Colossians 3:1-17 (our sermon text for February 15th) is a wonderfully encouraging passage for those that trust in Christ. In this text, we learn that we have already been raised with Christ; we have died with Him and our life is hidden with Christ; when He (Christ) appears we will appear with Him in glory; we are being renewed in the knowledge of our creator and that Christ dwells in us.

These verses also provide wonderful truths about what has already taken place in our Christian life:

• "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor. 5:17).
  
• "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires" (Gal. 5:24).
  
• "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God" (Rom. 5:1-2).
  
• “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:1-2)
  

The problem is, I struggle to live this way at times. In other words, I often don’t live out the reality of what has already taken place spiritually within me. My flesh battles against me and I want to resort back to the old way of living that Christ has set me free from. Though we in Christ are already decisively and irrevocably free from slavery to sin, we are not yet finally and perfectly free from sin. To me, this is a daily reminder that our sanctification and even our salvation are a process not an ending point in this life.

Paul’s exhortation to us in Colossians 3 is, live and behave according to who you already are in Christ. One of Paul’s key points in this passage is his exhortation to bring our behavior in line with our new identity in Christ. In other words, he wants us to be who we already are in Jesus. We have been forgiven of all our sin, past present and future. We are no longer slaves to sin; sin is no longer a master over us. We are being renewed by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit’s indwelling us. And we have become sons of God, heirs with Christ. Therefore, God treats us and loves us as such. Therefore, live this way! Live in the power of this reality even though, it is not yet fully consummated.