Colossians -- Take heed to the ministry that thou fulfill it (3)
3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Prosperity gospel and Dominion theology are two examples of people setting their affection on things on the earth. Prosperity gospel ties gold, and cars and houses to God's blessing. Those are things on the earth. Dominion theology teaches Christians to be a political party trying to enact political change. That also is setting your affection on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Enough said. These doctrines are not for people who are dead to the world, it is for those who are trying to be king over the world.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
There is a time for everything. This is not the time for us to appear in glory. Rather the time for us is when Christ, our life appears and then we appear with Him. The only way you appear with Him then is if you are with Him now.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: 7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
If you are in these things then you are not with Him. Granted you may have once been in these things and then left to be with Him, but if you want to appear with the Lord in Glory when He appears you better not be in uncleanness or idolatry or fornication or covetousness when He appears.
8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Leaving fornication or idolatry is simply the first step, like getting out of the swimming pool. The next step is to take a shower and put your clothes on. If you have malice, or wrath or filthy communication when the Lord comes it will be shameful. Jesus is funny, He has a great sense of humor, he likes to use a play on words, tells great stories, the life of the party. But He doesn't have filthy communication. We are being renewed according to the image of Him. Also don't use the lame excuse that this is how I was raised, there is no Greek or Jew, no barbarian, Scythian, no bond or free. Don't try to tell us you grew up on the mean streets of Philadelphia and that is why you are like this. What I want to hear is that you are immersed into the triune God and that explains why you are in the image of Jesus despite growing up on the mean streets of Philadelphia.
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
You cannot be truly merciful without being according to the image of Him who created us. Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. For unbelievers even when they try to be merciful it is simply cruelty. They portray abortion as "mercy", they portray assisted "suicide" as mercy. Genuine humbleness of mind where like Jesus you don't regard equality with God a thing to be grasped but empty yourself and are in the role of a servant is something that only happens with those who are being sanctified.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
As we grow in Christ we can let the peace of God rule in our heart. For example, I can look back on my life and I can see a number of events that happened that I felt were not right, there needs to be retribution. But later the Lord took care of those things and I saw that He was involved in all of it, leading and guiding me through these events. Once you have the full assurance that Jesus is Lord and Jesus will take care of all these things then your heart can be ruled by peace. It is also up to you as to whether or not the word of Christ can dwell in you richly. I saw a video where this guy asks young people in around college age simple questions on the street. How many states in the US, how many dimes in a dollar, or he shows them a picture of a clock and asks them to tell what time it is and they can't do it. But then he asks the names of all the Kardashians and they can instantly recite them. It is up to you what word you will allow to dwell in you richly. Finally, whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must be able to say that what you are doing is service to the Lord. If that is absurd, then don't do that thing.