DEATH, LIFE, & LOVE
“If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3
Before accepting Christ, God’s Word is clear that we are all dead in our sins. After being born again, we pass from death to life. But, the Lord, through Paul, reminds us in Colossians, although believers are most certainly and eternally alive in Jesus, we are also dead… Dead to the world, to self, and to sin.
Interestingly, some systematic philosophies would tell us that mankind is born dead, defining that deadness as complete inability or inertness. These teachings would have us to believe that mankind is by nature incapable of choosing anything good. They would have us believe that “dead”, biblically speaking, must mean complete and utter incapability. In other words, all men are born incapable… Incapable of doing good, making choices, believing, or receiving.
This system is generally called reformed theology or Calvinism, and although touted as one of the highest ascents in Christian philosophy, nothing could be further from the truth.
The Bible does say men are dead in their sins, but it does NOT say men are incapable of doing anything but sin. Unwilling? Yes! Unable? No. And Colossians 3 is just one of many places in which this can be easily demonstrated. If dead means incapable, then one must read Colossians 3 as follows…
“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are [incapable/unable to do otherwise], and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
This, of course, makes no sense. Biblically speaking, “dead” when referencing mankind’s spiritual condition (for non-believers and believers alike), does not mean incapability. It simply means separated.
When Adam and Eve sinned, they died. That is, they were separated from God. It does not mean they became inert. Nor does it mean they became completely incapable of choosing anything but sin. It does not mean they lacked the capacity to turn back to the Lord. This concept of incapability is at best a man-centered philosophy birthed from Augustine.
The plain and consistent reading of Scripture (not certain commentaries) speaks of man’s deadness as separation. This of course makes complete sense when reading Colossians 3.
Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, reminds those who have been born again that they are dead, that is separated, from their sins. Not that we can’t choose to go back to them, but that we should remember that we have been rescued from them by the blood of the Lamb. This then leads us to a deeper and more beautiful view of God’s love which then motivates us to deeply love Jesus and truly set our hearts on Heaven. This is the consistent progression in Colossians 3.
Knowing that we were always completely able to choose God and yet stubbornly rejected Him for years prior to getting saved should only motivate us to love Him that much more. While we could have turned back, we willfully remained selfish (not incapable), choosing to reject His offer of forgiveness. Our stubborn unwillingness only adds to our condemnation and reveals God’s deep, deep love that much more!
Once we realize that Jesus has so graciously and freely rescued us from our selfish and prideful “living” wills to give us new hearts and new minds which are alive in Christ and dead to sin, we can begin to joyfully set our affections on the True and Living God! The God Who can justly say that He is love!