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The Engine of Application

 

One of the dreaded features of buying a car is the reality that you have to know something about the engine. Most people are not mechanics. Yet, if you are going to buy a car, someway, somehow, you have to know enough about the engine to know that your purchase will be a wise one. Without that engine, you will only have a leather-interior paper weight. Even after your purchase, you have to stay mindful of that engine. Does it sound right? Is there anything leaking? Have the various fluids been changed?

What is the engine of Christian living? What connects the truth of God to your daily choices so that you actually follow Christ? Many Bible readers are aware that in several of Paul’s letter there is a distinct break between the chapters dealing with theology and the chapters dealing with application. In his letter to Colossians, this break is exactly halfway through the book, between chapter two and three. There is a theme that runs right through those two chapters and is the connector for theology and practice. It is the engine that drives truth application.

Examining the Engine

What is that engine? It is your death with Christ and new life in Christ. Because this is so important, we see this throughout Paul’s letters. It is prominent in Romans 6 and 7, it is scattered around Galatians, and mentioned several times in 2 Corinthians.

Colossians is unique because there is such a high concentration of this theme and it is squarely placed at the pivot point of truth and application. For Paul, this reality is what would carry you into holy living. Here are the passages:

Colossians 2:12–13 (NASB95) — 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

Colossians 2:20 (NASB95) — 20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,

Colossians 3:1 (NASB95) — 1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:3 (NASB95) — 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:5 (NASB95) — 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

Colossians 3:9–10 (NASB95) — 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—

You can clearly see that this was the reality that Paul wanted you to know, trust, and walk according to. This is how we deal with sin and pursue a Christ-exalting life.

4 Implications

1) Knowing the gospel stands at the heart of Christ-like living – Dying with Christ and living in Christ are gospel realities. Therefore, knowing the gospel isn’t just about getting saved so you can go to heaven. Instead, knowing the gospel is about knowing why you can live saved so you can battle hell. Temptation and hardship will overcome you unless you overwhelm them by the inexhaustible riches of Christ. You have to fight fire with fire. Battle the promises of the world with the greater promises of all that is already yours in Christ.

2) This is hope in the midst of failure – It is clear that the Colossians were like us; confused, deceived, failing, and sinful. They were sinning, being defrauded, and losing out on what they could have. In 2:20 Paul painfully asks why they were needlessly submitting to useless commandments of men. So there is no question about it, the Colossians were messing up. But in all of that foolishness and sin, Paul was calling them to embrace riches. His call was not one of woe and death, it was a call back to the life that was theirs in Christ. While a sinning Christian needs to know that there is enslavement on the other side of sin, the main call is to remind them of all that is theirs in Christ. Freedom, glory, and unshakable hope are theirs in Christ no matter how many times they sin, and seeing this will kill the desire for sin and empower the pursuit of holiness.

3) God’s Word trumps what you feel is true – If there was ever something that felt true, it is that sinful cravings hold a powerful sway in our life. But God says this is not true. In fact, God has said that you are dead to those cravings. Dead people don’t crave things. Therefore, when you feel sinful cravings, you have to tell yourself that those cravings hold no power over you. You can deny them and walk away just as a dead person doesn’t flinch in the face of an explosion. This is the time for preaching to yourself, because you won’t feel this truth. The cravings will seem powerful, almost irresistible. But their power is an illusion based on a lie that says you will only be satisfied by giving in. That is not true. You have died and your life is hidden with Christ and He will satisfy all your longings with eternally satisfying glory.

4) Seek the things above with total abandon – You are now freed to run with divinely empowered freedom. You have died, but you have also been raised to life in Christ. This life in Christ is life connected to omnipotent power. Therefore seek the things above with all your might. Don’t be fearful. Step out with joyful confidence. He will strengthen you in your weakness. He will grant resources when you have nothing. He will give peace in the midst of chaos. He will supply wisdom amidst confusion. He will bring forth fruit where there was famine. You have died to sin but you are alive in Christ. Be filled with the Spirit and start living in ways that make people say, “They have something that I don’t.”

These are just a few points that highlight the connection between theology and practice. To miss this is to make applying God’s word far harder because you are left unsure about how you can do what you are told to do. It is like someone evaluating whether or not they can make a cross-country roadtrip without knowing if the engine is sound. That is fearful and many won’t try. Instead, you need to know that you really are dead to sin and alive in Christ, and as such, you have a new identity and a new power source. With God’s word on that, you will go to destinations you never dreamed.

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