Many parallels in way God set up relationship between a parent and a child and relationship between Himself and His children – This remains true even though many of us fail to experience those parallels in actual relationships we have with our earthly parents – One of those parallels is that, in both relationships, God designed union to precede moral conformity
A newborn son is given instant union with his father – Son instantly becomes recipient of father’s love, affection, care, blessing, and inheritance – And this happens before son has done anything of moral worthiness to earn father’s love – A newborn child has done nothing right or good to receive this love, but father’s love is given freely and abundantly, as a gift – And all son can as he lays there and cries is to receive it and to enjoy it
Likewise, daughter instantly has union with her mother, all way down to cellular level – And first several months of daughter’s life are simply this: enjoying free gift of union with her mother, which mother demonstrates through all those sleepless nights and changed diapers and affectionate snuggles
There is deep union that is instantly given to child – But, with time, another aspect is introduced to parent-child relationship – It is aspect of discipline – And, at heart of discipline, is a desire to see child come into conformity with parent’s expectations for what is right, good, and appropriate – And, hopefully, those are also what Lord deems to be right, good, and appropriate
And this discipline unto conformity can be painful and prickly at times, for both the parent and the child – But, done correctly, it is always a demonstration of love – It is not a break in parent-child union, it is a necessary continuation of parent-child union – As parent calls child to moral obedience and moral conformity, it is not union contradicted, it is union continued – And if both parent and child respond appropriately, it can create a deeper enjoyment of that union over time
God has set up His relationship with His children in church in much same way – He has designed it so that union with Him, through Christ Jesus, His Son, precedes moral conformity – He has set it up so that His love is given freely and abundantly, as a gift to be received and enjoyed – He has set it up so that we can have instant union with Him in Christ, by Spirit – And He has set it up so that His call for moral obedience is never a contradiction to that union, but a continuation of it, and an opportunity to enjoy that union more fully
That’s what we are going to talk about this morning as we look at Colossians 3:1-11 – Turn in your Bibles – We will read this whole section to start, then talk about how Union with Jesus produces Conformity to Jesus
Read Colossians 3:1-11
So, again, two big ideas this morning are that, through Gospel, we are given Union with Jesus – And through Gospel we are called to Conformity with Jesus – And, it is important to remember that it is the Union that ultimately compels and propels the Conformity
So, let’s start by talking about Union with Jesus
Notice a few phrases in v. 1-4
Paul writes: “you have been raised with Christ” – He writes “you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” – He writes “you also will appear with him in glory.” – Notice common idea here: “with Christ” – Raised with Christ – Hidden with Christ – Will appear with Christ
What you’re seeing is a theological concept we see throughout Paul’s writings about how believers have union with Christ through the Gospel, by Holy Spirit – And this concept is central to Paul’s understanding of how we obtain security and growth in Christian life
If you look at life and mission of Jesus, you see a two-fold movement in His life and ministry – You see His humiliation – And you see His exaltation – That two-fold movement is captured concisely and succinctly in Nicene Creed – Nicene Creed is a creed that was adopted by early church as a statement of belief way back in 4th century – And it captures humiliation and exaltation of Jesus – Let me read you a portion:
Son of God “for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.” [1]
So, we see humiliation of Jesus and we see exaltation of Jesus – And each of those pieces is fundamental to our understanding of Christian Gospel
Son of God came down from heaven – He was made man in Jesus Christ – He suffered – He was crucified for us – And He was buried
But that’s not end of story – Because He rose bodily from dead on third day – He ascended to right hand of Father in heaven – To a place of supreme blessing and authority, where He sits to intercede on our behalf at this very moment – And He shall one day return in glory to judge living and dead and to establish His Kingdom fully and finally as New Heavens and New Earth
And all of this was for us and for our salvation – Our rebellion against God had brought about reign sin and death on earth – Christ came to save us from that curse and to give us a new and eternal life – And this salvation we receive as a free gift of grace when we turn away from a life of sin and put our trust in Jesus
And when we receive this free gift of grace, something happens – We are born again by Holy Spirit – Holy Spirit of God comes and dwells within us and He puts us in spiritual union with Christ
And here’s what that means – It means that we go through similar pattern of humiliation and exaltation, with Jesus
Union with Jesus means that, in a very real, spiritual way, we die to an old way life – In a very real, spiritual way, our sinful flesh with its passions and desires is crucified – In a very real, spiritual way, we are raised to new life in Christ – And, in a very real, spiritual way, we are given a place of blessing and authority at right hand of Father
Listen to what Paul wrote back in Colossians 2:
“…you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses… (Col. 2:11-13)
And Paul says something very similar in Ephesians 2: “4…God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus… (Eph. 2:4-6)
Through Gospel, by Spirit we are made to be in Union with Jesus and it changes everything – We are given a new heart – A new identity – A new purpose – A new family – And a new power to live a new kind of life – And what I want you to see this morning is that, if you are a Christian, then your present is anchored securely in your past – And your present is held safely by your future
Look at verb tenses Paul uses here:
“…you have been raised with Christ…” – Past tense – “…you have died…” – Past tense –And that means that your life now “is hidden with Christ in God” – Present tense – It’s true today – And that means that “When Christ who is your life appears…you will appear with him in glory.” – Future tense – It’s your sure destiny
Some people are apt to say, “My past doesn’t define me.” or “I’ll create my own destiny.” – But if you are a Christian, neither of those things is true of you – Because, thanks be to God, in Christ, your past does define you – And, in Christ, you don’t have to create a destiny, it’s already been written for you
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8) – He does not change – He is tried and true – Faithful to Himself – Faithful to His promises – And, if you have Union with Him, you are in safest place in universe – You are secure in His love – In Him, you have nothing of supreme importance to earn and nothing of supreme importance to lose
Which means that you can pursue conformity to Jesus with assurance that He will never leave you or forsake you and that He will give you all you need for life and godliness (Matt. 28:20, 2 Pet. 1:3)
But for just a moment, let me draw your attention back to that first little word in verse 1 – It is smallest but possibly most important word in this section: “If…”
“If then you have been raised with Christ…” – “If” is a conditional word – Everything else Paul says in this section hangs on how you answer the “if” – We are getting ready to move from Union with Christ to Conformity to Christ – But you need to know that if you have never received union with Christ through free gift of Gospel, you will never achieve conformity to Christ by simply trying to obey God’s moral commands
You can try – But you will eventually fail – And when you do, you will become discouraged, jaded, and desperate – And you will eventually walk away thinking, “Christianity isn’t real” or “Christianity doesn’t work”
And my response to you would be this: “Christianity is real” and “Christianity does work” – But you fundamentally misunderstood Christianity, because you got order backward – It is not Conformity to Jesus that leads to Union with Jesus – It is Union with Jesus that leads to Conformity to Jesus – If you’ve never confessed your sin and your brokenness, your complete need for a Savior, and turned in faith to receive gift of salvation in Jesus, that is where you must start
Union with Jesus, through Gospel, by Spirit comes first – And then that union compels and propels Conformity to Jesus
And as we move now to discuss Conformity to Jesus, I want to start by stating plainly that this is God’s end goal in all of this – God’s will is that our union with Jesus would produce conformity to Jesus – Paul writes in Colossians 1:21-22:
“21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…” (Col. 1:21-22)
So God’s purpose in reconciling us to Himself is to present us as people who are set apart, blameless, and above reproach – And that doesn’t just happen automatically – It’s a process we engage in over course of a lifetime – Process of sanctification – Process of being made more like Jesus – And it’s a process that requires effort on our part – Not effort to have union with Jesus – Effort to let our union with Jesus bring about conformity to Him
That’s why Paul issues the clear and powerful commands in this passage – Because we all need to be spurred on in this process of becoming who we have already been made to be in Christ
Read Colossians 3:1b-2
Paul commands us to seek and set our minds on the “things that are above” – To desire those things that are “where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” – We are to direct our attention and our affection to heavenly things, not things “that are on earth”
Now, Paul is not saying here that material world is bad – When he refers to “earth” here he is referring to our fallen world system, which is under snare of sin
We know that God made material world and He made it to be good – But because of our sin, evil and brokenness have skewed, twisted, and broken all that God made to be good – And it’s this fallen aspect of present world that Paul is addressing
So, we are to seek and to set our minds on God by looking to His Word and remembering His redemptive work in world – We are to focus in on all that draws us into worship of God – And we are to turn away from all that draws us away from Him
And this is God’s primary strategy for conforming us to Jesus – God’s primary strategy for our spiritual growth is that we proactively, intentionally seek Him – That we proactively, intentionally set our minds on Him – And that is proper goal of spiritual disciplines
Why do we read Bible regularly? – Why do we memorize Scripture? – Why do we pray? – Why do we come together and worship? – Why do we gather in small groups and confess sin?
We do all of these things as a means of seeking God – As a means of setting our minds on Him – Because we believe that this is primary way God intends to bring about conformity to Jesus in our lives – This is part of our strategy for growing in Christ
But it’s not whole strategy – Because as we set our minds on things of God, we will inevitably come face to face with sin that still exists in our hearts and minds – And when we encounter those temptations to sin, we need to take decisive action to put them away
Read 3:5-6
So, here’s Paul’s simple strategy for us when sinful desires spring up in us – “Kill them” – Command in verse 5 is “put to death” – It’s just one word in Greek: “kill” – Since you have union with Christ, “kill” what is not of Christ – We are to have a lethal determination against sin
A few weeks ago we were sitting on couch together as a family reading Bible before bedtime – I was reading and two boys were sitting beside me – All of sudden: “Whack!” – We all three jumped – I turned to look and there’s my wife, holding one of my house shoes with spider guts splattered all over bottom – My wife is a very gentle and compassionate person – But she knows that there is a time in life to have lethal determination – One of those times is when a spider goes running across floor – And one of those times is when sin goes running out of your heart
Paul commands: “stop, with lethal determination, what is earthly in you” – Again, don’t equate earthly with physical – Equate earthly with “of the fallen flesh” or “the fallen human nature” – “Kill” those actions and attitudes that are contrary to will and ways God
And then Paul gives us a representative list – And, in verse 5, list focuses on sexual sin: “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire…”
Those four terms together encompass every form of sexual activity that happens outside context of marriage between one man and one woman, which, by the way, would include things like pornography and lusting after person of opposite sex at gym[2] – Paul commands us: “Put these things to death” – “Kill them”
And Paul concludes that list with: “covetousness, which is idolatry” – And, in so doing, Paul is getting at motivation behind all these sexual vices – Paul claims that behind these sexually deviant behaviors is a heart that is greedy for another person – A heart that is greedy to objectify or exploit someone else for one’s own personal pleasure – In the end, sexual sin is a form of idolatry
On account of these things, Paul says, wrath of God is coming – God, who is completely good and righteous, will not tolerate evil forever – His wrath is an expression of His goodness and righteousness directed at sin
Now, if we are in Christ, we have escaped God’s wrath – But, if we are in Christ, it is also true that we should not live in sin – These things must be “put to death” because they don’t line up with who God has made us to be in Christ – And they threaten our growth in Him
So, we kill sexual sin – And, instead, we set our mind on satisfaction God provides us in Gospel – And we set our mind on God’s good design for singleness, marriage, and sex
Paul continues with another list
Read 3:7-9a
The phrase “from your mouth” modifies every item in this list, not just obscene talk – So, if the first list addressed sexual sin, this list addresses verbal sin – Sins we commit with our tongue
We too often vent our anger in a sinful way – We get angry and lash out against others – At it’s worst, this becomes malice when we curse or condemn other person
Slander here could refer to speaking with blasphemy against God or to insulting speech directed at others – But, in reality, those two things seem to be connected – We must not with the same mouth bless Lord and curse people who are made in His likeness (Jam. 3:9)
Obscene talk refers to coarse, inappropriate, or abusive speech which has effect of disparaging another person – It’s tearing someone else down for your own pleasure
Lying is speaking in such a way as to twist the truth – It is kind of speech attributed to Satan, the deceiver
Paul says each of these manners of speech is to be “put away” – “Put to death” – “Killed” in the name of our Lord Jesus because they don’t represent a life lived in union with Him
So, we put away all our ways of sinning with our mouths – And, instead, we set our mind on God’s good, beautiful design for our words, to communicate grace and truth, to communicate wisdom of God, to build one another up in faith – To worship
And, having issued these commands, Paul concludes this section by returning to truth of our Union with Christ
Read v. 9b-11
“Put off” here is term used to convey image of taking off a garment – Paul is speaking of radical transformation we experience in Gospel – When we receive Christ, our “old self” is, by power of Holy Spirit, taken off like an old, worn, and worthless cloak – And, we put on a “new self” in Christ Jesus, like a royal robe, reflecting splendor of Christ
And this reality doesn’t just create a new self, it creates a whole new community – A whole new humanity – The church – A place where a diverse group of people, from every ethnic background and social strata find unity in Christ, together, to praise of His glory – That’s point Paul makes in verse 11
So, as we look toward application, I want to emphasize again order of union and conformity: Union with Jesus through free gift of Gospel comes first – And then Union with Jesus propels us toward Conformity to Jesus
So, in a nutshell, here’s how Paul understands spiritual growth: spiritual growth is increasingly becoming who you’ve already been made to be – Sanctification is not process whereby sinners become saints – It’s process whereby saints become more saintly – We seek Him as a means of enjoying His love, not as a means of earning His love
And that’s important for us to remember as we continue to pursue conformity to Jesus through spiritual disciplines – When we open our Bibles and pray we are seeking to become who Jesus has already made us to be – And when we choose to kill sinful behaviors in our lives, we are choosing to be who Jesus has already made us to be
So, if you are here this morning and you are a Christian but order of union and conformity has gotten twisted up in your mind – If you’ve made spiritual disciplines into way of trying to earn Father’s love – Then, this morning is opportunity for you to set down your self-righteous striving and rest in arms of Father who loves freely and abundantly as a gift
If you are here this morning and you are a Christian but you haven’t been faithful to pursue conformity with Jesus, this morning is opportunity for you to get back on track – To renew your Gospel-powered effort to enjoy Father’s love by setting your minds on things above and putting sin to death
Spend consistent time in God’s Word – Seek Him in prayer – Continue to gather with saints – Live in open and honest community with others – Confess your sin – And keep doing this over and over and over again – This is God’s primary strategy for your spiritual growth over long-term
And, as you are seeking God, have a lethal determination against sin – There is no room in the Christian life for coddling sin – You must kill it – And first step in killing sin is confessing it – When you find yourself in a struggle against sin, confess it to a trusted Christian friend – And confess all of it – Not 80% / 90% / 95% – All 100%
Confessing your sin may be scariest but most life-giving step you will ever take in putting sin to death – I cannot tell you how many young men I’ve counseled who’ve said, “I never told anyone this but…” and then confessed their sin – And, almost without exception, what followed that confession was relief and a growing sense of victory over that sin with time – Satan would love you to keep your sin in dark about your sin, because he has power in darkness – But, if you will bring your sin out into light with a trusted Christian friend, you will experience a fresh knowledge of blood of Christ Jesus that has covered your sin (1 John 1:5-9)
May we be a church who has confidence in our Union with Christ as we pursue Conformity to Christ – Let us go on becoming who we he has already made us to be
PRAYER
[1] Zondervan Academic Blog, “The Nicene Creed: Where it came from and why it still matters,” published Mar. 9, 2018, accessed July 27, 2026, https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/the-nicene-creed-where-it-came-from-and-why-it-still-matters.
[2]David W. Pao, Colossians and Philemon, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 220–221.