Living the New Life in Christ

by Mike Ratliff

1What shall we say then? m Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can n we who died to sin still live in it? (Romans 6:1-2 ESV)

One of the most unpopular Christian teachings is summed up in Romans 6:1-2. I have been in discussion with some professing Christians who detest any teaching calling for repentance and walking before the face of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, denying self, taking up one’s cross and following Christ. These same ones look at sermons such as Jonathan Edward’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” with disgust. They claim this is self-righteousness and calls for salvation by works. Nowhere do we teach salvation by any means other than Justification by faith alone. On the other hand, we do teach that from that moment of rebirth into God’s family, He begins the sanctification process in the life of the believer that will not end in this temporal existence.  This sanctification, unlike our justification, is synergistic. We cooperate with God in our spiritual growth. This is where we learn to walk in repentance through the fires of tribulation, to abide in Christ as we are pruned, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and to put on the new self.

¹ει ουν συνηγερθητε τω χριστω τα ανω ζητειτε ου ο χριστος εστιν εν δεξια του θεου καθημενος  ²τα ανω φρονειτε μη τα επι της γης  ³απεθανετε γαρ και η ζωη υμων κεκρυπται συν τω χριστω εν τω θεω  ⁴οταν ο χριστος φανερωθη η ζωη ημων τοτε και υμεις συν αυτω φανερωθησεσθε εν δοξη (Colossians 3:1-4 WHNU)

¹If yee then bee risen with Christ, seeke those thinges which are aboue, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God.  ²Set your affections on things which are aboue, and not on things which are on the earth.  ³For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  ⁴When Christ which is our life, shall appeare, then shall ye also appeare with him in glory. (Colossians 4:1-4 Geneva)

¹ If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  ²Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  ³For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  ⁴When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 4:1-4 KJV)

1 b If then you have been raised with Christ, seek c the things that are above, where Christ is, d seated at the right hand of God. 2 e Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For f you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ g who is your [1] life h appears, then you also will appear with him i in glory. (Colossians 4:1-4 ESV)

Who is the “you” in v1 of this passage? Paul is speaking of Christians. What does it mean that Christians “have been raised with Christ?” The words “have been raised” in English are one Greek word, συνηγερθητε. This word literally means, “to awaken together, both with cooperation and common activity.” Christ assumed a “new” life after His resurrection. As we see in Romans 6:10, this also involves at the same time revivifying those that are His. It refers to the delivery from the state into which they have been brought by sin and which brought death to them (Romans 6:4,10). Therefore, συνηγερθητε expresses not merely the similarity of the deliverance from death of sin to new life in Christ, but it affirms that it is connected with Christ’s resurrection. It also refers to an effect brought about on God’s part through His death and resurrection of it in baptism (Romans 6:4). Practically, the meaning of συνηγερθητε coincides with the Christian’s justification (Romans 4:25; 5:1; Colossians 2:12,13). All of that to say, “since we have been raised with Christ…”

Because we have been raised with Christ, Paul tells us that we must obey his command to seek those things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Genuine Christians are not simply religious. They do not believe that religiosity alone is sufficient for them to be in obedience to God. No, the genuine Christian is drawn closer and deeper in their relationship with the Saviour. As Paul says in v2, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” This is telling us to pursue a deeper knowledge of Christ Himself (Philippians 3:10) and all that belongs to living with and for Him (Matthew 6:33). It also involves living a life worthy of His name (Colossians 1:10; 2:6).

What does it mean that Christ is seated at the right hand of God? He is in a position of authority where He can make intercession with the Father for His people. Therefore, Christians should be focused in all they do with their hearts focused on Christ instead of the teachings of men (the things that are on earth.) In other words, the God ordained teacher/preacher that Christians should follow will rightly divide God’s Word with them. He will teach/preach expository lessons and sermons. These teachings will be exegetically correct. On the other hand, the teachings of men that we are not set our hearts on will be based on human philosophy and will be man-focused. What we learn from the Word of God is that we are unable to obey God outside of His grace, but He is gracious and gives us the ability to abide in Christ, take up our crosses, and follow Him. On the other hand, the man-focused teachers will look at the commands in God’s Word like we just read in these verses and say, “we can’t do it so God really only wants me to be religious.”

Look carefully at vv3-4. This is talking about the security of the believer. As Christians trust in their Saviour, they are hidden in Him. Also, genuine believers know that Christ is their all, their whole life. They know that they will never be perfect in this life so the objection by those with a temporal, man-focus saying that the call for an obedient, humble walk before the face of God is ludicrous, is itself a sign that there is a huge problem with their relationship with the Saviour. The genuine Christian knows that perfection is what awaits in glory and will be theirs when Christ returns. Therefore, they will seek to obey God in their humility by prayerfully denying self and walking through each day keeping all they do within His Lordship. Yes, there will be failures because the flesh is weak and we are easily distracted, but that is why God gave us 1 John 1:9 and prayer.

⁵νεκρωσατε ουν τα μελη τα επι της γης πορνειαν ακαθαρσιαν παθος επιθυμιαν κακην και την πλεονεξιαν ητις εστιν ειδωλολατρια  ⁶δι α ερχεται η οργη του θεου  ⁷εν οις και υμεις περιεπατησατε ποτε οτε εζητε εν τουτοις  ⁸νυνι δε αποθεσθε και υμεις τα παντα οργην θυμον κακιαν βλασφημιαν αισχρολογιαν εκ του στοματος υμων  ⁹μη ψευδεσθε εις αλληλους απεκδυσαμενοι τον παλαιον ανθρωπον συν ταις πραξεσιν αυτου  ¹⁰και ενδυσαμενοι τον νεον τον ανακαινουμενον εις επιγνωσιν κατ εικονα του κτισαντος αυτον  ¹¹οπου ουκ ενι ελλην και ιουδαιος περιτομη και ακροβυστια βαρβαρος σκυθης δουλος ελευθερος αλλα παντα και εν πασιν χριστος (Colossians 3:5-11 WHNU)

⁵Mortifie therefore your members which are on the earth, fornication, vncleannes, the inordinate affection, euill concupiscence, and couetousnes which is idolatrie.  ⁶For the which things sake ye wrath of God commeth on the children of disobedience.  ⁷Wherein ye also walked once, when ye liued in them.  ⁸But now put ye away euen all these things, wrath, anger, maliciousnes, cursed speaking, filthie speaking, out of your mouth.  ⁹Lie not one to another, seeing that yee haue put off the olde man with his workes,  ¹⁰And haue put on the newe, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him,  ¹¹Where is neither Grecian nor Iewe, circumcision nor vncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, free: But Christ is all, and in all things. (Colossians 3:5-11 Geneva)

⁵Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:  ⁶For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:  ⁷In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.  ⁸ But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.  ⁹ Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;  ¹⁰ And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:  ¹¹ Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:5-11 KJV)

5 j Put to death therefore k what is earthly in you: [1] l sexual immorality, impurity, m passion, evil desire, and covetousness, n which is idolatry. 6 o On account of these the wrath of God is coming. [2] 7 p In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now q you must put them all away: r anger, wrath, malice, s slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 t Do not lie to one another, seeing that u you have put off v the old self [3] with its practices 10 and w have put on x the new self, y which is being renewed in knowledge z after the image of a its creator. 11 b Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, [4] free; but Christ is c all, and in all. (Colossians 3:5-11 ESV)

Here is the passage that so many object to. As we saw in yesterday’s post, suffering with Christ severs the hold sin has on us. When we suffer as Christians for Christ’s sake, et cetera, we are participating in His death. Yes, we died with Him if we are in Him, but we must continue to walk through this temporal existence. In this, we are called to live and work and witness and make disciples, but we are also called to put to death (νεκρωσατε) sinful practices that our flesh loves. This Greek word literally means to make something dead that is alive. Our flesh loves the ways of the world and the sin therein. We were born fallen and grew up serving our flesh. This command is made in light of the fact that all in Christ have died with Him (Colossians 2:20; 3:3). Therefore, they can get rid of sinful practices (Romans 6:11; 8:13).

How are we to do this my brethren? We must take several measures. The first are watchfulness and prayerfulness.

41 q Watch and u pray that you v may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41 ESV)

Then we must follow with self-discipline:

29 k If your right eye l causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into m hell. 30 k And if your right hand l causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into m hell. (Matthew 5:29-30 ESV)

This is deliberate overstatement by our Lord during His Sermon on the Mount. We must take sin seriously. We must become self-disciplined to the point of cutting out of our lives the things and people our enemy and our flesh are using to draw us into sin. We do not expose our members to the things that would tempt us to sin. We do this prayerfully and in worship of our Lord. We place our devotion, prayer, and worship higher than the earthly things that make us stumble. We put more priority on being delighted in God than in watching TV. Friends that cause us to stumble should be avoided. In any case, we must prayerfully live our lives before the face of God in such a way that He is ruler and what He values, we value. What God hates, we hate. What God loves, we love. Do you see it my brethren? Thankfully, God did not leave us with just a set of things to kill. He also gave us what to actively do that will replace these evil things. We learn to put off and kill the evil things and put on what is of God.

¹²ενδυσασθε ουν ως εκλεκτοι του θεου αγιοι και ηγαπημενοι σπλαγχνα οικτιρμου χρηστοτητα ταπεινοφροσυνην πραυτητα μακροθυμιαν  ¹³ανεχομενοι αλληλων και χαριζομενοι εαυτοις εαν τις προς τινα εχη μομφην καθως και ο κυριος εχαρισατο υμιν ουτως και υμεις  ¹⁴επι πασιν δε τουτοις την αγαπην ο εστιν συνδεσμος της τελειοτητος  ¹⁵και η ειρηνη του χριστου βραβευετω εν ταις καρδιαις υμων εις ην και εκληθητε εν [ενι] σωματι και ευχαριστοι γινεσθε  ¹⁶ο λογος του χριστου ενοικειτω εν υμιν πλουσιως εν παση σοφια διδασκοντες και νουθετουντες εαυτους ψαλμοις υμνοις ωδαις πνευματικαις εν χαριτι αδοντες εν ταις καρδιαις υμων τω θεω  ¹⁷και παν ο τι εαν ποιητε εν λογω η εν εργω παντα εν ονοματι κυριου ιησου ευχαριστουντες τω θεω πατρι δι αυτου (Colossians 3:12-17 WHNU)

¹²Now therfore as the elect of God holy and beloued, put on the bowels of mercies, kindnesse, humblenesse of minde, meekenesse, long suffering:  ¹³Forbearing one another, and forgiuing one another, if any man haue a quarel to another: euen as Christ forgaue, euen so doe ye.  ¹⁴And aboue all these thinges put on loue, which is the bond of perfectnes.  ¹⁵And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which ye are called in one body, and be ye thankfull.  ¹⁶Let the worde of Christ dwell in you plenteously in all wisdome, teaching and admonishing your owne selues, in Psalmes, and hymnes, and spirituall songs, singing with a grace in your hearts to the Lord.  ¹⁷And whatsoeuer ye shall doe, in worde or deede, doe all in the Name of the Lord Iesus, giuing thankes to God euen the Father by him. (Colossians 3:12-17 Geneva)

¹²Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;  ¹³Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.  ¹⁴And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.  ¹⁵And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.  ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  ¹⁷ And what soever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. (Colossians 3:12-17 KJV)

12 d Put on then, as e God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, f compassionate hearts, g kindness, h humility, meekness, and patience, 13 h bearing with one another and, i if one has a complaint against another, g forgiving each other; g as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on j love, which k binds everything together in l perfect harmony. 15 And let m the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called n in one body. And o be thankful. 16 Let p the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, q singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, r with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And s whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, t giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:12-17 ESV)

We are commanded to put on (ενδυσασθε) a list of Christian attributes. In other words, Paul is calling us to a holy lifestyle. This genuine Christian lifestyle is consistent with our new identity in Christ. Each one truly in Christ has been chosen personally by God to stand before Him as His beloved holy ones. This command is to live up to what we are in Christ. Now, before we go into these Christian attributes remember that if these mark our lives then those sinful attributes in vv8-9 will not. We are to put those things off and put on these godly attributes. These attributes are actually Christ’s very character being manifest in us as we surrender more and more to the Lordship of Christ. We become living sacrifices whose minds are continually being renewed through Bible Study, prayer, worship, reading Godly books and hearing Godly preaching and teaching. As our minds are renewed, we will become transformed or changed into those who match up with this list of godly attributes (Romans 12:1-2). The fruit of the spirit will be manifest in and through us. I personally love v16 very much. If we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, et cetera then God will change us.

This new life in Christ is one that God grows in us in order that we become in reality what we are spiritually in Christ. Nowhere have I ever taught that we must legalistically do these things, follow certain steps, et cetera in order to become a spirit-filled Christian. However, we must learn to put to death the parts of our lives that draw us into sin. Then we must walk in repentance and expose ourselves to what is good in God’s eyes. That means that we become separate from the world and its ways. We pursue God and shun the world and our former sinful lusts. We do this by His grace and the more we do it, the more He changes us. Over time, we will find that He has taken us on a journey down the narrow path. He has taken us through fiery trials and tests and protected us through it all that we would not fall away. When we reach the end of this journey, we will be ready to enter into eternity with our Saviour. We are able to walk this narrow path each and every day only because we keep our eyes on our Lord and cherish what awaits us in eternity (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Soli Deo Gloria!