My New Life in Christ Blank Outline
My New Life in Christ Filled in Outline
Bible Verses – 2 Corinthians 5:16-17
Colossians 3:12-17
Thank you for your singing, and that’s why we’re here this morning, God’s love. And we’re going to learn a little bit more about that this morning as we look into God’s word. So let me read just a couple of short verses from 2nd Corinthians 5:16 and 17.
Talks about the new life that we have in Christ. And so, here’s what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church. So, from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view.
We once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Here’s a familiar verse. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creation. The new creation has come, the old has gone, and the new is here.
Well, next 35 minutes or so, we’re going to jump into the book of Colossians. And let me just give you the setting, a little bit of background reminder of the purpose of the book and why Colossians was written. So, you remember that the leader of the church at Colossae was a fellow by the name of Epaphras.
And actually, the Apostle Paul never visited Colossae. But what was going on is that there was some false teaching that was infiltrating those new believers there in Colossae. And Epaphras, the pastor of the church, makes a 1,300-mile journey.
Think of that in the first century. It would have taken weeks, maybe a couple months. He makes this long journey, and he visits the Apostle Paul, who’s under house arrest in Rome.
Paul was there for two years. He was able to receive visitors. And Epaphras tells him what’s going on in the church at Colossae.
And so, Paul writes this letter to correct some doctrinal error about who Jesus is and to encourage those new believers. So, we’re in chapter three. The first two chapters are more doctrinal, doctrinal truth.
And when we get to three and four, a little bit more on the application side. So, this morning, we’re going to think about our new life in Christ, my new life in Christ, and I trust that describes you this morning. There are certain moments in our lives that radically change our life.
I remember back in August 20th of 1977, my wife and I stood in front of a church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was the Emmanuel Baptist Church. My dad happened to be the pastor there.
And we stood there before about 250, 300 people, and we said some very important words and vows about marriage. And then my dad, like most pastors do, make a pronouncement. And now by the authority given to me by the Church of Jesus Christ, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
And life has changed. Our status has changed. Our identity has changed.
We no longer check the single box. We check the married box. Think about those families that have adopted children.
We have a nephew and his wife in northern Ohio, and they have four biological kids, but they’re very passionate about adoption, the adoption option. And they’ve adopted two children, so now they have a family of six children. And it’s one of the few, I think, happy occasions in our court system where a family legally adopts and brings into their family young children and a name change and all that that entails.
Those are moments that totally change the trajectory and identity of our life, but perhaps no greater change happens in our life than when we put our faith in Jesus Christ to be our Savior, because that has a huge impact in our life. John chapter 1, John writing talks about the fact that to those who receive Christ, to those who believe in His name, He gives them the right to be called the children of God. And so, when we put our faith in Christ, when that great exchange happens, described in 2nd Corinthians 5:19 through 21, He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God, a tremendous change takes place.
And we pass from death, spiritual death, to spiritual life. The New Testament describes that we pass from darkness to light. We pass from being an enemy of God to being a child of God.
And so, this morning in Colossians chapter 3, in the text that we’re going to look at, Paul begins to elaborate on this a little further as he thinks about our new life in Christ. And so, we’re going to think about three truths here. Our scripture reading said, all things become new when we become a follower of Jesus.
i. A new position
And so, the question is, well, what becomes new? And so, we’re going to suggest three things that become new in our life from the text. And let’s look at the first one. This is found in Colossians 3, verse 12.
Therefore, so that points us what Paul’s already writing to the Colossian church about. He’s telling them, verse 1 of chapter 3, you have been raised with Christ. You have a new life.
He’s telling them your sins have been forgiven. God has made you alive in Christ. Therefore, we have a new position, a new position.
We could say a new identity, but a new position. And Paul uses three terms here to describe our new identity, our new position in Christ. Let’s look at it.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, as God’s chosen people. Now we go back to the Old Testament and we know that the nation of Israel, the Jewish people are called what? God’s chosen people. And God still has a plan for the Jewish nation and the Jewish people.
And he chose them. This is from Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 6. Let me go there quickly and read it. Deuteronomy 7:6. Here’s what Moses writes in the Pentateuch.
He writes, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you, the Jewish nation, out of all peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. So, God looked down on all the nations and he chose the Jewish nation to be his chosen people and called Abraham to be the father of that nation.
And there’s promises all through scripture that are given to God’s chosen people. Well, this doctrine of election, of being chosen, is also predominant in the New Testament. And it’s all through scripture.
1. I am chosen
Here it is in Colossians 3:12. You’re God’s chosen people. John 15:16.
Here’s Jesus in the upper room discourse. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit. Ephesians chapter 1, Paul writing to the Ephesian church, for he chose us in him before the creation of the world.
And so, the scripture teaches that if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, somewhere in eternity past, God made a choice, an election, and he chose you. And that should stir our hearts. Now for years, there’s been two camps in theology, one called Calvinism that emphasizes the sovereignty of God and that God makes the choice of salvation.
There’s another camp on the opposite end that is called Arminianism that emphasizes the free will of man to make a choice. Now, I think the Bible teaches both. Romans 10:13, whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. And how do those two mesh together that God chose us yet gives us free will? And I’ll have to tell you; I can’t fully explain it. There are some things that God knows, but the Bible clearly teaches that we have been chosen and that God has chosen and elected those to be saved.
Now that brings up the question, well, then why should we witness? Why should we share the gospel? Why should we pray for people to come to know Christ if God’s already chosen? And the answer to that, he’s not only chosen the end, those that are going to come to Christ, but he’s also chosen the means of how that gospel message will get to them. And that involves you and me. And so, we go to Romans 10:13, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
And then the apostle Paul begins to ask some questions. How then can they call on the one in whom they’ve not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they’ve not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? It’s not the official word for a pastor. It’s someone who tells them, who proclaims to them the gospel message.
2. I am holy
And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? And so, we have a new position. We have been chosen by God. But then the apostle Paul talks about a second new identity or new position that we have in Colossians chapter three in our text this morning.
Not only have we been chosen, but the apostle Paul describes us as being holy. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy, holy. And so, he declares and says that Christians are holy.
Now we have to understand the difference between our position in Christ and our practice. When we put our faith in Jesus, the moment that we trust him as our personal savior, there is a legal declaration that God makes. And it’s called justification.
Here’s the definition. Justification is an act of God whereby he pronounces a sinner to be righteous or holy because of their faith in Christ. The root idea in justification is the declaration of God, the righteous judge, that the individual who believes in Christ is viewed as being righteous because he has come into a righteous relationship with God.
And so, when we are saved, we are in Christ. And when God looks at us positionally, he sees us as holy. Sometimes justification means that God sees us just as if we’ve never sinned.
It’s because we have the righteousness of Christ put in our account, his holiness, his perfection. So, Andy Stanley asked the question, how good do you have to be to get to heaven? And the answer is perfect because God’s holy. And the only way we can come into heaven is if the only perfect person that ever lived on the planet, Jesus, his righteousness gets imputed to our account.
And so, we have a new position. We’re chosen. We’re holy.
3. I am dearly loved
And then the third descriptive phrase here of our new position is that we are dearly loved. We are dearly loved. I’m chosen.
I’m holy. I’m dearly loved. I don’t think we can fully understand the depth and breadth of God’s love for us.
Paul writes about that. He prays for the Ephesians in Ephesians chapter three, that I’m praying that you might understand the height and depth and breadth of God’s incredible love for you and me. I think about the love that you have for your own children.
Think about the incredible love that a parent has or a grandparent has for grandchildren. And God’s love is infinitely more than that. But God demonstrated his love for us while we were yet sinners.
Christ died for us. He sent his one and only son to live a holy, perfect life, to go through the pain and agony of crucifixion, and to pay our sin debt. So, Dr. David Jeremiah has written a book entitled God Loves You, subtitled He Always Has and He Always Will.
Here’s what he has to say. God loves you. This is the most important fact in your life.
The eternal, self-existing being who created and sustains everything that exists, dearly loves you. God loves you even when you don’t love him. God’s love never quits.
God loved you before you were born. God loves you when he is correcting you. God wrote his love in red, his blood on the cross, and God will never let you go.
That great passage in Romans chapter 8, what shall separate us from the love of God? And Paul goes through that long list and he says there is nothing, nothing in all creation that can separate us from God’s love. And so, I believe the Bible teaches when you put your faith in Jesus, you are eternally secure. Now not every church doctrine teaches that.
Some denominations believe that you can lose your salvation. But I believe the Bible clearly teaches that once we are saved, once we’re a child of God, we are always a child of God. John 10 describes this, that we are held in the palm of the hand of Jesus, and the hand of God the Father engulfs the hand of Jesus.
We’re in the double clutch of God, and he will never let us go. And so, here’s our new position. All things become new.
When we become a follower of Jesus, we recognize that he’s chosen us, that positionally we’re holy, and we are dearly and deeply loved. And one of the things that God wants us then as followers of Jesus is what? To be a conduit of love to others, and to show that love to other people all around us.
ii. A new practice
Well, there’s a second thing that becomes new. And not only do we have a new position, but a new practice, a new practice. This is beginning in the second part of verse 12. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves.
And now the Apostle Paul is going to go through a long list of characteristics that should characterize our new life in Christ. Now, if we go back to chapter, earlier in chapter 3, we saw this, I believe, last Sunday where the Apostle Paul says, there’s some things you need to get rid of in your new life in Christ. And he lists 10 things.
Verse 5 of chapter 3, put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed. He goes down to verse 8, but now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language. Don’t lie to one another.
That’s the old way of living. That’s the sinful nature. And now, Paul says, here’s our new practice as followers of Jesus.
1. 10 characteristics
And I want you to clothe yourselves to put on these 10-character traits. Now, we won’t have time to elaborate on all of these, but let’s just go through the list. These words should describe, if you’re a follower of Jesus, you and me.
i. Compassion
And so, when we go through this list, we could ask the question. The first one is that we’re supposed to be compassionate. And so, the application question would be, am I a compassionate person? Do I demonstrate, you know, empathy is feelings and identify with somebody’s feelings.
Compassion takes the next step and does something about it. First John says, how does God’s love dwell in you? If you see somebody in need and you have the resources to meet that need and you just pat them on the back and say, you know, I know you don’t have a place to live and I know you don’t have any food, but be warm and filled. I’m praying for you.
No, that’s not God’s love. That’s not God’s compassion. And by the way, I think all 10 of these character traits describe who Jesus is.
You can see parallel verses that describe Jesus’ character. And so basically, Paul’s saying we need to become what? Christ-like. And as someone said, we’ll never be Christ-like until we understand what Christ is like.
And the New Testament tells us that. So, here’s what we’re to put on. Clothe yourselves with compassion, compassion.
ii. Kindness
Kindness, but there’s something that’s lacking in our culture today. Just being kind to one another. By the way, where does this all start? This all starts in the home and then it extends outward.
But where the rubber meets the road of who we really are is how we are, you know, with our family and in the home. And so that’s where the true test is. Am I kind? But we live in this coarse culture of political rhetoric that is discouraging and social media where you hide behind a screen and you say some things you would never say to another person face-to-face.
iii. Humility
iv. Meekness
The Bible calls us to be kind. Be kind one toward another. Tenderhearted, Ephesians 4:32. Humility. Clothe yourselves with compassion, with kindness, with gentleness or meekness.
v. patience
The next phrase, and I’m reading out of the NIV here, is patience, patience. Two different words translated for patience in the New Testament. One is makrothumia. And it has to do with patience with people. Makros is the word for long. Thumos is word for anger.
It means to have a long fuse. In other words, not be quick to get to be angry, but to be very, very patient rather than flying off the handle. The other word for patience is hupomoné. And that means to remain under. And that’s used in relationship to circumstances.
And so, when difficult circumstances are in our life, the first thing, natural thing to pray is, Lord, get me out of here. And sometimes God says, no, I want you to remain under because I’m doing a work in your heart and in your life through this circumstance. And so, you need to be very, very patient.
vi. Bear with each other
And so, we need to clothe ourselves with patience. Number six here on this list, bear with each other. Bear with each other.
I had to look up that meaning of the word bear with each other. What does that mean? Here it is. The word for use here in the original Greek anechó means to endure something unpleasant or difficult.
Bearing with one another implies willingness to endure with other believers despite differences and frustrations. A willingness to endure with other believers despite differences and frustrations. And so just like in our own immediate family, sometimes we get frustrated with one another in different opinions.
And now comes the church, the body of Christ, and there’s all sorts of different viewpoints and personalities. And we need to be patient. And we need to endure and recognize that sometimes we see things differently.
And sometimes it’s okay to disagree. Or sometimes, you know, it would just be, maybe you’re not getting good service in the restaurant. And I just say, well, maybe the waitress is having, or waiter’s having a bad day.
vii. forgiveness
You know how difficult it is to deal with waiting on, you know, six tables at once and the frustrations. And so, we need to be patient and to bear with one another. Verse, next one, number seven says, well, that’s part of verse 13, forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Okay, we’re going to put on forgiveness. Ephesians 4:32, be kind, tenderhearted toward one another, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. And so just as God has forgiven us, we’re to forgive others.
And we’re to forgive fully, we’re to forgive freely. And we’re to put it in the past, not that we forget it, but we don’t need to keep bringing it up. Somebody said, everybody thinks forgiveness is a great idea until you have to forgive somebody.
And I realize forgiveness is hard. Sometimes the hurt and the pain runs deep. Now, and I’ve shared this before, here’s what I’ve struggled with over the years, like, okay, do we just blanket forgive everybody that’s ever harmed us or hurt us? And again, there’s two different viewpoints on this, but Dr. Gary Chapman, and I’ve listened to a lot of his teachings.
Here’s how he describes forgiveness. Forgiveness is a godly response to an apology. Forgiveness is a godly response to an apology.
How does God forgive us? God forgives us when we come to him and ask him for forgiveness and tell him that we need him to forgive our sins. And so, forgiveness is a godly response to an apology. Now, that then brings up the question, well, what if the person never apologizes to me? Or what if the person has died and they never apologized to me? Then I like to use the word release.
And it’s kind of a form of forgiveness. The apostle Paul writes in 2nd Timothy that Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm. This guy did not do me right.
And what does Paul say? The Lord will repay him. I’m just going to turn him over to God. God will, the just God will take care of that. And so, we’re to put on forgiveness.
viii. love
He goes on to talk about love, verse 14, and over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. That’s going to be the defining character trait of our lives, our church.
John 13:35, Jesus said, by this shall all men know you’re to my disciples if you go to church three times a week. No, no, if you love one another. So, love is that defining character of how people are going to know that we’re followers of Jesus by how we love one another.
ix. peace of Christ
Boy, do I need this next verse and you do too. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Let the peace of Christ. So positionally we’re at peace with God, but practically we need what? The peace of God in our daily life. Philippians 4:6, and 7 gives us some steps how to find that peace of God. Be anxious for nothing.
It’s an imperative and it says, stop worrying. I need this verse like every day. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Don’t worry about anything. Pray about everything. And then here’s the promise.
The peace of God that transcends understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. We have a friend that we got to know through our ministry at Maranatha over the years. Her name’s Susan. I believe it’s her younger sister, Laura, has been fighting a battle with cancer for a long time.
And she’s been posting on Facebook and Laura’s been posting on Facebook. And about a month ago, Laura went into hospice care and she’s probably in her late, late 30s and knew that the doctors have done all they can do. This last week, Laura went home to be with the Lord, but she testified of a tremendous peace that God gave to her in the closing days of her life, because she knew where she was going.
And the peace of Christ ruled her heart. The word there rule really means umpire. You make a choice and it’s the peace of God.
x. gratitude
Now notice the 10th characteristic here, and it’s gratitude. Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart since as members of one body, you were called to peace and be thankful. And so, gratitude and thankfulness should characterize our life.
So, Paul writes in his letter to Timothy in the last days, this is what life is going to be like. He lists about 20 characteristics. One of them is that people will be ungrateful.
They’ll have a sense of entitlement and they won’t express gratitude. And one of the characteristics that should define our lives as followers of Jesus is that we should be thankful, continually thanking God for what he’s done for us, being grateful and thankful to one another. Again, it starts in our own family and spreads out.
Remember the story of the New Testament, Jesus healed 10 lepers. And he says, go show yourself to the priest and you’re healed. And all 10 lepers, Jesus healed of this horrible disease.
And one came back to say, thank you to Jesus. And Jesus said, where’s the other nine? And so, we need to be grateful. Well, we need to begin to wrap this up.
iii. A new purpose
And so, let’s look at not only our new position, a new practice to put on these 10 characteristics that should describe our lives. But then the apostle Paul closes this section by thinking about a new purpose, a new purpose. Verses 16 and 17.
Let me just read them and then we’ll share a little bit. Let the message of Christ, I believe that’s the word of God. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms and hymns and songs from the spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
And so, if we’re a follower of Jesus, we have a new purpose. And one of those purposes is ministering to one another. And that’s what the apostle Paul mentions here, that we are to what? Teach and admonish that where it needs to counsel, or to counsel one another, to teach one another, to encourage one another, to use our gifts toward building up the body of Christ.
But then he closes by giving us, here’s our overarching purpose in life. And what I like about scripture and the Bible is that it answers the three key questions in life. Where did I come from? Origins.
Well, read Genesis chapter one, the first few words, in the beginning, God created the heaven, the earth. Psalm 33, he spoke this world into existence. So, it answers the question of origins of how this world began.
Secondly, it answers the question of purpose. Why am I here? That’s a journey everybody is on. What is the purpose of life? The third question it answers is destiny.
Where am I headed? And so, the apostle Paul gives us a purpose here in verse 17, whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father through him. And so, the apostle Paul is saying, we have a new purpose in life. Now we’re not, we’re not living for ourselves.
Now we are living for what? The purpose of God’s glory. And so, the Westminster Shorter Catechism was written in 1647. It was written by the Westminster Assembly, designed as a concise tool for instructing children and new converts in the basic doctrines of Christian faith.
It has 107 questions and answers that young children and new believers would memorize. Here’s the first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. What is the chief end of man? In other words, what is the purpose of mankind? Why were we created? The answer is man’s chief end or purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
God wants us to live a life of bringing glory to him, of worship and praise to God. Here’s one definition, to glorify God is to honor God with praise or worship. To glorify God is to extol his attributes, to praise his works, to trust his name, to obey his word, to serve him.
And so, God has put us here to come to know him, but also to glorify God in everything that we do. So, Romans chapter 15 verses five and six, we glorify God through our words. Let me read the text here.
I’m not sure I’ve got the right, I’m not sure I’ve got the right verse. Yep, here it is. May the God who gives endurance, this is Romans 15 five, and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other as Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice, you may glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, we bring glory to God when we speak on his behalf, when we declare who God is, when we talk about the fact that God is holy, God is love, God is just, God is merciful. That brings glory to God’s name. We glorify God through our works.
Now we’re not saved by works, we’re saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, by grace alone, but we’re saved to do good works. And so, on the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter five, Jesus says these words, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. So, we glorify God through our words, through our works, we glorify God through our worship.
That’s something we’re going to be doing a lot of when we get to heaven around the throne of God. And so, here’s how Paul puts it to the Corinthian believers. So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
So, we have this kind of dichotomy that we’ve put into our lives that, okay, we’re going to come to church on Sundays for a couple hours and we’ll glorify God and worship him. And then the other 166 hours during the week, we’ll kind of do our own thing. And the apostle Paul in scripture says, no, that’s not the case.
We can bring glory to God in everything we do by doing it for his purpose and to make him look good and to bring honor to him. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Now, just in the last couple of minutes here, as we think about our new position, our new practice, and our new purpose, James 1:22 says, don’t just be hearers of the word and you’ll deceive yourselves, but I want you to put it into practice.
Application questions
1. am I in Christ?
And so, here’s just some application thoughts, some questions that we need to think about, action steps. So, we think about our new position in Christ. The first one is, are you in Christ? Have you come to your point in your life where you realize you can’t make it to heaven on your own, that we’re all sinners and that we need Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross? I made that commitment when I was eight years old after a church service in Cleveland, Ohio.
And it’s the greatest decision you can make. And as we talked about, it changes our life. So, am I in Christ? Have I put my faith in Christ? Do I know for sure that my sins are forgiven and my destiny is heaven?
2. which of these 10-character traits do I need to grow in?
Secondly, we need to evaluate our lives on these 10-character traits that we talked about in verses 12 through 15 and ask these questions.
Hey, am I a compassionate person? Am I kind? Am I forgiving? Am I gentle? Am I patient? And I would imagine that in that list of 10, there’s probably one or two that maybe we need to work on a little bit. If you don’t know what it is, just ask your spouse or your best friend and they can help you with that. But which of these do I need to grow in?
3. do I know my purpose in life?
And then lastly, do I know my purpose in life? My purpose in life is to glorify God and enjoy Him. I’ve heard a story, I’ve probably shared this several times, but I remember Dr. Joel Stoll, who was president of Moody Bible Institute for many years and just been such a wonderful, gifted pastor and administrator. And he’s been on many boards. And I remember he was serving on the board of the Billy Graham ministry.
And I heard Dr. Stoll tell this story several times, but they were having some big banquet and they had all the board members of the Billy Graham ministry on the Dias, on the platform. And so, Dr. Stoll shows up and he finds himself assigned seats and he finds himself seated right next to Dr. Billy Graham. And he goes, oh man, like, what am I going to say to Billy Graham? What do you say to him? And so, he tells a story that they’re sitting there and he turns to Dr. Graham and he says, well, what’s been the greatest highlight of your life? I mean, certainly it has to do with all these crusades and preaching to tens of thousands of people and seeing so many people come to know Christ.
Dr. Stoll says that Billy Graham kind of made a hand motion like he’s slid that suggestion off to the side and he says, no, you know what the greatest moments of my life have been? The greatest moments of my life have been my time alone with God, where I’ve been with God’s word and just praying and fellowshipping with him and getting to know God better. That has been the greatest moment of my life. And that’s what God wants to have with all of us, doesn’t he? Revelation 3:20, behold, I stand at the door and knock.
It’s written to Christians. If anybody will hear my voice and open the door and let me in, I’ll come in and have fellowship with him. The picture there is God wants to spend time with you and have fellowship with you.
And so, make that time alone with him a priority in your life and you will be blessed. Well, if you’re in Christ, you got a new position, a new identity, you’re chosen, you’re holy, you’re dearly loving. You’ve got a new practice put on all these traits, compassion, kindness, love, forgiveness, and live for the glory of God.