©2003 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship

06/29/03

Carving Up The Body Of Christ

Col. 3:9-14

6/29/03 Carving Up The Body Of Christ

We are involved in a study of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

It is a letter in which Paul gives us

the most remarkable perspective on the church found anywhere in Scripture.

This amazing letter begins with a truly thrilling description

of God’s involvement in the individual life of the Christian,

an involvement that stretches back long before our birth,

an involvement in which Paul tells us that God “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world”,

and involvement in which He then established a plan of salvation for us

that would result not just in our forgiveness,

not just in our being restored to a Creator-creature union with God,

but in our entering into an eternal Father/child relationship with God Himself.

That, by the way, illustrates one of the many characteristics of our God.

He doesn’t just restore what He touches,

He recreates it into something far better than what existed in the first place.

What we share with God through Christ

is infinitely better than anything Adam ever experienced with God prior to his sin.

Adam knew God only as His Creator.

He knew a great deal about God through the creation that surrounded him,

but he had no insight into the Father heart of God,

or into the depth of His love for His creation.

But the redemptive plan established by God for us through Christ

does not just return us to the place of Adam,

it doesn’t just remove our sin debt from us,

it actually recreates our union with God

in a way that gives us clear insight into the very heart of our Creator

because we are allowed to see our God’s response to us in the face of our failure.

Have you ever gone with a friend or a family member through a time of crisis in their life,

or had someone walk with you when you were going through such a time?

Our daughter, Joni’s, first year in college was an extremely difficult year for her.

It was a year filled with a tremendous amount of pain and emotional turmoil for all three of us.

Our phone bill that year

looked more like a monthly house payment.

But the depth of friendship that resulted between us and Joni as a result of what we shared together

is unlike anything we’d ever known before.

The same thing results between us and our God,

only on a far deeper level,

as we allow Him to enter into the chaos of our lives

and let Him walk with us through to our discovery of His grace,

and His forgiveness,

and His healing,

and His endless kindness poured out on those who come to Him.

He doesn’t just restore,

He takes the broken pieces of our lives

and recreates them into something so beautiful,

so good,

something that could never have existed had the brokeness not taken place.

We saw Paul talking about that recreative process in our lives

in that first chapter of Ephesians

as he told us how God designed for us, His rebellious creation,

a plan of salvation that would not just provide us with His forgiveness,

but a salvation that would allow us to enter into a Father-child union with God forever.

The letter then goes on to record our more recent history with God,

reminding us that we entered this world “...dead in our trespasses and sins, in which we formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.”

But then, in response to our faith in Christ,

Paul goes on to tell us that God “... raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...”.

From there Paul went on to talk with us

about how God has accomplished exactly the same redemptive work

in the life of every believer,

no matter what past we came from prior to our union with Christ.

In the specific context of his letter

he talked about the two most divergent groups within the 1^st Century church,

those who were Jews, and those who were not.

And to both groups he made it clear

that our standing with God

and our value to Him

and our importance in His family

have nothing whatsoever to do with our past heritage.

It has everything to do with God’s recreative work within us through Christ.

In the course of that discussion

Paul used an interesting phrase to make his point.

He said that Christ ... abolished in His flesh the enmity ... so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace...

He made the two into one new man...

His point is that there is only one new creation of God.

There isn’t such a thing as a Jewish Christian

and a Gentile Christian.

There is just a Christian.

There is only one new creation being offered by God to the human race,

and every person who turns to Christ

is recreated by God at the spirit level

in exactly the same way,

with exactly the same result.

Interesting, isn’t it, how fond we are of setting up our own little divisions within the Body of Christ.

Of course we no longer draw lines between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians.

But we find other barriers of our own creation that serve the same purpose of elevating one group above another.

Way back in my college days in the mid sixties

we mentally divided the Body of Christ into two very distinct groups.

There were “those who had the HOLY SPIRIT”

and “those who did not”.

We didn’t use circumcision as our litmus test,

but we had other equally clear, verifiable tests

that told us who was “in” and who was “out”.

But when Paul described the work of Christ within us

he said simply that God made, “the two into one new man, thus establishing peace...”.

There is only one new man -

only one kind of Christian being offered by God,

the kind that stands loved,

and accepted,

and forgiven,

and adopted by God on the basis of faith alone in Jesus Christ and His death for our sins.

That’s about as far as we’ve gone in our study of Ephesians so far,

and as we returned to this study last week

I mentioned that in some ways it is difficult for us today

to understand this tension that existed within the early church between Jewish and Gentile converts.

And to help us better relate to the point Paul is making here

I started to take us to a passage in Colossians

in which Paul presents us with a beautiful picture of the way the church is designed by God to operate.

But we never made it to that passage

because I then got going on the specific context of that passage

in which Paul presents to us the protective moral framework in which we are called to live.

But this morning we’re going to take a look at those verses I was heading for last week

because they carry with them

the most remarkable message about this thing that we call the church.

And before we look at this passage

I need to warn you

that the greatest danger we may face

with the words I’m about to read

is the danger of viewing them as unattainable platitudes.

What I am about to read

is in no way an unattainable platitude.

It is the basic standard God has established

for life within His family.

We’ll start by looking at that standard,

and then we’ll take it

and try to apply it to the culture in which we live.

OK, the passage is found in Colossians 3:9-14.

In that passage, describing for us the basis upon which we are called to relate to one another within the family of God,

Paul writes,

COL 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

COL 3:10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him

COL 3:11 --a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

COL 3:12 ¶ And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

COL 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

COL 3:14 And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

Paul begins by saying, “Do not lie to one another...”

Now, at first glance that may seem like a blatantly obvious instruction for him to give.

But in this particular context

Paul is not simply telling us

that we really shouldn’t go around the Body of Christ telling each other untruths.

This first phrase in this crucial section of Paul’s letter

is directly linked to words that follow it.

We know this because of that word “since”.

You see, Paul is talking here

not about the lies we speak with our mouths

but rather about the lies we speak with our lives.

Look carefully at the next part of this sentence.

Paul says that we should not lie to one another “...since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him...

It will help us here to know

that the word “self” in this sentence

is actually the same word as we found in Ephesians 2:15

when Paul told us that God made the two groups, Jew and Gentile,

“into one new man”.

This sentence here in Colossians literally says ... since you laid aside the old MAN with its evil practices, and have put on the new MAN...

Paul is picking up exactly the same truth in this passage

that he was talking to the Ephesians about.

He’s talking about that recreation of the human spirit

at the deepest level of our being.

Don’t you find that’s a fascinating description

of what takes place when we come to Christ?

We lay aside the old man and put on the new man.

And the crucial thing for us to notice here

is the verb tenses used by Paul to describe this change that has taken place in our lives.

He does not say we are in the process of laying aside the old man.

He does not say we are in the process of putting on the new man.

He says we’ve already done it.

It is an action, and event,

a transition,

a transformation that has already taken place in our lives.

Now, how can he say that?

He can say it because it’s true.

A person can become a convert to the Christian religion

the same way a person can become a convert to any other religious system -

by intellectually accepting the basic doctrinal beliefs of that religion

and then following whatever religious rituals and duties the religion requires.

But that is not what Paul is talking about here,

and it is certainly not what brings about our laying aside the old man and our putting on the new man.

Paul is not talking about a person accepting the Christian belief system,

he is talking about what takes place within us

when we bow in spirit before God,

acknowledging our need for Him,

for His forgiveness,

for the salvation that only He can give us,

and find Him responding to that submission

by His recreating us at the spirit level.

Does that mean that from that time on

we then live lives of flawless submission and obedience to Christ?

No, we do not because that new, recreated spirit

must continue to live out its life

within a physical body that has been severely mistrained by that old rebellious spirit

that once formed the center of our lives.

It’s a little bit like what that Seattle family faced

when they returned after allowing my friend and me to house sit for them for the summer.

One summer when I was in college

I learned of a family that was looking for someone to house sit for the summer.

Looking back on it

I can only conclude that they were either extremely desperate or incredibly naive

because they allowed two college age males to take possession of their lovely home for the summer.

It wasn’t that we intentionally tried to mess things up,

but things just happened.

There was that huge sewage problem

that completely blocked the main drain out of the house

when we crammed all of that old food down the disposal too fast,

resulting in some nasty stains

and a rather unpleasant odor in the basement and garage.

And I honestly don’t know how that leg broke off the piano bench,

nor did I even notice the layer after layer of dirt and grime

that sort of built up and settled onto everything in the house.

The one thing I do remember is the look on the wife’s face when the family returned

and my wondering what in the world was causing her to be so upset.

Clearly the house they returned to

was not the one they had expected to return to.

And the house our New Man moves into

is not the one he expects either.

Only it’s not just a few layers of dirt and grime our new man faces,

it is a physical plant

that has been completely and utterly corrupted

under the leadership of our old rebellious inner spirit.

And that is why Paul goes on in that sentence to say that this new man “... is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him...

The spirit recreation is complete,

but the renewal process in our lives will continue as long as we remain in these bodies.

But Paul’s first major point here,

as he talks with us about the basics of life within the body of Christ,

is simply this -

when he says we are not to lie to one another

what he’s saying is that we should act like who we really are.

In Christ we are all now new creations of God

with hearts that long to please Him

and the bottom line in our life together is built upon that understanding.

We are to live out our relationships with one another

in a way that reflects the truth about who we really are in Christ.

Do you know what that means?

That means we are to live out our relationships with one another

in a way that reflects a tremendous respect for each of our fellow believers,

a respect that is rooted in our knowledge of their true inner identity and our absolute equality within the family.

He reinforces this truth with his next words:

COL 3:11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

There are no division lines within the family of God.

There is no class system.

There are not some who are “in”

and some who are “out”.

There are not some who are better than others

and some who are worse.

And then look at Paul’s next words.

COL 3:12 ¶ So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved...

He is telling us it is this knowledge

that is intended to be the beginning point in our relationship with every believer we meet.

This person I am relating to has been chosen by God.

He or she is absolutely holy in spirit and the beloved of God Himself,

and as such is worthy of my respect.

If they don’t happen to hold to my doctrine,

or share my experiences,

or possess the gifts I possess,

or follow my preferred form of worship,

or share my cultural heritage,

or follow the religious forms and duties that I hold dear

it makes no difference.

They are still the chosen ones of God,

holy in spirit,

and deeply loved by God,

and my every action and attitude toward them should reflect those truths.

And then, just so that we understand clearly

how this will play out in our relationships if we hear correctly what’s being said,

Paul makes it practical.

COL 3:12 ... put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

COL 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

And then, to pull it all together he makes that final summery statement,

COL 3:14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

OK, those are the basics of life within the family of God -

compassion,

kindness,

humility,

gentleness,

patience,

and forgiveness.

In other words,

we are to relate toward one another

following the same pattern as Christ relates to us.

Now, I brought us into this passage today

because it provides us with such a powerful contrast

to what happens when we forget these truths

and allow religious legalism to replace the truth in our lives with one another.

And to show you what I mean here

I need to return us once again to the passage in Ephesians we’ve been studying

and point out one additional phrase

that, up to this point, we’ve skipped over.

It’s found in that same verse, Ephesians 2:15, that talks about the one new man.

But I want us to look now

at the first part of that verse

in which Paul reveals to us what it is that brings about

that hideous divisiveness within the family of God.

He says that Christ, “ abolished in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace...”

The enmity,

the tension,

the warfare comes from the Law of commandments contained in ordinances.

That’s what was happening between the Jewish and Gentile Christians.

The Jewish Christians, clutching their legalistic standard of measure,

held that standard up next to their Gentile brothers and sisters

and proclaimed, “YOU don’t measure up...and we DO!!!”

And the result was a terrible tension and divisiveness within the Body of Christ.

And from that day until this

every time Christians have reached once again for their Law of commandments contained in ordinances

and used it as the basis for their relationships with one another

the same hideous results have reentered the family of God.

“You don’t measure up!

You don’t meet my standard!

You don’t follow my list of rules as I think you should.

We’ll exclude you.

We’ll view you as one who is unworthy of our friendship or our support.”

When we first got into our study of this section of Ephesians

at first I thought it was rather difficult

to find contemporary parallels to the first century tensions between Jew and Gentile believers.

But then I realized

that the closest parallels are still right within the body of Christ.

They exist whenever one Christian

or a group of Christians once again clutch their sacred list

and hold it up next to their fellow believers

to see whether they measure up.

Without a doubt,

some of the most judgmental spirits we will ever find in our world today

are found within the body of Christ

in the attitudes of Christians against Christians

as they clutch their mental measuring rods

and run around the family of God

checking to see who measures up and who does not.

COL 3:12 ¶ So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

COL 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

It is certainly true

that we are to live with one another

in a way that supports and encourages one another

in our ongoing personal battles for growing practical righteous living.

And in that context

there are times when we must love enough

to address moral issues in the lives of those where our relationships justify such actions.

But that is a very different thing

from slicing up the family of God

on the basis of our lists.

The real thing,

the true kind of involvement God calls us to always has just one goal in mind -

helping our brother or sister to face and change specific immoral actions.

It is always short term,

and it always ends when the immoral behavior is ceases.

And the real thing is easy to recognize

because it fits perfectly with the instructions given to us by Paul in Galatians 6:1

 GAL 6:1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.