Romans 6:1-4
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
As believers in Christ Jesus who know Him as Savior and Lord of our lives, sometime at the beginning of our relationship with Jesus, with an understanding of who Jesus is and what He did for us by His death and resurrection, we should have been baptized in water. What the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 6:1-4 infants obviously cannot have this same understanding.
The Apostle Paul writing to the Christians in the city of Rome made the point very clear to them of how this change is represented in water baptism and evident in the life of the believer. However, he also made it clear by expressing a point by asking a question, “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” The point is that sin should NOT be a normal part of who we are and or demonstrated by how live, how we think, and by what we do and speak. Or in others words, after receiving Christ into our lives as our Savior and Lord of our lives, our character and lifestyle begins to change. There is a distinct difference from the person we were before we received Christ and after.
Paul in chapter six in Romans writes about “old self” and the “new life” of a believer, however he does not go into detail to tell us what those look like in a believer’s life. However, reading what Paul wrote to the Christians in Colossians 3:1-17, he gives us a good description of the life of sin or the “old self”. And a description of the “new life” in Christ and what that looks like in the life of a believer. Note what is in blue and red and or is underlined.
What did the life of the “old self” that was” buried with him through baptism into death” look like? In contrast. What does the “new life” that we now have look like?
Colossians 3:1-4
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
1a, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ…”. 3a, “For you died…” These verses are a direct reference to water baptism which every born-again believer in Christ Jesus should have experienced in their early years of their relationship with Christ. Paul is reaching back to a very important event early in the spiritual experience of every believer’s life, which is water baptism. In water baptism a Christian is united with Christ by a living faith which is pictured as having both died with Christ and having been raised together with Christ. In the death with Christ the believer looks back to the past, to the mindset and of the way of life before Christ. In the resurrection with Christ the believer lives in the present and also looks to the future living their life with Christ.
1b, “…set your hearts on things above…”. 2a “Set your minds on things above”. As a result of our relationship with Christ, our motivations emotionally and mentally should always be focused to strive for the realities that a new life in Christ offers which Paul later describes in verses 12-17. This also is clearly seen in the following verse, Ephesians 5:10, Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. New Living Translation.
Colossians 3:5-9
“5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other,
since you have taken off your old self with its practices…”
In the first century when Paul wrote this letter to the believers in Christ of the church in Colosse, they were no different in many ways as we are today. They faced many of the same challenges in regards to their relationship with Christ and their “earthly nature”. In verses 5 through 9 he gives us two lists of many characteristics of this “earthly nature” which should discribe how we once thought, acted, spoke and lived.
The “earthly nature” that Paul is referring to is the same as “The acts of the sinful nature…” that Paul mentions in Galatians 5:19 -21. Also, it is the same to what Paul refers to in Ephesians 4:17 to 5:21. Specifically he tells us in 4:22, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires…”.
What is our “earthly nature”, “sinful nature” or our “old self”? All of these terms refer “to the human nature with its corrupt desires, resistance to God and insistence on going its own way.” Of which we all lived in submission to and was our normal way of living before received Christ into our lives. “The sinful nature remains within Christians even after they choose to accept and follow Christ; it continues to be their deadly enemy that battles against their spirit. Romans 8:6-8, “6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
Colossians 3:9b-10a
“…since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self…”
Paul begins to tell us about the difference of a life of a person who has been born again in Christ Jesus. If a person is sweaty and soiled, they first must be bathed and cleansed before they put clean clothes on. Figuratively, those who Paul is writing to have already been cleansed and have put on clean clothes. 1 John 1:9, describes this process, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” NLT. However, it is also important to note that Paul makes it clear that something must take place in our lives first before the other does. By saying “since you have” he assumes that this action has already happened in a believer’s life.
The New Living Translation of Colossians 3:10-11 explains to us clearly about a wonderful supernatural transformation and process that happens in the life of every believer in Christ. In which it does not matter your race, religion, cultural background or social status.
Colossians 3:10-11,
10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
Peter also tells us about the same supernatural transformation and process as Paul. The New Living Translation clearly explains this to us. 2 Peter 1:3-4, 3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
Colossians 3:12-14
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
In these verses Paul mentions seven “virtues and graces” which characterizes the Christian.
Verse 12 tells us about the natural result of the transformation of the character of a Christian. It is compared to as stated before, with the putting on of clothes, “clothe yourselves with…”. Wuest in the Expanded Translation, says it this way, “Put on therefore as your spiritual apparel”.
The only virtue that Paul goes into detail to explain is in verse 13, forgiveness. Verse 13b, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”. Paul knew that when a Christian cannot forgive another with this understanding they will not be able to live out the of the other four characteristics (“compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience”) and truthfully express them to any person they have not forgiven.
Note that “love” in verse 14, Paul says it needs to be put on. Which is an intentional action and does not just happen naturally. The importance of Love in the life of a Christian is like the importance of what mortar is to a brick wall. Without the mortar, you have a weak and unstable wall which is susceptible of falling over every time the wind blows or when someone leans on it. It is not just the laying out and the stacking of bricks that makes a wall. What makes the bricks of a brick wall stay “in perfect unity” is the mortar. What keeps a brick wall useful and keeps it fulfilling its purpose as a wall, is that it must stay standing, and that only happens when all the bricks are bound together in “perfect unity” by the mortar.
Colossians 3:15-16
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Why did Paul use the word “let” in relation to “peace” and “the word of Christ” in the life of a believer? Synonyms for the word “let” are; to allow, to permit or to give permission; not prevent, not prohibit or forbid. Very clearly this means that it is our choice if we allow “the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” and “the word of Christ dwell in you (us) richly…”. Why would a Christian have an unwillingness for these characteristics in their life? It is not a matter of resistance or even rejection but it is a matter of not inviting and lack of desire. There are some aspects of our relationship with Him that Christ will not force on us. As with “the peace of Christ rule in (our) your hearts” and “the word of Christ dwell in (us) you richly…”, it is our choice if we want to experience these realities in our lives on a regular and normal basis.
An important point that needs to be understood concerning verse 15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” The word “rule” in the Greek actually means to umpire or “act as arbiter”. Wuest’s translation of this gives us a better idea of what Paul is telling us– “And the peace of Christ, let it be acting as umpire in your hearts…”. The peace of Christ is our compass or standard and which the Holy Spirit uses to reminds us of and keeps in proper perspective all the previous mentioned virtues.
The last point of this verse has only three words which are based on the previous sentence, however if the peace of Christ is NOT being our umpire it will be very hard to “be thankful”. How is it possible for someone who does not have in them, “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, to express gratitude and be thankful?
Verse 16 makes a point that we need not to overlook. How does the word of Christ express itself in the life of a believer? Answer – “…as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
Colossians 3:17, And 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.
(Note the words not in italics are added quotation.)
“In the Bible, a person’s name represents that person. To do something in the name of the Lord Jesus is therefore to act as His representative in a way that is in harmony with his identity”. Representing “Jesus is a great privilege, but it is also a tremendous responsibility. All that we say and do as Christians should be associated with the name of Jesus Christ. By our words and our works, we should glorify His name. If we permit anything into our lives that cannot be associated with the name of Jesus, then we are sinning. We must do and say everything on the authority of His name and for the honor of His name. – Wiersbe
Pastor John
