Sabbath 12/29/18 Seventh Day Baptist Edgewater Pastor John Pethtel sermon “Victory Over Sin” Colossians 3:1-17
Apostle Paul is writing this text to deal with false teachings that the Colossians are being told. Some Christians were adding things onto the Gospel. It was like you can do “something” to earn Salvation. It is only through what Jesus did that we can get Salvation. I call their false teaching “Gospel–Plus”. In the text, Paul is saying the only thing that makes us Holy is Jesus. No rules, methods or things we can do can make us Holy and get Salvation.
In Seminary school, we had an exercise of putting something we don’t like on a board and throwing darts at what we hate. This was a method to show us that Jesus is watching us display our anger, hate and rage. We all need to deal with our anger by having self-control. Jesus wants us to not be a rage monster but have anger in a righteous manner.
AMEN
Apostle Paul is writing this text to deal with false teachings that the Colossians are being told. Some Christians were adding things onto the Gospel. It was like you can do “something” to earn Salvation. It is only through what Jesus did that we can get Salvation. I call their false teaching “Gospel–Plus”. In the text, Paul is saying the only thing that makes us Holy is Jesus. No rules, methods or things we can do can make us Holy and get Salvation.
In Seminary school, we had an exercise of putting something we don’t like on a board and throwing darts at what we hate. This was a method to show us that Jesus is watching us display our anger, hate and rage. We all need to deal with our anger by having self-control. Jesus wants us to not be a rage monster but have anger in a righteous manner.
**** Ways To Kill Sin ****
- Keep Our Eyes On The Prize: Verse 1-4. Keep your hearts and minds on the prize waiting for us in Heaven. We place our Faith in Jesus Christ. We choose the positive things while we keep our eyes on the prize. Live a lifestyle of worship 24 hours a day. We are to live for God and let our actions match our Faith. Live a life of worship, keep your mind on Jesus Christ. When we don’t do this, then that’s when sin creeps into our lives. The runners in Olympic races keep their eyes on the finish line. We, Christians, know the finish line is when Jesus comes back for us. We need to dwell on our race ending with Jesus!
- Let Your Heart Focus On Jesus: Verse 5-14. Do not commit the sins listed in verse 5 because Jesus wants you to destroy these sins in your life. (fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, filthy talking) Since we are on the way to Heaven, we need to act like it by putting away these sins through our Faith in Jesus. The struggle with sin is a journey we all have to go through. No one is a Christian because they lead a moral life. Being a Christian means that we believe Jesus washes our sins away. Verse 12 lists the things we can be through the power of the Holy Ghost. (kindness, meekness, love, forgiving one another) Christ is the only one that transforms us. Doing these things on our own will not get us Salvation. It is Jesus Christ who gives us Salvation.
- Let the Word of God Bring Peace: Letting God’s Word dwell in you will get you Peace. The Peace we get comes from Jesus. Study the Word. We should memorize scriptures to help us fight sin. Prayer is a powerful tool to help us get peace.
AMEN