3:1-4
What does it mean to be risen with Christ?
The natural mind has difficulty understanding this but we can grasp it by faith. This is spiritual truth. When we believe the gospel God places us into his Son Jesus. This means when Jesus died on the cross we died with him and in him on the cross. When he was buried we were buried with him and in him. When Jesus rose from the dead on the third day we rose with him and in him.
These are spiritual facts. The Bible clearly shows us this is the truth. This is the only way we can make sense of Paul's words "if ye then be risen with Christ".
If we believe in the Lord Jesus and the gospel then God places us in Christ and when Christ arose we were risen with Christ. We rose from the dead with Christ. How does this affect us in the present?
It means our spirit inside us is alive. Our body is dying because of sin but our spirit is alive and will live forever with God. From God's viewpoint we are already with him because God does not experience time like we do. He sees everything from the beginning to the end in eternity. With God there is no past, present, and future but there is only the eternal now.
What is true? The only true things are those which will continue to exist after this temporary existence is done away with. What is true? Truth is only what God says is true and not what I say is true or what I think is true. The only time I say or speak anything true is when I say what God says and when I agree with what God says.
Christ is at the right hand of God. He sits at the right hand of the Father. As Christians we live for the eternal. We do not dedicate our energy to the temporary life in this body. Instead we dedicate ourselves to what is eternal and what will last forever. The highest priority for us now is God's word and the souls of men. There is no higher goal in life here on this earth.
We are dead and our life is hid with God. How do we make sense of this? Paul is speaking in the present tense! How can I at this moment, right now, be dead?
This body is dead. It died with Jesus on the cross. I cannot enter the eternal with this dead body. God will one day resurrect this dead body but it will be completely changed and made into a new body which will live forever. But right now I am dead. My existence in this body is temporary but my spirit will live forever with the Lord. My real life is currently hidden from me because it is with God. But one day I will see that real life which I have with God.
When will I see my real life? It will appear when Jesus Christ comes back. This is why the return of Jesus Christ should be the highest and most passionate desire for any Christian. When Jesus returns we will get a new body like his body. We will be changed and our mortal body will be swallowed up by the life of an eternal body. Hallelujah!
3:5-10
Paul listed attitudes and sinful actions to remove completely from our life.
I've heard people say they do not preach the message of "don't drink, don't smoke", but it appears this is exactly the kind of message Paul was preaching.
There is definitely a time when preachers need to tell people what to stop doing and what to start doing. We need to correct one another. We need to help others to quit behavior which does not line up with the life of a Christian. Some people need to be taught to quit being covetous, greedy, and sexual immoral.
Notice Paul talked about the wrath of God coming on people. The people he pinpointed were called "children of disobedience". Who are these people?
It is not difficult to figure this out. Children of disobedience are those who do not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. There might be religious people in this category but they do not have a genuine relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
How can you tell if a person is a real Christian? Jesus said we can know people by the fruit in their lives. Simple and direct but this is too much for some people to understand.
Do not live like the people upon whom the wrath of God abides. Why do we want to live like the world?
People make up excuses so they can live like the world. They pretend that they live like the world in order to win the world. They do not realize that the only way an unbeliever can know Christ is for the Christian to live a different life. People are not inspired to become a Christian because of worldly, sentimental, or emotional love.
What brings people to salvation? It is seeing something radically different in Christians and then being convicted in their conscience. A true Christian really does live a different kind of lifestyle. He does not live like an unbeliever. He does not engage in the same kind of behavior, he does not say the same things, he does not tell the same jokes, and he does not hang out at the same places as the unbeliever. He does not have an intimate, emotional relationship with an unbeliever.
Scripture which helps confirm what I am saying: Read Ephesians 5:6-11, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.
Once we put off the old man then we must put on the new man. The new man is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to do this we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. There will be no success in putting on the new man if we are not filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the new man and we must be filled with the Holy Spirit on a consistent basis. Pray and ask the Lord to fill you with the Holy Spirit. He promised that he would answer this prayer.
The new man is completely different from the old man. To get a picture of what the new man looks like read the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.