Born Again-Pt1

We have a challenging task before
us this morning. Eight weeks ago now, we left
off our study of Colossians. And as you know, it wasn’t for
me for the purpose of vacation or R&R, but really recovery from
those several procedures. And I thank you for your prayers
for that. There were a few Sundays where
I thought, you know, I might have been able to go today, but
not many. And so I would be remiss not
to publicly express my gratitude to all of those who filled the
pulpit these past several weeks, to Mike and to Patrick, to James
and Jeremy, and then also to Dylan. And I just want to express
my gratitude. Thank you, brothers, for allowing
me to step back and away for a few weeks. And thank you. saints for your prayer for these
men and for your encouragement of them. It is not easy. In fact,
it’s a very difficult thing to step into the pulpit and to preach
individual messages. It requires a lot of work just
to kind of parachute in and present background on a passage that
you have not presented before. So thank you all, really, those
of you who preached and those of you who listened. But back
to our challenging task, getting back into our study of Colossians. Our difficult assignment this
morning is to re-center ourselves, in a sense, back into the book
of Colossians. and doing so is difficult enough
for those who were here eight weeks ago. It’s even more difficult
for those of you who were not. And so that’s the responsibility
before me this morning is to gather us back into the context
of Paul’s letter to the Colossian church. So if God’s people would,
please open your Bibles to Colossians but to chapter one, because in
chapter one are the roots of where we’ll find ourselves this
morning. And I want to take you all the
way back to verse 24. Paul is speaking of the nature
of Christian ministry, beginning in verse 24. And here he presents
some magnificent features of the Christian ministry. The Christian
ministry is the working of God in His people by means of the
gospel of Jesus Christ through His Word and His Spirit. And
so, in one sense, it is the ministry of Christ in the world. In one
sense, it is the ministry of the gospel in the world. In one
sense, it is the ministry of the Spirit in the world. And
in one sense, it is the ministry of God in the world. And in this
description of the Christian ministry, Paul speaks in verse
24 of the glad anguish of ministry. There, Paul explained that the
ministry and suffering go hand in hand. But the unexpected news
is that even in the midst of sustained torment, there can
be joy. There should be joy. Ultimately,
these are Christ’s afflictions, Paul says, but our Savior allows
his servants the privilege of sharing in his afflictions on
behalf of his church. It’s an amazing statement. Well,
Not only is there glad anguish in ministry, there is a divine
bestowal of ministry. Verses 25 through 27, Paul informs
us that not just anyone can immerse himself into Christ’s service. There is a divine commissioning
a stewardship by which God’s servants are equipped with a
divine message, the Word of God, for a divinely ordained purpose,
the glory of God. Not just anyone enters, and not
just anyone can say just anything for any purpose. God is the one
who designs the Christian ministry, and then Paul, tells his readers
of a third, and as Paul points out in 128 all the way to through
chapter 2 verse 3, God’s method for a magnificent Christian ministry
is that it is wonderfully efficient. It works. People get saved. It is divinely effective, as
we saw. The grand designer of the Christian
ministry is God the Father himself. The great redeemer of the Christian
ministry is Jesus Christ. The wonderful declaration of
the ministry is the Word of God. And the great power of ministry
is the Holy Spirit. So that the ministry must necessarily
be successful. It lacks nothing. And as such,
it is divinely effective. It will bear fruit. Lives will
be met and transformed by the gospel. There will be a harvest,
a harvest of souls. And so the Christian ministry
will indeed bear fruit, but that fruit must stand up to inspection. And in chapter two, Paul presents,
beginning in verse four, a series of texts by which he details
the examination points of a gospel harvest. What should a person
look like if they have been truly impacted by the Holy Spirit and
the Word of God? What should a Christian look
like? What are the spiritual metrics for examining professors
of Christianity? As Paul urges believers in 2nd
Corinthians 13, 5, examine yourselves. Or as Peter admonishes his flock
in 2nd Peter 1, be all the more diligent to make certain about
his calling and choosing you. How? What are the standards by
which we examine ourselves? Paul is in the midst of providing
some of those standards right here in Colossians chapter 2.
In the entire remainder of this chapter, Paul provides us with
five of these spiritual metrics, five examination points, and
we began to consider these measuring points more than two months ago.
The first, which we saw in verses four and five, is the discernment
to be exercised. As a true Christian, we ought
to be discerning. For their own spiritual protection,
for the protection of the fellow believers, Paul urges his readers
to spiritual discernment, to be careful of what they hear.
what they read, what they believe, what are the spiritual influences
in their life, we need to be discerning. The second metric
is the steadfastness to be maintained. A true Christian ought to be
steadfast. Building upon that exercise of
discernment, Paul also urges the Colossian believers to a
life that matches their profession. We saw this in verses six and
seven. A believer ought to conduct herself or himself in accordance
with their profession of faith in Christ. As Paul says it, we
are to walk in Christ Jesus just as we have been instructed and
as we have received such instruction. But, no matter how well instructed,
no matter how well intentioned we are as believers, spiritual
assaults will come. And the third spiritual standard
that we have already considered there in verses 8 through 12
is the caution to be observed. The caution to be observed. Similar
to the first standard, that of discernment, the Christian ought
to be cautious of the world and its influences. This, Paul says,
will come packaged and very neatly in philosophy and empty deception,
the world’s ways. Christian life is fraught with
difficulties and challenges and dangers. And because of that,
we must be cautious. We must constantly be on our
guard for the evil trickery of the devil, for the wicked influences
of the world, and even for the weaknesses of our own flesh.
And that’s where we left off. Eight. weeks ago. But there is a fourth spiritual
standard, a fourth metric by which Paul provides, and we’ll
find it in verses 13 and 14. And as we move to zero in on
those verses, I want to bring you along by starting back in
verse four as we look at all of the metrics for examining
ourselves. I say this so that no one will
delude you with persuasive argument. For even though I am absent in
body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see
your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him
and established in your faith. just as you were instructed and
overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you
captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to
the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles
of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in him, all the
fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. And in him, you have been
made complete and he is the head over all rule and authority.
And in him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without
hands in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision
of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism in which
you were also raised up with him through faith in the working
of God who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together
with Him. Having forgiven us all our transgressions,
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees
against us, which was hostile to us, and He has taken it out
of the way, having nailed it to the cross. This, as I said,
is Paul’s fourth spiritual measurement, and I just referred to it as
the regeneration to be enjoyed. The context has not changed.
Paul is still focused on the work of the Spirit in these believers’
lives. When we profess to have been
impacted by the gospel of Christ, and we examine the fruit of our
lives, we should see this quality too, that we are resting peaceably
in the work of grace that God has performed in us. Regeneration is simply to be
enjoyed. Now, if you’ve walked with me
for a week, you know that I always urge in a complex and dynamic
passage such as verses 13 and 14 are, you know that the first
thing we have to do is to identify the simple sentence. And the
simple sentence is right there in the middle of verse 13. He
made you alive. And if you want to be really
literal, he made you alive together. This statement is tied loosely
to what Paul has just said about Christ. Would you glance back
at verse 12? There he tells the Colossians
that they have been raised up with Christ through faith in
the working of God who raised him from the dead. That’s what
Paul is alluding to when he says that he made us alive too. This is the main and the overarching
thought of these entire two verses. And this is a stupendous truth. Because you see, in our fallen
condition, we were in dreadful shape. Spiritually speaking,
we were dead in our transgressions. As Paul says, but God has made
us alive. What an amazing truth. Quite
literally, we have been born again. God has regenerated, brought
us to life through Christ’s work of redemption. And we didn’t
earn this incredible gift, nor can we reimburse God for it. And that’s why I say ours is
simply now to enjoy this work of God. When we look back as
believers and see how stupendous God’s work of grace was in our
lives, we will be motivated to an even greater measure of faith So that is the simple sentence.
He made us alive. We’ll come back to this profound
thought in the weeks ahead. But first, Paul presents a series
of supporting statements to that one main thought. Three statements
that only enhance the significance of this amazing thought. First of all, you see the occasion
of our regeneration at the beginning of the verse. The occasion of
our regeneration is that little statement at the beginning of
verse 13, when we were dead. That’s when it happened. That’s
when God brought us to life, obviously. the occasion of our
regeneration. Secondly, the commencement of
our regeneration follows there at the end of, or the bottom
of verse 13, having forgiven all our transgressions. God brought
us to life because he had forgiven our transgressions. And then
the pathway of our regeneration is verse 14. Having canceled
out the certificate of debt, a rich image consisting of decrees
against us, which was hostile to us, and he has taken it out
of the way, having nailed it to the cross. What an incredible
thought. Well, I want to go back. I want
to go back to this first statement, the occasion of our regeneration
this morning. All we’re going to do is enjoy
this beautiful gift that God has given, that He has made us
alive. But Paul wants to give us the
backdrop of this spiritual restoration, beginning in verse 13. When you
were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of our
flesh. That’s really about as far as
we’ll get this morning. The first of these instructive
statements is found there at the beginning of verse 13, and
it informs us of the occasion of our regeneration, when it
was that God made us alive. And Paul tells the Colossians,
he tells us basically that God made us alive when we were dead.
It’s a very obvious statement. It makes sense. And I’ll say
again, the literal translation here is being dead. It’s a participle. It’s not the main verb. It’s
not the main thought of the sentence. Rather, it adds detail to the
main thought. Being dead, he made you alive. And right here, we have to pause
and inquire, what exactly is Paul referring to here? What
does he mean, we were dead? Some people might even recoil
from this language. Really, Paul, dead? Aren’t you
being a little overdramatic? Because the Colossians were sitting
there, likely listening to this letter being read, just as you’re
sitting here this morning. What do you mean, Paul, we were
dead? The language Paul uses here is
intentional, and it’s theologically precise. Paul uses the word dead,
which speaks of the cessation of life. He’s not being vague
here at all. It’s the cessation of life. It’s
the cessation of existence. And the word dead, There’s a
question here. What manner of life can Paul
be referring to here? What kind of existence exactly
does Paul have in mind when he says you were dead? And it’s
important to seek clarity here because the words dead or death
are such significant concepts. Dead refers to someone who no
longer possesses the sensibilities of one who is alive, right? They
are unable to be influenced or coerced. Try as we might, we
could not convince a dead man to do a single thing. The inherent
problem is that a person in such a state, dead, is utterly incapable
of responding. So it’s of critical importance
here that we determine what kind of death is Paul talking about?
What does Paul mean? We were dead. Well, he certainly is not talking
about our initial birth. being in a sense dead, in eternity
past, and brought to life in this very basic sense, born into
this world. The reality is that prior to
our physical conception, and that’s when we believe life begins,
prior to our physical conception, we were not yet alive. Further
though, Countless millions of people have been physically born
into the world throughout the millennia who are not reborn
in the sense that Paul describes here. Paul is not speaking of
our initial birth. You were dead, but he made you
alive. Paul must be speaking of something
else entirely, but what? Neither can he be talking about
literal physical death. For sure, physical death is indeed
a consequence of the fall of Adam and Eve. Because of our
garden representatives, Adam and Eve, they sinned and we no
doubt incurred the curse of physical death along with them. But if we’re here this morning, None of us have yet experienced
physical death. And that was the same for the
Colossian believers who were reading this letter that morning.
They had not experienced physical death. So how is it that when
you were dead, he made you alive? There’s a third option that doesn’t
fit either. Neither is this a threatening
of future death and judgment, that we are sinners liable to
death. That’s true. When Paul says,
you were dead, he is not at all suggesting that one day these
believers and us, we would one day die. But we should take great
comfort because in Christ’s return, they would all be raised from
the dead to life everlasting. Paul isn’t saying that at all.
That’s true. Those things are all true. Believers
will be raised to be with Christ for eternity. But Paul isn’t
discussing the doctrine of the resurrection here. So such conclusion
is completely contrary to the context of this passage. What
then does Paul mean, you were dead? Paul isn’t talking about a future
consequence, a pending sentence to be exercised, but something
that we’ve already incurred. And he gives us a few clues to
the kind of death to which he’s referring here. First of all,
he says that this particular death was incurred by our sin. You were dead in your transgressions. The Greek word translated here
as transgression is a word almost exclusively used by Paul. Jesus
uses it twice on the same occasion. Matthew 6 records it. For if
you forgive others for their transgression, your Heavenly
Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others,
then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. You see,
Jesus puts a premium on forgiveness. We need to have a forgiving spirit
toward others who have transgressed us. But with the exception of
that one use of the word by Jesus, all of the other New Testament
writers, only Paul, only Paul uses this word 17 times in his
epistles. It’s one of his favorite words
of referring to the effects of sin. This word translation is
a narrower word than the very general word sin. It’s translated
in the New American Standard as either trespass or transgression. And you’ve likely heard it described
as missing the mark. It’s a literally a falling aside
from the path. It is, as one scholar defined
it, a lapse or deviation from truth or uprightness. It is a
positive violation. So, you could think of it this
way. It is a stepping over the line
of some boundary. Whereas the more general word,
sin, speaks of an offense against God, which results in estrangement
from him, transgression zeroes in on the particular offense,
the very specific law that has been violated. Transgression
points to a violation that results in departure from the course
of righteousness as outlined in God’s law. And the consequence
of such violation of law is severe. It’s capital punishment. Paul pictures the sinner already
having been executed. You were dead in your transgression. And this equation, transgression
brings death, that’s the consistent report of Scripture, isn’t it?
The soul who sins will die, Ezekiel 18, 4. The wages of sin is death,
Romans 6, 23. Sin leads to the most devastating
consequence. You were dead in your transgressions. Now it’s at this juncture that
I’d like to take a moment to show you a little something.
This language, these words, dead, transgressions, made alive, those
specific words, then these sobering thoughts that they communicate,
are only presented in Scripture in one other place. And wouldn’t
you know it? It’s in the parallel epistle,
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Would you turn there? And specifically
to chapter two, only briefly. Ephesians chapter two. And we’ll just peek at the first
five verses. But note the similarities. And
you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you 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, among them we all, we too all
formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy
because of his great love with which he loved us even when we
were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ
by grace you have been saved let me point out just a few things
In verse 3, when he says, among them, he’s pointing back to the
world, the sons of disobedience, who are led, shepherded, if you
will, by no other than the prince of the power of the air, the
devil. They’re doing exactly what he would have them to do.
dead in their trespasses and sins. And that’s what he says
right at the head of this passage. You were dead, exactly the same
thing that Paul says in Colossians 2, dead in your trespasses and
sins. That’s exactly the same Greek
word that Paul uses in Colossians 2. Translated here as trespasses
instead of transgressions. But hold that thought. because
he adds to it sins, 173 times is that word used in the New
Testament, always translated as sin. But God being rich in
mercy, verse four, because of his great love with which he
loved us, even when we were dead, there’s our word again, dead
in our transgressions, same word, He made us alive. Same word. He made us alive together with
Christ. By grace, you have been saved.
Back, if you would, to Colossians 2. Whether the word here translated
there in Ephesians as trespasses or here in Colossians as transgressions,
it’s the same word. And both the implication and
the results are the same. Trespasses, transgressions, they
both lead to death. Transgressions, which simply
means to miss the mark, as we said, refers to all of those
solitary acts of sin accumulated together, which bring us death. There in Ephesians, he referred
to every manner of sin. Sin in all of its forms. And
so when Paul says that we were dead in our transgressions, he
points to the fact that sin has imposed a deadly effect upon
us. And Paul gives another clue as
to the nature of this deadness. What does he mean by it? Would
you glance at verse 13 once again, when you were dead in your transgressions
and the uncircumcision of your flesh. That particular statement gives
me great care and caution for those of you who may not have
been with us eight weeks ago, because we dealt with this idea
there when we interacted in verses 11 and 12. It was astounding
to me how many commentators seemed to suggest that the Colossian
believers, mostly Gentiles, were at odds with God because they
had not been circumcised. Some might read these words and
think that Paul is criticizing these Gentile Christians for
their heathen upbringing, for the audacity of not embracing
the Jewish right, R-I-T-E, of circumcision. Couldn’t be further
from the truth. When we looked at those verses,
verses 11 and 12, which verses we read a moment ago, we discovered
that Paul was not touting or commending the Jewish rite of
circumcision. He wasn’t doing that at all.
What he was acknowledging and what he was calling the Colossian
believers to acknowledge was the amazing work of God that
he had already done in their hearts and lives. And he did
so to insulate them from the pressure from false teachers
to yield to philosophy and empty deception. And so Paul tells
them, you also were circumcised with a circumcision made without
hands. A spiritual circumcision. It’s called his people to be
cautious, cautious of false teachers and false teachings. And in verses
nine through 12, he provides them reasons for these cautions.
First of all, it’s because of the nature of the one who is
at work within it, namely Christ himself. In whom, Paul says,
all the fullness of deity dwells. God incarnate himself is at work
in us. Why would we follow the dictates
of mere men? Why would we feel compelled to
give into their demands? Paul also goes on to tell them,
look at verse 10, that Christ’s work in them is finished. In him, you have been made complete. Paul says, and if that’s so,
why would you yield to men’s pointless rules? And that’s where
Paul injects a third point, an illustration. It’s the illustration
of circumcision. And Paul says that in him, in
Christ, you also were circumcised. He’s talking to Gentile believers. Paul uses the familiar idea of
circumcision as a metaphor for God’s work of grace in the Christian’s
life. Spiritual circumcision, a complete
spiritual change by which God imparts life, eternal life. Paul has already told the Colossians,
that God himself has performed this right, R-I-T-E, why here
in verse 13 would he look back and criticize them for being
Gentiles? The reality is he’s not talking
about their lack of adherence to the Jewish ritual of circumcision
at all. It’s figurative. He’s talking
about their pre-salvation state. which he’s already identified,
is a state of sinfulness, trespasses and sins. Their ungodly natural
state in which they were alienated from God completely, dead. And so, with these additional
clues, transgression and uncircumcision, we come to see that Paul is referring
to here no other than the terrible curse of spiritual death. being
dead in that very literal sense. You see, prior to their conversion, they and we also were dead in
the worst possible sense, worse even than being physically dead.
As an unbeliever outside of Jesus Christ, such a person, a person
without Christ is without salvation, without hope. They are spiritually
dead. The Apostle John says it this
way. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. That person is, as Paul says
here, dead, spiritually dead. It couldn’t be any worse for
the individual Well, this is no other than the
fourth and final effect of the falling of Adam and Eve into
sin, isn’t it? I’ve reviewed this so many times
I could almost do it by rote. Adam, Adam had it all. He had communion with God, fellowship. He could walk with him and talk
with him. He had a God-given wife. made from his own flesh. He had holiness. He had all of
creation. He had paradise, food, dominion. He had it all. And he had one
command to obey. Do not eat from the tree of good
and evil. One command. One prohibition. But even that one command proved
to be too much. Adam and Eve destroyed Pardon
me, Adam and Eve disobeyed that one command. They did eat. And
at that moment, the moment that they were unceremoniously
marched out of the Garden of Eden, they brought upon themselves
four effects, four consequences. And those consequences passed
directly to us. From that moment, all of humanity
would be inherently sinful. Now bearing a sin nature that
inclines us to sin and disinclines us to holiness. Given the choice,
more often than not, we’re going to sin. Humanity would also now be temporally
cursed as long as they were on the face of the earth. Heartache
and vexation as long as they were on earth. Pain and childbirth,
toil, thorns, thistles. And thirdly, they brought upon
humanity the curse of death. physical death, Adam and Eve,
and all of creation with it, mankind would return to the dust
of the ground, God cursed. But it’s fascinating here that
Paul bypasses all of those very costly outcomes, and he goes
straight to the worst possible curse of them all, spiritual
death. They lost their fellowship. They
lost communion with God. They severed their fellowship
with the one who had created them. They destroyed any ability
to please him. They were no longer good and
pleasing in God’s sight. And worst of all, they had no
remedy, no way to remedy their awful condition. No way to do good. No way to
make themselves appealing to God. No way to save themselves
or to fit themselves to be savable. All of that left them in a desperate
need of reconciliation with God. One Puritan pastor noted here
that death in the great Bible use of the term, blight and desolation
over the whole man’s spirit, soul, and body is the consequence
of sin. Sin renders communion with God,
who is the fountain of life, impossible. And so there they were, Adam
and Eve. There we were, without Christ,
spiritually dead, corrupt, debased, depraved. This is precisely the
language of Paul in Romans 5, isn’t it? Therefore, just as
through one man, that would be Adam, sin entered into the world
and death through sin, so death spread to all men. Why? Because all sinned. The equation
here is simple. It’s the sobering doctrine of
original sin. None other than the terrible
doctrine of depravity. You see, Adam represented all
of humanity there in the garden in a very real way. Adam’s sin
was our sin. His guilt was our guilt. His
consequences are our consequences. So that Adam’s sin affected not
only him, but the entire human race. Sin, as Paul states it,
entered into the world through Adam, and as a result, Adam’s
sin nature spread universally to all people. It was an inherited
trait. As Paul established earlier in
Romans, right? All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God. And there in Romans, only a few
chapters later, Paul tells us that the wages of sin is death,
Romans 6, 23, so that it can justifiably be said, death spread
to all men because all sinned. As soon as God cursed Adam and
Eve with physical death, the clock started ticking. Physical
death would eventually come to all of his race. But spiritual
death? By his sin, Adam had already
plunged the entire human race into spiritual death. The older confessions speak very
unambiguously about this, that in our fallen condition, we are
wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts, soul and body. Prior to God’s work of grace,
we have lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying
salvation. Not able by his own strength
to convert himself or to prepare himself, In our natural and sinful state,
we cannot properly love God. We cannot render ourselves to
be lovable to Him. And so we find here that Paul’s
language, dead in your transgressions, it’s deadly accurate, isn’t it?
The sinner outside of God’s work of salvation is dead. Unresponsive,
even unaware that he or she is held in an inescapable prison. They can neither respond to warnings
of judgment, nor respond to encouragements to do good. And yet, we’ve already noted that Paul
proceeds here in this passage. to tell us that God made us alive. Literally, when we were dead,
he made us alive. If possible, in Ephesians 2,
it says it even more emphatically. Even when we were dead in our
transgressions, he made us alive. How? How did God do that? none other than the great London
pastor Charles Spurgeon himself, gives us a clue. Listen to this. He tells us not only of the state
of mankind, but the possible remedy, as Paul does. Spurgeon
said it this way, we declare upon scriptural authority that
the human will is so desperately set on mischief, so depraved,
so inclined to everything that is evil, and so disinclined to
everything that is good, that without the powerful, supernatural,
irresistible influence of the Holy Spirit, No human will ever be constrained
towards Christ. Let me tell you something, dear
friend. You may be here physically this morning. You woke up, you
had your coffee, you managed to get here. You’re here and
by all appearances to everyone around you, you’re alive. But that appearance means nothing.
If God has not done the mighty work of salvation in you, if you have not repented of your
sin and turned to faith in Jesus Christ, spiritually speaking,
you’re dead. You’re no more alive than a stone.
In the weeks to come, we’ll hear
more about Paul’s thoughts here in these verses. But I’ll tell
you this this morning, that life, spiritual life is only available
to the sinner through Jesus Christ. And it isn’t through giving money
to his church or serving the people of his church. It isn’t
about anything that you can do. Only he can give you life. If you have any inkling of concern
about that, it may well be that God is in the process of breathing
spiritual life into you. And if He’s at work in you right
now, you need to repent of your sin. You need to place your faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You must forsake sin in your
sinful ways. Call out to Him for the forgiveness
and the life that He offers. Would you humble yourself before
Him?