Colossians 3:15

- the theme of the book of Colossians is the "preeminence of Jesus
Christ."
- or the sufficiency of Jesus Christ

- One of the many examples of that theme is Col. 2:9-10 - "For in Christ
dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily, and you are complete
in Him."

- all through this book Paul is reminding these dear believers of
that great truth and then calling them to live in a way that is
consistent with it.

- as we've been studying, we've seen that it was so important for the
folks in this church to get that truth nailed down.
- because there were many people in their world, who in many
different ways
- were undermining the preeminence of Christ

- and saying in one way or another--Christ is not enough.
- He's not enough to save you (you need something else)
- He's not enough to keep you (you need something else)
- He's not enough to provide the solutions for the
problems of life (you need something else)

- there was a steady stream of people in their world who stood ready to
offer all sorts of "something elses"
- you need legalism
- you need philosophy
- you need mysticism

- you need "ad infinitum"....but all the while UNDERMINING the
sufficiency and superiority of Jesus Christ.

- as we've worked our way through the message of this book, it's almost
taken our breathe away
- because we've responded so many times...but that's like the
world we live in.

- there are so many folks (both outside and unfortunately even
inside the church) that are saying by their words and their
actions that Jesus Christ is not enough.

- we have been saying with the apostle Paul in Col. 2:6-7 - "Just as we
received Jesus Christ as our sufficient Lord, we are going to
continue to walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established
in the faith, just as we have been taught."

- that’s why it's so important to us to have Christ-centered lives...
Christ centered marriages.....families....and a Christ centered church
- most recently, many of us have been studying chapter 3, where Paul has
given what is surely one of the most important principles of Christian
growth.
- the Put Off and Put On principle.

- the argument is this:
- people who are convinced about the sufficiency (preeminence,
superiority) of Jesus Christ are actively and aggressively seeking
to grow and change, carefully using God's methods.

- let me ask you two questions about that and then we'll move into the
next verses:

INPUT - How/Why is this statement true? (that people who are convinced
about the sufficiency (preeminence, superiority) of Jesus
Christ are actively and aggressively seeking to grow and
change, carefully using God's methods.)

INPUT - What are some things that this passage of Scripture tells us to
put off, and what are some things this passage tells us to put
on?

- now, this morning, we'd like to study Col. 3:15-17.

- we need to say at the outset....
1) These are some of best known verses in the NT
2) For many of us, they are some of our favorite verses in the NT
3) Unfortunately, they are some of the most often mis-quoted and
often mis-applied verses in the whole OT (especially because
many times they are discussed apart from their context).

- we're going to title these verses: Evidences Of A Person Who's Growing
God's Way - Part I

- in other words, if you and I are putting of sinful habits and putting
on godly ones at the rate God wants us to (in accordance to chapter
3:5-14) what should we expect to be true?

- or another way of asking that would be, what are some objective
areas on which to test whether I'm growing (putting off sinful
habits and replacing them with godly ones) at the rate God
desires.

- READ 3:15-17

- one way to tell if you are growing God's way is if you:

I. Let The Peace of Christ Rule You

- this is the only Roman numeral we're going to attempt to cover this
morning--Lord willing we'll complete these verses and this outline
next week.

- people who are putting off sinful habits and putting on godly ones
have biblical peace.
- people who aren't putting off sinful habits and replacing them with
godly ones don't have biblical peace.

- now, there are several issues we need to work through in order to
fully understand what this verse is saying:

A. What is biblical peace?

- the answer to that question has at least two parts:

1) an agreement, pact, treaty, or bond

2) an attitude of rest or security

- INPUT - what is the relationship between those two?
(you've got to have #1 before you can have #2)

- that's a significant issue:

- often when someone wants to talk about peace, they
automatically want to jump to #2---without being willing
to take the steps indicated by #1.

- a person might say--I'd like to have peace with God...but I'm not
willing to admit that I'm a sinner, or I'm not willing to admit that
I need a Savior
- I'm not willing to repent of my sin and turn to the cross

- the attitude of rest or security comes only after two people, or
two parties come together and iron out their differences.

- that’s why the Dictionary of NT Theology defines biblical peace as:

1) the cessation of war.

2) a condition resulting from the cessation of war.

- again, you see both elements.

- now, let's move on and work through this chart together, and see if we
can add some more biblical truth to this idea of letting the peace of
God rule us.

B. Chart
___________________________________________________________________

Kind of Peace Passage Opposite Substitute Benefit
___________________________________________________________________

Peace w/God

___________________________________________________________________

Peace w/others

___________________________________________________________________

Peace within

___________________________________________________________________

- First, let's go through the following passages, and ask:
Is this verse talking about peace with God, peace with others,
or peace within? (there's obviously some overlap)

(On transparency - type out)
- Rom. 5:1, Rom. 3:17, Isa. 26:3, Eph. 4:3, Jer. 12:12, I Thes.
5:13, Phil. 4:7

- (next, go through questions and complete chart quickly)

C. What "peace" is especially in focus in Col. 3:15?

- the answer to that question is - "peace with others"
- especially, corporate peace in the church.

- INPUT - What are some things from the context that help us see
that Col. 3:15 is speaking primarily of "peace with others"
or "corporate peace in the church"?

1) previous verses - put offs and put ons - deal primarily
with our relationships with others.

2) pronouns "you" and "yours" in verses 15-17 are all plural

3) v. 15 - "called in one body"

4) v. 16 - "teaching and admonishing ONE ANOTHER"

- so this is a corporate "body life" kind of a passage.

- our sufficient Savior wants His church to be characterized
by peace
- of course that's also true of what He wants to see in
a Christian home.
- it should also be true of a person personally
- and I do realize I'm going to have to balance this
out in a minute---but the thrust of Colossians 3:15
is that our Lord wants His church to be ruled by the
peace of Jesus Christ.

- and men and women who are growing and changing using God's
method of change and growth are going to be people who
contribute to that peace.

- now let's balance this some...

D. Are we saying.....

1) that we shouldn't address/solve problems?

INPUT? - (no, that’s not biblical peace--see the definition)

2) that we shouldn't confront sinfulness?

INPUT - (no, for exactly the same reason)--cf. also v. 16 -
teaching and admonishing....

- now from a different vein....

3) that peace is the final arbiter or umpire in decision making?

- most of us have heard this verse used as being the primary
issue in making decisions
...well, I have peace about it, therefore I'm going to
do it
...I don't have peace about it, therefore I'm not going
to do it.

- there are some real problems using this verse in this way.

INPUT - Problems with using Col. 3:15 as a primary issue in decision
making?

a) this context has absolutely nothing to do with making
decisions.

b) it places subjective experience over the Word of God.

c) often times, people "feel" very peaceful about sinning.

INPUT - biblical examples of people who sinned yet
apparently had peace?

a. Joseph's brothers (sold him into slavery--ordered
Kentucky Fried Chicken)

b. Annanias and Saphira - no apparent guilt even though
they were lying through their teeth.

- the other side of that is, there are times when doing what
God wants us to do is anything but peaceful.
- INPUT - Examples?

(develop - usually rewards us with peace afterwards)

- now, let's get back to the main argument of the verse.

E. How Does The Context Help Us Sharpen Our Understanding Of What
Paul Is Saying?

- the answer is - I must understand verse 15 in light of verses
5-14.

- we said it earlier, but let's say it again and then develop it
some....men and women who are growing and changing using God's
method of change and growth are going to be people who
contribute to the corporate peace of the church...and people
who aren't....don't.

- INPUT - How/Why is this true? (can answer either positively or
negatively)---How/Why is it true that men and women who
are growing and changing using God's method of change
and growth are going to be people who contribute to the
corporate peace of the church...and people who
aren't....don't.

- now let's add another idea from this verse:

F. Why is this idea stated as an imperative (command)?

- maybe we can answer a question with a question:

- INPUT - Is achieving peace a passive issue?

(cf. II Tim. 2:22 - Flee.....follow after ....peace)

- all of this leads to a very obvious question, doesn't it?

- does your lifestyle contribute to corporate peace?
- does your rate of growth contribute to corporate peace?

- now, let's bat this around for a moment...
INPUT - If a church family is not characterized by biblical peace,
what might it be characterized by instead?

INPUT - If a church family is not characterized by biblical peace,
what else will be affected?

- there's three more questions we'd like to address this morning:

G. How does "thanksgiving" fit into our discussion?

- people who sow division and discord stopped being thankful long
ago.

- (develop - you can really see this in a marriage....)

- to conclude this morning, let's come back full circle and think about:

H. How Does this verse fit into the theme of the book?

1. Our sufficient savior has made it possible for us to have
peace.

INPUT - Ways?

2. Our sufficient savior demands that we have peace.

G. What is the relationship between the message of this verse and
Christmas?