Add correct line breaks, correct capitalisation, correct punctuation, correct Australian English spelling, and correct KJV Bible verse quotations and references to my paragraphs where applicable. But do NOT — I repeat — do NOT alter or change ANY words from my paragraphs under ALL circumstances.
Sermon Outline: What It Means To Be Forgiven (Colossians 2:13-14)
1:10:21 I. We Were Dead In Sin
1:12:23 Man on his own is incapable of making the right choice
1:15:57 Man is separated from his Creator because of sin
1:24:22 II. We Were Made Spiritually Alive
1:27:14 Spiritual transformation of believers
1:30:12 But God
1:37:47 III. We Were Forgiven
1:40:06 Forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus Christ’s crucifixion
1:42:16 Blotting out our sins
1:48:27 Closing prayer
Once again, I greet you in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Our text for this morning's message is taken from Colossians 2:13–14. Allow me to read for you this passage written by the Apostle Paul: “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.“(Colossians 2:13–14). The Lord bless the reading of His holy and sacred Word.
The word “sin” means falling short or missing the mark. God set a moral standard for us in His Word, and we miss the mark like the way an arrow would fall short of a target. As Romans 3:23 tells us: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
The word “trespasses” means to cross a forbidden boundary. It is a serious violation and rebellion. And that is what we have done with our God. We have crossed the boundaries of His moral laws, and the consequence is that we are His enemies.
One of the biggest problems with the church today is that people no longer want to acknowledge sin as sin or trespasses. They come up with all kinds of definitions to make the people feel better. They would say that drug addiction, alcoholic addiction, gambling addiction, sex addiction — they are not sins; they are just social diseases.
If they are diseases, that means you are sick. And if you are sick, it is not your fault. It is just your situation. You need a doctor, a psychologist. You do not need a Saviour because it is not a sin. That is just how subtle the evil system of this world is, and we must never succumb to it, but acknowledge sin as sin, as the Bible says so.
There are some people who do believe that man has fallen in the Garden of Eden. But the question is: How deep is that fall? Is it a little stumble, or a partial fall, or a total fall?
Basically, there are three views of the human nature: 1. Man is well. 2. Man is sick. 3. Man is dead.
The first view is that man is well. In other words, he is all right. In medical terms, we would say a person is well or healthy, as opposed to being sick or dead. These people believe that though our human nature may not be as healthy as it ought to be, but perhaps one day we will.
Many of such people are advocators of the evolution theory, and that we live in an evolving world. They argue that for centuries this world had encountered many calamities, wars, diseases, hardships, economic downturns — but it had survived, and things will get better.
Is it really true? If man's nature is only a little flawed, then surely through all these years of evolving, we should have been perfected by now, or at least we have some perfections that is obvious enough to see.
But the global situation of this world — all the violences, brutalities, wickedness, and immoralities of mankind — show to us that the issue is much deeper and more serious than we think.
The second view is that man is not well. He is sick. These people believe that there is something wrong with human beings. But nonetheless, the situation is not hopeless. People are at least alive, and as long as they are alive, there is life. There is hope. And man is well enough to make the right choice to get his own salvation.
The third view is the right biblical view that the Apostle Paul articulated to the Colossians in this passage: that man is not all right, and that man is not only sick, but he is dead in sins and trespasses.
This is what we want to learn from this passage. And the title of our message is: What It Means to Be Forgiven.
I. We Were Dead In Sin
In order for us to understand what it means to be forgiven, we first need to understand the condition we were in before salvation. If we are believers, we were dead in sins. Paul said to the Colossians, ‘You, the Colossians, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh.’
In the Garden of Eden, God commanded Adam: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it” - what happens if you eat? - “for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17)
When Adam ate from the forbidden tree, man fell. The consequences of the disobedience resulted in physical, spiritual, and eternal death. Spiritual death because man is now separated from a holy God. Physical death because “it is appointed unto men once to die.” (Hebrews 9:27) And not only that, after death comes the judgment — he will be condemned to the eternal lake of fire forever and ever.
Man on his own is incapable of making the right choice
Like a dead corpse, man is unable to make a single move toward God, or have a right thinking about Him, or to have a right response toward Him. That is what it means to be totally depraved. We were dead in sins.
People would often argue about man having a free will. But is it free to choose God even in our fallen state? Or is man unable to choose God because he is bound in sin? Sin enslaves us.
Notice the phrase “dead in your sins.” The dead man is incapable of making the right choice toward God. Instead of turning to God, he runs away from Him.
Most reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin, even church fathers like Augustine, and even theologians like Jonathan Edwards, had agreed that apart from the sovereign grace of God working in the minds and the souls of men, no one ever willingly turned to God and embraced Him for salvation.
Jonathan Edwards rightly said, The problem is not with the will itself, since the will is simply the mind choosing what the mind deems best. The problem is with man's moral nature, which is opposed to God, with all the sinful motives that flow from that corrupt nature. The will is always free. We always choose what we judge best in a given situation. But as sinners, we always judge wrongly. We think of God as undesirable. Hence, we always resist Him and reject His gospel.
How true.
Romans 6:23 says: “the wages of sin is death.” Man is born in sin. Therefore, he is born to death. We do not become spiritually dead because we sin. We are spiritually dead because by nature we are sinners.
Man is separated from his Creator because of sin
Today, when you and I look at the immoral declension of society, our grandparents will tell us that the problem is because our young people are not in line with their culture, their heritage. They have drifted so far away. The environmentalists will tell us that it is because the people are not in line with the surroundings and the environment. Man's trouble is not because he is out of harmony with his heritage or the environment, but he is out of harmony with his Creator.
Our main problem is not because we cannot make meaningful relationships with other human beings, but because we do not have a right relationship with God, from whom we are separated by sin.
Our condition has nothing to do with the way we live our lives. It has to do with the fact that we are spiritually dead, even though we may be physically alive.
Once I was encouraging a young man to evangelise in his workplace, and he said to me, I don't discuss spiritual things with my colleagues.
Why not? I said.
Because it is strange to talk about such things. It is just unacceptable.
Why is it so? Because man is dead to God. He is dead to spiritual life, truth, righteousness, inner peace, and ultimately every other good thing. What ought to be good is considered strange.
When a person is physically dead, the first indication is the body's inability to respond no matter how good the situation may be. The dead person is no longer responding to light, sound, taste, and emotions, right?
A young boy attended the funeral service of a close auntie. Her body was laid in the casket, just big enough to fit her body, with a glass panel for the family members, friends, and relatives to have a last look at her.
The little boy asked his mother, Mum, isn't it uncomfortable for auntie to be put in such a little box? And isn't auntie always uncomfortable for people to gaze at her?
The mother replied, It doesn't matter, my son. It doesn't matter.
Indeed, it doesn't matter even if the light was shining directly straight into her face. It doesn't matter even if nobody asked for permission to gaze at her. And it doesn't matter if she was put in such a confined space. Because a dead body is totally insensitive to all these things. It cannot even respond to the most powerful emotional cries of the loved ones. No matter how loud you cry and scream, the body will not respond, because it is dead.
That is the same way with spiritual death as well. A person who is spiritually dead has no life to respond to spiritual things. How much more to live a spiritual life? It is impossible.
When the Apostle Paul counselled young Timothy about the widows in the church who were shamelessly immoral in their behaviours, in 1 Timothy 5:6, Paul said: “But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” “Dead while she liveth” is a sad description of every unredeemed human being.
Dear friend, before we were saved, we were just like every other person who is separated from God, dead in sins and trespasses. We were dead not because we had committed sin, but because we were born in sin.
In the eyes of the Almighty God, a man does not become a liar because he tells a lie. He tells a lie because he is already a liar. He does not become a thief because he steals. He steals because he is already a thief. The same goes with all the other sins — murder, adultery, covetousness, and so forth. Committing sinful acts does not make us sinners. We commit sinful acts because we are sinners. That is who we are.
The phrase “the uncircumcision of your flesh” was a reference to the Colossians, who were primarily Gentiles, and as Gentiles they were not circumcised like the Jews. So in a sense they were outside the covenant family of Israel — without God, walking according to the course of the world, according to the prince of the power of the air (that is, Satan), and by nature the children of God's wrath. In other words, Paul was saying, You remember, that was who you were before you were saved.
Dear friend, that was also who we were before we were saved. We were dead in our sins.
II. We Were Made Spiritually Alive
Our second point is: We were made spiritually alive.
Look at the second part of verse 13: “Hath he quickened together with him.” (Colossians 2:13). To be quickened means to be made alive. A spiritually dead person needs to be made spiritually alive. It is not something we can do to ourselves. It is something that God has done for us. We were once dead in our sins and trespasses, but God has quickened us and made us spiritually alive.
When we heard the gospel and believed in the only Saviour of the world who died on the cross, shed His precious blood to save us from our sins, we were united with Him. We were one with Him. We were made spiritually alive in Him.
As Galatians 2:20 said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Jesus himself spoke of this spiritual union with him using the metaphor of the vine and the branches in John 15:5. "I am the vine" - Jesus said - "ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
Before our conversions, we were just like a dead person who is unconscious of what is around him. Inactive and in a process of bodily decay. This was true of us spiritually as well. We were once unconscious of God, ignorant of him, inactive and decaying morally.
Spiritual transformation of believers
Today, if we are believers, we are made alive in God. We are worshipping and serving him. We are growing in sanctification and practical righteousness. Reading the Bible becomes alive to us. Prayer becomes meaningful to us. We are speaking to our almighty God. Spiritual activities and fellowship meetings are so precious and important to us.
This is the most profound thing that has happened in our lives—the transformation of our lives. And it is true of all Christians. If this change has not taken place, a person can say all he wants, but he is not a true believer.
Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones explained this transformation very interestingly. He said ‘the difference between the sinner and the Christian, the unbeliever and the believer, is not that the believer has certain faculties which the other man lacks. He is not given a new brain. He is not given a new intelligence or anything else. He has always had those things. But he has been turned in a new and different direction because there is a new power working in him and guiding his faculties, and that is God. This is the thing that makes a man a Christian.’
Dear friend, this is what happens when God comes into our lives. When the Spirit of God indwells in our hearts, it is all because of God's doing. We were going the way of destruction, the way of sin and eternal hell. But God, who is rich in mercy, came into our lives and turned us around.
But God
I have often said the two words that are most significant in our Christian lives are ‘but God.’ The Bible constantly uses this phrase ‘but God.’ Allow me to give you some examples that your hearts may be encouraged.
Before our conversions, we were all ignorant of God. 1 Corinthians 2:9–10 said, "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."
Before our conversions, we were often troubled by temptations. Today, we are still being troubled by temptations. But because of our spiritual union with Christ, we see temptation in a whole new and different perspective. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
Before our conversions, we were proud, perhaps arrogant. But today we humble ourselves before the almighty God. As 1 Corinthians 1:27 said, "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."
Before our conversions, we did not understand the purposes of God. We believed in things as lucky or unlucky. But today, there's no such thing as lucky or coincidence. Everything is by God's appointment.
So when we are afflicted, troubled or even persecuted, we can say like Joseph. Remember Joseph in Genesis 50:20. He said this, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."
Dear friend, two simple words—but God—yet they mean so much to us. It is because of God's intervention. But God. If you and I remember these two words daily and live by them, they will transform our lives completely. We will see life in a whole different perspective. Difficult times may come, painful moments may come, but God will never forget. Neither will he forsake us.
To all those unbelievers, if you truly understand the true significance and implications of these two words, but God, they can save your soul. You are dead in your sins and trespasses, but God, who is rich in mercy, is able to quicken you and make you spiritually alive in Christ.
If God is powerful and loving enough to give us spiritual life together with Christ, he is certainly able to sustain that life. We must trust him. The power that raised us out of sin and death and made us spiritually alive is the same power that continues to empower us day by day, moment by moment, in our daily walk with Christ.
When we become Christians, we are no longer eternally separated from God. We become spiritually alive through the death and the resurrection of Christ. And for the first time, we become sensitive to God. For the first time, we can understand spiritual truth and desire spiritual things because we are now in Christ. We seek after godly things. We seek after things above rather than the things of this earth that will soon perish. Because we are now in Christ we cannot help it but to glorify God.
What about you, my friend? Do you have this new spiritual focus in your life? Have you been made alive, spiritually quickened together with Christ? This is a question that everyone would have to answer for himself or herself.
III. We Were Forgiven
Our third and final point is: we were forgiven.
Look at the last part of verse 13: “having forgiven you all trespasses.” (Colossians 2:13). The only way God can make us who were spiritually dead to be spiritually alive is by forgiving all our sins and trespasses. Sin must be out of the way that we may be reconciled to a holy God.
If you are driving down the street and carelessly ran over and killed a child, you will be arrested, tried, fined, and most certainly face a jail term. After you pay the fine and serve the sentence, you will be freed. But paying your penalty in accordance with the law would do nothing to restore the life of the child or relieve the grief of the parents.
The offence against them was so immense it could not be measured. The only way a relationship between the parents and you who have killed the child could be established or restored is for the parents to offer forgiveness.
No matter how sincere you are, no matter how much you are willing to offer, you cannot produce reconciliation on your side. Only the one who was offended can offer forgiveness, and only forgiveness can bring reconciliation.
Forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus Christ’s crucifixion
In a similar fashion, though we have greatly offended and sinned against the Almighty God who is absolutely holy, he is willing to offer forgiveness and reconciliation through the blood of his only begotten Son.
In our sins and rebellions, we all participated in the wickedness of Christ's crucifixion. But God's love, grace, and mercy provides a way for you and I to participate in the great salvation that comes from his crucifixion.
Throughout the Bible, we hear God lovingly calling out to us: I know who you are and what you have done, but because of my great love, your penalty has been paid. My judgment against you has been satisfied through the work of my only begotten Son. On your behalf, for his sake, I offer you forgiveness.
To come to me, you need only to come to Him. That was why Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Jesus is the only way.
Blotting out our sins
And once we were forgiven, verse 14 said, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." (Colossians 2:14)
The original Greek word for “blotting out” means to erase or wipe away. In ancient times, the material which the people wrote on, the pieces of papyrus, were very expensive. Sometimes the written text on the materials was no longer needed. They would not just simply throw away the materials because they were very expensive. Only the text needed to be done away.
So what would they do? They would rub away the old writings, turn the material sideways and write the new words. Once the old writings were blotted out or rubbed away, the material was considered new. It was washed and cleansed. That is the idea.
Dear friend, take a moment and consider the number of sins we have committed in our lifetime. Whether they be the sins of thought, speech, or action, it is like a book written with many sins, and it stands as a terrible condemnation against us. That is what it means—”which was contrary to us.”
Unless something is done, that book is going to be read out on the day of judgment. But God can and will do something if we ask him. He will rub away our sins, turn the pages sideways and write over the newly prepared surface the message of his everlasting love through the work of Jesus Christ, who took our sins all the way to Calvary, where he was nailed to the cross and shed his precious blood.
That precious blood was able to wash away all our sins. God will blot out all our sins. But you must come to him by faith. The question is not whether God will or will not, but whether you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ or not.
Have you been washed by his precious blood? If you have, then all your sins—past, present, and future—are forgiven. Once you are saved, you are forever saved. You will never lose your salvation. Who said so? Jesus said, ‘No man can snatch you out of my hand.’ (John 10:27–29) No one is greater than God. Once we are one with him, we are one with him forever and ever.
Today is the day of salvation. If you are still lingering outside the kingdom of God, there is no salvation outside the one who died and shed his blood on the cross of Calvary. He is the only one who can blot out all your sins and trespasses. Come to him.
If you think, I've done many wicked things. How can such a powerful God, such a holy God forgive me? Jesus said, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37)
Even at the last moment before Jesus drew his last breath while hanging on the cross, the criminal turned to him and said, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." (Luke 23:42)
And what did Jesus say? "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43)
That is what it means to be forgiven.
Closing prayer
Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, indeed thou hast taught us through these two verses. We were once dead in our sins. And as like a dead person, we cannot make a single move toward hyou, nor to have a right thinking about you, or to rightly respond to you unless thou would intervene in our lives.
And we learn of the two most significant and blessed words—But God. But God intervened, came into our lives, and turned us around through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and quickened us, made us spiritually alive that today we are able to understand the spiritual things of thee.
That we are able to worship and serve thee. That reading the Bible becomes so wonderful and meaningful, that prayers become so significant because our heavenly Father hears and answers whatever we cry out to Him.
Spiritual activities are so important to us. Coming for this Lord's Day service is something that we must and we are most willing and happy to do.
Thou hast made us spiritually alive, and all our sins have been forgiven by the precious blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And it is only through Christ that we have this forgiveness of our sins and are reconciled to Thee
We pray that thou wilt also speak to those who are still hardened in their hearts. May the Spirit of God soften their hearts, that they will know that life is like a vapour: it appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. But in this brevity of time, that they may come to believe in the gospel and have salvation through our God who is so rich in mercy.
We give thee thanks for once again reminding us of thy great and perfect love.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Add correct line breaks, correct capitalisation, correct punctuation, correct Australian English spelling, and correct KJV Bible verse quotations and references to my paragraphs where applicable. But do NOT — I repeat — do NOT alter or change ANY words from my paragraphs under ALL circumstances.
Once again, greet you in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our text for this morning's message is taken from Colossians 2 verse 13-4. Allow me to read for you this passage written by the Apostle Paul. And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. The Lord blessed the reading of his holy and sacred word. The word sin means falling short or missing the mark. God set a moral standard for us in his word. And we miss the mark like the way an arrow would fall short of a target. As Romans 3:23 tells us, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The word trespasses means to cross a forbidden boundary. It is a serious violation and rebellion. And that is what we have done with our God. We have crossed the boundaries of his moral laws and the consequence is that we are his enemies. One of the biggest problems with the church today is that people no longer want to acknowledge sin as sin or trespasses. They come up with all kinds of definitions to make the people feel better. They would say that drug addiction, alcoholic addiction, gambling addiction, sex addiction, they are not sins. They are just social diseases. If they are diseases, that means you are sick. And if you are sick, it is not your fault. It is just your situation. You need a doctor, a psychologist. You do not need a savior because it is not a sin. That is just how subtle the evil system of this world is and we must never succumb to it. but to acknowledge sin as sin as the Bible says. So there are some people who do believe that man has fallen in the Garden of Eden. But the question is how deep is that fall? Is it a little stumble or a partial fall or a total fall? Basically there are three views of the human nature. Man is well, man is sick or man is dead. The first view is that man is well. In other words, he is all right. In medical terms, we would say a person is well or healthy as opposed to being sick or dead. These people believe that though our human nature may not be as healthy as it ought to be, but perhaps one day we will. Many of such people are advocators of the evolution theory and that we live in an evolving world. They argue that for centuries this world had encountered many calamities, wars, diseases, hardships, economic downturns, but it had survived. and things will get better. Is it really true? If man's nature is only a little flawed, then surely through all these years of evolving, we should have been perfected by now. Or at least we have some perfections. That is obvious enough to see. But the global situation of this world, all the violences, brutalities, wickedness and immoralities of mankind show to us that the issue is much deeper and more serious than we think. The second view is that man is not well. He is sick. These people believe that there's something wrong with human beings. But nonetheless, the situation is not hopeless. People are at least alive and as long as they are alive, there is life. There's hope. And man is well enough to make the right choice to get his own salvation. The third view is the right biblical view that the apostle Paul articulated to the Colossians in this passage that man is not all right and that man is not only sick but he is dead in sins and trespasses. This is what we want to learn from this passage. And the title of our message is what it means to be forgiven. In order for us to understand what it means to be forgiven, we first need to understand the condition we were in before salvation. If we are believers, we were dead in sins. Paul said to the Colossians, "You, the Colossians, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh." In the garden of Eden, God commanded Adam. Of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. What happens if you eat? For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:16-17. When Adam ate from the forbidden tree, man fell. The consequences of the disobedience resulted in the physical, spiritual and eternal death. spiritual death because man is now separated from a holy God. Physical death because it is appointed onto man once to die. And not only that, after death comes the judgment. He will be condemned to the eternal lake of fire forever and ever. Like a dead corpse, man is unable to make a single move toward God or have a right thinking about him or to have a right respond toward him. That is what it means to be totally depraved. We were dead in sins.
Add correct line breaks, correct capitalisation, correct punctuation, correct Australian English spelling, and correct KJV Bible verse quotations and references to my paragraphs where applicable. But do NOT — I repeat — do NOT alter or change ANY words from my paragraphs under ALL circumstances. People would often argue about man having a free will. But is it free to choose God even in our fallen state? Or is man unable to choose God because he is bound in sin? Sin enslaves us. Notice the phrase dead in your sins. The dead man is incapable of making the right choice toward God. Instead of turning to God, he runs away from him. Most reformers like Martin Luther and John Kelvin, even church fathers like Augustine and even theologians like Jonathan Edwards had agreed that apart from the sovereign grace of God working in the minds and the souls of men, no one ever willingly turned to God and embraced him for salvation. Jonathan Edwards rightly said, "The problem is not with the will itself, since the will is simply the mind choosing what the mind deems best, the problem is with man's moral nature, which is opposed to God, with all the sinful motives that flow from that corrupt nature. The will is always free. We always choose what we judge best in a given situation. But as sinners, we always judge wrongly. We think of God as undesirable. Hence, we always resist him and reject his gospel. How true. Romans 6:23 said, "The wages of sin is death." Man is born in sin. Therefore, he is born to death. We do not become spiritually dead because we sin. We are spiritually dead because by nature we are sinners. Today when you and I look at the immoral declansion of society, our grandparents will tell us that the problem is because our young people are not in line with their culture, their heritage. They have drifted so far away. The environmentalists will tell us that it is because the people are not in line with the surroundings and the environment. Man's trouble is not because he is out of harmony with his heritage or the environment, but he is out of harmony with his creator. Our main problem is not because we cannot make meaningful relationships with other human beings, but we do not have a right relationship with God from whom we are separated by sin. Our condition has nothing to do with the way we live our lives. It has to do with the fact that we are spiritually dead even though we may be physically alive. Once I was encouraging a young man to evangelize in his workplace and he said to me, I don't discuss spiritual things with my colleagues. Why not? I said, because it is strange to talk about such things. It is just unacceptable. Why is it so? Because man is dead to God. He is dead to spiritual life, truth, righteousness, inner peace, and ultimately every other good thing. What ought to be good is considered strange. When a person is physically dead, the first indication is the body's inability to respond. No matter how good the situation may be, the dead person is no longer responding to light, sound, taste, and emotions. Right? A young boy attended the funeral service of a close auntie. Her body was laid in the casket. just big enough to fit her body with a glass panel for the family members, friends, and relatives to have a last look at her. The little boy asked his mother, "Mom, isn't it uncomfortable for auntie to be put in such a little box? And isn't auntie always uncomfortable for people to gaze at her?" The mother replied, "It doesn't matter, my son. It doesn't matter. Indeed, it doesn't matter. Even if the light was shining directly straight into her face, it doesn't matter even if nobody asked for permission to gaze at her. And it doesn't matter if she was put in such a confined space because a dead body is totally insensitive to all these things. It cannot even respond to the most powerful emotional cries of the loved ones. No matter how loud you cry and scream, the body will not respond because it is dead. That is the same way with spiritual death as well. A person who is spiritually dead has no life to respond to spiritual things. How much more to live a spiritual life? It is impossible. When the Apostle Paul counseledled young Timothy about the widows in the church who were shamelessly immoral in their behaviors in 1 Timothy 5:6, Paul said, "But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." dead while she liveth is a sad description of every unredeemed human being. Dear friend, before we were saved, we were just like every other person who is separated from God, dead in sins and trespasses. We were dead not because we had committed sin but because we were born in sin. In the eyes of the almighty God, a man does not become a liar because he tells a lie. He tells a lie because he is already a liar. He does not become a thief because he steals. He steals because he's already a thief. The same goes with all the other sins, murder, adultery, covetousness, and so forth. Committing sinful acts does not make us sinners. We commit sinful acts because we are sinners. That is who we are. The phrase the uncircumcision of your flesh was a reference to the Colossians who were primarily Gentiles and as Gentiles they were not circumcised like the Jews. So in a sense they were outside the covenant family of Israel without God walking according to the cause of the world according to the prince of the power of the air that is Satan and by nature the children of God's wrath. In other words, Paul was saying, "You remember, that was who you were before you were saved, dear friend. That was also who we were before we were saved. We were dead in our sins. Our second point is we were made spiritually alive. Look at the second part of verse 13. Have he quickened together with him. To be quickened means to be made alive. A spiritually dead person needs to be made spiritually alive. It is not something we can do to ourselves. It is something that God has done for us. We were once dead in our sins and trespasses, but God has quickened us and made us spiritually alive. When we heard the gospel and believed in the only savior of the world who died on the cross, shed his precious blood to save us from our sins. We were united with him. We were one with him. We were made spiritually alive in him.
Add correct line breaks, correct capitalisation, correct punctuation, correct Australian English spelling, and correct KJV Bible verse quotations and references to my paragraphs where applicable. But do NOT — I repeat — do NOT alter or change ANY words from my paragraphs under ALL circumstances.
As Galatians 2:20 said, "I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." Jesus himself spoke of this spiritual union with him using the metaphor of the vine and the branches in John 15:5. I am the vine. Jesus said, "Ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. Before our conversions, we were just like a dead person who is unconscious of what is around him. Inactive and in a process of bodily decay. This was true of us spiritually as well. We were once unconscious of God, ignorant of him, inactive and decaying morally. Today, if we are believers, we are made alive in God. We are worshiping and serving him. We are growing in sanctification and practical righteousness. Reading the Bible becomes alive to us. Prayer becomes meaningful to us. We are speaking to our almighty God. Spiritual activities and fellowship meetings are so precious and important to us. This is the most profound thing that has happened in our lives. The transformation of our lives. And it is true of all Christians. If this change has not taken place, a person can say all he wants but he is not a true believer. Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones explained this transformation very interestingly. He said the difference between the sinner and the Christian, the unbeliever and the believer is not that the believer has certain faculties which the other man lacks. He is not given a new brain. He is not given a new intelligence or anything else. He has always had those things. But he has been turned in a new and different direction because there is a new power working in him and guiding his faculties and that is gone. This is the thing that makes a man a Christian. Dear friend, this is what happens when God comes into our lives. When the spirit of God indwells in our hearts, it is all because of God's doing. We were going the way of destruction, the way of sin and eternal hell. But God who is rich in mercy came into our lives and turned us around. I have often said the two words that are most significant in our Christian lives are but God. The Bible constantly use this phrase but God. Allow me to give you some examples that your hearts may be encouraged. Before our conversions, we were all ignorant of God. 1 Corinthians 2:9 said, "As it is written, I cannot see, nor ear, heard, neither have entered into the heart of men, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit. For the spirit searches all things, yeah, the deep things of God. Before our conversions, we were often troubled by temptations. Today, we are still being troubled by temptations. But because of our spiritual union with Christ, we see temptation in a whole new and different perspective. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "There have no temptation taken you, but such as is common to men, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear Before our conversions, we were proud, perhaps arrogant. But today we humble ourselves before the almighty God. As 1 Corinthians 1 verse 27 said, "But God have chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." Before our conversions, we do not understand the purposes of God, we believe in things as lucky or unlucky. But today, there's no such thing as lucky or coincidence. Everything is by God's appointment. So when we are afflicted, troubled or even persecuted, we can be say like Joseph, remember Joseph in Genesis 50:20, he said this, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God made it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive. Dear friend, two simple words, but God yet they meant so much to us. It is because of God's intervention. But God, if you and I remember these two words daily and live by them, they will transform our lives completely. We will see life in a whole different perspective. Difficult times may come, painful moments may come, but God will never forget. Neither will he forsake us. To all those unbelievers, if you truly understand the true significance and implications of these two words, but God, they can save your soul. You are dead in your sins and trespasses, but God who is rich in mercy is able to quicken you and make you spiritually alive in Christ. If God is powerful and loving enough to give us spiritual life together with Christ, he is certainly able to sustain that life. We must trust him. The power that raised us out of sin and death and made us spiritually alive is the same power that continues to empowered us day by day, moment by moment in our daily walk with Christ. When we become Christians, we are no longer eternally separated from God. We become spiritually alive through the death and the resurrection of Christ. And for the first time, we become sensitive to God. For the first time, we can understand spiritual truth and desire spiritual things because we are now in Christ. We seek after godly things. We seek after things above rather than the things of this earth that will soon perish because we are now in Christ. We cannot help it but to glorify God. What about you, my friend? Do you have this new spiritual focus in your life? Have you been made alive, spiritually quickened together with Christ? This is a question that everyone would have to answer for himself or herself.
Add correct line breaks, correct capitalisation, correct punctuation, correct Australian English spelling, and correct KJV Bible verse quotations and references to my paragraphs where applicable. But do NOT — I repeat — do NOT alter or change ANY words from my paragraphs under ALL circumstances. Our third and final point is we were forgiven. Look at the last part of verse 13. having forgiven you all trespasses. The only way God can make us who were spiritually dead to be spiritually alive is by forgiving all our sins and trespasses. Sin must be out of the way that we may be reconciled to a holy God. If you are driving down the street and carelessly ran over and killed a child, you will be arrested, tried, fined, and most certainly face a jail term. After you pay the fine and serve the sentence, you will be freed. But paying your penalty in accordance with the law would do nothing to restore the life of the child or relieve the grief of the parents. The offense against them was so immense it could not be measured. The only way a relationship between the parents and you who have killed the child could be establish or restored is for the parents to offer forgiveness. No matter how sincere you are, no matter how much you are willing to offer, you cannot produce reconciliation on your side. Only the one who was offended can offer forgiveness and only forgiveness can bring reconciliation. In a similar fashion, though we have greatly offended and sinned against the Almighty God who is absolutely holy, he is willing to offer forgiveness and reconciliation through the blood of his only begotten son. In our sins and rebellions, we all participated in the wickedness of Christ's crucifixion. But God's love, grace, and mercy provides a way for you and I to participate in the great salvation that comes from his crucifixion. Throughout the Bible, we hear God lovingly calling out to us. I know who you are and what you have done, but because of my great love, your penalty have been paid. My judgment against you has been satisfied through the work of my only begotten son. On your behalf, for his sake, I offer you forgiveness. To come to me, you need only to come to him. That was why Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can go to the father but by me. Jesus is the only way." And once we were forgiven, verse 14 said, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. The original Greek word for blotting out means to erase or wipe away. In ancient times, the material which the people wrote on the pieces of papyrus were very expensive. Sometimes the written text on the materials was no longer needed. They would not just simply throw away the materials because they were very expensive. only the text needed to be done away. So what would they do? They will rub away the old writings, turn the material sideways and write the new words. Once the old writings were blotted out or rubbed away, the material was considered new. It was washed and cleansed. That is the idea. Dear friend, take a moment and consider the number of sins we have committed in our lifetime. Whether they be the sins of the thought, speech or action, it is like a book written with many sins and it stands as a terrible condemnation against us. That is what it means. Which was contrary to us. Unless something is done, that book is going to be read out on the day of judgment. But God can and will do something if we ask him. He will rub away our sins. Turn the pages sideways and write over the newly prepared surface the message of his everlasting love through the work of Jesus Christ who took our sins all the way to Calvary where he was nailed to the cross and shed. shed his precious blood. That precious blood was able to wash away all our sins. God will blot out all our sins. But you must come to him by faith. The question is not whether God will or will not, but whether you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ or not. Have you been washed by his precious blood? If you have then all your sins past, present and future are forgiven. Once you are saved, you are forever saved. You will never lose your salvation. Who said so? Jesus said, "No man can snatch you out of my hand." No one is greater than God. Once we are one with him, we are one with him forever and ever. Today is the day of salvation. If you are still lingering outside the kingdom of God, there is no salvation outside the one who died and shed his blood on the cross of Calvary. He is the only one who can blot out all your sins and trespasses. Come to him. If you think I've done many wicked things, how can such a powerful God, such a holy God forgive me? Jesus said, "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." Even at the last moment before Jesus drew his last breath while hanging on the cross, the criminal turned to him and said, "Lord, remember me when thou enterth into thy kingdom." What did Jesus say? Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. That is what it means to be forgiven. Let us pray. Our father in heaven, indeed thou has taught us through these two verses. We were once dead in our sins. And as like a dead person, we cannot make a single move toward you, nor to have a right thinking about you or to rightly respond to you unless thou would intervene in our lives. And we learn of the two most significant and blessed words. But God But God intervened came into our lives and turned us around through the gospel of Jesus Christ and quickened us, made us spiritually alive. That today we are able to understand the spiritual things of thee. That we are able to worship and serve thee. that reading the Bible becomes so wonderful and meaningful, that prayers become so significant because our heavenly father hears and answers whatever we cried out to him. Spiritual activities are so important to us. Coming for this Lord's day service is something that we must and we are most willing and happy to do. Thou has made us spiritually alive and all our sins have been forgiven by the precious blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And it is only through Christ that we have this forgiveness of our sins and are reconciled today. We pray that thou will also speak to those who are still harden in their hearts. May the spirit of God soften their hearts that they will know that life is like a vapor. It appearth for a little time and then vanishes away. But in this privity of time that they may come to believe in the gospel and have salvation through our God who is so rich in mercy. We give thee thanks for once again reminding us of thy great and perfect love. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.