DEVELOPING OUR NEW LIFE IN JESUS

Scripture: Read Colossians 3:1–17, especially verse 10
… And have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.

Part of the Christian walk is to put to death certain things, taking sweeping action against that which is unholy in our lives…

On the positive side, we are to develop our new life in Christ… Paul, in Colossians 3:10 tells us we must be renewed, or strengthened, built up, restored… These verbs are present tense, assigning an ongoing action, a daily renewal… So how does the Holy Spirit bring about this process in our lives?

Let’s look at three ways we are renewed:

1. Renewal and the Word of God (vv. 10, 16). In verse 10, Paul says, “… put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge …”

This word knowledge is interesting: it’s the word knowledge attached to the preposition “upon…”

The idea is: knowledge growing into more knowledge upon more knowledge upon knowledge… Where does that knowledge come from? Verse 16 tells us, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom …”

The word for “dwell” means to be at home in you… It’s to walk in, sit down in the den, and put your feet on the coffee table... God transforms us as we invite His Word into our life—not closing off rooms of our life where God’s Word cannot go—but inviting God’s Word into our life to take up residence…

2. Renewal and the Character of Jesus (vv. 12–14). Paul begins this verse, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on …” and lists a series of qualities found in Jesus Christ… At the end of these qualities, Paul says, “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (v. 14).

The word “bond” is a medical term used for ligaments that hold the parts of your body together… When the ligaments don’t work, you limp, your knee gives way… When our lives are not filled with the love of Christ, we walk with a spiritual limp; things give way in our life…

Love binds together all of these virtues that reflect the character of Jesus…

3. Renewal and the Objective (v. 17). What’s the purpose of the process of renewal? Paul tells us in verse 17: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

We should speak and act in the name of the Lord Jesus… Perhaps you’re wondering, “Now what does that mean? When I leave church do I go eat lunch in the name of Jesus? When I golf later this week, do I swing in the name of Jesus?”

Here are three simple and practical ideas of what it means to do everything in the name of Jesus:

A. I Am a Representative of Jesus… Whatever companies you work for you probably have a card with your company, your name, your title, etc… The card says “I represent ‘X’ company…” Yes, you work for them, and there is a degree to which you represent them, but as a follower of Jesus I ultimately represent Jesus Christ… To do everything in the name of Jesus is to remember I am the representative of Jesus…

B. I Am in the Place of Jesus… I am to speak and act as if Jesus Himself were doing it... I not only represent Jesus, but there is a sense in which my hands are, in fact, the hands of Jesus touching people… My mouth is the mouth of Jesus speaking to people… My feet are the feet of Jesus… My mind is the mind of Jesus…

I Live for the Honor of Jesus… We are to live for Jesus’ honor by calling attention to Him, not ourselves…

What does it mean to honor Christ as we gather?

Our attention is drawn to Jesus…
Our conversations should attract people to Jesus…
Our behavior should be pointing people to Jesus,
not ourselves,
not our religion,
not our church, but ultimately to our Jesus…

Are you paying attention to God’s Word?

Are you paying attention to Godly character?

Are you paying attention to Jesus?

My prayer is that whatever we do this week in word or deed we would do it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…

To God be the glory forever!

EIGHT KEYS TO POWERFUL LIVING!

1) Be aware of what Guilt can do!
We each need to be aware of what guilt can do to a life…to a family, or a church body or whatever the case may be…Guilt can be a merciless pain-master that drives us far from God… Or, guilt can gently lead us back to a right relationship with Him…

When we allow guilt to lead us back to a right relationship with Him, we should be more fully convinced than ever of the Father's love… so we all need to be aware of what guilt can do…we must remember that guilt does not have to always stay in our lives as a bad thing, but know this…God can and wants to use your guilt for his good purpose…The key is…

How we respond to guilt… So how we respond to guilt today can determine our success in life for years to come… It can even determine where we will spend eternity…

2) Listening To Our Guilt!

The Bible says we are created in God's image and His glory… This wonderful privilege of bearing His image also holds out the requirement that we live righteous lives… When we do something that conflicts with our sense of right and wrong, an alarming thing happens: we feel guilty…

If you are feeling guilty, then this internal moral compass is sounding an alarm indicating that you may have sinned… And sin separates us from God…Its like in my trawler…

I have a bilge alarm…It is hooked up to an automatic float switch and when the water in the bilge gets to high, the float switch floats up and a loud alarm goes off…When this happens, it is a loud reminder to take charge of the situation and get the water pumping out before any long term damage is done…If we don’t deal with the situation, it can even lead to the death not only of the boat but also anyone who may be on the boat…But also as we are dealing with the problem we also need to see what has caused the problem in the first place and then deal with that …Make sense?

That's why it is important to listen carefully to your guilt… Don't just try to ignore those nagging feelings of moral illness…Don’t disregard the sound of the alarm… Listen to your heart… Then determine to find out what's causing your guilty conscience…

3) Guilty As Charged!

Even as you hear these words, you may be coming to a realization of the source of your guilt… Perhaps you have offended someone… Or you have done something you know God did not want you to do…

Guilt can arise from things we say and do that directly violate God's law… Even if we are not familiar with a specific Bible passage, God has given us a law that is written on our hearts that helps us know when we have sinned…

(Romans 2:12-15, LB, He will punish sin wherever it is found…He will punish the heathen when they sin, even though they never had God’s written laws, for down in their hearts they know right from wrong…God’s laws are written within them; their own conscience accuses them, or sometimes excuses them…And God will punish the Jews for sinning because they have His written laws but don’t obey them…They know what is right but don’t do it…After all salvation is not given to those who know what to do, unless they do it)…

True guilt is God's way of warning us to repent and turn away from our sins so He can forgive us, cleanse us and make us entirely guilt-free…

The fact is, the Bible says, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)…

Guilt is a fact of life because sin is a fact of life… And our sin has the consequences of death (Romans 6:23)… But God does not want to leave us "shut up" under the emotional burden and deadly consequences of sin… He has made a way to break free from our sin and guilt...

4) God's Answer For Guilt!

God works through everything that happens in our lives, including guilt, to draw us to Jesus (John 6:44,45; 14:6;)… No matter what you have done, God has made a way home - through His Son, Jesus Christ…

Romans 8:28, is a really great verse to remember, it gives us a very important reminder that we should never forget…“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose…"

Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life, yet He was willing to die on the cross and receive the punishment we deserved… His death on the cross and triumphant resurrection secures for you all the blessings of God, including forgiveness… All you have to do is repent and turn your life over to Jesus (Acts 3:19, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord”)…

This is what the Bible calls being "born again" of the Spirit of God (John 3:3,5)… We enter into the born-again experience by repenting of our sin, yielding our lives to Jesus as Savior and Lord, and trusting in faith that He will forgive and cleanse us from all sin (Romans 3:23; 10:13; 1 John 1:8,9; John 1:12).

5) Guilt Free Living!

God's answer for sin and guilt accomplishes what no amount of human effort could manage… Thanks to the blood of Christ, we can "draw near" to God "in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience an our bodies washed with pure water" (Heb. 10:22)…

This cleansing is not just a one-time event… Every time the Holy Spirit prompts our spirit that we have sinned, we can return to His throne of grace to receive mercy (Heb. 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”)…

If we fail to respond to guilt in repentance, we can expect God to continue to work in our lives until we come to Him in humility… For God desires children who can serve Him with a "clear conscience" (1Tim. 3:9, “Holding the mystery of the faith in pure conscience”)…

Having a clear conscience also requires that we walk in humility and repentance towards those around us… Be sure to seek forgiveness and to forgive…

6) Taking On The Accuser! (Very Important Key)

At times, the enemy of our soul, Satan, uses guilt to keep us from the Lord... The Bible describes Satan as the "accuser of the brethren" who appears before God day and night with accusations against believers (Rev. 12:10)…

These accusations leave us feeling as if God has not forgiven - or will not forgive – us... We respond in shame, anger, bitterness and depression - which further drive us from God's presence…

This kind of guilt - a guilt that does not leave even after we repent and turn to Jesus for cleansing - is not from God… As we have seen, the blood of Christ fully satisfies God's righteousness… Thus, "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

If you have repented of your sins but still feel the accuser lurking in the shadows, confront the accusations with God's Word… As Jesus said, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed…" (John 8:36)… We each need to walk in that freedom…Remember Jesus said that Satan is a liar and I want to tell you right now again...SATAN IS A LIAR...! DON'T BELIEVE him...

7) Remember to Pray!

We all get so busy with all the things we have to do in work and play…Things like, taking care of our family, cutting the grass, taking out the garbage, watching football on the tube or the Braves…etc…

But listen...we should each be consistent in our talking to God…He wants to hear from each of us…We talk to Him through the communication of prayer… God wants to free us from anything that would hinder our full life and liberty in Him…

If you are dealing with guilt, choose the path that leads to life; repentance… Then stay on that path by fully accepting God's forgiveness and cleansing:

"Father, I confess my sins to You… Thank You for giving me of every sin I have ever committed… And thank You for releasing me from the burden of guilt… Help me to continue living every day for You… Amen."

8) God's Word On Guilt!
"Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is His flesh, ... let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (Heb. 10:19,20,22)

We need to always remember that the Wages of sin is death; but we have been given, freely the gift of God…which is salvation Through Jesus Christ our Lord...also remember the effect of lying on our conscience…simply said, sin is a killer and it will, if not repented of will pull each of us down to the pits of hell even while we are on earth...

Always remember God's faithfulness to forgive…When we come to His throne of Grace seeking His forgiveness with an true attitude of repentance He will remember our sin no more...He has no remembrance of sin…

Belief in Christ delivers from sin…Therefore we have true freedom from sin and guilt…