(Anno
Domini, abbreviated AD or A.D.
expressly complies with Isaiah 61:2 & Luke 4:19, i.e. “To proclaim the
acceptable year of the LORD.” (Isaiah 61:2)
5 Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 For which things' sake the wrath of God
cometh on the children of disobedience: 7 In 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. Col
3:5-11 (KJV)
If I were to ask you, dear reader, to peruse the above textual passage to
determine the leading point of the text, how would you respond? Would your
answer claim that those sins of the 5th verse amount to idolatry and
is, therefore, the salient point in the entire text? Or, would it be that the
wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience? Would it be the putting on
of the new man that stands starkly out in the text? While all of these are
vitally important to us, all of Scripture is comprehended in the last verse (11th),
final clause: “Christ is all, and in all.” This is another
vivid example of the succinct and meaningful manner of God’s expression of His
Word. No other author can express so much in such few words. As a matter of
fact, mortal man can write tomes and volumes on expository understanding of
Holy Scripture and still say far less than a single line of God’s Word. This is
so because God’s Word is unadulterated Truth. Man’s word is mere opinion,
though often informed by the truth of God’s Word.
The proof of a doctrine is the benefits obedience to it yields. Remember
back to the time when America was a predominantly Christian nation who practiced
the doctrines of the faith and obeyed the moral law. What was the beneficial
result of that faith and obedience? Flash forward to our modern day when every
solution to moral depravity is more teaching of the same to our youth. Every
solution seems acceptable to the modern humanist American mind EXCEPT the clear
and beneficial teaching of Holy Scripture. The absolute remedy for example of
the AIDs epidemic is an absolute adherence to a chaste life. The family circle,
well guarded, yields protection for every sexual disease. Biblical abstinence
outside of marriage answers the problem of abortion and homosexual miseries.
Honesty, not just in banking, but at all levels of human behavior (including
most notable, politics) will render great rewards in the common welfare of any
society. So Godly righteousness yields material, as well as spiritual,
benefits. There was a time in America when our youth were not drugged
zombies, when pregnancy of high school girls was cause for headlines in the New
York Times, when homosexual deviancy was just a bad rumor, and a man’s word and
handshake was as good as gold. What of the present?
“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which
is idolatry.” Our physical members that are subject to these sins
do not act without a mental impulse. The deed is first conceived as a thought
before it is acted out in the members of our bodies. Any and all things that
obscure our focus on God is idolatry. A married man may become enamored with
another woman by disregarding God’s counsel against harboring the thought and
giving it life. His inordinate affection, allowed to grow through sensual
cultivation, may reach the point that committing the forbidden sin takes
precedence over obedience to God. Is this not idolatry of the sorriest
dimension? We all are subject to these failures of character if we remain not
stayed upon Christ as our shepherd, Savior, and Master. When in elementary
school, we were required to memorize a poem entitled, The Camel’s Nose,
by Lydia Sigourney published in The Posey Ring, 1903:
The Camel's Nose
Once in his shop a workman wrought,
With languid head and listless thought,
When, through the open window's space,
Behold, a camel thrust his face!
"My nose is cold," he meekly cried;
"Oh, let me warm it by thy side!"
Since no denial word was said,
In came the nose, in came the head:
As sure as sermon follows text,
The long and scraggy neck came next;
And then, as falls the threatening storm,
In leaped the whole ungainly form.
Aghast the owner gazed around,
And on the rude invader frowned,
Convinced, as closer still he pressed,
There was no room for such a guest;
Yet more astonished, heard him say,
"If thou art troubled, go away,
For in this place I choose to stay."
O youthful hearts to gladness born,
Treat not this Arab lore with scorn!
To evil habits' earliest wile
]Lend neither ear, nor glance,
nor smile.
Choke the dark fountain ere it flows,
Nor e'en admit the camel's nose!
Lydia
H. Sigourney - 1815
Such a poem would be considered anathema in the public classroom today simply
because it is also MORAL. How did we reach the decline so reminiscent of the
Fall of the Roman Empire? What drove a moral and civilized society to opt for
calling those things which are good, evil; and those things which are evil,
good?
“For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of
disobedience.” Mankind is not my brother! Only those elect few out
of all mankind who profess the Lord Jesus Christ are my brothers and my
sisters. The claim of the Brotherhood of Man is as false as the pit of Hell is
hot. There are two families: 1) those who are the elect and chosen of God and
who profess a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; and 2) the children of
disobedience upon which the Prince of Darkness lays claim. There are no
in-between families. We are all one, or the other. Nations, too, experience the
wrath of God coming down on a collective family of disobedience.
“In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now
ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
communication out of your mouth.” Here is ground that often causes
some very zealous Christians to miss the mark. We declare strong judgment
against the lost sinner who behaves precisely the way we behaved 5 seconds
before we came wholeheartedly to Christ. Some have told me they would never
admit a prostitute or a homosexual to the worship service. That attitude is not
the character of the true Church of God. A church is to the sinner as the
hospital is to the injured. Is it possible for a prostitute, or a homosexual to
be accepted of God? Were YOU? Yes, if you were accepted, so can any other
sinner be accepted….only, we must forsake our sins when we come to Him with
contrite hearts. You may say, “Yes, Mr. Commentator, I am a sinner who has been
forgiven, but God says that no thief or homosexual will enter Heaven. That
would bar homosexuals, right?” “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” (1
Cor 6:9-10) Well,
that text does seem fairly straight forward in condemning all homosexuals to
the fires of Hell along with adulterers, thieves, covetous, drunks, dishonest
businessmen, etc. But we need not lift verses out of context and build a
doctrine thereupon. Read the rest of that passage: “And such were some of
you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”[1]
(1 Cor 6:11) We were all out of sorts until the Holy Spirit drew us to the
heart of God and made us into new Creatures in Christ.
“Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with
his deeds” Our old man (sinful souls) were twice dead in that they
were already dead to God before being quickened by the Holy Ghost. And when
that old man of sin comes to Christ, he dies again to make way for the new man
of creation. “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him.” That old fruit
of which Adam ate dies with the eating of the same sins of Adam; but the new
man is fed by the fruits for the Tree of Life and is made to have knowledge of
his first depravity and subsequent regeneration. Our minds now think in the Way
of Christ and not the Adversary.
Now we come to the crown jewel of today’s text – verse 11! “Where
there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian,
Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” This
verse, first of all, tells us that we are not saved by virtue of the faith of
our parents, or the blood that runs through our veins, or by our race, or
social status – we are saved by Grace through Faith. If we have come to Christ
by way of faith, then we are indeed the children of Abraham. Human blood has
nothing to do with our salvation except that shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Jew has no privilege greater than the Gentile, nor the Gentile over
the Jew. But let us examine with particular interest the last part of
this verse: “Christ is all, and in all.”
1.
Christ
is all in Creation. He created the world and all that is in the world. “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the
beginning with God. 3 All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1-3)
2.
Christ
is all in Providence and consistency of being. “And he is before all
things, and by him all things consist.” (Col
1:17) All things,
including our very lives, are upheld by the power of His Word moment by moment:
“….being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.” (Heb
1:3)
3.
Christ
is “All in All’ of redemption. “There is no other Name given under heaven
whereby we may be saved.” He is the Author and Finisher of our Faith.
You have no faith if it were not granted by Christ. “And from Jesus
Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and
the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us
from our sins in his own blood,” (Rev 1:5)
4.
Christ
is “All in All” of truth. He is the “Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
5.
Christ
is “All in All” of the preacher’s every sermon. We preach Christ, and Him
crucified!” He went through the waters of baptism before us; He was not
only the first to serve the Lord’s Supper, but was the central theme of it in
the elements of bread and wine.
6.
Christ
is “All in All” of the believer’s privilege and blessing. We are justified by
His Grace, by Faith in His Name. From the Lord Jesus Christ we are granted the
privilege of adoption into the household of God.
Christ is “All in All” to us in all of the above ways and
far more than just these. He loved us while we were yet enemies of God.
He is the first fruits of those who arise from the grave. He was first from the
beginning, and BEFORE the beginning. He is Alpha and Omega. He is the Light of
Life and the Bright and Morning Star. He is more than enough to fill
every volume ever written on this sphere.
Is
Jesus “All in All” to you? Do you study His Word as if this is the true?
[1]
Never forget the one
who wrote these words, Paul, Saint Paul, the scribe of almost half the New
Testament, was once Saul of Tarsus, the leading persecutor of the very early
Christian Church. If God chose
Saul to be Paul, can He not work the same miracle in you?
