Grace That Transforms Vs. Rules that Restrict

Series: Colossians: Greater Than...

 “Grace vs Legalism” // Message @ JRCC – Sunday, Nov 18, 2018

Text: Colossians 3:1-17 // Series: “Greater Than”

 

My name is Brad. I’m part of the teaching and leadership team here at Jericho Ridge.  I want to welcome you to come on back in and take you seats and we’ll continue with our teaching time together. 

 

How many of you were born in Canada? How many born in another country?  Both my wife & I were born in Alberta (it’s like another country over the Rockies). One of the gifts that you have as a person who was born elsewhere is that you can see things that are not apparent to those who only grew up in Canada.  This is the reality of having lived in more than one culture as well. Photo: Passports.  You see elements of culture that some of us who only have one passport can be blind to. This is a gift    

 

In the first century, one of the biggest fights of the early Christian movement had to do with cultural realities.  You see, as the message of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus spread, there were two primary groups of people who embraced this new way of living.  People with a Jewish background and then people who were not Jewish. Jews called them Gentiles.  Photo: Jews and non-Jews

 

These two groups came with VERY different histories into the newly forming Christian communities.  Jewish people came with a centuries of relating to God by way of the law.  To them, holiness or a right relationship with God came through following the rules. Keeping away from certain kinds of foods, practicing worship in an ancient way, dressing in a certain way, praying a certain way…  They were familiar with this kind of religious structure and life.  Now think of the tension you experience as a person who is Jewish (both culturally and ethnically) and you come into a Christian community and other people, these non-Jews, start relating to God without doing any of the things you are familiar with!  They eat whatever they want – they bring pork to potlucks! They don’t observe Sabbath the way you do.  They don’t pray the way you do.  So naturally, your first impulse is to want to make these new Christians take a remedial class on the Torah (law).  But they keep asking pesky questions like “why do I have to become Jewish in order to be a Christian? Isn’t some of that stuff cultural baggage you are carrying into this new life together?” 

 

Now, the Gentiles don’t get off free here either.  Many of them were bringing into new Christian communities their own baggage.  They wanted to continue to worship the sun, moon and stars.  They wanted to continue to practice some of their old ways of living. Old habits die hard.  This argument spills over into the pages of the Bible.

A lot the New Testament is written to try to help people navigate what it means to leave behind one way of life, one cultural or personal way of seeing the world, and to begin to learn what the customs and rhythms and life and the operation principles of life together in Christ actually looks like.  This is the genius of the book we are studying this fall, the book of Colossians.  The Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Spirit of God has been laying out a vision for life together in God’s new family.  There is a new set of governing principles, new set of expectations, new ethos that should govern those who are participants in what Christ has done.  He argues that the new operation system of life in Christ is GREATER THAN either the Jewish of the Gentile ways of looking at life.

Colossians is helping both the original readers and us understanding “Which is greater: laws that give us some structure, rules that reinforce them or is there another way to live?” 

 

Let’s start reading in Colossians 3:1-4 (I’m reading from NLT)

 

One of the first things to acknowledge  is that We All Take Our “Cues” from Somewhere...  Something is always informing the way we look at the world, the way we think and act.  Often times this is unconscious, but when we start to explore this, we come up against the first question of 4 we are going to wrestle with today:

1) What is your Ultimate Orienting Reality?

We all have one.  For those with a Jewish background, it was the law.  The rules were going to keep me safe. They formed a framework by which I could make sense of the world.  Their ultimate orienting reality was the past.  You’ve seen musical Fiddler on the Roof.  Tradition.  For Gentiles, it was often a sense of personal individual liberty.  I can do what I want to do, so long as I’m not hurting anyone else, who cares?!  But the text argues that for those who have become Christians have gotten a new passport.  They have a new set of principles that is governing their interactions:  They are no longer citizens of their home and native lands. They are citizens of heaven.  Because of the saving work of Jesus, they are already fixing their eyes on the realities of heaven.  They are already working to live out the values and vision of heaven in their lives day by day by day. 

 

You see, we all have an ultimate orienting realty…

  • For some, it is their past (hurts or hang-ups) – they define you
  • For some, it is the present (eat, drink, be merry!) - hedonism
  • For Christians, it is always the FUTURE

I am to set my mind, my affections, my heart on things above, not on things of this world.  I am to let the values and vision of my citizenship in heaven inform my thinking and actions here in the present day. 

Commentator So Williams says it this way “the new life, to be fully revealed on the last day (when Christ is revealed in glory to the whole world) is to let itself be seen in advance, in the present time, in Christian behaviour.”  What I am going to be one day needs to inform who I am & what I do today.  This is the mysterious interplay between the already & the Not yet.

 

How much of heaven is informing your financial decisions? How much of the values of heaven impacts your parenting decisions?  How much of the ethics of the Kingdom of God impacts the way you use your cell phone? This is very practical stuff. 

 

BUT one of the challenges that can occur is that you might hear what I am not saying.  This is NOT about simply letting our minds dwell on the future at the expense of the present.  This is NOT about being “so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good!”

  • This echoes the Lord’s Prayer where we plead for God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven
  • “Make up there come down here” - John Ortberg     

 

Are you and I letting the values of heaven inform our decisions NOW?  This is what it means to think about the things of heaven. To set your sights on heaven.  It means to capture the values of heaven and apply them to everyday life. Right here. Right now. Wherever God has put you. 

     

Let’s keep reading to see how this must work itself out… 

Colossians 3:5-9 [TWO SLIDES]

If the values and vision of the culture is heaven is invading my life in the here and now, there are some things that I am going to work on getting rid of.  The “Vice Lists” of the New Testament… Vice meaning something bad or evil.  In a few places in the Bible, there are lists of rules.  Don’t do this, don’t do that. 

 

2) What Negative Behaviours Should we Expect Christians Will Avoid?

  • First list focuses on sexual sins; second on anger

Sexual immorality – referring to intercourse outside of marriage; lust – uncontrolled sexual urges; greed – unchecked hunger for physical pleasures and wealth (which is named here as idolatry – literally worshiping and setting something at the centre of your life that is not God).  Then the list goes on in verse 8 – anger (continuous smoldering hatred), rage (when this breaks out in deeds (like physical or verbal abuse); This is quite the list!  The text says “because of these sins the anger of God is coming”  What does this mean? 

It’s not that God has arbitrarily decided that God doesn’t like few things and God is really pissed off at those who do them.  No.  The presence of these things in our lives dehumanizes us.  When we let these things take root in our minds and in our actions, these things lead us further and further away from the character and vision of heaven.  These things will warp and harm us, our relationships with creation and with others, and with God.  They will make us more “crooked” and so God in loving holiness, has a desire to transform us away from those things into the image of Christ.  Which brings up the question…

 

  • How fast / far reaching should transformation be?

And what sometimes happens is that avoiding negative behaviours becomes the sole focus of what defines Christianity.  Christians are people who don’t do the following things (fill in the blanks).  And there is some truth to this.  Paul says to the Colossians “you used to do these things when you were part of this world” (had your old passport).  BUT now, you have been transformed by Christ’s saving work and are being transformed. 

 

Here’s a gift that our Catholic friends give to us as Protestants. Since the Reformation, Martin Luther and company separated out justification (a moment in time where Christ paid for my sins) and sanctification (the process whereby I am being transformed into the image of Christ).  But our Catholic friends have kept these things together.  So the answer to how far reaching the transformation is: it has touched every part of my life.  How fast is that process: It continues to touch every part of my life!  Please be patient.  God isn’t’ finished with me yet! 

 

Let me illustrate this: Have you gone into a performance review with your supervisor and they say “Brad, I see a lot of potential in you”.  While this can be encouraging, sometimes we can hear this as “you are currently deficient. I hope you can live up in the future to something better!”  But when God looks at you and I, the mysterious and wondrous thing is that  

  • God exists outside of time so, God sees our past unregenerate selves, our present struggle and also future transformed & glorified status in eternity!

God actually does see you as holy and righteous and blameless in Christ.  AND God also sees that you are still in the process of living up to that reality which is yet in the future.  There is so much more we could say but

Implication & Application

We are called to actively cooperate with God’s transforming work in our lives 

  • Put to death sinful earthly things lurking in you…
  • Have nothing to do with sexual immorality…
  • Now is the time to get rid of anger…
  • Don’t be greedy…
  • Don’t lie to each other…

 

We have a part to play in this.  Transformation is not a passive process by which I sit back and expect a holy God to zap me into a holy person.  You and I need to take action to get rid of some things in our lives!   

 

The image here comes from ancient warfare.  If you wanted to take out a city, all you needed to do was surround it and cut Photo: Cut off the “Supply Lines” to known sins….  If you are prone to drinking alcohol or smoking cannabis until you have entered a state of losing control, you need to steer clear the next time someone asks you to join them at a party.  If you are prone to maxing out your credit cards at Christmas time, you need to make a more realistic gift list and not tie your ego to the size of presents under the tree.  If you are prone to pornography, put a filter or accountability software on your devices…  Cut off the supply lines of sin!

 

But we are not only to cut off or take off old ways of thinking and acting we are also to put or on embrace new things.  Let’s keep reading. 

Colossians 3:10-13 [TWO SLIDES]

 

The “Virtue Lists” in the New Testament…

3) What Things Should Characterize Those Who Participate in New Life in Christ?

There are a couple of important things to highlight here…

  • We are to “clothe ourselves” with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and forgiveness

Now, you might be thinking “Brad, this sounds IMPOSSIBLE!  First all the negative stuff to get rid of and NOW you are saying that I need to DO whole bunch of positive stuff?!!  This is sounding like just a new set of legalism!  It sounded easier being Jewish! Is this a new kind of legalism? 

 

I think it is important to acknowledge that in order to clothe ourselves in these things, we cannot simply muster up human efforts and power through.  I know myself.  I will never be strong enough to cut off the supply lines of sin AND ALSO be a merciful, kind, humble, gentle, patient, forgiving person!  That’s just not going to happen – I have teenagers at home! But we are not left on our own to do this.   

  • These are only possible in an ongoing way by the indwelling empowerment of the Holy Spirit

In another passage these are called the “fruit of the Spirit”.  In other words, the result of the Spirit of God alive in my heart will be that these things are increasingly taking root and growing in my life.  The values and vision of life in the Kingdom of God will increasingly ooze out of me as I take the posture of a learning and responsive obedient apprentice.  

 

But here’s the thing about apprentices.  They are not yet master craftsmen.  Meaning that you and I are not yet perfected! So these characteristics are still in process of developing and forming in my life and your life!     

  • These are not only characteristics but also practices (meaning I’m going to get them wrong)

When you practice something, it means you won’t always get it right! 

That’s why the text makes an IMMEDIATE

Implication and Application: to forgiveness

There are two compelling reasons to forgive grievances against you  

  • “First, it is utterly inappropriate for one who knows the joy and release of being forgiven to refuse to share that joy with another.
  • Second, it is highly presumptuous to refuse to forgive one whom Christ himself has already forgiven.” – N.T. Wright

You and I are going to screw up.  We are going to mess up.  But when we do, we are to offer each other a taste of the forgiveness we have experienced in Christ.  When we move into a time of worship, I’m going to ask you to think about if you have anything or anyone you need to forgive.  Maybe you have a long list and you need to get started now. 

 

But before you rush to self-flagellation and beating yourself up for all the areas you have failed in, look at 3:12 – God chose and calls you God’s HOLY people and God loves you.  While you and I were still dead in our sins, God in Christ made us alive. Called us His own. Poured out the LOVE of God into our hearts… Which is where the text goes next!

 

Colossians 3:14-17 [TWO SLIDES]

 

On Life in Community…

4) The Centre of Christian Living is Grateful Worship

I’m stuck how in North America, we seem to think that the Christina life is a private and personal thing.  Me and Jesus.  Vertical only.  But this text is addressed to a community working out life together in the mess of human relationships.  Sometimes people will come and ask me “Brad, how can I grow as a Christian?”     

  • How do you let the message of Christ fill your life?
  • Open yourself up to teaching and wise counsel
  • Let worship in song produce & reinforce gratitude

Both of these are communal activities.  Letting others help and support and assist you in the journey.  The Christian life is not a solitary journey.  It is only done well when it is done in community.  That’s why being part of a place like Jericho is so vital to your growth and development.  It’s not about Church attendance.  It is about adding another strand month in and month out to the fabric of life together.  Because I want us to be known as a community that is filled to overflowing with the character of Christ, who is the head of the “capital C” Church.  I want to be increasingly filled with…    

 

Love, Peace & Gratitude reinforce each other [DIAGRAM]

I love how these verses says “love binds us together”, where love exists, peace (not merely an internal sense of calm but peace in human relationships within community) is occurring.  And the nature response when I think about God’s goodness to me and to us is thanksgiving. 

Implication & Application

As we respond to God in sung worship, choose one of those three virtues as your point of entry…

  • Mediate on God’s LOVE for you or for the Church
  • Practice PEACE and forgive any known grievances
  • Let THANKSGIVING overflow into grateful action

 

 

The worship team is going to come and lead us in responding to God.  Our practice here at Jericho is to also have people available to pray with and for you.  Is there an area of life you are grateful to God for? Is there something you need to spend time reflecting on and asking God or another person for forgiveness?  Take time.  Also, a note that we are embodied beings. So you may want to express this in your body somehow.  Kneeling posture. Raising hands. Dancing.  We are going to sing three songs and we invite you to respond as God gives you a taste of God’s LOVE, PEACE and Gratitude.  

 

Let me pray.

All of us bring some baggage with us into life of faith. But what if that baggage prevents us from moving forward into a deeper experience of God and of Christian community?

Speaker: Brad Sumner

November 18, 2018
Colossians 3:1-17

Brad Sumner

Lead Pastor

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