Now we will take the issues that Paul presents in Colossians 3 and delve into the reasons behind them. There are two parts to this chapter, two mindsets he holds up, two contrasting natures. One deserves the death sentence, the other eternal life. This is serious stuff. The question they place before us is this: “How do we put to death what we can’t see or touch, those things in the spiritual realm?”

Think of it this way. You need a new suit. The old one is worn out. So you go to a…

Principles 4

Actually more than principles, attitude, obedience and expectation are really the character forming capabilities we are given as images of God. How they are used depends on what and who a person trusts with them. When centered in Jesus they frame the movement from a heart conditioned by the secular world to a heart in the process of becoming Christ-like. The world centered in the religion of secularism eventually leads the heart to stagnation while a heart in Christ is…

Previously we have suggested that ‘bond’ is a better word than relationship because of the spiritual nature we have been given in Jesus. In biblical times there was the visual presence of bonded people, those carrying outward signs like rings, body marks or chains. They had those marks of identity denoting ownership by a master. Defining this position was the Greek word, doulos, slave. A slave was a servant bonded to and identified by his or her master who demanded complete submission to the…

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."—Romans 6:3-4.

This is in response to Charles Spurgeon’s sermon delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, October 30th, 1881, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, England using the above text from Romans to support…

We have elaborated on the ‘world’ and its principles. Now we want to look at Christian principles, those that succeed not from religion but from a personal relationship with Jesus. Immediately one thinks of the Sermon on the Mount as the place to start but I think we have to move more basically from where we are as persons. The danger of jumping into any Bible passages per se is that we tend to segregate them into ideals and make and elaborate a belief system from which we can, from time to…

“So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world (Gal.4:3).”

That verse captures the basic problem of living apart from God and His Word. We live by the world’s principles. But just what is ‘the world’ and what are its ‘principles?’ When the Bible uses those words ‘world’ usually means secular society and ‘principles’ means the invisible conclusions people use to function within it. When Jesus uses ‘world’ in John 3:16, He is referring to…