Christocentric 6 – Finding Righteousness

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things of this earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God... Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry... But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth... Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering... But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection... 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. (Colossians 3:1–17)

Many seek righteousness through religion, but the Bible reveals it is found in Christ alone—and that changes the center of everything.

A Revolution in the Center of Things

One of the great revolutions of the Renaissance came in the 16th century when the mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic cleric Nicholas Copernicus presented a new model for orbital mechanics. For many centuries the prevailing view had been geocentrism—that the whole solar system revolves around the earth, with the sun, moon, stars, and planets circling us. Copernicus put forward heliocentrism: the sun, not the earth, is at the center, and we orbit it along with Mars, Venus, and the rest. Over the next hundred years, men like Johannes Kepler and Galileo confirmed it, and it has been the view ever since.

Think of it like a yo-yo. When you spin it "around the world," the yo-yo is like the earth or the planets, the hand is the sun, and the tension on the string is what physicists call the centripetal force—the force that holds it in place so it doesn't fly off in some erratic path. Our lives are like that. We're all on a path, and certain things hold our lives in orbit. For some it's a spouse, kids, or a job. But one of the greatest gravitational pulls on human beings is the force of religion.

The Gravitational Pull of Religion

Of the nearly 7.4 billion people who call this planet home, nearly every one is religious in some way. Despite all our advances—scientific, technological, medical—we are not so different from the people of Paul's day. They were a religious people with many positions; so are we. Even though many in the scientific community over the last 200 years have predicted that religion would die, religion is as strong now as ever. Even some who decry religion have become very religious about their science, because religion has a strong gravitational pull.

I have felt that pull myself. As a young boy I grew up in an Episcopal church here in Vista, and there was something about the setting that drew me in. When my family moved to London, my mom took me as a nine-year-old to St. Paul's Cathedral. When you walk into the great cathedrals of Europe—the Cologne Dome, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Notre Dame in France—the sights, sounds, smells, and ceremony are gripping. Friends who have traveled to temples in places like India describe the same formalism. Religion can be very seductive because it makes us feel good. It affects us at a deeply profound level and pulls us in, because it can make us feel and even appear righteous.

Religion Can Make You Feel Holy, But Cannot Make You Holy

This same pull was being experienced by the Christians who lived in a city called Colosse 2,000 years ago. Religious formalism, self-denial, ceremonies, rites, and rituals were drawing them in like a tractor beam. Religion makes us feel holy, special, and set apart—but as the book of Colossians shows us, it cannot actually make us holy. It gives the appearance of righteousness, but cannot produce it.

In Colossians 2:21 Paul writes:

Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle... which all concern things which perish with the using, according to the commandments and doctrines of men.

And in verse 23:

These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

The New Living Translation puts verse 23 this way: "These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires." Like the psychic surgeries common in another generation, this kind of religion is a placebo—the practitioner feels or appears holy, but is not. So Paul makes the case for abandoning that pseudo-righteousness. The philosophy is vain, deceptive, and high-sounding, but at the end of the day it is nonsense, because it cannot fix you.

And there is a sad and dangerous reality. As we witnessed close to home this last week in San Bernardino, certain wicked practices find themselves in the orbit of some religions. It is not only Islam—some within the Christian religion have done vile things in times past. As we start to feel holy and special, we can look at those outside our religion as unholy and expendable. That is where religion becomes dangerous. Our lives are all seeking a center, something around which to orbit. And so in Colossians 3, Paul begins to speak about the Christ-centric life.

Religious Efforts Cannot Save You, But Jesus Can

Paul says, "If then you were raised with Christ." One commentator notes that this "if" is the if of argument—it carries the sense of "since." Paul assumes that those he writes to are followers of Jesus. He probably didn't imagine people would still be reading this letter 2,000 years later, but I hope you are a follower of Jesus today. If not, and a friend or family member brought you, we're glad you're here.

Those raised with Christ are those who have put their trust and confidence in Jesus for their salvation. They are no longer trusting their own abilities, efforts, or anything else to make them holy. They have been spiritually raised—what Jesus described to Nicodemus in John 3 as being born again. Colossians 2:13 says you were "dead in trespasses." That is the experience of all humanity since the fall in Genesis 3—every human being is born spiritually dead, and Jesus came to bring resurrection.

This leads to our first point: religious efforts cannot save you, but Jesus can. It may be simple, but if you are attending church hoping that your attendance, your good works, or your avoidance of certain bad things will make you righteous, it will never be enough. You need Christ, and Christ alone is the one who can make us right.

What Jesus Does That Religion Cannot

When you put your confidence in Jesus, you experience what religion can never produce. First, a spiritual new birth—you are raised to new life in Christ. Second, an internal transformation. Religion is all about externals, but Paul speaks in Colossians 2:11 of "the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ."

Third, you experience a death, burial, and resurrection unto newness of life, pictured beautifully in baptism. We practice full immersion here: a person goes down under the water and comes up again, dying and being buried with Christ and rising to walk in newness of life. And fourth, as Colossians 2:14–23 describes, you experience a release from the bondage of law, sin, death, and judgment. Religion can't accomplish any of that.

Jesus Must Be the Center of Our Orbit

Since this is the case, Paul says in 3:1, "seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God." One commentator notes that "seek" implies practical effort—actual steps we take—while "set your mind" is purely internal and mental. Paul wants the whole of our being fixed on Jesus. He becomes the center of our lives, and we begin to orbit Him. We are Christocentric.

This is our second point: Jesus must be the one around which the Christian's life orbits. It means leaving the gravitational pull of earthly, worldly, religious effort and centering ourselves on Jesus.

Why should we do this? Paul answers in verses 3–4: "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." Your old life is gone; your new life is hidden with Him. And there is coming a day when He will return and you will return with Him in glory. Jesus promised in John 14, "In My Father's house are many dwelling places... I go to prepare a place for you... I will come again and receive you to Myself."

This place is not our eternal home, thank God. I'm experiencing this right now—my house is full of boxes floor to about five feet high because we're moving. I've loved that house for seven or eight years. But a couple days ago I walked out front and saw a big gopher hole, and where normally I'd be furious, I thought, "Not my house." That's how the Christian life should be with this world. We're called to be good stewards of what God has given, but this is not our eternal home, so our focus shifts to Him.

Everything Jesus Hates, I Should Detest

People used to say of Christians, "You're so heavenly minded you're no earthly good." Sadly that's hardly ever true—more often we're neither heavenly minded nor earthly good. God wants to change that. So how do we seek the things above?

Colossians 3:5 says, "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Put to death sexual immorality, impurity, wicked desire, and greed for the things of this world—all of which is idolatry. The King James says "mortify" these things. Have a murderous ambition against them.

Why? Verses 6–7: "Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them." Here is the third point: everything Jesus hates, I should detest. How do I know God hates something? When He says He's going to pour out His wrath on it. So if God will pour out His wrath on fornication, uncleanness, evil desire, covetousness, and idolatry, you might want to stay away from those things. You may have been dominated by these before you followed Jesus—but now you follow Jesus, so stop it. You don't need to understand Greek to know that. Don't just become more religious; become righteous. Many of us can keep all the religious rituals and still be wicked in our hearts.

Putting Off the Old, Putting On the New

Verse 8 continues: "But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth." The mindsets in verse 8 are the root of the actions in verse 5. Anger is a violent temper. Wrath is that temper boiling over into heated passion. Malice is a seething internal ill will toward someone else—that thought when an unliked person pops into your mind and you find yourself wishing harm on them, all glossed over with a pie-crust Christianity that looks nice on the outside but is atomic hot inside.

Blasphemy, in its original context, has nothing to do with God—it simply means ill-speaking of someone else. Malice always bubbles over into slanderous gossip. And notice how gossip always comes out among Christians: "We need to pray for so-and-so." "Really? Why?" "Well, let me tell you..." Guilty as charged. Filthy language is foul, obscene speaking of others. These things are unbecoming of a follower of Jesus. If they define your Monday through Saturday, no amount of religious effort on Sunday will undo it.

Verse 9: "Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds." Notice the past tense—if you're a Christian, you have put off the old man. Verse 10: you "have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him." Every "put off" has a corresponding "put on." As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." Having died to the past, now live in the righteous present.

This is possible by the power of Christ in us. Point four: the righteousness of Christ enables my righteous living. No amount of confession, formalized prayers, fasting, or good works will enable you to walk in righteousness. Only the righteousness of Christ has the power to make wicked people righteous.

Putting On Christlike Virtues

So what is my part? Verse 12: "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved..." Here are three things to hold on to: God chose you, God loves you, and God made you holy. Whether or not you feel it, that is what the Bible says about the Christian. So live out your holiness.

How? "Put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another... But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts." Notice these are all relational virtues—between you and your neighbor, your brother or sister, the person in the chair next to you. You don't need a seminary degree: be merciful, be kind, be humble, be meek. Some people you have to suffer with a long time; bear with them, forgive them with Christ-like pardon, and love them above all. Be a peacemaker—reach out to the person you didn't like because of what they said or did or stole.

I realize I may be glossing over heavy things people have done to you. But in the Christ-centric life Jesus says, "Love that person and forgive them." You may say they're unlovable. You were unlovable, and God loved you. By His power you can do what He has called you to do. Religious formalism can never deal with a wicked heart of malice and hatred. So point 4.5: righteous living is more important than religious living. Religious habits and disciplines can be good if they point you closer to God; but when they become the center of your orbit, they're a distraction.

Four Steps Toward Righteous Living

How do I progress toward being merciful, kind, humble, meek, forbearing, forgiving, loving, and peacemaking? Paul gives four steps in verses 16–17, and they're so simple you may say, "Really, that's it?" Yes.

First: the Word. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." God's Word is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, and it transforms us from the inside out. Many Christians try to binge on the Bible—starting in Genesis on January 1, reading several passages, and quitting by January 27. They never digest the Scripture. So let me make it easy. On the back of your sermon guide is thelisteningplan.com. Subscribe with your name and email, and every weekday morning you'll get a short devotion and a link to the audio of that day's Scripture—because faith comes by hearing.

I stumbled on this preparing to teach: there are 260 chapters in the New Testament. I asked Siri how many weekdays there are this year, and she said 260. One New Testament chapter every weekday takes you through the whole New Testament in a year. I guarantee that if from January 1 to December 31 you let the Word of God dwell in you richly, you will grow in tender mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, forbearance, forgiveness, love, and peacemaking—because God's Word is powerful.

Second: fellowship. "Teaching and admonishing one another." A recent survey here found only 28% of our church are involved in connect groups; in 2016 we want to reach 50% or more. As iron sharpens iron, God transforms you through other believers. You will never grow to maturity in Christ by yourself. When you tell a brother about that person at work you can't stand, he can say, "You shouldn't be like that—you need to forgive them." You won't get that alone.

Third: worship. "In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." There is nothing more Christocentric than corporate worship. When we gather and worship, we set our minds on things above, and you cannot spend time in God's presence and leave unchanged.

Fourth: mission. "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." The New Living Translation says, "do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus." We tend to think only pastors and missionaries are ambassadors of Jesus, but every follower of Jesus is an ambassador of the kingdom of God. When you're about to lose your cool with the person who made you mad, remembering you represent Jesus will change how you respond. When you're about to yell at the driver who cut you off and give them a hand gesture—I hope you see, as I often do, that cross-connection sticker in your rear-view mirror and remember you're an ambassador of Jesus.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, be in fellowship with other believers, worship the Lord with others, and recognize you're an ambassador of Jesus—and you will see these things begin to change in your life. I guarantee it.

Closing Prayer

Father, none of the religious things we can do—fasting, self-denial, self-discipline, circumcisions or baptisms or whatever it may be—none of these makes us kind, humble, meek, patient, forgiving, loving, or peacemaking. The Lord Jesus, Your Word, the fellowship of the body of Christ, worshiping You, and recognizing our mission in You transforms us. So God, I pray that You'd help us recognize and walk in these things this week, to spend time with You and Your Word. Lord, make us more like You. As we finish 2015 and come into 2016, I pray this next year would be a year of growth for each of us unto maturity, and that our lives would shine brighter for You, for Your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.