human effort. Only by God’s grace, through genuine faith in Jesus Christ, can
any of us be delivered from our slavery to sin and be given new lives in Christ
to be lived for his glory. Our good deeds will never outweigh our bad deeds, so
in ourselves we can never be approved of God and share in his holiness. But
Jesus didn’t die just to forgive us our sins and so we could go to heaven when
we die. He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his
righteousness.
And it wasn’t just to forgive us our sins that Jesus died,
but it was to deliver us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin so that we would
now be his servants and so he would be our Master, and so we would now walk no
longer according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. So, we are to no
longer walk in sin but we are to walk in holiness and righteousness and to daily
by the Spirit be putting the deeds of the flesh to death. And now righteousness
and obedience to our Lord should be what we practice.
[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; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col
3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; 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 21:8,27;
Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10]
Servant
of the Lord
An
Original Work / July 26, 2012
Based
off Romans 1:1-17
Servant of the Lord;
For the gospel you’re set apart.
Promised through the prophets of old:
Jesus, Son of God.
Through Him, and for His name alone,
We receive His grace
To call people, Him to obey;
Coming from their faith.
Servant of the Lord,
For the gospel you’re set apart.
Promised through the prophets of old:
Jesus, Son of God.
You belong to Christ;
Loved by God, and called to be saints;
Serving God with whole heart and mind;
Preaching Jesus Christ;
Always praying for others’ needs;
Helping hand to lend;
Giving courage to others’ faith,
For the praise of God.
You belong to Christ;
Loved by God, and called to be saints;
Serving God with whole heart and mind;
Preaching Jesus Christ.
Servant of the Lord;
Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;
For salvation, power of God
To those who have faith.
In the gospel find righteousness:
Being right with God.
Turn from sin, and trust Jesus Christ.
By faith, live in Him.
Servant of the Lord;
Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;
For salvation, power of God
To those who have faith.
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