Scripture referenced 28 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Colossians 2:1-5 read aloud as context before the main passage, covering Paul's struggle for the Colossians and warning against deceptive arguments
1 For I desire to have you know how greatly I struggle for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
2 that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,
3 in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden.
4 Now this I say that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech.
5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
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Colossians 2:6-7
quoted as the 'walk it out' command, being rooted and built up in Christ
6 As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him,
7 rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving.
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Colossians 2:8
warning against being taken captive through philosophy and empty deception
8 Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.
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Colossians 2:9-12
fullness of deity in Christ, circumcision without hands, buried and raised with Him in baptism
9 For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily,
10 and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power;
11 in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
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Colossians 2:13-14
made alive with Christ, forgiven, certificate of debt canceled and nailed to the cross
13 You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
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Colossians 2:15
rulers and authorities disarmed, made a public display through Christ's triumph
15 having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
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Colossians 2:16-17
no one to judge regarding food, drink, festivals or sabbath, which are shadows; substance belongs to Christ
16 Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day,
17 which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.
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Colossians 2:18-19
warning against those who defraud believers by delighting in humility and worship of angels
18 Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshiping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth.
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Colossians 2:20-23
if died with Christ, why submit to worldly decrees; self-made religion and asceticism are of no value against fleshly indulgence
20 If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances,
21 “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch”
22 (all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men?
23 Which things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.
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Colossians 3:1-4
raised with Christ, seek things above, set minds above, life hidden with Christ in God
1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
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Colossians 3:5
treat earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amount to idolatry
5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
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Colossians 3:6-7
wrath of God coming on sons of disobedience; these were things the Colossians once walked in
6 for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.
7 You also once walked in those, when you lived in them;
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Colossians 3:8
rid yourselves of anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene speech
8 but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.
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Colossians 3:9-10
do not lie; stripped off old self, put on new self being renewed to true knowledge in the image of the Creator
9 Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,
10 and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator,
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Colossians 3:11
no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free; Christ is all and in all
11 where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
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Colossians 3:12-13
as chosen of God, be putting on heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with and forgiving one another as the Lord forgave
12 Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
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Colossians 3:14
put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity
14 Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.
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Colossians 3:15
let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body, and be thankful
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
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Colossians 3:16
let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
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Colossians 3:17
whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
17 Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
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Galatians 2:20
quoted to illustrate tandem crucifixion with Christ, no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me
20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.
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1 John 2:15-17
do not love the world; lust of flesh, lust of eyes, boastful pride of life are not from the Father; the world is passing away along with its lusts
15 Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s.
17 The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.
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Exodus 20:3
have no other gods before Me, referenced to explain how idolatry means putting anything in front of God
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
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1 Thessalonians 5:18
this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus, that you be thankful, also references avoiding sexual immorality
18 In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.
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Philippians 2
Paul cited as another place he brings up hymns and singing to the Lord
1 If therefore there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,
2 make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;
3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;
4 each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
5 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputes,
15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,
16 holding up the word of life; that I may have something to boast in the day of Christ, that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain.
17 Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice with you all.
18 In the same way, you also rejoice, and rejoice with me.
19 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered up when I know how you are doing.
20 For I have no one else like-minded, who will truly care about you.
21 For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.
22 But you know the proof of him, that, as a child serves a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the Good News.
23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it will go with me.
24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself also will come shortly.
25 But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, and your apostle and servant of my need;
26 since he longed for you all, and was very troubled, because you had heard that he was sick.
27 For indeed he was sick, nearly to death, but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow on sorrow.
28 I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that, when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such in honor,
30 because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.
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Romans 5:8
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, used in context of God making the first move in forgiveness
8 But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
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James 4:6
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, cited while discussing humility
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
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Romans 2:4
the kindness of God leads people to repentance, cited while discussing putting on kindness
4 Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
The message worked through Colossians 3:5-17, with the preacher reading back through chapter 2 to set the context, then walking the congregation through what it looks like to actually live out the new life they have been given in Christ. The controlling image was simple: taking off dirty clothes and putting on clean ones. The point kept returning to the same place - union with Christ should produce a certain kind of walking, and that walking is both commanded and made possible by what God has already done.
What was said
Before reaching the main passage, the preacher read through Colossians 2 to reconnect the congregation after three weeks away from the letter. The thread he kept pulling was the idea of walking it out - a phrase that had been a kind of informal benediction at a Monday night service, and the same idea Paul presses in chapter 2 when he writes that just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so be walking in him. Everything that follows in chapter 3 is the practical shape of that walk.
The first thing Paul does in chapter 3 is name what needs to come off: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed. The preacher noted that Paul calls all of these idolatry, because anything placed in front of God amounts to having another god. The reasoning Paul gives is that the believer has already died with Christ and been raised with him, so these things belong to a self that no longer defines them. They are clothes from a former life, and wearing them makes no sense.
The list then extends to anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene speech. The preacher worked through each one carefully, drawing a distinction between anger as an involuntary reaction - which Paul acknowledges is normal - and wrath, which is a more intense and sustained state. Malice, he said plainly, is wishing harm on someone. Slander is saying the bad thing out loud. And obscene speech is about as close as the Bible comes to saying, quit cussing.
Lying gets its own mention, and the preacher connected it to the same logic: the old self has been stripped off, so lying belongs to a way of operating that the believer has already left behind. The new self, he said, is not something the believer manufactures. It is being renewed by God, which is a divine passive - God is the one doing that work, and he knows better than anyone how he wired each person and what he intends to do with them.
The putting-on list is what follows. A heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. The preacher pressed on each one as a characteristic of Christ himself, and therefore as something that should characterize those who are in him. Bearing with one another requires patience. Forgiveness he called the center of what Christianity actually is - the canceling of a debt that was hostile to us - and he said that forgiving someone who may never come to you is still good for you. Unforgiveness, he said, is a poison pill you take and expect the other person to die.
Over all of it, Paul places love, and the preacher spent time on the Hebrew concept behind the Greek word used here. He described it as sticky love - a term he credited to a pastor friend whose license plates read "hesed," meaning he wanted to be surrounded front and back by the steadfast, covenant love of God. That kind of love, selfless and others-focused, is what binds everything else together and what makes unity in the body of Christ possible across every difference of background or disposition.
The final commands of the passage - letting the peace of Christ rule and letting the word of Christ dwell richly - are both third-person imperatives, a grammatical form English does not normally use. The preacher explained that Paul is commanding something to happen, not just making a suggestion. Peace is available and God is pressing it toward us, but it has to be received with humility. The word dwelling richly means it is at home in us, living there, and when it does, the congregation becomes capable of teaching and admonishing one another through psalms and hymns and spiritual songs - doing everything, as the passage closes, in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Pray specifically this week for the community of Juan de Santo Tomas in Guatemala, which the preacher described as a spiritually dark place in need of Jesus.
- Think of one person you have not forgiven and take a step toward releasing that, remembering that unforgiveness is, as the message put it, a poison pill you take expecting the other person to die.
- Before you speak or act, run it through the question the preacher drew from the passage: can I do this in the name of the Lord Jesus? If not, stop.
- Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly this week by bringing the gospel into at least one conversation, what the preacher called gospeling each other.
- Pick one thing from the list the passage names, anger, slander, greed, obscene talk, or whatever you know fits you personally, and treat it as something to take off, the way you would take off clothes that no longer fit.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The preacher described Juan de San Tomas as the darkest place spiritually he had been in a long time, just miles from some of the best ministry he had seen. What does that contrast stir up in you, and how does it shape the way you pray for places you will never visit?
- The preacher said that 'looking out for number one is the norm for human beings' and that Madison Avenue knows it and sells to it. Where do you see that pull most clearly in your own life, and how does being in Christ push back against it?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
El mensaje partió de Colosenses 3:5-17, aunque primero se recorrió el capítulo 2 para recordar el contexto: Cristo es la plenitud de Dios en forma humana, y en Él los creyentes ya han sido perdonados, liberados de su deuda de pecado y resucitados a una vida nueva. Esa base es la razón de todo lo que viene después. No se trata de esfuerzo propio ni de religión de apariencias, sino de vivir desde lo que Cristo ya hizo.
A partir de ahí, el mensaje describió dos movimientos concretos: quitarse y ponerse, como quien cambia de ropa. Lo que hay que quitarse son las prácticas del pasado: inmoralidad, avaricia, ira, malicia, mentira y palabras obscenas. Lo que hay que ponerse es el carácter de Cristo: compasión, humildad, gentileza, paciencia, perdón mutuo, y por encima de todo, el amor que busca el bien del otro. Se habló especialmente del perdón como algo que libera a quien perdona, no al ofensor, y se insistió en que la unidad en el cuerpo de Cristo no requiere uniformidad, sino estar todos unidos a Cristo como cabeza.
El cierre se centró en dos mandatos del texto: dejar que la paz de Cristo sea el árbitro en el corazón, y dejar que la Palabra de Cristo habite con riqueza en la vida diaria, expresándose en enseñanza mutua, corrección humilde, y canciones de gratitud a Dios. La pregunta final fue sencilla: ¿qué ropa sucia hay que dejar hoy, y qué hay que ponerse en su lugar?
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Pasajes bíblicos usados
- Colosenses 2 (leído completo como contexto)
- Colosenses 3:5-17 (texto principal)
- Gálatas 2:20
- 1 Juan 2:15-17
- 1 Tesalonicenses 5 (sobre la gratitud y la voluntad de Dios)
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