Every heresy, every false religion will never be able to produce the kind of character traits that Paul is writing about in this text.
It's just a beautiful thing that God's done for us, to give us the truth of his word and somehow to give us a heart to receive it. And by virtue of that, enter into this life that's miraculous, and that's divine because God's power is working in us and through us.
Anyone that claims to live in Christ and yet continues in sin, is a liar self-deceived deluded. They're lying and the truth is not in them. That's why that message over and over and over in so many of the epistles is the same, is that if you are a Christian, if we walk with God, if we've truly been transformed by the love and the power and the spirit of God and come to a saving knowledge of Christ, it will produce fruit in the likeness of Jesus Christ and if it doesn't produce fruit in the likeness of Jesus Christ, something's terribly wrong with our theology or our practice.
Read MoreGod told us, "Hey I've got a methodology for your salvation. Are you interested, are you willing, do you want to live? We said "yeah, we want to live" and then he says "okay, then I've got a I've got an ark I've already built for you. Noah had to build his, we don't have to build ours. Do you want to live?
Read MoreIf you are going to talk about someone, why not make it "Holy Gossip" and find things that people are doing well and let people know around us. "Wow did you know this guy can do that? Did you know that they bless me?"
Read MoreThe Bible tells us again in 1st Corinthians 6 that we've been bought at a price we are not our own and therefore we belong to Christ, and he goes on to say and because you're not your own you need to offer yourselves in service to God
Read MoreThese are problems and theological issues the church in Colossae was facing and there are issues that we face, as well as most of you, just as I went through these, you already know the answers to these questions but what Paul was presenting to the church in Colossae was not just an understanding, no that's wrong, yes that's right, no that's wrong, no that's not right, what he was presenting was a doctrine and a theology that they could present to other people and explain themselves why these things are either right or wrong and how we can be found in the perfect will of God.
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